(PF) Converting 3.0 Rogue/Fighter/Assassin

[Duncan_Ruadrik]

At one point i had a character that was Rogue 3/Fighter 4/Assassin 8.

He dual wielded a "white" (mithril) knife, a black (adamantine) knife, and had a poisoned crossbow for dispatching sentries.

He often utilized magic (via the Assassin PrC) and had several wands, scrolls, and poisons at his disposal.

After attaining the Assassin PrC, he began a slow road to redemption, eventually becoming neutral good. He was actually quite personable and friendly, and most people liked him even though he was evil for the first half of his career.

The real problem with Pathfinder is that the Assassin PrC doesn't have independent spellcasting. Since spells were a fairly important part of his repertoire, I am not certain how to implement spellcasting, without lowering his BAB to the point that TWF isn't viable.

The closest I can think of is Fighter (Weapon Master) 4/ Rogue (Swashbuckler or Knife Master) X. However, that obviously lacks spellcasting, and any method I can think of to gain spellcasting lacks any significance, as far as that goes.

Any help is much appreciated!

[ThiagoMartell]

I really hate what Pathfinder made with the Assassin...

[Psyren]

Any reason you can't just slap the 3.5 Assassin's spell progression onto the PF chassis, keeping all the other abilities? Compared to the other PrCs which got massively upgraded (e.g. Arcane Trickster/Archer and DD) I don't see this being overpowered at all.

[Duncan_Ruadrik]

Any reason you can't just slap the 3.5 Assassin's spell progression onto the PF chassis, keeping all the other abilities? Compared to the other PrCs which got massively upgraded (e.g. Arcane Trickster/Archer and DD) I don't see this being overpowered at all.

Mostly because i play in a group that has mutually agreed to no house-rules or modifications. We stay as close to official PFS rules as possible, while still allowing all archetypes.

[Psyren]

If what you really want is "magical rogue" - the PF Ninja can get you there. They are Cha-focused (making UMD a breeze) and have magical abilities thanks to their ki pool. They also have the Master Trick "Assassinate" which can allow you to simulate an Assassin's Death Attack at 10th level.

The right Tricks (e.g. Shadow Clone/Invisible Blade) and feats (e.g. Gliding Steps) can allow you simulate assassin magic very effectively. It's better in some ways in fact, because they tend to be Su or Ex, meaning you can't be dispelled or countered and don't provoke either. (Plus, no verbal components to give away your position.)

[Pilo]

There is this class, Red Mantis Assassin (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/n-r/red-mantis-assassin), which can do the trick, you have to change your knifes to sabers though.
you can cast while wearing a light armor (see editor's note).

Figther 1/ Rogue 4 is enough to qualify for the prc (As you get a feat evevy odd level in PF).

But if you are Human or Half-elf(trading Adaptability for Ancestral Arms), you can go as Rogue 5, PF does not encourage multi-classing.

[Larpus]

There's also the Alchemist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist) class, which gets a buff-based "bard" progression spell list (invisibility is still there though) based on Int, gets poison use, swift poisoning, poison resistance (eventually immunity) and a decent bonus to Craft(Alchemy) for free and has a discovery (Sticky Poison) that makes your poisons linger on your weapons for Int strikes, effectively cutting your cost in poison making to 1/3 if you have 16 Int.

There are other benefits such as enhancement to physical scores that last a decent amount and discoveries which can add a wide array of effects to your character.

You can also grab the Master Chymist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/i-m/master-chymist) PrC quite effortlessly for some extra BAB and HP if that ticks your fancy.

It's not exactly the Assassin, but can be refluffed as such with ease.

[Feralventas]

It should be noted that the Alchemist's base scaling damage is in Bombs, so you'll probably want to take the Vivisectionist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist/archetypes/paizo---alchemist-archetypes/vivisectionist) Archetype as well, since that grants Sneak Attack instead.

[grarrrg]

There is this class, Red Mantis Assassin (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/n-r/red-mantis-assassin), which can do the trick, you have to change your knifes to sabers though.
...
Figther 1/ Rogue 4 is enough to qualify for the prc (As you get a feat evevy odd level in PF)


Beat me to it.
Although I would recommend taking Ninja instead of Rogue so you can gain Poison Use (Red Mantis does not get, Plain Assassin does).
Ninja does NOT have Trapfinding though, so if that was a notable part of your character then Rogue is fine.
Either way, I definitely recommend 4 levels of Nina/Rogue for Uncanny Dodge.



It should be noted that the Alchemist's base scaling damage is in Bombs, so you'll probably want to take the Vivisectionist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist/archetypes/paizo---alchemist-archetypes/vivisectionist) Archetype as well, since that grants Sneak Attack instead.

Beat me to it as well...

[Larpus]

It should be noted that the Alchemist's base scaling damage is in Bombs, so you'll probably want to take the Vivisectionist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist/archetypes/paizo---alchemist-archetypes/vivisectionist) Archetype as well, since that grants Sneak Attack instead.
Oh d'oh, got so ahead of myself that I completely forgot to mention that, but yeah, I fully meant the Vivisectionist variant.