Assassin

Nature: Prestige Class

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.

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.
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Level Progression

lvl Class Features vs Poison Snk Atck
1 ●Poison Use ●Death Attack +1d6 dmg
2 ●Uncanny Dodge +1 save
3 +2d6 dmg
4 ●Hidden Weapons ●True Death +2 save
5 ●Improved Uncanny Dodge +3d6 dmg
6 ●Quiet Death +3 save
7 +4d6 dmg
8 ●Hide in Plain Sight +4 save
9 ●Swift Death +5d6 dmg
10 ●Angel of Death +5 save

Prerequisites

Skills: Disguise 2, Stealth 5.
Alignment: Any evil.
Special: Kill someone for no other reason that to become an assassin.
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Class Traits

Hit Dice: d8. Skill Ranks: 4 +Int mod.
Bab: Medium. High Saves: Reflex.

Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft [alchemy] (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Swim (Str), Use Magic Device (Cha).
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Class Features

Proficiencies: Crossbow (hand, light & heavy), dagger (any type), dart, rapier, sap, shortbow (normal & composite), short sword, and light armor.

1.Sneak Attack: Exactly like the rogue ability of same name. If the character gets sneak attack from another source, the damage bonuses stack.

1.Death Attack (Ex): If an assassin studies their victim for 3 rounds & 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). Studying the victim is a Standard action. The death attack fails if the target detects the assassin or recognizes them as an enemy (although the attack might still be a sneak attack if the target is denied their Dex bonus to AC or is flanked).

If the victim of such a death attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 +assassin's class level +Int modifier) against the kill effect, they die. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim is rendered "helpless" and unable to act for 1d6 rounds +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, they must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds.

If a death attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes their save) or if the assassin doesn't launch the attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before they can attempt another death attack.

If the assassin has levels in another class that grants the "death attack" ability, these levels stack with their assassin level to determine the DC of their death attack.

1.Poison Use: Trained in the use of poison and can't accidentally poison themselves when applying poison to a blade (Poisons are p557 in corebook).

1.Resist Poisons: Gains a +1 saving throw bonus against poisons. This bonus increase by +1 every 2 levels.

2.Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Can't be caught flat-footed, even if the attacker is invisible.

He still loses his Dex bonus to AC if immobilized. An assassin with this ability can still lose his Dex bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the "feint" action against him.

If the character already has "uncanny dodge" from a different class, they automatically gains "improved uncanny dodge" instead.

4.Hidden Weapons (Ex): Becomes a master at hiding weapons on his body. Adds his assassin level as bonus to all Sleight of Hand checks made to prevent others from noticing them.

4.True Death (Su): Anyone slain by the assassin’s "death attack" becomes more difficult to bring back from the dead. Spellcasters trying to return a creature to life by using "raise dead" or similar magic must make a Caster Level check at DC = (15 +assassin’s level) or the spell fails and the material component is wasted. Casting "remove curse" the round before attempting to bring the target back from the dead negates this chance. The DC of the remove curse is (10 +assassin’s level).

5.Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): The character can no longer be flanked. This defense denies an opponent the ability to sneak attack the assassin by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least 4 more rogue levels (or levels in other class that gives sneak attack) than the target has assassin levels.

If a character already has uncanny dodge from another class, the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.

6.Quiet Death (Ex): Whenever the assassin kills a creature using his "death attack" during a surprise round, he can also make a Stealth check, opposed by Perception checks of those in the vicinity, to prevent them from identifying him as the assailant. If successful, those nearby might not even notice that the target is dead for a few moments, allowing the assassin to avoid detection.

8.Hide in Plain Sight (Su): Can now use the Stealth skill even while being observed. As long as he is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, an assassin can hide himself from view in the open without having anything to actually hide behind. He cannot, however, hide in his own shadow.

9.Swift Death (Ex): The assassin can make a "death attack" against a foe without studying the foe beforehand. He must still sneak attack his foe using a melee weapon that deals damage.

10.Angel of Death (Su): Once per day, when the assassin makes a successful "death attack", he can cause the target’s body to crumble to dust. This prevents "raise dead" and "resurrection" (but "true resurrection" works as normal). Assassin must declare the use of this ability before the attack is made. If the attack misses or the target successfully saves against the death attack, this ability is wasted with no effect.
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Assassin Characters

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