variant assasins: brainstorming

[Wraithy]

after the failing to find a variant assasin in the "Gaming (d20 and General RPG)" section ( http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37216 ) ; i have decided to take it to homebrew section.

any ideas appreciated

[MeklorIlavator]

Well, the spell less Ranger/Paladin basically get spell-like abilities, so give him a few of those. Maybe based off some of his spells, like invisibility once per day.

Personally, I believe that the spellless variants are pretty terrible. They give fewer bonus less often than the spell capable version. I would give them thematic ablities, maybe copied somewhat off of this Ranger variant. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=370132

[ExHunterEmerald]

Hmm...
Okay, ditch spellcasting, and...
Maybe a full sneak attack progression for every level.
It might be a bit powerful, but a way to overcome non-sneak-attackable enemies might be good.
Evasion and Improved Evasion are powerful, and if you're going swift moving type, they'll work thematically too.
Edit: I've been planning on making a non-evil assassin variant for awhile, I may as well combine that with this. I'll post and link it when I finish.
Edit Squared: Quick and dirty, but done. Cheers.

[Wraithy]

nice.

i was thinking more in the range of spring attack -esque feats, but nice.

i've never liked classes which go up to spell lvl 5 and stop, special abilities are much better, especially for rangers.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

A spell-less Assassin, but probably having spell-like abilities and just plain nasty abilities. Sounds like a good idea to me...

{table="head"]Level | BAB | Ref | Fort | Will | Special Abilities
1 | +1 | +a | +b | +c | Death Attack, Poison Use
2 | +2 | +a | +b | +c | +1d6 Sneak Attack, Uncanny Dodge
3 | +3 | +a | +b | +c | Master of Disguise, Sleep 1/day
4 | +4 | +a | +b | +c | +1d6 Sneak Attack, Ghost Sound
5 | +5 | +a | +b | +c | Concealing Shadows
6 | +6 | +a | +b | +c | +1d6 Sneak Attack, Trackless Step
7 | +7 | +a | +b | +c | Spider Climb
8 | +8 | +a | +b | +c | +1d6 Sneak Attack
9 | +9 | +a | +b | +c | Mind Blank
10 | +10 | +a | +b | +c | +1d6 Sneak Attack, Sniper's Eye [/table]

Master of Disguise (Ex): An Assassin needs to be good at disguises to get to his mark. He gains an unnamed bonus to his Disguise skill equal to his Assassin level.
Sleep (Sp): As the spell, 1/day
Ghost Sound (Sp): As the spell, at will
Concealing Shadows (Ex): An Assassin knows how to conceal himself effectively. Any time he is within 10 feet of a shadow large enough to hide him, he is considered to have Concealment. His own shadow does not count.
Trackless Step (Ex): An Assassin is almost impossible to track. Subtract his Assassin level from any Survival check made to track him down in addition to any modifiers.
Spider Climb (Sp): As the spell, at will
Mind Blank (Su): As the spell, always on
Sniper's Eye (Ex): If a Sniper takes at least three rounds to study a target, his sneak attack range increases by 30 feet and his target looses all bonuses gained from anything less than full concealment or full cover.

[Wraithy]

ooo, this is just the stuff i was looking for

[That Lanky Bugger]

I generally give PCs who want a spell-less variant of the Assassin d8 HD and Full BAB progression. Works pretty well, I think.