v0.91.67 Patch Notes - Assassin, New Adventure Preview #4

[h3]A remorseless murderer who kills for money and the sheer thrill of death-dealing.[/h3]

A mercenary undertaking his task with cold, professional detachment, the assassin is equally adept at espionage, bounty hunting, and terrorism. At his core, an assassin is an artisan, and his medium is death. Trained in a variety of killing techniques, assassins are among the most feared classes.

The assassin is the master of dealing quick, lethal blows. Assassins also excel at infiltration and disguise. Assassins often function as spies, informants, killers for hire, or agents of vengeance. Their training in anatomy, stealth, poison, and the dark arts allows them to carry out missions of death with shocking, terrifying precision.

Base Classes: Most rogues, monks, and bards who choose this class become examples of the classic assassin skulking in the shadows with a blade carrying certain death. Fighters, ex-paladins, rangers, druids, and barbarians operate as warrior assassins, with as much ability to kill in combat as from the shadows. Sorcerers, wizards, and clerics may be the most terrifying assassins of all, for with their spells they can infiltrate and slay with even greater impunity. While nearly any class is capable of becoming an assassin, rogues suit the part more than any other, from both an ability viewpoint and an ideological one. Though they make excellent allies during combat, assassins excel in more clandestine situations, and the best assassins are the ones the victims never knew existed.

Role: Assassins tend to be loners by nature, seeing companions as liabilities at best. Sometimes an assassins missions put him in the company of adventurers for long stretches at a time, but few people are comfortable trusting a professional assassin to watch their backs in a fight, and are more likely to let the emotionless killer scout ahead or help prepare ambushes.

Alignment: Due to its necessary selfishness and callous indifference toward taking lives, the assassin class attracts those with evil alignments more than any others. Because the profession requires a degree of self-discipline, chaotic characters are ill suited to becoming these shadowy killers. Neutral characters sometimes become assassins, frequently thinking of themselves as simple professionals performing a job, yet the nature of their duties inevitably pushes them toward an evil alignment.

Non-adventurers: Assassins work in guilds or secret societies found hidden in cities or based in remote fortresses in the wilderness. Sometimes they serve more powerful evil characters singly or in a group. Occasionally an assassin works alone, but only the most capable are willing to operate without any sort of support or backup.


[h3]Prerequisites:[/h3]
Alignment: Evil.
Skills: Disguise 4 ranks, Hide 8 ranks, Move Silently 8 ranks.
Special: Kill someone for no other reason than to join the assassins.


[h3]Class Features:[/h3]
Level Limit: 10.
Hit Dice: d6.
Base Attack Bonus: Average.
Good Saves: Reflex.
Key Abilities: Dexterity, Strength, Constitution.

Class Skills: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Use Rope.