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Why Is The Assassin Rpgue?
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9262137" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Continuing my Assassin subclass rewrite, let's look at the comparison subclasses at level 9.</p><p></p><p>Phantom gets a TON of extra uses of their Wails of the Grave power. Like...it effectively becomes unlimited, so long as they're able to take a reaction most of the time. Keep one on hand for the Con saving throw benefit, and burn through the others for a highly consistent supply of free DPR. <em>Definitely</em> don't feel bad about making Assassin 3 offer good to great damage now--the (PB)(PB-1)*3.5 thing is now a <em>floor</em> of damage per day, not a <em>ceiling</em>.</p><p></p><p>Soulknife gets a cool teleport utility effect, and a "damage by way of accuracy" effect. With AC comparatively lower than it was in past editions, getting anywhere between +1d6 and +1d12 to hit any time you miss is huge--doubly so when Rogues make few but powerful attacks. It would seem level 9 is when other subclasses <em>generally</em> get their damage boost, Assassin just got it earlier. I see this as a good reason to make 9 a "mostly utility, but maybe also some damage" level.</p><p></p><p>Swashbuckler becomes actually almost kinda-sorta-vaguely a 4e Defender, which is...unusual. Fits with the Swashbuckler's relatively defensive bent, and thus not a great point of comparison. Still, it's a strong defensive tool, and as far as I can tell, neither this nor the non-hostile variant come with any downsides. They aren't magical, can't be counterspelled, don't make the target hostile after use, and don't expend any resources. The only negative is that the combat version is a full Action, so you give up doing much of anything else that turn--though I suppose running to the maximum range of the effect would be a great way to dodge-tank.</p><p></p><p>By comparison, Assassin is...I mean this is a ribbon. It's a neat ribbon; it's a ribbon that <em>could</em> have many applications in very specific types of campaign. But it's a ribbon nonetheless. That said, I don't really want to give that much of a damage boost here, and would prefer to simply expand the utility. Thus, I am leaving the Infiltration Expertise as it is, other than to have it synergize with the Infiltration "fighting" style above (since...well, it should.) I will instead add a movement feature.</p><p></p><h3>Assassin 9</h3><h4>Infiltration Expertise</h4><p>Starting at 9th level, you can unfailingly create false identities for yourself. You must spend seven days and 25 gp to establish the history, profession, and affiliations for an identity. You can't establish an identity that belongs to someone else. For example, you might acquire appropriate clothing, letters of introduction, and official-looking certification to establish yourself as a member of a trading house from a remote city so you can insinuate yourself into the company of other wealthy merchants.</p><p>Thereafter, if you adopt the new identity as a disguise, other creatures believe you to be that person until given an obvious reason not to.</p><p>If you also possess the Infiltration fighting style, you need only spend three days to develop this disguise, and you may develop one such disguise in any 7-day period without paying gold pieces due to your superior training and preparation. If it has been less than seven full days since the last time you created such a disguise, you must pay the 25 gp as usual.</p><p></p><h4>Shadowstep</h4><p>If at the start of your turn, you are Enshrouded and no creature adjacent to you is hostile, instead of physically walking from one location to another, you may teleport a distance up to to your speed. If the only action you took on your previous turn was to initiate or continue your Shroud, you can instead teleport a distance up to twice your speed.</p><p></p><p>There. A solid and extremely useful teleport, akin to what the Shadow Monk can do, but linked into the class's class features. Also, a boost for anyone who gave up bonus combat options in order to go for the "deep cover operative" angle.</p><p></p><p>Looking ahead, <em>definitely</em> intending to give the Assassin a combat boost at 13th, because everyone else has meaningfully grown in combat options, while the Assassin, <em>literally the subclass most focused on killing people</em>, still hasn't gotten any better conbat features. Impostor isn't a bad feature, but it should be accompanied by some better combat effects for the subclass literally about un-aliving people.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9262137, member: 6790260"] Continuing my Assassin subclass rewrite, let's look at the comparison subclasses at level 9. Phantom gets a TON of extra uses of their Wails of the Grave power. Like...it effectively becomes unlimited, so long as they're able to take a reaction most of the time. Keep one on hand for the Con saving throw benefit, and burn through the others for a highly consistent supply of free DPR. [I]Definitely[/I] don't feel bad about making Assassin 3 offer good to great damage now--the (PB)(PB-1)*3.5 thing is now a [I]floor[/I] of damage per day, not a [I]ceiling[/I]. Soulknife gets a cool teleport utility effect, and a "damage by way of accuracy" effect. With AC comparatively lower than it was in past editions, getting anywhere between +1d6 and +1d12 to hit any time you miss is huge--doubly so when Rogues make few but powerful attacks. It would seem level 9 is when other subclasses [I]generally[/I] get their damage boost, Assassin just got it earlier. I see this as a good reason to make 9 a "mostly utility, but maybe also some damage" level. Swashbuckler becomes actually almost kinda-sorta-vaguely a 4e Defender, which is...unusual. Fits with the Swashbuckler's relatively defensive bent, and thus not a great point of comparison. Still, it's a strong defensive tool, and as far as I can tell, neither this nor the non-hostile variant come with any downsides. They aren't magical, can't be counterspelled, don't make the target hostile after use, and don't expend any resources. The only negative is that the combat version is a full Action, so you give up doing much of anything else that turn--though I suppose running to the maximum range of the effect would be a great way to dodge-tank. By comparison, Assassin is...I mean this is a ribbon. It's a neat ribbon; it's a ribbon that [I]could[/I] have many applications in very specific types of campaign. But it's a ribbon nonetheless. That said, I don't really want to give that much of a damage boost here, and would prefer to simply expand the utility. Thus, I am leaving the Infiltration Expertise as it is, other than to have it synergize with the Infiltration "fighting" style above (since...well, it should.) I will instead add a movement feature. [HEADING=2]Assassin 9[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]Infiltration Expertise[/HEADING] Starting at 9th level, you can unfailingly create false identities for yourself. You must spend seven days and 25 gp to establish the history, profession, and affiliations for an identity. You can't establish an identity that belongs to someone else. For example, you might acquire appropriate clothing, letters of introduction, and official-looking certification to establish yourself as a member of a trading house from a remote city so you can insinuate yourself into the company of other wealthy merchants. Thereafter, if you adopt the new identity as a disguise, other creatures believe you to be that person until given an obvious reason not to. If you also possess the Infiltration fighting style, you need only spend three days to develop this disguise, and you may develop one such disguise in any 7-day period without paying gold pieces due to your superior training and preparation. If it has been less than seven full days since the last time you created such a disguise, you must pay the 25 gp as usual. [HEADING=3]Shadowstep[/HEADING] If at the start of your turn, you are Enshrouded and no creature adjacent to you is hostile, instead of physically walking from one location to another, you may teleport a distance up to to your speed. If the only action you took on your previous turn was to initiate or continue your Shroud, you can instead teleport a distance up to twice your speed. There. A solid and extremely useful teleport, akin to what the Shadow Monk can do, but linked into the class's class features. Also, a boost for anyone who gave up bonus combat options in order to go for the "deep cover operative" angle. Looking ahead, [I]definitely[/I] intending to give the Assassin a combat boost at 13th, because everyone else has meaningfully grown in combat options, while the Assassin, [I]literally the subclass most focused on killing people[/I], still hasn't gotten any better conbat features. Impostor isn't a bad feature, but it should be accompanied by some better combat effects for the subclass literally about un-aliving people. [/QUOTE]
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