Spymaster or Zhentarim Spy?

[redking]

Spymaster is from Complete Adventurer (page 76), and is a 7 level class. Zhentarim Spy is from Player's Guide to Faerun (page 77), and is a 5 level class.

Which class is better and why? Both seem to be variants of each other.

[Silly Name]

Zhentarim Spy, being 5 levels, has the advantage of being quicker to complete, but not much else. Spymaster's high-level abilities seem to be better versions of what the Zhent Spy gets, so I'd probably prioritise Spymaster. Requirements are similar, Spymaster gets 2 more skill points but must spend them on skills that are part of her cover identities' so that's moot, same BaB, same saves, Spymaster has a better HD... The highlights of Spymaster, imho, are slippery mind, spot scrying and mind blank.

Honorable mention to Unlikely Cover, though: I don't recall much like it. Deep Cover is also very good for infiltrator type characters, better than the spymaster's Undetectable Alignment.

Honestly? If this was the sort of character I wanted to play, and I was in a FG realm... I'd take both. Work a bit with the GM about the two different sources of cover identity, but overall they easily complement each other. Most bonuses they give are circumstance ones, which stack with each other.

[liquidformat]

So from an entry requirements point of view, for your typical rogue, spymaster will be available sooner than zhentarim since ZS requires bab 5. Also skill focus is a better feat than deceitful. Spymaster grants all martial weapons and medium armor and a slightly better skill list.
Beyond that I think ZS is a better prc, it has 5 levels instead of 7 and a lot of its abilities are better for example undetectable alignment is strictly better on ZS since it can't be dispelled and has faster SA progression. The few extras you get from spymaster like magic aura, scrying defense, quick change, and dispel scrying are nice but not must haves.

Over all I would rather go ZS and then take other prcs in particular shadowmind is quite nice in conjunction with ZS if you are a psychic rogue...

[LunaticChaos]

To answer this question one really has to dig into the features of the classes and where they beat out the other

Zhentarim Spy
-Poison Use, never underestimate Poison Use in the hands of a clever player.
-Cover Identity, unlike Spymaster, your only restriction is how many craft and profession skills you have. In addition your bonuses to it improve the better you are in your cover's field of employ. And as an added bonus ZS can hold up better to attempts to disprove it as it specifically mentions you will have official paperwork and the like detailing your cover identities while Spymaster does not (if such things exist in that particular world).
-Unlikely Cover makes your unique class feature better
-Deep Cover works more or less like Spymaster, save you get a set of Deep Covers equal to your int modifier so you have more options than Spymaster
-You get good Reflex and Will instead of just Reflex.

Spymaster
-As stated, easier to get into as no BAB requirement
-You don't have to be Evil
-Skill Focus (Bluff) is indeed better than Deceitful
-You get 8+int skills instead of 6+int
-Gains Evasion if you didn't already have it
-You get your Undetectable Alignment at level 1 instead of level 2
-You get Nystul's Magic Aura so that you can have your magic items on your person easily without blowing your cover
-Has Scrying Protection

So it comes down to a question of Quality of Cover vs Versatility of Cover. The Zhentarim Spy has far more versatility with its number of cover identities and its mundane protection vs disproving is far greater. However Spymaster is far greater at foiling magical means to disprove its cover, and its more general class features are better.


Of course, if you really want a good Spy, take 3 levels of Zhentarim Spy and then 7 levels of Spymaster. You end up with all the benefits of both, and you can make the argument that Spymaster's Deep Cover applies to the Zhentarim Spy's Cover Identities as they are the same name.

You can make up for the Zhentarim Spy's lack of magical protection of course with magic items, but that takes gold which you may or may not have in any given game.

[Bonzai]

I have only used the Zhent spy for an NPC. It was mainly for the cover identity. He was a bard that worked as a Zhent assassin. His "cover" was that of a famous bard who was well known and respected in the region. His reputation opened all kinds of doors for him, and he used his bardic charms and illusion magic to deflect suspicion and cover his tracks. Used him in a short murder mystery session in a campaign once.