Doctor Despair
2015-11-20, 09:58 AM
So I was looking at the Assassin PrC's death attack and it seems a bit lackluster. For all the suaveness it has, by the time the DC reaches any useful levels, the enemies typically have immunity to death effects and the like. This seems poor considering how integral it is to the Assassin's identity. The DC can only be pumped so high and it is difficult enough to go undetected next to a high-level enemy for three rounds, after all. I want to give some utility back to the assassin and perhaps give an answer to encounters and worlds stocked full of enemies conveniently immune to everything that makes the assassin, well, an assassin, but I don't want to break the world with an unstoppable killing machine. Here was what I was considering:
Bane of Undeath (needs to be enchanted by a deity/Plot things + can only be placed on epic weapon): Any creature that would normally be immune to a death attack or effect by means of a spell, ability, or by divinity instead becomes more vulnerable to such attacks from this epic weapon.
If such a target is struck by a death attack (as of the Assassin PrC), instead of being immune, the creature and the assassin must immediately make an opposed roll. All targets must actually make a roll; greater deities and others with similar abilities may not take 20 on such a roll. The would-be assassin adds 1/4th of her death attack DC to her roll, rounded up, and then any divine ranks she possesses if any. The target adds either 1/4th its HD, rounded down (so 12 from a 50HD creature), its wisdom modifier or its Divine Ranks to the roll, whichever number is greater. No other bonuses may influence this roll in favor of either side.
If the assassin is successful, the target of the attack immediately dies regardless of other conditions that would normally prevent this. If targeting a simalcrum, ice assassin, or some form of other minion or servant not directly controlled by the intended target's consciousness, that minion or servant is destroyed or killed without harming its creator or master.
If the target is under the effects of an astral projection, magic jar, mind switch, hide life, or any other spell, ability, feature, or effect that would normally prevent death, but the target's consciousness is directly controlling the struck form, the creature's spirit and all instances of its body are killed regardless of those protection and does not cling to life by these means. Such an attack is one of the only abilities capable of severing an astral cord, but only on a successful death attack. Due to this, only the effects of a wish or miracle spell can revive the victim of such a death attack.
If the target possesses divine ranks, the death attack does not result in death. Instead, the divinity of the target shields the target from the most harmful effects. In turn, the target's divine ranks and special capacities are suppressed for one year; this duration is a week shorter for every divine rank possessed by the target, at a minimum of one day. While the target's divine ranks are suppressed, the target may cast no spells, may not use or benefit from spell-like abilities, may not use or benefit from supernatural abilities, may not use or benefit from salient divine abilities, and loses all outsider hit die. The deity is essentially mortal and possesses only such feats and extraordinary abilities that it could use without its normal divine, arcane, or otherwise special power.
I believe an assassin could have about a +45 at level 20, or +47 at level 21, which would translate to a +12 modifier on the roll for her, whereas any greater deity would have 16 or 17 divine ranks, high-power creatures have 50-60 HD equating a +15 bonus, and wisdom scores of 40 (or +15) seem fairly typical at those ranks. This puts the assassin at a disadvantage of ~3-5 on this roll. In addition, they still need to beat whatever detection and divination abilities such a target would have for three or greater rounds and then succeed in a sneak attack. Any deity with Battlesense as a salient ability would be resistant to such attempts. Overall, I feel like the assassin is at a disadvantage here, which I think is fair at high levels, but I am unsure if the disadvantage is great enough -- or if it is too great. Compared to casters, it feels pretty lackluster, but then again, everything feels lackluster there, and this bypasses some traditional caster defenses. I feel as though I don't have a good sense of DCs and whatnot. What does the Playground think about this? How could I make it more balanced?
Bane of Undeath (needs to be enchanted by a deity/Plot things + can only be placed on epic weapon): Any creature that would normally be immune to a death attack or effect by means of a spell, ability, or by divinity instead becomes more vulnerable to such attacks from this epic weapon.
If such a target is struck by a death attack (as of the Assassin PrC), instead of being immune, the creature and the assassin must immediately make an opposed roll. All targets must actually make a roll; greater deities and others with similar abilities may not take 20 on such a roll. The would-be assassin adds 1/4th of her death attack DC to her roll, rounded up, and then any divine ranks she possesses if any. The target adds either 1/4th its HD, rounded down (so 12 from a 50HD creature), its wisdom modifier or its Divine Ranks to the roll, whichever number is greater. No other bonuses may influence this roll in favor of either side.
If the assassin is successful, the target of the attack immediately dies regardless of other conditions that would normally prevent this. If targeting a simalcrum, ice assassin, or some form of other minion or servant not directly controlled by the intended target's consciousness, that minion or servant is destroyed or killed without harming its creator or master.
If the target is under the effects of an astral projection, magic jar, mind switch, hide life, or any other spell, ability, feature, or effect that would normally prevent death, but the target's consciousness is directly controlling the struck form, the creature's spirit and all instances of its body are killed regardless of those protection and does not cling to life by these means. Such an attack is one of the only abilities capable of severing an astral cord, but only on a successful death attack. Due to this, only the effects of a wish or miracle spell can revive the victim of such a death attack.
If the target possesses divine ranks, the death attack does not result in death. Instead, the divinity of the target shields the target from the most harmful effects. In turn, the target's divine ranks and special capacities are suppressed for one year; this duration is a week shorter for every divine rank possessed by the target, at a minimum of one day. While the target's divine ranks are suppressed, the target may cast no spells, may not use or benefit from spell-like abilities, may not use or benefit from supernatural abilities, may not use or benefit from salient divine abilities, and loses all outsider hit die. The deity is essentially mortal and possesses only such feats and extraordinary abilities that it could use without its normal divine, arcane, or otherwise special power.
I believe an assassin could have about a +45 at level 20, or +47 at level 21, which would translate to a +12 modifier on the roll for her, whereas any greater deity would have 16 or 17 divine ranks, high-power creatures have 50-60 HD equating a +15 bonus, and wisdom scores of 40 (or +15) seem fairly typical at those ranks. This puts the assassin at a disadvantage of ~3-5 on this roll. In addition, they still need to beat whatever detection and divination abilities such a target would have for three or greater rounds and then succeed in a sneak attack. Any deity with Battlesense as a salient ability would be resistant to such attempts. Overall, I feel like the assassin is at a disadvantage here, which I think is fair at high levels, but I am unsure if the disadvantage is great enough -- or if it is too great. Compared to casters, it feels pretty lackluster, but then again, everything feels lackluster there, and this bypasses some traditional caster defenses. I feel as though I don't have a good sense of DCs and whatnot. What does the Playground think about this? How could I make it more balanced?