
Assassin by Wayne Reynolds (c) WotC
(this article uses the rules posted on February 12th)
Dark Assassins are thieves trained in the arts of quietly dealing death to their targets. There are few guilds and cults that train members in these arts, and attempting to join one can be a fatal experience.
Improved Backstab (First Circle)
Three times per day, when successfully using his backstab ability, the first circle dark assassin increases the damage multiplier by one (thus dealing x3 damage by the standard rules).
Minor Conjurations (First Circle)
Three times per day, the dark assassin can cast a spell from the following list (most are from the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion):
- Darkness Globe
- Feather Fall
- Fog Cloud
- Pass without Trace
- Sleep
- Spider Climb
Assassination (Second Circle)
Twice per day, the dark assassin can attempt to assassinate a target that he has complete surprise upon and successfully backstabs. There is a base 50% chance that the assassin will succeed at killing the target with a single blow. This is raised or lowered by 5% for each level or HD the target is above or below the assassin.
Minor Invocations (Second Circle)
Twice per day, the dark assassin can cast a spell from the following list:
- Amnesia
- Invisibility
- Obscure Alignment
- Protection from Good 10′ radius
- Silence 15′ radius
Major Invocations (Third Circle)
Once per day, the dark assassin can cast a spell from the following list:
- Dimension Door
- Globe of Invulnerability (lesser)
- Passwall
Hide in Plain Sight (Fourth Circle)
As long as the dark assassin is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow or source of concealment, he may attempt to hide in shadows and thus disappear from sight, even when being observed.
Magic of the Slayer (Fifth Circle)
The dark assassin gains one additional use of each of the Minor Conjurations, Minor Invocations and Major Invocations abilities per day. In addition, the dark assassin can cast one spell per week from the following list:
- Disintegrate
- Invisible Stalker
- Mind Blank
- Trap the Soul
(inspired, obviously, primarily by the assassin prestige class in the 3.5e DMG)
Dyson – you are an absolute stud. Between the Dodecahedron and this series, this is currently my favorite gaming blog.
This assassin is my favorite PrC so far and one that I will be incorporating into my Swords&Wizardry campaign. You’ve distilled the rules for these things down so elegantly that it will easily integrate with S&W and I’m jacking the whole system and putting it in. Thank you!!
That’s the goal – a simple system to add “subclasses” or “prestige classes” to D&D without the weirdness of mid-career multiclassing.
For years I played with the rules from The Arcanum which had skills that you spent XP to learn, so the mechanic seems natural to me.
I really like the prestige class ideas and am going to modify them to add them to my B/X game I am currently running
Now, who would’ve thought assassins will don iron armor (illustration)? Maybe it’s just studded leather…
Yeah, I always saw Wayne’s assassin from the DMG as wearing studded leather.