Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jay_Ibero_911 12-14-06, 09:12 PM	Race:Grey Elf Alignment: Neutral Evil STR-13 (5)-2 DEX-17 (13)+2 CON-12 (4)-2 INT-14 (6)+2 WIS-8 (0) CHA-8 (0) Lv1(Rogue)Point Blank Shot Lv2(Rogue) Lv3(Rogue)Far Shot Lv4(Rogue)+1 DEX Lv5(Rogue) Lv6(Assassin)Rapid Reload Lv7(Assassin) Lv8(Assassin)+1 DEX Lv9(Assassin)Mountain Warrior Lv10(Assassin) Lv11(Cragtop Archer) Lv12(Cragtop Archer), +1 DEX Lv13(Cragtop Archer) Lv14(Cragtop Archer) Equipment: +1 Distance Heavy Crossbow Ring of Invisibility Strategy: Works best with a pair of the above, so they can alternate attacks. Also requires wide open landscape.Basically, round one, Horizon Shot with the Sniper's Shot spell while hiding behind cover, to get ranged sneak attack from far away, next round use standard action to invis, move action to reload. Likely targeting the weakest looking characters in the party...what do you think? Evil, clever, worthless? I think in conjuction with some other stuff, could creat a tactically interesting combat, instead of the usual big tough mean things, or uber evil casters blasting the party outright.
JJeff 12-14-06, 09:45 PM	Well.... ASSUMING you have access to all that, maybe you can consider Able Sniper too? Not planning for any Death attacks? Not easy to check out your prey from so far...
Jay_Ibero_911 12-14-06, 09:57 PM	Well.... ASSUMING you have access to all that, maybe you can consider Able Sniper too? Not planning for any Death attacks? Not easy to check out your prey from so far... Uhh...wouldn't need access...I don't know what gave you the impression that this was intended as a PC...It's a suggestion for something that I think would make for a kooky combat in a mod...as for the death attack...add in 2 more assassin levels for the 4th level spell "Sniper's Eye", and gain the ability to make ranged death attacks at 60ft...
Japangirl 12-14-06, 10:54 PM	More Con, less Int, is the way I would go. 10 Con is very very weak. 14 Int and 12 Con is more in line for an elf rogue, or even 14 Con and drop some points in Dex to buy the 16, and a 12-14 Int.
Jay_Ibero_911 12-14-06, 11:59 PM	Feel free to tweak as you like. The main point is the Horizon Shot+Sniper's Shot spell+as much sneak attack as possible. Like I said, I'm merely presenting an idea that I think would be fun for someone to use in a mod (Preferably a core, sheldomar, or keoland mod so I could actually play it). Maybe thow in a blackguard or two to be fronlining while one or two of the super snipers plinks away at the party...
Lomiat 12-15-06, 12:52 AM	I don't really like assassins in LG. Much as I think they can be cool in other settings, I veer away from them as an author. The assassin's purpose is pretty simple: kill with one hit. Save or die combats can be really frustrating, more often frustrating than satisfying. An assassin that's really good at his or her job is going to take out a PC in a "surprise" round, and that PC's player will most likely feel cheated. An assassin that fails to kill his or her target is a weak fighter and will die quickly in combat (provided he or she doesn't find a means of escape). Now, if you don't pit the PCs against the assassin directly but have them charged with the task of discerning the assassin's next target and keeping that individual alive... THAT might be interesting. But assassins, as classed characters, are essentially a means of throwing a save-or-die spell into a lower APL mod (than can accomodate Phantasmal Killer, Slay Living, Finger of Death, etc.). All that said, the Cragtop Archer, ranged assassin just exacerbates matters by emphasizing the you-lose or I-suck nature of the assassin. It doesn't make the encounter any more interactive; it just means that if A would work, A works from 3x the distance. *shrug*
jstorrie 12-15-06, 12:57 AM	I don't think this would be particularly fun, and wouldn't present much of a reasonable or interesting challenge either.
Lupo 12-15-06, 01:11 AM	Race:Grey Elf Alignment: Neutral Evil STR-13 (5)-2 DEX-17 (13)+2 CON-12 (4)-2 INT-14 (6)+2 WIS-8 (0) CHA-8 (0) Lv1(Rogue)Point Blank Shot Lv2(Rogue) Lv3(Rogue)Far Shot Lv4(Rogue)+1 DEX Lv5(Rogue) Lv6(Assassin)Rapid Reload Lv7(Assassin) Lv8(Assassin)+1 DEX Lv9(Assassin)Mountain Warrior Lv10(Assassin) Lv11(Cragtop Archer) Lv12(Cragtop Archer), +1 DEX Lv13(Cragtop Archer) Lv14(Cragtop Archer) Equipment: +1 Distance Heavy Crossbow Ring of Invisibility Strategy: Works best with a pair of the above, so they can alternate attacks. Also requires wide open landscape.Basically, round one, Horizon Shot with the Sniper's Shot spell while hiding behind cover, to get ranged sneak attack from far away, next round use standard action to invis, move action to reload. Likely targeting the weakest looking characters in the party...what do you think? Evil, clever, worthless? I think in conjuction with some other stuff, could creat a tactically interesting combat, instead of the usual big tough mean things, or uber evil casters blasting the party outright. one of the worst "starts" of any module ever: "a tiger? in ahlissa" (year 4) dm has to pick one of the characters as a target for an assassin. especcially at low levels this could take one player from the table, without any means to come back. even at higher tables it was annoying, as you ar "killing" 5k gp from the players. the problem was: as a reasonable dm you would pick one of the characters that was most likely to survive the attack, as the "player" of the assassin a dm should pick the easiest victim . . . . of course the assassin was dead the next round at every table, but he got one death attack . . . not to mention that the situation was near to "auto surprise" ciao martin m.
Simpi 12-15-06, 03:09 AM	of course the assassin was dead the next round at every table, but he got one death attack. I ran the module several times and the assassin escaped nearly 50% of the time. If I did it, then it means others must have made the assassin survive as well. Sampo Haarlaa Naerie Triad
Lupo 12-15-06, 04:16 AM	I ran the module several times and the assassin escaped nearly 50% of the time. If I did it, then it means others must have made the assassin survive as well. Sampo Haarlaa Naerie Triad :) ok, he might get away when he is really lucky with his initiative and the party isn't. but come on, what chances does he actually have, being attacked by all the remaining characters??? he has no hp to speak of and no attack power apart from his death attack. ciao martin m.
SgtHulka 12-15-06, 08:15 PM	Every time I played it, saw it played, or ran it, the assassin got punked hard. When I ran it he rolled a "1" on his attack. Escaping was close to impossible. All the dirty DM tricks were specifically outlawed by the mod itself. Though it's possible the mod changed over time, and became "easier" as it got erratta'd. Now, the animated object at the end of that mod, NOW we're talking!
Maesto 12-16-06, 01:33 AM	The assassin can easily escape if he wants to (or should be able to), especially at APL 6, when dust of disappearance comes into play. Two factors to take into account were: a) he hated elves (I think?), and targetted them first b) he would set up a distraction, and take out the outliers After the initial attack, it was easy enough for him to duck behind a corner and drink another potion of invisibility, after which he could run away, in order to attack the party again later on. I especially enjoyed hiding him on a roof once =) For this topic, I don't think that it would make an interesting combat. Yay. You were deathattacked at 60 feet. Well, don't I feel good? I think it would only make an interesting combat _if_ there were 4-6 frontliners + the ranged assassin, which would then be interesting. Cheers, J
solbergb 12-18-06, 01:41 PM	one of the worst "starts" of any module ever: "a tiger? in ahlissa" (year 4) the problem was: as a reasonable dm you would pick one of the characters that was most likely to survive the attack, as the "player" of the assassin a dm should pick the easiest victim . . . . . No...as a reasonable DM you'd read the module and discover that he had a target selection criteria and you would follow it. I don't remember the exact details but it boiled down to: depending on where he attacked, it was the first or last guy in the party. Most parties put somebody pretty sturdy in those positions. Dawn Tiger was pretty psychologically broken. He was a pretty ineffective assassin as a result, in spite of pretty good equipment. Because his tactics specified melee, he was usually hosed before he got another action. Because they specified sticking around to try to make the kill (if after the surprise round he had a flatfooted target, he'd try a full attack to kill that one) he'd generally be in one place too long and get nailed. I ran that mod a lot and he never killed anybody, and never got away. If he'd used a ranged weapon at APL6, he would have been really really hard to deal with. Melee though? Pfft...he pinpoints himself, he's vulnerable to all the animals with scent, he inevitably gets glitterdusted or faerie fired and then butchered.
Madfox11 12-19-06, 04:09 AM	If the DM ran it properly you were also warned about the assassin hunting you down. I know that when I played it, we made very sure our barbarian was at the back (immune to death attack due to uncanny dodge), sturdy high AC characters at the sides and the rogue at the front (uncanny dodge as well). The fight was over in 1 round... I agree that in most circumstances assassins are a pain, although they are no worse than a trap with a save-or-die effect. It doesn't mean they do not have a place in the game.
solbergb 12-19-06, 03:08 PM	If the DM ran it properly you were also warned about the assassin hunting you down. I. Maybe. We forgot to show up to the secret meeting and only remembered when we were in a fishing village many miles away :)
Lupo 12-19-06, 04:03 PM	Maybe. We forgot to show up to the secret meeting and only remembered when we were in a fishing village many miles away :) yea, but in our case the warning was: "someone called "tiger" doesn't like you". none of us was able to pull the knowledge [local] half-a-zilllion :rolleyes: hey, someone called nerull and some other guy who has a voice problem doesn't like some of my characters either, among plenty others :D ciao martin m.
_m_ 12-19-06, 05:14 PM	yea, but in our case the warning was: "someone called "tiger" doesn't like you". none of us was able to pull the knowledge [local] half-a-zilllion :rolleyes: hey, someone called nerull and some other guy who has a voice problem doesn't like some of my characters either, among plenty others :D ciao martin m. but... nerull is LUVLY. why on earth would nerull not like you?