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WaylanderX
2013-01-03, 07:04 PM
Yoyo peeps,
This is my first homebrew class I made ever....and it sucked...real bad...real real really bad. So I revamped it to a nice little martial adept. I'm still working on the martial discipline I'm planning to make for this guy, named Chaos Flower. That one will be posted on here soon I hope. There is also a mention of a race named the Armacalypse in the fluff. I'll stat them out too when I have the time. I hope you guys enjoy this freshly revamped class which is all about random stuff, random stuff and stabbing people in DA FACE!! And then escape like a boss. Like every self respecting assassin should do offcourse.
So without further ado: The Chaos Assassin!!



Chaos Assassin

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs7/i/2005/211/c/d/pRO_Chaos__Assassin_Cross_by_celyne.jpg

By celyne from DeviantART




“Veni, vidi, assassinati! But you must do it in the way that everyone sees you. That totally rocks.”
~ Merrion Amavain, Elf Chaos Assassin



Most assassins like to handle things with subtlety, guile, stealth and a blade hidden wherever it can. Such is not the way of the Chaos Assassin, who rather prefer to assassinate in a much different way, by walking up to you, whispering into your ear “You’re gonna die, man”, and then you do. You just do. Seriously, a Chaos Assassin just told you you’re gonna die, so you are. There’s no escaping death when this guy is around.

History: The history of the Chaos Assassin dates way back. It was founded by an Armacalypse by the name of Randh’niël, who had developed the powers he was granted by his ancestors further than any of his peers, and taught his students his ways. Eventually it was discovered that other races, although not having such an inherent link to chaos as the Armacalypse have could also learn to wield the power of a Chaos Assassin.

Adventures: Those who chose the way of the Chaos Assassin join the Order of Armasis, who train them in chaotic ways of assassination. People who join the order are of the kind who like to make a nice piece of gold every once in a while, and aren’t afraid of killing to get it. However, they prefer to assassinate in ways that are rather unorthodox, because such is the way of assassinating in chaotic ways.

Characteristics: Chaos Assassins are mostly a rash folk, brawlers mostly, which stems largely from their philosophy that an enemy should be as dead as possible as soon as possible. The deader and sooner the better.

Aligment: Chaos Assassins must be of chaotic alignment to be able to retain their link to the powers of chaos and use their abilities. Aside from that, there are both good and evil Chaos Assassins. The evil ones mostly kill for pleasure, whilst the good ones kill for a just society of freedom, and the neutral ones don’t care whom they kill, as long as they get paid.

Religion: Chaos Assassins don’t worship Lawful gods. They hardly worship Neutral ones either. Chaos is their way, and so should it be as well for the gods they worship. Kord, Olidammara and Erythnul are favourites amongst them.

Races: The most Chaos Assassins are Armacalypse. They were the first to become Chaos Assassins and over time it has almost become a tradition to them to have at least one member of the family become a Chaos Assassin. Elves make quite good Chaos Assassins well because they are nimble and agile figures and enjoy freedom. Humans, as with any other class, take well to the ways of the Chaos Assassin due to their adaptability and pragmatic views on things. Gnomes, as the mischievous and chaotic beings they are, make especially good Chaos Assassins because of their size and wit. Halflings are largely less seen as Chaos Assassins, but because they are agile and dextrous they make fine Chaos Assassins as well. Orcs take up the mantle of the Chaos Assassin rather well, because they are strong and find the ways of chaos easy. They take up the bulk of the evil Chaos Assassins, but also the bulk of the more stupid ones. If you see a Chaos Assassin plowing through rows of guards to get to a duke to assassinate, it’s probably an Orc. Dwarf Chaos Assassins are extremely rare, due to their lawful nature, and the few chaotic ones amongst them are so gruff and rude that they don’t get far in the order and are kicked out at an early stage.

Other Classes: Chaos Assassins are looked at with a frown and a smile by members of other classes. I mean, really, who calls themself an assassin when they walk right up to their target and says “Hi, I’m here to deliver your death!” They value their efficiency in combat, however.

Role: The Chaos Assassin’s role in the party is mostly as a damage dealer, and preferably as fast, as soon, and as much as possible, although sometimes that may be a problem with their randomness or just be total overkill.

Abilities: Dexterity is the most important for a Chaos Assassin, because a lot of his special abilities consist of ranged attacks, and they still need to have a level of stealth in their job with Hide and Move Silently. Chaos Assassins may walk up to you and stab you in the face, but they don’t want to have to fight through a whole army to get to you.
Strength is important for a Chaos Assassin because when they cannot use their abilities anymore, the have to rely on dealing damage up close, and some of their abilities are also Strength-based.
Intelligence is important to a Chaos Assassin if you aim more for a skill-monkey role.

HD: d8
Alignment: Any chaotic.
Random Starting Age: As ranger.


CLASS SKILLS
The chaos assassin's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at 1st level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier

Chaos Assasin


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Manoeuvres Known
Manoeuvres Readied
Stances Known


1st

+1

+0

+2

+2
Weapon Style, Least Corruption, Trapfinding

4

3

1





2nd

+2

+0

+3

+3
Chaotic Sneak Attack +1d6

5

3

2


3rd

+3

+1

+3

+3
Hard to Catch

6

3

2


4th

+4

+1

+4

+4
Chaos Doesn’t Care! (25%)

6

4

2


5th

+5

+1

+4

+4
Chaotic Sneak Attack +2d6, Weapon Style Progress

7

4

3


6th

+6

+2

+5

+5
Reality Glitch 1/encounter

7

4

3


7th

+7

+2

+5

+5
Lesser Corruption

8

5

3


8th

+8

+2

+6

+6
Uncanny Dodge

8

5

3


9th

+9

+3

+6

+6
Chaos Doesn’t Care! (50%)

9

5

4


10th

+10

+3

+7

+7
Reality Glitch 2/encounter, Weapon Style Progress

9

6

4


11th

+11

+3

+7

+7
Chaotic Sneak Attack +4d6

10

6

4


12th

+12

+4

+8

+8
Improved Uncanny Dodge

11

6

4


13th

+13

+4

+8

+8
Greater Corruption

12

7

5


14th

+14

+4

+9

+9
Chaotic Sneak Attack +5d6, Reality Glitch 1/turn

12

7

5


15th

+15

+5

+9

+9
Chaos Doesn’t Care! (75%), Weapon Style Progress

13

7

5


16th

+16

+5

+10

+10
Hide in Plain Sight

13

8

5


17th

+17

+5

+10

+10
Chaotic Sneak Attack +6d6

14

8

6


18th

+18

+6

+11

+11
Reality Glitch 2/turn

14

8

6


19th

+19

+6

+11

+11
Complete Corruption

15

9

6


20th

+20

+6

+12

+12
Chaotic Sneak Attack +7d6, Chaos Doesn’t Care! (100%), Weapon Style Master

15

9

6



Weapon and Armour Proficiencies: The Chaos Assassin is proficient with light and medium armour, no shields, and all simple and martial weapons.

Maneuvers: A first level Chaos Assassin has knowledge of four martial maneuvers. Chaos Assassins have access to the Flowers of Chaos (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14520500#post14520500) and Shadow Hand disciplines, along with one discipline based of their Weapon Specialisation, the key skill for which is added to the class skills of the Chaos Assassin.

In order to use a maneuver, a Chaos Assassin must first ready it. Chaos Assassin maneuvers are extraordinary abilities unless otherwise noted at the discipline itself. A Chaos Assassin's maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and initiating a maneuver does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

A Chaos Assassin learns additional maneuvers as he gains levels. He must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. At 4th level, and each subsequent even level, a Chaos Assassin can exchange one of his maneuvers known for another maneuver of any level he is capable of initiating.

A Chaos Assassin can choose his readied maneuvers by exercising or meditating for 5 minutes. The maneuvers he chooses remain readied until he readies new maneuvers. A Chaos Assassin begins an encounter with all of his readied maneuvers unexpended. Once a maneuver is initiated, it is expended.
At the start of each encounter, roll 1d4. After that many rounds he refreshes all of his maneuvers automaticly (Without an action).

Stances: A first level Chaos Assassin knows one stance of any discipline available to him. At 2nd, 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th levels, he learns an additional stance. He must meet the prerequisites of a stance to learn it. Stances do not have to be readied, and are never expended. He can enter a stance or change stances as a swift action. A Chaos Assassin's stances are extraordinary abilities unless otherwise noted at the discipline.

Weapon Style (Ex): At first level you have to choose a weapon style in which you specialise. The choices are Two-handed, Two Weapon and Ranged Fighting. At fifth, tenth and fifteenth level you gain additional benefits depending on which path you choose. You don’t need to meet any prerequisites for any bonus feats you acquire.

Level one:

Two-Handed Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Power Attack as a bonus feat. You gain Hero’s Edge as a bonus discipline.
Two-Weapon Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Two-Weapon Fighting and Weapon Finesse as bonus feats. You gain Tiger Claw as a bonus discipline. In addition, you can choose to get your Dexterity modifier on melee damage instead of Strenght, but only when wielding two weapons.
Ranged Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot as bonus feats. You gain Falcon’s Eye as a bonus discipline.

Level five:

Two-Handed Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Cometary Collision as a bonus feat.
Two-Weapon Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Improved Two Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat.
Ranged Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Rapid Shot as bonus feat. In addition, you can sneak attack from 60 ft. away.

Level ten:

Two-Handed Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Improved Bushrush and Shocktrooper as bonus feats.
Two-Weapon Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Greater Two-Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat.
Ranged Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Penetrating Shot as bonus feats. In addition, you can sneak attack from 90 ft. away.

Level fifteen:

Two-Handed Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Awesome Blow as a bonus feat.
Two-Weapon Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Two-Weapon Rend as a bonus feat with the difference that the extra damage is 1d6+1.5 times you Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier.
Ranged Fighting: The Chaos Assassin gains Greater Manyshot as a bonus feat. In addition, you can sneak attack from 120 ft. away.

Chaos Corruption (Ex): At first level the Chaos Assassin’s body starts to mutate as it becomes corrupted by the power of chaos.

He can designate one part of his body to become corrupted. The designated bodypart’s colour changes slightly to become more like a deep shade of purple.

In addition, he gains benefits depending on which body part he has chosen. He also gains additional benefits on level seven and thirteen. The bonuses of a higher level corruption overlap with previous benefits and do not stack if they apply to the same.
You can only corrupt one body part which must be chosen at level 1. This choice cannot be changed.
At level nineteen, you gain 1 additional power based on which body part you choose.

Bodypart Benefits:

Level one:

Head: +1 damage on Chaos Flower manoeuvres, +1 on Will saves, +2 on Intimidate checks, -2 on Disguise checks.
Arms: +1 on melee damage rolls, +1 on Fort saves, +2 on Climb checks, -2 on all Craft and Profession skills involving manual precision.
Hands: +1 on ranged damage rolls, ranged attacks have 50% chance to dazzle for 1 turn (Only the first hit in a turn applies this), +2 on Disable Device checks, -2 on Balance checks
Legs: base speed increases by 5 foot (except when wearing heavy armour), +1 on Ref saves, +2 on Move Silently checks, -2 on Climb checks.

Level seven:

Head: +1d6 damage on Chaos Flower manoeuvres, +2 on Will saves, +4 on Intimidate checks, -4 on Disguise checks.
Arms: +1d6 on melee damage rolls, +2 on Fort saves, +4 on Climb checks, -4 on all Craft and Profession skills involving manual precision.
Hands: +1d6 on ranged damage rolls, ranged attacks have 50% chance to sicken for 1 turn (Only the first hit in a turn applies this, you lose the on hit Dazzle), +4 on Disable Device checks, -4 on Balance checks.
Legs: base speed increases by 10 foot (except when wearing heavy armour), +2 on Ref saves, +4 on Move Silently checks, -4 on Climb checks. In addition, you can walk on liquids as if you are under a constant Water Walk effect. This is a Ex ability.

Level thirteen:

Head: +2d6 damage on Chaos Flower manoeuvres, +4 on Will saves, +6 on Intimidate checks, -6 on Disguise checks
Arms: +2d6 on melee damage rolls, +3 on Fort saves, +6 on Climb checks, -6 on all Craft and Profession skills involving manual precision.
Hands: +2d6 on ranged damage rolls, ranged attacks have 50% chance to stagger for 1 turn (Only the first hit in a turn applies this, you lose the on hit sicken), +6 on Disable Device checks, -6 on Balance checks.
Legs: base speed increases by 15 foot (except when wearing heavy armour), +4 on Ref saves, +6 on Move Silently checks, -6 on Climb checks. In addition, You are permanently under the effects of a Airwalk spell and you can move up and down vertically at half speed. This is an Ex ability.

Level nineteen:

Head: You become immune for all compulsion and fear effects.
Arms: +2d12 damage on melee damage rolls. In addition, you gain a burrow speed equal to your land speed.
Hands: Your threatrange increases by one point and your crit modifier becomes one higher (Both improvements for ranged weapons only) (Stacks with keen and other improvements). (A 20/x2 weapon would change into a 19-20/x3 weapon)
Legs: You instantly (if you wish) become Incorporeal as soon as you begin a second move action during your turn (Not a move-equivalent action, a real MOVE action). This lasts untill the end of your turn.

Trap Finding (Ex): On first level, the Chaos Assassin gains the Trapfinding ability.

Chaotic Sneak Attack (Ex): At second level, you gain a form of precision damage similar to the sneak attack of a rogue with one difference: due to the chaotic energies you use, you sometimes still hit an enemy’s weak point despite not catching him off guard of flanking him.

Each attack you make has a 50% chance to apply the extra damage. Strikes do not deal this extra damage, except strikes from the Chaos Flower and Shadow Hand disciplines.
However, these chaotic tendencies also are a burden when you get the drop on an enemy or flank it, causing you to miss the vital spot.
When you flank or catch an enemy flatfooted, the chance of applying this sneak attack damage is only 75%, instead of the full 100%.

This class feature counts as sneak attack for purposes of prerequisites and immunities.

Hard to Catch (Ex): At third level, you gain Evasion due to your unpredictability and speedy reflexes.
If you choose the Two-Handed Weapon style, you gain Mettle instead.

Chaos Doesn’t Care! (Su): At fourth level, the amount of chaotic energy in you becomes so great, that you can occasionally dish out great damage despite the lack of an obvious weak point, at which point the chaotic energy just partly disintegrates the targets body.

Each time you can apply sneak attack to a target immune for critical hits and sneak attack, there is a 25% chance that the sneak attack damage will be applied anyway. This increases to 50% at level nine, 75% at level fifteen and 100% at level 20.

Reality Glitch (Su): At sixth level, you can use your chaotic energies to transport yourself….but not very accurately.
As a free action or an immediate action when it is not your turn, you can activate this ability. Roll 1d8. Each number represents a direction (the 8 squares around you. If you’re Large or larger, use the directions as if you were Medium).
You then teleport 1d10 times 5 ft. in that direction. This ability is usable once per encounter.
At level 10, it increases to twice per encounter, but still usable only once per round.
At level 14, to once per round.
At level 20, it becomes a free action, even when used as an immediate action (you still keep your swift action the next turn) and can be used twice per turn.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At eighth level, you gain the Uncanny Dodge Ability.
This improved to Improved Uncanny Dodge at level twelve.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): At sixteenth level, you gain the Hide in Plain Sight ability, as the ranger’s.

Weapon Style Master (Ex): At twentieth level, you become a supreme master of the weapons in which you specialise.

Two-Handed Fighting: Chaos Rocket - Once per 1d4 rounds, when using the Awesome Blow feat, if the target fails its save, it is instead flung away 10 ft. per 10 damage you deal and takes falling damage as appropriate.

Two-Weapon Fighting: Chaotic Grace – Once per 1d4 rounds when making a full attack, you can make all your attacks at your full attack bonus without Two Weapon Fighting penalty.

Ranged Fighting: Chaos Volley – Once per 1d4 rounds, you can make a area attack that hits everything in a 20 ft. radius. You can place the area anywhere within your first two range increments. This attacks deals normal weapon damage on everyone hit (No Save).

WaylanderX
2013-01-03, 07:05 PM
Reserved for Feats, ACF's and the like.

WaylanderX
2013-01-03, 07:06 PM
Reserved for other stuff! For Backstabbing!

Morph Bark
2013-01-04, 04:47 AM
Weapon Style: put in links to Hero's Edge and Falcon's Eye and fix the enter-error at level five.

Reality Glitch: "At level 10, it increases to twice per encounter. At level 14, to once per turn." So for those five levels you can use it twice in one turn, potentially? Perhaps you should put in that you can use it twice per encounter, but still no more than once per turn.

Chaos Corruption: The level thirteen Hands one is too powerful. 50% chance of stagger on every ranged attack? That'd make a full attack very, very dangerous. It's much better than all the other options. Lower it to 20% or such. The sicken one could also use such a lowering, as two attacks could make someone nauseated and take them out of the game for one turn (might be otherwise better to put in that they can't get nauseated from it). Alternatively, perhaps these percentage things should be limited to the first attack each turn. Then the 50% thing is perfectly fine and not overpowered.

The leg corruptions could use some powering up. The airwalk one could be moved to an earlier one, and the level seven one could grant waterwalk, in addition to the speed boosts.

Also, for so many class skills, it's surprising they only have 4, not 6 skill points per level.

And how about those Armacalypse? :smalltongue:

PEACH
2013-01-04, 04:59 AM
Not that ranged attacks don't need love in general, but the hands second last (50% chance of stagger) and last (crit threat range increase) are incredibly powerful and incredibly powerful in specific builds, respectively. The latter is more a function of how D&D crits and threat range increases work, though.

As for the recovery mechanic: Not that encounters last a long time, but the fact you can apparently only refresh once an encounter seems arbitrary, and barring action economy enhancement this class doesn't have (unless it's in the homebrew disciplines), your refresh mechanic could be simplified by saying "You refresh all maneuvers after 1d4 rounds" because you are generally only able to get two manuevers off a round.

I'm not sure how I feel about Chaotic Sneak Attack, since it's really just a damage booster hidden behind a bit more randomness than normal and allowing for everybody's favorite ability, Craven.

Finally, I think the Dex to damage on TWF should come online earlier, simply for ease of advancement in real play. It's not overpowered at that level and softens the distinction between the stats of a character you want to play from 1 to 20 as this class and a character you start at level 20 in this class.

WaylanderX
2013-01-04, 08:38 AM
Weapon Style: put in links to Hero's Edge and Falcon's Eye and fix the enter-error at level five.

Reality Glitch: "At level 10, it increases to twice per encounter. At level 14, to once per turn." So for those five levels you can use it twice in one turn, potentially? Perhaps you should put in that you can use it twice per encounter, but still no more than once per turn.

Chaos Corruption: The level thirteen Hands one is too powerful. 50% chance of stagger on every ranged attack? That'd make a full attack very, very dangerous. It's much better than all the other options. Lower it to 20% or such. The sicken one could also use such a lowering, as two attacks could make someone nauseated and take them out of the game for one turn (might be otherwise better to put in that they can't get nauseated from it). Alternatively, perhaps these percentage things should be limited to the first attack each turn. Then the 50% thing is perfectly fine and not overpowered.

The leg corruptions could use some powering up. The airwalk one could be moved to an earlier one, and the level seven one could grant waterwalk, in addition to the speed boosts.

Also, for so many class skills, it's surprising they only have 4, not 6 skill points per level.

And how about those Armacalypse? :smalltongue:

Error fixed and putting in links now :P. Good catch on the Reality Glitch, I was kind off unsure how to put it up. The effects of the Hands path were meant to be applied only once each turn, so I added the clause for that one too.
The Leg corruption are maybe a little bit underwhelming, gonna give them more utility. And as for the class skills...they have full BAB, 2 good saves, a good amount of class skills and martial initiating, so I needed to cut them down on another area or else its chassis would be too good imo.

Aaaand about the Armacalypse, I figured them out during my mail round today, so they will be up in an hour or so. :smallbiggrin:

Thank you for ya PEACH m8, and I see you in like 10 min or so.


Not that ranged attacks don't need love in general, but the hands second last (50% chance of stagger) and last (crit threat range increase) are incredibly powerful and incredibly powerful in specific builds, respectively. The latter is more a function of how D&D crits and threat range increases work, though.

As for the recovery mechanic: Not that encounters last a long time, but the fact you can apparently only refresh once an encounter seems arbitrary, and barring action economy enhancement this class doesn't have (unless it's in the homebrew disciplines), your refresh mechanic could be simplified by saying "You refresh all maneuvers after 1d4 rounds" because you are generally only able to get two manuevers off a round.

I'm not sure how I feel about Chaotic Sneak Attack, since it's really just a damage booster hidden behind a bit more randomness than normal and allowing for everybody's favorite ability, Craven.

Finally, I think the Dex to damage on TWF should come online earlier, simply for ease of advancement in real play. It's not overpowered at that level and softens the distinction between the stats of a character you want to play from 1 to 20 as this class and a character you start at level 20 in this class.

Fixed the stagger to apply only on the first attack made in a round, so it should be fine now. On the other hand, I should indeed tone down the last Hand corruption to something like +1 threatrange +1 crit mod.

Refresh once per encounter? I might have made a typo somewhere then... You're just supposed to refresh every 1d4 rounds and that can happen multiple times in an encounter.

As for the Sneak Attack, its a Assassin...it just needs to have sneak attack or something similar fluff-wise and I don't think it debalances it too much.

Shifted the Dex to Damage to a lower level, hope this is better, TWF needs all the help it can get :smallamused:.

Thank you for your PEACH PEACH, they are quite helpfull ^^.