Building the Assassin

[weckar]

I'm probably not the first to post this, definitely not the last: I want to build an Assassin's Creed style Assassin. By which I mean I'd like to replicate their general abilities as closely as possible without imposing an alignment restriction.

Abilities of theirs to consider (with explanations for those who haven't played):
-Eagle Vision: The ability to temporarily distinguish friend from foe, which has over the centuries developed to also allow foes to be tracked for a little while.
-Revelation: The ability to probe someone's mind after their death. (Would Heroes of Horror's Spirit Sense feat accomplish this?)
-Climbing and acrobatics
-Hide in plain sight
-High critical damage when undetected (A pimped out combo of skirmish and sneak attack, perhaps?)

Issue being I'd like most of these abilities to not sacrifice mental stats whenever possible. Assassin's are known to be rather.... philosophical. Each has their own balance of stats, but overall quite balanced. Feel free to roll '5d6b3 in order' to get something appropriate.

Thanks in advance, and do point out some critical abilities I missed.

[Seppo87]

Is this 3.5?

[weckar]

Yes. I assumed that was the default in this subforum?

[Apricot]

I'm fairly certain the Assassin Prestige Class has most of what you're looking for. Tracking enemies? They get Locate Creature, so check. Climbing and acrobatics? They have Climb, Tumble, and Balance as class skills, and can learn Spider Climb. Hide in plain sight? They get Invisibility and Greater Invisibility as well as Hide and Disguise as class skills. Critical damage when undetected? Both the 5d6 Sneak Attack and the class ability Death Attack accomplish that. The only problem is the learning from the departed bit. Spirit Sense seems to accomplish this, although it's worth noting that the dead don't have to tell you a damn thing. If you want to forcibly probe someone's mind, the spell Speak With Dead is definitely the way to go. It uses the corpse rather than the spirit to ask questions, so there's no resisting its effects. One problem: it's a level 3 Cleric spell, which you can certainly work into the build, but which loses all thematic value. But on the bright side: Use Magic Device is on the Assassin class list, and a wand of Speak With Dead only costs 375 gold!

Base class obviously works as Rogue, but levels in Ranger can be good too. Hope this helps.

[Tiri]

Well, he did say he wanted no alignment restrictions. Which Assassin clearly has. The Assassin variant Avenger has more available alignments (any non-chaotic as opposed to any evil), but has a more limited spell list.

[Apricot]

Oh, fair distinction. Best solution to that is to ask the DM if you can give up class features (like everything to do with poison, maybe) in exchange for loosening the alignment restriction.

The alternatives, as far as hiding in plain sight are concerned, are basically Ranger and Shadowdancer. Scout is a possibility, but that requires you move around to get your Skirmish off. But I think it's worth considering whether you want to hide in plain sight or whether it would be better to just use Disguise. If you choose Disguise, that expands your options massively and lets you basically just Rogue20, possibly mixing in other things if you want to be cute with it. Tracking from Ranger remains good, though.

[weckar]

hmmm Shadowdancer isn't that good... Aren't there classes outside of core that do this better?

As far as the ranger idea, wouldn't that shove me down a TWF or Archery path? Not bad options, but hardly the focus here. And picking my own race for favored enemy (although perfectly legal) feels awkward.

[gorfnab]

hmmm Shadowdancer isn't that good... Aren't there classes outside of core that do this better?

Swordsage (ToB) class
Psychic Rogue (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd%2Fpsm%2F20040723b)
Psychic Assassin prestige class (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040723d)
Ebon Saint (CP) prestige class
Telflammar Shadowlord (UE) prestige class
Darkstalker (LoM) feat
Dark Creature (ToM), Shadow Creature (LoM), or Shadowalker (UE) template

[Cerefel]

I think an important question to ask is whether the OP wants the character to be mostly mundane, or if they want it to have spells.

[Prime32]

The closest equivalent to a Hidden Blade is probably the gnome quickrazor + Iaijutsu Focus combo. Quickrazors are 19-20/x2 weapons, though - a Hidden Blade would be more like a 20/x4 weapon with low base damage, immunity to disarming, and a bonus on checks made to conceal it.

The Revelation thing is similar to the speak with dead spell (except that the whole interrogation happens instantly), so look into classes that grant that.

The Cityscape supplement (and the extra material in its web enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)) might be helpful. So might the Urban Ranger variant from UA (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#rangerVariantUrbanRang er).

A Swift Hunter build with some of those ACFs could work, especially if it's ruled that you can use it with Riposte instead of Skirmish. Be an elf and use Aereni Focus (Player's Guide to Eberron) for access to iaijutsu?
...and now I'm picturing an Assassin's Creed: Sharn where you play as a kalashtar trying to assassinate members of the Dreaming Dark. They even have a Bleeding Effect from their quori ancestor (which becomes stronger if you take the atavist PrC, and even gives you the ability to shield yourself from mental influence). Merrix d'Cannith can be the Leonardo stand-in.

[LTwerewolf]

The stalker from PF also works to this effect rather well if you can use a pf class.

[Muggins]

Eagle Vision can be partially replicated by the Detect Hostile Intent (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/detectHostileIntent.htm) power, but not perfectly. Maybe Quick Reconnoiter (Dungeonscape, p.46) might help?

The Spirit Sense feat should work for the Revelations.

[Prime32]

The Crowd Tactics feat from Races of Destiny could also fit for Ezio. So could Goad.

Then there's the Black Dog PrC from Dragonmarked - a halfling PrC which gains Death Attack, and can Hide in Plain Sight as long as there are at least three Medium+ creatures within 10ft. Also it can conjure or enhance poisons, and deliver any form of poison with a touch attack - this doesn't alert the target, and you can delay the poison's effects for up to 5 minutes.

EDIT:

Ezio is now the ancestor of Spider Man.That would explain a few things actually. (http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/3853/120442-94886-spider-man-the-othe.jpg)

[Muggins]

The Crowd Tactics feat from Races of Destiny could also fit for Ezio. So could Goad.

Then there's the Black Dog PrC from Dragonmarked - a halfling PrC which gains Death Attack, and can Hide in Plain Sight as long as there are at least three Medium+ creatures within 10ft. Also it can conjure or enhance poisons, and deliver any form of poison with a touch attack - this doesn't alert the target, and you can delay the poison's effects for up to 5 minutes.

EDIT:
That would explain a few things actually. (http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/3853/120442-94886-spider-man-the-othe.jpg)

Don't forget the skill tricks from Complete Scoundrel, usable roughly 1/encounter. Mosquito's Bite will let you attack and/or assassinate targets without them noticing you, Shrouded Dance will grant you concealment and allow you to vanish, Clarity of Vision will pick out invisible targets for your Eagle Vision, and many of the movement tricks (Corner Perch, Leaping Climber, Walk the Walls, Wall Jumper, and Speedy Ascent are all good for climbing, for example) will help.