What's the worst character type to be an assassin-type? (other than paladins)

[William drake]

Why not Paladins...there called ZELOTS. Everytime make a good assassin, some might not do i for a job, a one time kill, but every type is an assassin.

Personally, I don't think a player should play an assassin; just don't think that TYPE of person, works well with others. I know its fun, and cool to think so, but if your an assassin, then your a killer, not just a hired body guard that might have to kill, but you do, always.

 

[Umbran]

Barbarian ... Nothing says barbarians have to be unsubtle; Conan, on whom the class is (very loosely) based, often snuck up on foes and killed them stealthily.

The complete lack of Hide and Move Silently skills from their list make sneaking unlikely. The lack of open lock and social skills makes it unlikely they'll reach the target alone. If Conan does these things regularly, he has several levels of rogue in there, too.

 

[KidCthulhu]

Bard. "Kill, Kill, Kill the victim for the money..."

(only kidding. Actually a Bard makes a pretty good assassin, especially if you want to assassinate someone's reputation and leave them alive).

 

[hong]

Commoner. D'oh!

 

[Umbran]

(only kidding. Actually a Bard makes a pretty good assassin, especially if you want to assassinate someone's reputation and leave them alive).

"Do not meddle in the affairs of bards, for your name is goofy and scans to 'Greensleeves'."

 

[WayneLigon]

I'm voting Gnome Bard. He's so weak...how's he gonna kill anyone?

Poison cares not for your strength score Or hypnotise you into beleiving that seventh story window opens out onto a balcony.

There's really not a bad class to be an assassin type, depending on the type you want. If you want the 'here's some gold, go make this guy dead' assassin, then pretty much anyone is a decent assassin. If you want 'sneak in here and impersonate his best friend, so that my revenge will be all the sweeter' then Fighter is probably your worst choice, just from the skills perspective. It would be much harder for him - but not impossible - than it would be for a rogue or higher level spellcaster.

 

[KidCthulhu]

"Do not meddle in the affairs of bards, for your name is goofy and scans to 'Greensleeves'."

You and I are joined in our admiration for the bard as the swiss-army knife of gaming. Not everyone shares this view, but we're right and they're just too shy to dance around in tights and play the lute.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

Personally, I don't think a player should play an assassin; just don't think that TYPE of person, works well with others. I know its fun, and cool to think so, but if your an assassin, then your a killer, not just a hired body guard that might have to kill, but you do, always.

I'd usually agree, unless it's a special circumstance. I'll give two examples:

1)a solo game (1 player, 1 DM). You don't need to work well with others in these.
2)a game where the assassin is on a mission to kill one of the characters. The DM needs to give the assassin a time (not yet) to kill the character, and it really works when the character (or an NPC) is VERY charming (magical or otherwise, to convince him not to kill). There was a great example of this type in one of the Scions of Shanarra books (I think it was The Druid of Shanarra).

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Personally, I don't think a player should play an assassin; just don't think that TYPE of person, works well with others. I know its fun, and cool to think so, but if your an assassin, then your a killer, not just a hired body guard that might have to kill, but you do, always.

If you're an adventurer, you're a killer. I mean, you might occasionally spare the orc babies (but who hires an assassin to kill orc babies, anyway?), but your entire job description boils down to Killing Things And Taking Their Stuff. It's more the raiding and pillaging side of the coin than the assassination side, admittedly. (Pirates vs. ninjas! )

I'd generally say a lone assassin makes a poor PC in a typical game, because the majority of his allies are going to be, at best not helpful and at worst an active hindrace to the way he works.

A *team* of assassins, on the other hand, makes a perfectly good PC party.

 

[wgreen]

Paladin loses stealth but has speed (special mount) and striking power (smite evil) in spades. He can strike down an evil foe in one blow if he blows all his power on that blow - and the best part is, if he discovers to his horror that he's been deceived and his target is not evil, he almost certainly won't kill him in the process.

How on earth do you figure that? Unless you're assuming a PC-classed assassin would never be hired to take out commoners, low-level characters, and the like. (Also, "almost certainly" isn't going to be good enough for any paladin.)

-Will