Building an effective death magic LG assassin

[greygriffin]

The Lord of the Dead is the greatest of accountants. He cares only for his ledger, that the souls he is owed balance his books.

His clerics have two duties, firstly to see to it that the transactions run smoothly. Many neutral and good clerics serve in this capacity, helping the dying pass mercifully, and healing those whom the Lord does not yet have a claim on. Their second duty is to seek out and slay necromancers, those who steal back that which the Lord of the Dead has rightfully claimed, and for this duty his clerics are trained in the assassin's arts.

Some of these holy killers take this even further; taking an evil life will pay for a worthy soul, or an innocent, to be returned from the Lord's domain.

I want to build a lawful good death cleric who is also an effective stealth combatant, with significant burst damage. Tricks (e.g. lockpicking, deception, disguise self etc) to get close to targets are useful. I also like to play characters with lots of skills. The obvious option is Rogue Assassin 3/Grave Domain Cleric X:

Race: Wood Elf (for DEX/WIS, Darkvision, Fleet of Foot, Mask of the Wild, no story reason why required)
Background: Acolyte (Skills: Religion, Insight)
STR 9
DEX 16
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 16
CHA 12

Rogue first for skill proficiencies: Acrobatics, Deception, Perception, Stealth. x2 on Stealth and Religion. Story wise they would be proving themselves as a mundane assassin before being initiated into the higher mysteries.
This CON seems low for a melee combatant but I don't want to dump CHA or INT (Deception, Insight/Religion).

Long Death or Shadow monk both seem flavourful and less obvious picks than Assassin rogue, but I can't figure out how to multiclass monk to make it most effective.
Undying Warlock also fits, thematically, but wants CHA.

How would you build this character concept?

[Easy_Lee]

This is a MAD character. You won't be able to maintain high scores in all of those attributes at once. So, I would consider this:

Rogue (Assassin) 4: prove yourself, pick up expertise in insight and investigation so your character can perform these skills competently even with low scores. Then...
Warlock (Undying) X: pick up a blade cantrip and the invocations of your choice. Warlock spells and invocations can assist with stealth, so you shouldn't need expertise, and agonizing EB is a strong ranged option.

Standard Tactics:
Hex + EB: standard damage in combat, useful and safe, scales with level.
Assassinate: auto crit with a weapon cantrip. If the cantrip is greenflame blade, I think (but I'm not sure) that the extra damage crits as well since it's part of the attack. This should be decent enough damage when you can get it. Also scales with level.

Otherwise, use your spells and other features to solve problems. Warlock spell slots don't lend themselves well to casting something every fight. Rather, use your spells when you need them to do something interesting. Like someone else said, warlocks are a home run class. Wait for the perfect moment to cast a spell for maximum effectiveness. And use your perfectly acceptable at-will damage until then.

[EvilAnagram]

Otherwise, use your spells and other features to solve problems. Warlock spell slots don't lend themselves well to casting something every fight. Rather, use your spells when you need them to do something interesting. Like someone else said, warlocks are a home run class. Wait for the perfect moment to cast a spell for maximum effectiveness. And use your perfectly acceptable at-will damage until then.
I would actually say that Warlocks are designed to cast one spell every combat encounter. The game assumes you'll be getting a short rest every two to three encounters, and a Warlock has two to four spell slots per short rest.

[Easy_Lee]

The game assumes you'll be getting a short rest every two to three encounters, and a Warlock has two to four spell slots per short rest.

You know, I hear this all the time on forums, but rarely see it acted out on tables. My experience is that players take the longest rest they can whenever they can, and are in a constant battle with the DM who wants to keep things challenging and interesting.

I don't think it's ever safe to assume that you will get to rest after a given encounter. That's why I suggest saving those spell slots for when they'll have the biggest impact.

[EvilAnagram]

You know, I hear this all the time on forums, but rarely see it acted out on tables. My experience is that players take the longest rest they can whenever they can, and are in a constant battle with the DM who wants to keep things challenging and interesting.

I don't think it's ever safe to assume that you will get to rest after a given encounter. That's why I suggest saving those spell slots for when they'll have the biggest impact.
I let players know that they'll be getting roughly 5-8 encounters per long rest, and if they try to circumvent this it will go badly for them.

Setting those expectations works wonders.

[Easy_Lee]

I let players know that they'll be getting roughly 5-8 encounters per long rest, and if they try to circumvent this it will go badly for them.

Setting those expectations works wonders.

Maybe that works at your tables, and maybe you deliver rest opportunities at regular intervals. But most of the DMs I've met are more ad hoc. Here's a medium encounter followed by a short rest, here's a hard one with another short rest, here's a deadly trap followed by a hard followed by a medium with no rest. All I'm saying is that at the average table based on my experience, regular rests aren't guaranteed.

But we're getting off topic.

[Falcon X]

I can tell you what I did that's not too different.

My character is an extra-planar cleric of Wee-Jas. His faction was of the Fated (http://www.rilmani.org/timaresh/Fated), so he has a natural predilection for roguery and taking what is his.
He interprets Wee-Jas a little differently than his fellow clerics. He believes that the lawful bent to Wee-Jas has more to do with the "laws of the universe" than "laws o the land". He also views her type of meritocracy as a sign that her ideals line up with the Fated.
Obviously, as a follower of Wee-Jas, this means his normal profession is that of a psychopomp or protector of the dead.

Race: Human
Class: Grave Cleric 1/Theurge Wizard (Knowledge) X
Obviously you have to get approval for Theurge Wizard. What you get is some good Grave cleric flavor mixed with a Wizard focused on knowing everything in the universe. Being a Wizard also means you will always have great attack and/or stealth spells.

My character could also burgle a house easily. His knowledge domain meant he could be proficient at stealth, slight of hand, or thieves tools at any given time.
His other primary portfolio of thieving spells included:
Shape Water - Break locks and windows by letting water expand into ice.
Mold Earth - Bury things on the fly and create maps in dirt.
Mage Hand - Opens any door without leaving Fingerprints
Disguise Self
Misty Step - Step behind a person and gag them before they can react.
Invisibility
Dispel Magic