Building The Assassin! (Help Wanted)

[FalseKing]

Recently began in a campaign where we are part of a criminal organization and figured I ought to try my hand at being an assassin (isn) style of character, sneak attack, combinations of daggers and ranged weapons (we got to gestalt so I am thinking either Fighter or Ranger) to create versatility.

I was wondering if there were any kind of builds with prestige classes that might build into an interesting style of being an assassin, or maybe builds that suit the actual assassin prestige class (something of a challenge of mine to work with the 3 rounds as well if I use it)

[Fable Wright]

For interesting uses of the Assassin PrC, you could always take a look at the Iron Chef (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?178202-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-XVI&p=9940172&viewfull=1#post9940172) builds, which tend to be rather original.

[Mjollnir075]

Oh boy, Assassin with Gestalt you say? This has been one of my favorite idea's since I have learned about Gestalt rules. Ill throw a few really simple ideas your way and see if any stick. These will be really simple idea's, but you could build off of them with some OP tricks to make them far more powerful.

Rogue 10/Assassin 10 // Psion 20 (or Psion 10/Elocator 10)
The whole idea of the assassin is not being seen. Being able to cloud the minds of your enemies will probably be helpful. You can pick up a few blasty powers as well that should give you some range. Alternatively, you could throw in levels of Elocator to maximize getting the jump on enemies. INT also is nice for skill points. Just having reality altering powers is also kind of important (So I hear.. :smallbiggrin:)

Rogue 10/Assassin 10 // Dread Necromancer 20 (or Dread Necromancer 15/ Dread Witch 5)
Kill your enemies and bring back their corpses to fight for you. Having flanking bodies keeps you hitting for Sneak Attack and keeps you out of harm's way if things get hairy. Adding Dread Witch to the mix allows you to lock down fools who be steppin' to you while you move in for the (no doubt gory) kill. CHA focus is nice if you want to party face it a bit. YMMV due to the Dread Necromancer capstone (I'm of the mind that it makes you an actual Lich, but not everyone agrees).

Rogue 10/Assassin 10 // Soulknife 20
"What's that m'lord? I've been staring intently at you for 18 seconds? How very strange indeed" - Assassin, moments before he manifested his blade and instantly killed the King of ________. While Soulknife isn't the best class (unless you play PF, where it's much better), it does have the ever so sweet ability to be able to hide your weapon until the last moment. Soulknife may not have the best weapon for your WBL, but there is something to be said for the ability to make a weapon appear just when you need it.

Rogue 10/Assassin 10 // Swordsage 20 (or Warblade 10/Bloodstorm Blade 10)
Swordsage gives you Shadowhand maneuvers, which have all kinds of applicable uses to the up and coming assassin. Shadow walking and sneak attack tend to go hand in hand, and getting some delicious damage dealing maneuvers is just icing on the cake. If you got Warblade, you have a few more martial options when sneaking isn't an option. Bloodstorm Blade let's you fling your weapons about with a gusto. A Spiked Chain is a Swordsage's friend. Whipping daggers at anything that moves is pretty much the Bloodstorm Blade's shtick. Lots of ways to kill your enemies with this build.

These are just a few simple builds that came to mind while writing this. Some of these could easily be made better with some tricks/PRCs.

Edit:
I came up with a few more after I posted this.

Rogue 10/Assassin 10 // Bard 20 (There are quite a few different high-powered Bard builds out there. Handbooks are your friend.)
Total party face. Glibness let's you pull all kinds of tricks on unsuspecting foes. Staple spells like Invisibility and Haste go a long way here. Being able to perform in front of high profile targets can get you into a whole mess of parties and high-profile gatherings. Throwing in Warblade has the benefit of letting you try out a Bardsader build on one side, which lets you add +xd6 to your attacks with Dragonfire Inspiration. Something about hitting an enemy for 15d6 is pretty satisfying.

Rogue 10/ Assassin 10 // Duskblade 20
Probably some Prcs to make this shine, but even as-is, it's bound to be fun. You get a few damage spells you can channel at your enemy while you stab them in the kidneys. This set-up is useful for getting some serious extra damage on your hits. Skills and such lead you towards the scout/sneak role. Knowledge Devotion lends itself well to this kind of build.

I can think of a few more, but my bed calls for me ever so sweetly. I'll take a peak in the morning and see if I can come up with some other sweet builds.

[Anachronity]

Alternatively, if you're not concerned about tiers, you could just focus on getting the most hilariously high sneak attack damage possible. Basically go some combination of Rogue/Assassin/Ninja, dip a level in anything that gives +1d6 sneak attack on its first level, and rock some Iajitsu Focus.

[Ellowryn]

Rogue 10/Assassin 10//(Class that Gives Iajitsu Focus) 1/Fighter 19 with the sneak attack variant from UA.

Also grab Assassins Stance from ToB, Optimize IF, and pump up Initiative.

Nuke something with 22d6 SA + 9d6 IF. Don't even need Death Attack to be honest....

[GilesTheCleric]

/Fighter 19 with the sneak attack variant from UA.

Just to be clear, that variant isn't really that much better than rogue levels. "These variants simply swap one or more of that class’s features for one or more class features of another class. A class feature gained works just as it did for its original class, including the level at which it is gained and any other effects, except as noted below." UA 58

So you get the better BAB and HD, and that's it. Picking up swashbuckler levels instead of rogue might prove more useful. Of course, you would need to grab Daring Outlaw (CS 76). But I recommend going into some PrCs that have faster SA progression than rogue if fistfulls of d6s are what you're after.

[Mizr]

I normally like to go Beguiler for an Assassin build, but as a gestalt, I'd go Rogue/Wizard, blend in some Fighter and Various Rogue prestige class levels (I like thief acrobat). As far as the Wizardy part, specialize in Enchantment. If you're playing forgotten realms setting, specialize in Shadow Weave magic and pick up some levels in Shadow Adept (try blending in being Thayan and grab some Tattoo focus). Then you focus on Hold Person, while picking up Death Blow (Complete Advy) to let you coup de grace as a standard action. Round 1: Hold Person, Round 2: Coup de Grace. Later levels, use haste on yourself to pull off the combo in one round. Use a scythe for maximum killing potential.