Assassin, 4th Variant (3.5e Prestige Class)
“The way to a man's heart is through his stomach...in a quick upward motion.” ~ Assassin's proverb
Siblings of silence and shadow, wielder of light but deadly blades, assassins are known for being the death-dealers for the highest of bidders and for shaping the destiny of many a kingdom and empire from behind the curtain.
The thing about the assassins and the rules is… there are no rules. Morality and alignment vary greatly from one assassin to another, but the one thing that is certain is that they all work for profit… of whatever sort.
Being stealthy and sly as well as having a quick wit is a must if you strive to become one of these elite killers. Dexterity is the primary attribute of this class, closely followed by intelligence and charisma, but constitution is not to be neglected either.
Prerequisites:
Races: Any humanoid
Alignment: Any
Base Attack Bonus +8
Abilities: Dexterity 16+; Intelligence 13+
Special: Ability to Sneak Attack
Feats: Weapon Focus(any light bladed weapon), Weapon Specialisation(any light bladed weapon)
Skills: Balance 4 ranks; Disguise 6 ranks; Gather Information 4 ranks; Hide 6 ranks; Knowledge(local) 4 ranks; Move Silently 8 ranks; Profession(any) 4 ranks.
Table: The Assassin
Hit Die: d8
Base Saving Throws Special Spells Level Attack Bonus Fort Ref Will 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st +0 +1 +2 +0 Thread softly, Know your poison, Assassin spells 2 2nd +1 +1 +3 +0 Know your mark 3 3rd +2 +2 +3 +1 Smiling like a killer, Bonus feat 3 1 4th +3 +2 +4 +1 Jack of All Trades 4 2 5th +3 +3 +4 +1 Hide in plain sight, Wicked blade +1d6 4 2 1 6th +4 +3 +5 +2 Bonus feat 5 3 2 7th +5 +4 +5 +2 Professional 5 3 2 1 8th +6/+1 +4 +6 +2 Death’s Hand 5 4 3 2 9th +6/+1 +5 +6 +3 Bonus feat 6 4 3 3 10th +7/+2 +5 +7 +3 Death’s friend, Wicked blade +2d6 6 5 4 4
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Search (Int), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Assassin's. Unless Specifically stated otherwise, these class abilities are only available if the Assassin is Unencumbered, and not using a shield.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Assassins are proficient with all simple weapons, plus one martial or exotic weapon of their choice. The Assassin is proficient with Light Armor. When wearing medium or heavy armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, the Assassin loses the use of all special abilities.
Thread softly: The steps of a killer are difficult to detect even to the most honed of senses. An assassin can always choose to take 10 on Hide and Move Silently dice checks. Being stealthy no longer presents an impediment to being quick. Assassin also suffers no penalty to his/her movement speed while moving silently. Get +2 on Hide and Move Silently checks.
Know your poison: Assassins are quite proficient in use of vitriolic matters in their trade. Poison use presents no hazard to them. Assassins know the effects of practically any kind of poison known to mankind and also how to use it. An assassin can make a poison given necessary ingredients and use it without danger of poisoning himself/herself.
Assassin spells: Beginning at 1st level, an assassin gains the ability to cast a number of arcane spells. To cast a spell, an assassin must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so an assassin with an Intelligence of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Assassin bonus spells are based on Intelligence, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the assassin’s Intelligence bonus. Assassins choose their spells from the following list:
1st Level disguise self, detect poison, feather fall, ghost sound, jump, obscuring mist, sleep, true strike. 2nd Level alter self, cat’s grace, darkness, fox’s cunning, illusory script, invisibility, pass without trace, spider climb, undetectable alignment. 3rd Level deep slumber, deeper darkness, false life, magic circle against good, misdirection, nondetection. 4th Level clairaudience/clairvoyance, dimension door, freedom of movement, glibness, greater invisibility, locate creature, modify memory, poison.
Know your mark: If an assassin studies his victim for 3 rounds and then makes a sneak attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly either paralyzing or killing the target (assassin’s choice). While studying the victim, the assassin can undertake other actions so long as his attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the assassin or recognize the assassin as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the assassin’s class level + the assassin’s Int modifier) against the kill effect, he/she dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim is rendered helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per level of the assassin. If the victim’s saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal sneak attack. Once the assassin has completed the 3 rounds of study, he must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds. If a death attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes her save) or if the assassin does not launch the attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before he can attempt another death attack.
Smiling Like a Killer: This special quality makes an assassin’s very presence unsettling to foes. It takes effect automatically when the creature performs some sort of dramatic action. Opponents within range who witness the action may become frightened or shaken.The range is 30 feet, and the duration is 2d6 rounds. This ability affects only opponents with fewer HD or levels than the assassin has. An affected opponent can resist the effects with a successful Will save. An opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to that effect for 24 hours. Fear effect allows a saving throw, it is a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 level+ Cha modifier). All fear attacks are mind-affecting fear effects.
Bonus feat: Starting from the 3rd level and every three levels after, an assassin can choose a bonus feat.
Jack of All Trades: Assassins are only as good as their repertoire of skills, so every assassin chooses to become sort of a knower of all kinds of trades. An assassin can choose to increase any 2 knowledge skills and any 2 other skills by 5 points and he/she also becomes able to take 10 on their dice checks as long as in calm conditions (not in combat or under a hindering effect).
Hide in Plain Sight: An assassin can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, an assassin can hide herself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. She cannot, however, hide in her own shadow. This maneuver is regarded as a move action.
Wicked Blade: An assassin is good at hurting and maiming as well as killing a target. If assassin chooses so he/she can attempt an attack that inflicts ability damage along with the damage made by a normal strike or a sneak attack. When attacking humanoids assassin can choose the ability to inflict damage upon, but when trying to do so to any other type of creature, a d6 dice determines what ability is to be damaged. The damage made is 1d6 at level 5 and is increased at level 10. An assassin can attempt this attack Intelligence modifier times per day.
Professional: Doing your job well, no matter what your job may be, gets you certain attention from people. The same goes for assassins. People that get interested into your services get to know of your whereabouts. Most assassins hide their talents and primary profession in plain sight, being seen in public as they sell groceries, keep taverns, stables, farms, or smithies. Assassin of a 7th level can add his/her total number of levels as bonus points on any profession skill and he/she also gets skill – profession (assassin) with points equal to his/her level as a character to determine the fame or rather infamy among the “colleague” assassins and “customers” alike.
Death’s hand: After years of inflicting death upon others, an assassin knows the way that “death” works and is able to determine when and how and what of will any mortal most likely die. This ability allows an assassin to get to know targets or any other mortal’s health and level or any other vitally significant statistics. You need to succeed a touch attack against a target and upon a successful touch you are granted knowledge of target’s health points, armor class, saves and abilities. This ability can only work on humanoids.
Death’s Friend: You literally know Death… well almost. You brought him so many “customers” over the years of your profession that he sort of feels that he should grant you something in return. Assassins of the highest rank are granted sort of a prize for every mortal they send to the “Land of No Return”. Assassin that executes a target of a humanoid type is granted a bonus to health points (1d8), or to one save (Fortitude, Reflex or Will), or to base attack bonus or even damage bonus. This “blessing” lasts for 1d4 + assassin’s Charisma bonus days, and it stacks if the same “reward” is chosen upon a confirmed execution.
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