Too easy? Too hard? Help me finesse an encounter!

[WarKitty]

So my level 10 pseudo-gestalt PC's (bottom-tier classes are gestalt, mid-tier get extra abilities, top-tier are singleclass) managed to tick off a very powerful guild in town. They have to go into this town to get to the portal they need. As soon as they enter the town they will have a powerful assassin tracking them and attempting to kill one or more PC's.

Now I'm not feeling particularly generous here. The PC's were hired by this guild to retrieve some rare books. They instead decided the books were evil (which they were) and the guild was planning to use them for nefarious purposes (which they were not). They proceeded to burn the books, return to town, and present their employers with the burnt remains. And decided to test the alignment of their employer by throwing a holy dagger at the spokesperson and checking for extra damage.

Now I don't want to kill the entire party. However, they do have access to 3 uses of true resurrection. And really that was a stupid action and they're kind of lucky they didn't get killed right away. So...the encounter is supposed to be very tough, possibly PK-tough, but not TPK.

Anyways, here's the assassin:

Rouge 5/assassin 10//fighter 14/barbarian 1 (gestalt)

95hp

Str: 10
Dex: 17
Con: 13
Int: 13
Wis: 17
Cha: 17

Skills:

bluff 18 + 3 = 21
escape artist 18 + 5 = 23
hide 18 + 5 = 23
intimidate 18 + 3 = 21
jump 14 + 0 = 14
listen 18 + 3 = 21
move silently 18 + 5 = 23
spot 18 + 3 = 21

armor: Masterwork Studded Leather armor of spell resistance (+5 bonus, SR 19)
Shadow cloak (+5 to hide)
Boots of Elvenkind (+5 to move silently)
Weapons: Dual Masterwork Kukri, right hand is flaming burst, left hand is icy burst
Composite shortbow
Everfull Quiver
Purple worm poison (10 doses)

Fighter bonus feats:
Weapon focus (kukri)
Weapon finesse (Kukri)
Improved critical (Kukri)
Greater weapon focus (Kukri)
Two-weapon fighting
Improved Initiative
Combat Reflexes
Two-weapon Defense

Other feats: (7)
Weapon focus (shortbow)
Point blank shot
Iron Will
Greater Fortitude
Improved Feint
precise shot
improved precise shot

[Deen Fellithor]

hello, thread! that seems a little crual to the pcs if you wanted them to be in troubel you should have had something happen when they attaked the guild leader now it seems liek you are punishing them because they didnt do things just the way you wnated. just my 2p!

cheers,
Deen Fellithor

[WarKitty]

hello, thread! that seems a little crual to the pcs if you wanted them to be in troubel you should have had something happen when they attaked the guild leader now it seems liek you are punishing them because they didnt do things just the way you wnated. just my 2p!

cheers,
Deen Fellithor

Yeah, unfortunately the way things happened they really were in control of the situation when they attacked the ambassador. So they logically wouldn't have been attacked because they would have won easily.

I don't want to be the railroad DM...but that really was a stupid move and I don't like the idea that they can just get away with thumbing their noses at powerful people.

[Deen Fellithor]

oh well in that case i say go ahed with the assasin. if they have all this ressurection stuff why not kill more than 1? also,wouldnt a d&d assassin kill and destroy the body? just my 2p!

cheers,
Deen Fellithor

[Snake-Aes]

More details about the organization? What are their goals? How do they usually press their influence? How far can they reach other institutions, and how much can they influence the society around them?

If the higher ups have a more vindictive mindset, you can torment them on a daily basis when they are in civilized areas. Wanted, persecuted, excluded, you name it, you have it.

[WarKitty]

More details about the organization? What are their goals? How do they usually press their influence? How far can they reach other institutions, and how much can they influence the society around them?

If the higher ups have a more vindictive mindset, you can torment them on a daily basis when they are in civilized areas. Wanted, persecuted, excluded, you name it, you have it.

The organization is the local mage's guild. They're not actually evil, which is the mistake the PC's have been making. The local city government is evil but weak. The mage's guild isn't strongly vindictive but they now see the PC's as a threat that needs to be gotten rid of. The assassin that is after them is the enforcer for the mage's guild...while not himself a mage he has the backing of the guild in the creation of magic items. His sole job is to eliminate people who are too evil or destabilizing. (Alignment restrictions are loose in my world, he's a LN assassin.)

If the PC's can make the portal they will be clear of the plane they're on. (Planes work sort of funny here, basically they've been hopping between little pocket dimension worlds on their quest via portals.) But they have to travel to the heart of a big city to get to the portal.

[aeauseth]

I actually like your idea of an assassin! Give the PCs an opportunity to sneak their way into town however. They might hire a guy and hide in the back of a cart, use invisibility potions or something.

But if they are out in the open the assassin should definately track them. The assassin is a CR +5 which is pretty tough. Depends somewhat on your party but I'd wager at least 1 PC will die since the assassin should get the first attack.

The obvious tactic is to hide/sneak, pick easiest target, assassination attempt, run and hide behind building. Repeat. This could be a party wipe if they act stupidly.

I've seen a party of 5 semi-optimzed PCs take on a single CR +6 and win (barely). But the CR+6 didn't get the drop on them.

Lastly I built an asassin awhile back and equiped him with scrolls of true strike and bane+poison arrows. He only attacked every/other round (read scroll/attack) but with sniping rules from a window it was pretty effective and dramatic. The party knew which building they were being attacked from, but could never SPOT the assassin until they got inside the building.

In this case the assassin has the backing of a mage coucil of sorts? You should equip him will all the sneaky bastard items you can. True Strike, potions of blurr, potion of invisibilty, scrolls of improved invisability, caltrops, tanglefoot bags, etc. Make sure they are all single use items (just in case the PC's get ahold of all his gear).

[WarKitty]

I actually like your idea of an assassin! Give the PCs an opportunity to sneak their way into town however. They might hire a guy and hide in the back of a cart, use invisibility potions or something.

But if they are out in the open the assassin should definately track them. The assassin is a CR +5 which is pretty tough. Depends somewhat on your party but I'd wager at least 1 PC will die since the assassin should get the first attack.

The obvious tactic is to hide/sneak, pick easiest target, assassination attempt, run and hide behind building. Repeat. This could be a party wipe if they act stupidly.

I've seen a party of 5 semi-optimzed PCs take on a single CR +6 and win (barely). But the CR+6 didn't get the drop on them.

Lastly I built an asassin awhile back and equiped him with scrolls of true strike and bane+poison arrows. He only attacked every/other round (read scroll/attack) but with sniping rules from a window it was pretty effective and dramatic. The party knew which building they were being attacked from, but could never SPOT the assassin until they got inside the building.

In this case the assassin has the backing of a mage coucil of sorts? You should equip him will all the sneaky bastard items you can. True Strike, potions of blurr, potion of invisibilty, scrolls of improved invisability, caltrops, tanglefoot bags, etc. Make sure they are all single use items (just in case the PC's get ahold of all his gear).

They're not actually super-optimized as a party, but there are 6 of them total. One other question here: is there a good way to make magic items disappear upon the bearer's death? Or if not, a good way to grant spell resistance in a single-use item form?

[aeauseth]

a good way to grant spell resistance in a single-use item form?

Have someone cast Spell Resistance prior to encounter, or custom build a one time use item (possibly a potion of SR)

[aeauseth]

is there a good way to make magic items disappear upon the bearer's death?

A second foe using invisibilty and telekenesis. Just have him stand on a nearby building and "disarm" the magic equipment as fast as he can. Since the assassin is dead he won't resist, should be able to get the backpack + held items easily enough. Armor takes too long to get off, so a seperate ploy would be necessary for armor.

Have an invisible attendant open a portable hole, shove the dead assassin body in the hole, then steal away with everything.

[WarKitty]

A second foe using invisibilty and telekenesis. Just have him stand on a nearby building and "disarm" the magic equipment as fast as he can. Since the assassin is dead he won't resist, should be able to get the backpack + held items easily enough. Armor takes too long to get off, so a seperate ploy would be necessary for armor.

Have an invisible attendant open a portable hole, shove the dead assassin body in the hole, then steal away with everything.

Word of Recall connected to Deathwatch? Or possibly Mage's Disjunction with a limited range.

[jiriku]

Unless you are using a houserule to that effect, you cannot legally place weapon or armor enchants on nonmagical weapons and armor. You must first enchant his leather armor and kukris with a +1 enhancement bonus, then apply the extra enchants on top of that.

His Escape Artist, Hide, and Move Silently modifiers are wrong. They should be +21, +26, and +26 respectively.

Offhand, unless your party sucks, I'd say this assassin is toast the moment the players get line of sight on him. A party of 6 level 10 PCs can easily deal 95 damage in a single round, and your assassin has an AC of what, 17? They'll roll over him like a freight train.

I would recommend you add the following, at a minimum:

• a +1 enhancement bonus on his weapons and armor.
• a potion of invisibility, for escape. Or a cape of the mountebank for an even more effective escape method.
• Use Magic Device as a class skill and a scroll of silence. He'll cast the silence on himself before entering combat to enhance his stealthiness and to get an extra edge when going into melee against spellcasters.
• two 5th-level wizard acolytes who provide him with magical backup. They'll remain invisible and won't engage the party directly, but they'll buff him with displacement and haste immediately prior to combat. These spells will allow him to better survive concentrated assault, and get into and out of position much more easily. They'll also charge him up beforehand with cat's grace, bear's endurance, owl's wisdom and protection from evil, which will improve his AC, hit, saves, skill checks, and hit points, plus allow him to ignore mental control. If necessary, they can use spells like fog cloud, pyrotechnics, and summon monster III to create distractions or cover for him, all without breaking invisibility.
• The additional two CR 5 opponents will have a negligible impact on the encounter's overall Challenge Rating.

[WarKitty]

Unless you are using a houserule to that effect, you cannot legally place weapon or armor enchants on nonmagical weapons and armor. You must first enchant his leather armor and kukris with a +1 enhancement bonus, then apply the extra enchants on top of that.

His Escape Artist, Hide, and Move Silently modifiers are wrong. They should be +21, +26, and +26 respectively.

Offhand, unless your party sucks, I'd say this assassin is toast the moment the players get line of sight on him. A party of 6 level 10 PCs can easily deal 95 damage in a single round, and your assassin has an AC of what, 17? They'll roll over him like a freight train.

I would recommend you add the following, at a minimum:

• a +1 enhancement bonus on his weapons and armor.
• a potion of invisibility, for escape. Or a cape of the mountebank for an even more effective escape method.
• Use Magic Device as a class skill and a scroll of silence. He'll cast the silence on himself before entering combat to enhance his stealthiness and to get an extra edge when going into melee against spellcasters.
• two 5th-level wizard acolytes who provide him with magical backup. They'll remain invisible and won't engage the party directly, but they'll buff him with displacement and haste immediately prior to combat. These spells will allow him to better survive concentrated assault, and get into and out of position much more easily. They'll also charge him up with cat's grace, bear's endurance, owl's wisdom and protection from evil, which will improve his AC, hit, saves, skill checks, and hit points, plus allow him to ignore mental control. If necessary, they can use spells like fog cloud, pyrotechnics, and summon monster III to create distractions or cover for him, all without breaking invisibility.
• The additional two CR 5 opponents will have a negligible impact on the encounter's overall Challenge Rating.

What did I mess up on the skill points? I computer-generated those.

I'm not sure about the backup, although assassins can cast spells themselves. I'll definitely put in UMD. Is there any way to get more actions per turn then? I'm picturing him as a "move in, attack, move out" type. Alternately I think boosting initiative would probably work...if I'm reading things right, he makes a surprise round attack, then everyone rolls for initiative, he uses his first turn to activate an escape item and disappears.

[Superglucose]

hello, thread! that seems a little crual to the pcs if you wanted them to be in troubel you should have had something happen when they attaked the guild leader now it seems liek you are punishing them because they didnt do things just the way you wnated. just my 2p!

Wrong.

This is the world having natural consequences to PCs that are out of control. Personally, there is no excuse for things like the Paladin attacking someone with "smite evil" just because they might be evil and he wants to find out. This is the same thing, they met an ambassador, after breaking their agreement, and then they proceeded to attack the ambassador.

They should burn.

[jiriku]

What did I mess up on the skill points? I computer-generated those.

The skill modifier should be ranks + ability bonus + special modifiers, like so:

Escape Artist 18 + 3 + 0
Hide 18 + 3 + 5
Move Silently 18 + 3 + 5

I'm not sure about the backup, although assassins can cast spells themselves. I'll definitely put in UMD. Is there any way to get more actions per turn then? I'm picturing him as a "move in, attack, move out" type. Alternately I think boosting initiative would probably work...if I'm reading things right, he makes a surprise round attack, then everyone rolls for initiative, he uses his first turn to activate an escape item and disappears.

Well, the backup is chiefly there to buff him with spells he can't cast for himself. The buffs could be duplicated through gear, but then you run the risk of dropping a huge pile of gear on the PCs if they kill and loot the assassin. Which they'll definitely attempt to do. I suppose if his UMD is sufficiently high you can simply cover it through scrolls.

Surprise attack/disappear isn't likely to be very satisfying. Either you insta-gib a PC and his player can't do anything about it, making you The World's Most Unpopular DM, or you deal some minimal damage which the players easily heal up. There's no conflict, no dramatic tension!

If you want extra actions, you could add Robilar's Gambit to his feat list in place of Two-Weapon Defense. With displacement up, many attacks will miss, and counterattacking with a poisoned blade is a very effective use of his opportunity attacks. A good tactic for a solo monster against a large PC group is to use action denial against the PCs; drop Greater Weapon Focus an replace it with Staggering Strike, and he'll stagger anyone he can sneak attack. That combines well with Robilar's Gambit: if he's toe-to-toe with a PC fighter, he responds to the first attack with a poisoned strike that staggers the PC and shuts down his full attack. Of course, you'll need some means of reliably delivering sneak attack while alone and outnumbered. I'm not sure how to help you there.

Lastly, I highly recommend that if you kill a PC, have him retreat immediately (quit while you're ahead!). You want to heighten their fear, give them time to worry about when the next attack will come. And the next attack should come soon. I suggest that he would ambush them again near the entrance to the nearest major temple where they go to get their dead friend resurrected, or, if they have resurrection capabilities on their own and don't need to go to a temple, hit them at the entrance to their home or the inn they're staying at.

[aeauseth]

Is there any way to get more actions per turn then? I'm picturing him as a "move in, attack, move out" type.

Travel Dovation feat grants extra swift move action per turn for 1 minute. There is a chronocharm that grants a swift half movment. Potion of haste or expeditious retreat helps with the slower movement when hiding. Anklets of translocation (swift 10ft teleport). Circlet of Rapid Casting.

There are several other MIC items I'm not familiar with that might be of use. Belt of Battle? Bracers of XXXX. Gauntlets of XXX.

Careful about too much NPC wealth which generally turns into PC wealth.

One scenario would be a hasted assassin who does a full attack action (plus sneak) against his foe, then uses the travel dovation to move away and hide behind a building.

On poster suggested a couple of lvl5 backup casters. You could make one a cleric with shield other, which effectivly doubles the HP of the assassin.

Personally I'm not a big fan of having assassins with backup. I like to think of them with an attitide of "I work alone", "only attack when I have the advantage", "wait for the opportunity", "I awlays get my man", "retreat if the plan goes awry".

[WarKitty]

Just so we're clear this is core-only. I think I'm going to go for the crazy init boost method. So the PC's might have a shot at him if they can get initiative fast enough. Not a great shot, mind, but a shot.

[Curmudgeon]

Now I'm not feeling particularly generous here. ...

Anyways, here's the assassin:
Str: 10
Dex: 17
Con: 13
Int: 13
Wis: 17
Cha: 17
...
Other feats: (7)
Weapon focus (shortbow)
Point blank shot
Iron Will
Greater Fortitude
Improved Feint
precise shot
improved precise shot

This character belies your bolded statement. Mostly odd numbers means the character is purposely designed to be weak. And those feats are some of the poorest choices you could possibly imagine for an Assassin.

Where's Craven to boost your sneak attack damage by at least +15 each hit? You'll completely offset the Craven fear penalty with the Uncanny Bravery ACF (Dragon Magic, page 14), which replaces your Rogue uncanny dodge. If you don't make that substitution, you're choosing to get a second, nonstacking (i.e., wasted) improved uncanny dodge at Assassin 5. That's just pathetic, and an obvious way to make the character weaker.

You've got impossible weapons (MW + enhancements that can only be added to magic weapons), and nothing to increase your chances of hitting to deliver that sneak attack damage. Elemental damage adds are a real waste of money: only +1d6 (unless you get a critical) compared to the 8d6 sneak attack you've already got, so why doesn't the character have +5 boosts to hit? You should have Use Magic Device maxed out, and at least a partially charged wand of Greater Magic Weapon at CL 20. And you could have deadly precision enhancements and a Rogue's Vest for +2d6 more sneak attack.

You've got Hide in Plain Sight, which is great, but where's the Darkstalker feat to make you also proof against blindsight and tremorsense?

Why waste 2 feats on Iron Will and Great Fortitude for +2 to 2 saves when a Cloak of Resistance +5 will boost all 3 saves by +5? Rogue + Assassin means you've got the ability to greatly exceed the standard Wealth by Level average. Where's all the useful equipment that a rich character would use to keep themselves alive?

How are you getting Improved Feint without the Combat Expertise prerequisite?


I'm sorry, but this is a pretty laughable attempt at making a challenging opponent for your PCs. You are feeling generous, I think.

[jiriku]

If it's core only then he pretty much has to rely on high AC and miss chance, spell resistance, and outrageous saves to make sure most of their attacks fail.

A good rule of thumb for a challenging monster is AC = CR +13, and save bonus for good saves (and he has all good saves thanks to your gestalt choice) should be around CR * 1.5. So if you can hit an AC of 28 and save bonuses of +22, you should be in good shape.

Edit: Curmudgeon is rather...curmudgeonly in his feedback, and I think he missed that it's a core-only game, but his overall conclusion is correct. As currently statted, your assassin significantly underperforms for a CR 15 encounter. I'd say in it's current incarnation it's about CR 11.

[WarKitty]

This character belies your bolded statement. Mostly odd numbers means the character is purposely designed to be weak. And those feats are some of the poorest choices you could possibly imagine for an Assassin.

Where's Craven to boost your sneak attack damage by at least +15 each hit? You'll completely offset the Craven fear penalty with the Uncanny Bravery ACF (Dragon Magic, page 14), which replaces your Rogue uncanny dodge. If you don't make that substitution, you're choosing to get a second, nonstacking (i.e., wasted) improved uncanny dodge at Assassin 5. That's just pathetic, and an obvious way to make the character weaker.

You've got impossible weapons (MW + enhancements that can only be added to magic weapons), and nothing to increase your chances of hitting to deliver that sneak attack damage. Elemental damage adds are a real waste of money: only +1d6 (unless you get a critical) compared to the 8d6 sneak attack you've already got, so why doesn't the character have +5 boosts to hit? You should have Use Magic Device maxed out, and at least a partially charged wand of Greater Magic Weapon at CL 20. And you could have deadly precision enhancements and a Rogue's Vest for +2d6 more sneak attack.

You've got Hide in Plain Sight, which is great, but where's the Darkstalker feat to make you also proof against blindsight and tremorsense?

Why waste 2 feats on Iron Will and Great Fortitude for +2 to 2 saves when a Cloak of Resistance +5 will boost all 3 saves by +5? Rogue + Assassin means you've got the ability to greatly exceed the standard Wealth by Level average. Where's all the useful equipment that a rich character would use to keep themselves alive?

How are you getting Improved Feint without the Combat Expertise prerequisite?


I'm sorry, but this is a pretty laughable attempt at making a challenging opponent for your PCs. You are feeling generous, I think.

See previous post. And I'm taking suggestions, but could you please keep the insulting tone down to a minimum? This is the first campaign I've DM'd, I don't know everything here.

[IdleMuse]

Even in core-only, this character could be built a lot better. Take the cloak of resistance advice for example. It's core, and unless you absolutely don't want a cloak of +3 to fall into players hands, it saves two whole feats, which could, even at the simplest level, be used to take Craven and Knowledge Devotion. Sticking to core only is hard, very hard to make a nonmagical damage monster that six players won't be able to one-shot.

While Fire&Ice paired weapons are cool, they just aren't great for dealing actual damage, and seem to be counter-intuitive for a sneaky type to be wielding.

Don't be mean to Curmudgeon, he's only pointing out a lot of the things you need to do in order for this enemy to actually be challenging, like you intend.

Just out of curiosity, is the Barbarian level a Totem dip? Complete Champion's Lion Totem is popular for its Pounce ability, but for an Assassin, Fox totem is worthwhile as well.

[WarKitty]

Even in core-only, this character could be built a lot better. Take the cloak of resistance advice for example. It's core, and unless you absolutely don't want a cloak of +3 to fall into players hands, it saves two whole feats, which could, even at the simplest level, be used to take Craven and Knowledge Devotion. Sticking to core only is hard, very hard to make a nonmagical damage monster that six players won't be able to one-shot.

While Fire&Ice paired weapons are cool, they just aren't great for dealing actual damage, and seem to be counter-intuitive for a sneaky type to be wielding.

Don't be mean to Curmudgeon, he's only pointing out a lot of the things you need to do in order for this enemy to actually be challenging, like you intend.

Just out of curiosity, is the Barbarian level a Totem dip? Complete Champion's Lion Totem is popular for its Pounce ability, but for an Assassin, Fox totem is worthwhile as well.

I think it's mostly the "laughable attempt" line that irked me. But all advice is appreciated.

Complete champion is not an allowed source for this game. My basic attack plan: cast greater invisibility. Stalk for 3 rounds for death attack. Cast True Strike for the +20 to hit...there's really no way for that attack to miss unless he rolls a one. Make second attack. Roll initiative. Escape on turn.

[aeauseth]

Why couldn't you sneak up to your target, sit still for 1 round (or 3 if assignating). Attack, then 5ft step to hide in plain sight?

You could use obstacles like 5 ft wide foot bridges, crowds, helpless lost child (or whatever) to make the party stop in the street, thus allowing you to wait for 1 round without your target walking away. Using a ranged weapon would make things easier.

Single ranged attack (within 30'), 5' step to hide in plain sight. Repeat until PC's get wise and ready an action, then take 1 round to move out of range and try again.

With the proper buffs and tactics I think you can easily make this a challenging encounter.

[WarKitty]

Why couldn't you sneak up to your target, sit still for 1 round (or 3 if assignating). Attack, then 5ft step to hide in plain sight?

You could use obstacles like 5 ft wide foot bridges, crowds, helpless lost child (or whatever) to make the party stop in the street, thus allowing you to wait for 1 round without your target walking away. Using a ranged weapon would make things easier.

Single ranged attack (within 30'), 5' step to hide in plain sight. Repeat until PC's get wise and ready an action, then take 1 round to move out of range and try again.

With the proper buffs and tactics I think you can easily make this a challenging encounter.

Well, I'm presuming the PC's are going to be moving. However the 5 foot step could still have good tactical advantages...especially if I win initiative the target will still be flatfooted, which allows a full round of sneak attack damage followed by 5-foot step into the shadows (with greater invisibility still on).

Yes, the basic idea here is *if* the PC's can manage to get the assassin into a full-scale battle they could steamroll him. But getting that battle is going to be tricky. And NPC's in my world are allowed basic HP and save knowledge...not exact numbers, but "the spellcaster is probably squishy" type stuff.

[aeauseth]

My basic attack plan: cast greater invisibility. Stalk for 3 rounds for death attack. Cast True Strike for the +20 to hit...there's really no way for that attack to miss unless he rolls a one. Make second attack. Roll initiative. Escape on turn.

The details start to get a bit tricky... So you cast True Strike for your surprise round? They can hear you so they know which square you are in. With greater invisibility you might as well stay and fight until they find some way to see you (invis purge or whatever).

[WarKitty]

The details start to get a bit tricky... So you cast True Strike for your surprise round? They can hear you so they know which square you are in. With greater invisibility you might as well stay and fight until they find some way to see you (invis purge or whatever).

Custom "zone of silence" magic item?

[jiriku]

My basic attack plan: cast greater invisibility. Stalk for 3 rounds for death attack. Cast True Strike for the +20 to hit...there's really no way for that attack to miss unless he rolls a one. Make second attack. Roll initiative. Escape on turn.

I would encourage you to consider an alternative attack plan. While this plan is likely to work, you're more or less griefing your players by dropping save-or-die attacks on them that they can't detect, avoid, or retaliate against. Their in-game actions should have consequences, but "make a Fort save; if you roll lower than a 15 make a new character" isn't enjoyable, and a suspenseful battle against a terrifying, overwhelming foe makes for a much better story than suddenly noticing that Bob has a knife in his back and isn't breathing, and no one saw anything.

[WarKitty]

I would encourage you to consider an alternative attack plan. While this plan is likely to work, you're more or less griefing your players by dropping save-or-die attacks on them that they can't detect, avoid, or retaliate against. Their in-game actions should have consequences, but "make a Fort save; if you roll lower than a 15 make a new character" isn't enjoyable, and a suspenseful battle against a terrifying, overwhelming foe makes for a much better story than suddenly noticing that Bob has a knife in his back and isn't breathing, and no one saw anything.

Just so we're clear, the players do have easy access to true resurrection. So unless the entire party gets killed it's unlikely that anyone's gonna have to make a new character.

Out of curiosity, how *would* you approach this? The assassin is already an established in-game character as the person who will be coming after them.

[Curmudgeon]

Edit: Curmudgeon is rather...curmudgeonly in his feedback, and I think he missed that it's a core-only game, but his overall conclusion is correct.

Yeah, the core-only note was added just as I was submitting my post. I didn't see that as a possibility with gestalt characters (rules from Unearthed Arcana) and the Everfull Quiver item, which is from Traps and Treachery by Fantasy Flight Games.

See previous post. And I'm taking suggestions, but could you please keep the insulting tone down to a minimum? This is the first campaign I've DM'd, I don't know everything here.

It would be a good idea to mention constraints you're working under (core + online sources only, never DM'd before) early on; just something to keep in mind for future posts. Typically people who are DMing powerful games (gestalt, starting level in the double digits) aren't novices. So I assumed you'd know the relative value of your choices. If you're actually suffering from inexperience rather than going out of your way to be easy on the party, I apologize for my incorrect assumption.

Anyway, you've got the ability to give this character any reasonable stats you like. Most numbers should be even so that they provide the best bonus without waste. (STR is an exception, because carrying capacity is based on absolute score rather than ability modifier.) If your PCs have their primary stats at 18+, your higher-level enemy should have correspondingly higher numbers to be a challenge. While NPC wealth by level guidelines are at about 30% of PC WbL, this character has class abilities to acquire around 15th level PC wealth instead.

With core items, go for a wand of Greater Magic Weapon at CL 20, a Cloak of Resistance +5, and armor with Shadow Moves, Greater for +15 to Hide. Diversify your poison choices some. If attacking from a distance, Wyvern poison on arrows is probably your most effective choice, because CON 0 = dead. Since you're not actually using core-only sources (since gestalt isn't core) and seem to also be working from online materials, I suggest looking into Greater Manyshot, as this allows multiple sneak attack shots with a standard action. And if you can't go for the really good feats like Craven and Darkstalker, at least fill out the TWF tree with Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting. You'll be running a single character against multiple opponents. Boosting your number of attacks is the best way to make you competitive. So throw in a wand or scroll of Haste, too.

Errors you need to fix:

• Weapons must be magic (at least +1 numerical enhancement) before you can add non-numeric magical boosts.
• Check your feat prerequisites.
• Assassins are spellcasters. 10th level Assassins get 4th level spells ─ but only if they have INT of 14 or more (instead of the 13 you picked). Higher INT will grant both bonus spells and bonus skill points so you can have more tools to use against the PCs, such as Sleight of Hand to deprive them of their holy symbols and spell component pouches. I typically make INT the highest starting score for my Rogue characters.

[WarKitty]

*snip*

Thanks. Yeah this was a conversion game from a homebrew system that just wasn't working. Which unfortunately put me in DM'ing a rather higher level game than I am really prepared for so as to maintain continuity.

I think it was "core only with occasional online sources per DM approval." The everfull quiver was allowed because none of us like keeping track of ammo and we have primary ranged fighters in a campaign where access to a town is not guaranteed.

Input is appreciated, thank you.