Magical assassin in pathfinder.

[Elric VIII]

Having just reread the Night Angel Trilogy, I of the mind to put together a mystical assassin character. When I did this in 3.5 I was a Fighter/Swordsage/Rogue/Chameleon with Knowledge Devotion. PF really doesn't have the tools to do this.

Assassin seems to have lost its spellcasting and Arcane Trickster was never good at this in the first place, given its 1/2 BAB. My PF knowledge is a bit limited, but it seems like the Magus with some stealth skills and a dex build is the way to go. Stygian Slayer is really close to what Kylar Stern could actually do, but I prefer a bit more magical prowess.

While it is nice that the magus can pretty much fit every "magical sword dude" archetype, I miss having crazy builds that borrow from 10 different books to make a coherent character.

So, does anyone have any advice on such a build?

[peacenlove]

I feel you. In PF your best bet would be to look at 3rd party.

Stalker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/path-of-war/classes/stalker) from dreamscarred has veiled moon and prana something, a set of maneuvers which specialises in poison.
Nightblade (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/3rd-party-classes/ascension-games-llc/nightblade)from Ascension games is a 2/3 caster like magus but more on the shadowy side and with shadow spells.

[Sayt]

Pathfinder has the Crimson/Red Mantis Assassin (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/c-d/crimson-assassin), which advances Sneak attack and grants some Illusion/Transmutation Wiz/Sorc Spells.

[Molosse]

A Fighter/Slayer (VMC Rogue) into Crimson Assassin will give you the feel you're looking for.

[Kurald Galain]

it seems like the Magus with some stealth skills and a dex build is the way to go.
Yep.

There's a guide in my sig. It can also do crazy builds involving multiclassing, VMC, and prestige classes if you like.

[ErrantX]

I feel you. In PF your best bet would be to look at 3rd party.

Stalker (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/path-of-war/classes/stalker) from dreamscarred has veiled moon and prana something, a set of maneuvers which specialises in poison.

I adored the Night Angel trilogy as well, and you're not alone in the want to make a Wetboy character. :smallbiggrin:

As peacenlove stated, a stalker would be a good choice for this if DSP is allowed. Check out that class (either stock stalker or perhaps soul hunter) and the Veiled Moon, Scarlet Throne, and Steel Serpent disciplines. Check out the Mage Hunter PrC and the Umbral Blade as well, as both have something that you could use to make for a Kyler Stern like character. All of those are available on d20pfsrd for you to check out.

Good luck!

-X

[charcoalninja]

I adored the Night Angel trilogy as well, and you're not alone in the want to make a Wetboy character. :smallbiggrin:

As peacenlove stated, a stalker would be a good choice for this if DSP is allowed. Check out that class (either stock stalker or perhaps soul hunter) and the Veiled Moon, Scarlet Throne, and Steel Serpent disciplines. Check out the Mage Hunter PrC and the Umbral Blade as well, as both have something that you could use to make for a Kyler Stern like character. All of those are available on d20pfsrd for you to check out.

Good luck!

-X

For another flavour of Dreamscarred fun you could go Guided Blade Soulknife. It's got all the tools for what you're looking for with the distinct fun of feeling like Raziel from Soul Reaver.

[Larkas]

I think that you might be able to emulate what you want with an Archaelogist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo---bard-archetypes/archaeologist) Bard and a nice spell selection. You might want to look at Rogue VMC + some other Bard archetype as well (Daredevil (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo---bard-archetypes/daredevil) and Dervish Dancer (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo---bard-archetypes/dervish-dancer) come to mind).

You can always look up some homebrew (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340115) too *COUGHCOUGHshamelessselfplugCOUGHCOUGH*

[DMVerdandi]

Play a blade adept arcanist.
Have a well balanced list of spells geared towards the three s's
Speed/Stealth/Striking

Once those are prepared daily, it's a simple as pie. Get in, get stabby, get out.

[AZGrowler]

What about Slayer/Shadowdancer? The slayer part covers your combat aspects, and the shadowdancer part gets you Hide in Plain Sight and eventually shadow jump. You also get a few shadow-based spells. If your GM allows you to take Unchained Rogue talents, the minor and major magic talents could give you even more flexibility.

If you want more spellcasting, the Shadow-blooded sorcerer sounds right up your alley. Just add some slayer or ninja to your liking.

[Spore]

People always seem to overlook that a Magus can be subtle and has many spells suitable for infiltration. If your spells are not enough i recommend


Play a blade adept arcanist.
Have a well balanced list of spells geared towards the three s's
Speed/Stealth/Striking

Blade Adept Arcanist 6/Slayer 1/Eldritch Knight. Levels 7 and 8 will be a bit of a speed bump but other than that you are set. Arcanist casting is very flexible and still offers you the whole wizard spell list. The class combination however enforces subtle behaviour due to your poor BAB until 10th level or so. You can be quite flashy but you can always just ignore the option to fireball a large matter of enemy soldiers.