New Spell [3.5]

[Fortuna]

Assassin
???
Wiz/Sorc 5
Casting time: 1 hour
Range: touch
Duration: until discharged, up to a maximum of 1 day/caster level
Area of effect: one target
Save: none (willing target), but see text
Components: V, S, M
Spell Resistance: Yes
The subject gains the ability to, against one specified target with no more than 1.5*CL HD, deliver a killing touch attack. The target of the touch attack is permitted spell resistance as if against this spell, and is also permitted a Will save. This attack may only be used once, and if the target makes their save they will notice nothing unless they make a spellcraft check with DC of CL+20. In this case they will know that they were just attacked by magic, but not the origin or nature of said magic.
Material component-A tarnished silver sword (containing silver worth 500gp) and blood and skin from the target.

What school should this be? Is this the wrong level? Should any other classes get this spell?

[DracoDei]

Assassins perhaps should get this... but maybe only at Epic.

[Baron Corm]

Why does it say "Save: none" when there is a save involved? How could the target not notice that he was just touched by someone, and that the someone mumbled a bunch of magic words? Touch spells with verbal components involve both of those things in the casting.

This spell should have the [death] descriptor, and is strictly worse than finger of death. So 5th or 6th level, maybe? And definitely take out the costly material component.

Edit: Just also noticed... casting time of one hour? The spell stat block says that it should be used on a tied down willing target, but the spell description says it should be used on an unwitting and unwilling person in a crowded area. One of those two needs to be changed. Considering the number of coup-de-graces you could make in an hour, I don't think the spell would have any use if you kept that aspect, so I would change that to 1 standard action.

[Cyanic]

TBH there are already alot of death spells, this one seems too high a level requirement to be very useful, as spells/items that would negate the death effect are pretty easy; so I would retool as desribed below:

With the need to touch the target and being target specific, AND requiring a specific material component from the target it shouldn't allow a save, just check spell resistance. Maybe limit affected HD to caster Lvl x1.5 (I.e level 20 wiz can nail up to a 30 HD target)

[Milskidasith]

Err... I just realized that this is a buff spell. You cast it on yourself (or somebody else) for an hour, and then they get the whole touch of death ability. No duration for the buff listed, though. Useful enough if you actually want to assassinate somebody; just put you hand on them gently and bam, they're dead.

[Ashtagon]

Personally, I feel there are already too many save or die spells.

The very specific nature of the components suggests to me that this should be better made as a ritual.

[Baron Corm]

Err... I just realized that this is a buff spell. You cast it on yourself (or somebody else) for an hour, and then they get the whole touch of death ability. No duration for the buff listed, though. Useful enough if you actually want to assassinate somebody; just put you hand on them gently and bam, they're dead.

Well, that's a lot cooler than what I had originally thought it was, heh. I would still put it at level 5. At higher levels you can teleport in, invisibly kill someone, and leave. Cool spell though.

[Fortuna]

I have taken this advice into account now. How does one make a ritual? And also, what school should this be? I have no idea.

[Light-Hero]

Maybe it should have a crippling effect, or the target should have 24 hours to have dispel magic cast on him? Maybe both?

Think about this a dominated henchman, which has have this spell cast on him and then goes to rapport back to his boss giving him a handsake afterwards?

Or the naive princess giving her lord father, the king, a hug while under the spell's effect??

[Latronis]

Did you mean to say that any amount of spell resistance makes the death touch useless? So instead of spell resistance being an opposed check, it's just a no spell resistance = save or die. yes spell resistance = wasted slot?

[Fortuna]

No, I didn't. This spell was made while I was still relatively new to 3rd edition, and so my wording was a bit off. I think that it works now. I still need to know wha school it is, though, and whether anyone else should get it.

And Light-Hero: it says that they gain the ability to. Your dominated henchman example works, but the naive princess is a bit more complicated to set up. And the dominated henchman example is something that I don't really mind: a targetted dispel magic would take care of both, I believe.

[DracoDei]

Welll if it counts as a [Death] effect you need to mark that next to the school, which, in that case would be Necromancy. If not, other than some good fluff to justify it not being necromancy, you could make it Transmutation I think.

Seems to sneaky for clerics... definitely not druidic(nor Ranger, for all that they have favored enemies). I suppose you might squeeze it in as a 6th level bard spell if you really wanted to. I think I already mentioned the assassian PrC...

[Cyrion]

This sounds like the assassin's version of Quivering Palm. If you make that comparison, it's a 7th or 8th level spell. (Monks get QP at 15th level.) I wouldn't make it a wizard/sorcerer spell at all- they've got much more creative ways to save or die someone.