Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kevmann 02-17-07, 01:29 PM	If your bored of the same old Death Attack, DMG Assassin try playing a Shrouded Assassin. They use guile to get in close and enhanced poison to take them out. Of course, their weapon would always have a good coating on it as well, just in case things needed to be taken care of the old fashon way. I challenge this is a complete and balanced addition to any game, low, medium, or high power games. I am, of course, open to all suggestions and comments and will change the class as ideas come. Thanks everyone, and enjoy! The Shrouded Assassin The man sitting beside you at the party, the lieutenant in the organization, the random dinner guest that comes to you, your closest friend. All of these could be a shrouded assassin. Masters in the art of deception and infiltration, the shrouded assassin gets in close not by stealth, but by guile. The shrouded assassins have two fold jobs. Their first and primary goal is status placement and gathering information. The first job of the shrouded assassin is to learn information about their intended target, whether it be an individual or group. They then infiltrate their target, placing themselves in a position to access people and information quickly, either by becoming a member, a good friend or advisor, or just becoming a passing acquaintance. They use their techniques of guile and subterfuge to the fullest, bypassing most magical means of detection and using personal skill to win over those they meet. This is in preparation of their second goal, elimination. The shrouded assassin takes the information he learns, and then decides whether or not to take action on the matter. The shrouded assassin can wait years or days in the same place, and still never decide to acquire a target. But once they do, they kill their target with their primary weapon, poison. The shrouded assassin spends much of his training learning about poison. They learn how a poison works, and how to change and apply the poison for maximum effect. Their favorite technique is to slip poison in a persons drink or food, or by a simple inhalant or dart with the proper substance. A seasoned assassin can make the symptoms of a poison appear as a disease or natural causes, or even delay it until the assassin has retreated away from the target. In any case, the poison that shrouded assassins use is deadly, and targets rarely survive an attack by one. The shrouded assassin uses words to enter into the minds and hearts of those he targets, and then silently kills without their target having ever known their assailant. Hit Die: d6 Requirements: Alignment: Any non-good Skills: Bluff 8 ranks, Disguise 4 ranks, Sleight of Hand 8 ranks, Craft (alchemy) 8 ranks Class Skills: The Shrouded Assassin’s class skills are Bluff, Climb, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (local), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Perform, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Use Rope Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier Class Progression Lvl BAB FS RS WS Special 1 +0 +0 +2 +2 Poison use, poison mastery +1 2 +1 +0 +3 +3 Smooth tongue 3 +2 +1 +3 +3 Invincible lies, poison mastery +2 4 +3 +1 +4 +4 Exploit weakness 5 +3 +1 +4 +4 The black connection, poison mastery +3 6 +4 +2 +5 +5 Distracting hands 7 +5 +2 +5 +5 Poison enhancement, poison mastery +4 8 +6 +2 +6 +6 Master of infiltration 9 +6 +3 +6 +6 Know weakness, poison mastery +5 10 +7 +3 +7 +7 Hide mind, perfect poison, poison immunity Class Features: Poison Use (Ex): The Shrouded Assassin can use all poisons without accidentally poisoning themselves. Poison Mastery (Ex): The shrouded assassin is the master of both applying and resisting poisons. He gains a +1 natural saving throw bonus to all poisons gained at 1st level that increases by +1 for every two additional levels the assassin gains. Also, any time he applies a dose of poison (to a weapon, in someone’s food, etc.), the Saving Throw DC of that poison increases by the shown amount. Smooth Tongue (Ex): At 2nd level, the Shrouded Assassin becomes exceptionally glib, he gains a +2 bonus to all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Intimidate checks. Invincible Lies (Su): At 3rd level, nothing can detect the lies of a Shrouded Assassin. He is immune to all spells that could reveal or detect any lie he speaks, this includes but is not limited to such spells as detect lies and zone of truth. Exploit Weakness (Ex): At 4th level, the shrouded assassin is able to study an opponent, learn their weaknesses, and select the poison that would most debilitate their mark. After studying a target creature for 1 round, the assassin learns which ability score is the lowest among all their ability scores (but not the numrical score). If there is tie for the lowest ability score, the assassin learns all of them. For every additional round the assassin studies, the shrouded assassin learns of the next highest ability(s) and so forth. The assassin must have unbroken sight of the target, but otherwise can act normally. If their line of sight is broken or if the assassin decides to study another target they can do so at the beginning of their next round. The Black Connection (Ex): At 5th level, the Shrouded Assassin has the connections on the black market to purchase all the poison he needs at a reduced cost. When in any settlement that is considered a city (DM’s choice), the Shrouded Assassin can purchase any poison he wants through the black market, and at half price. Distracting Hands (Ex): At 6th level, the Shrouded Assassin is able to distract others when using the Slight of Hand skill. Before any use of Slight of Hand, he may make a single Bluff check opposed to all watchers Sense Motive checks. After this, he makes a single Sleight of Hand check. All who fail their Sense Motive check are not allowed a Spot check to notice his Sleight of Hand. If his enemies pass their Sense Motive check, they then get a Spot check to notice the Slieght of Hand as normal. Poison Enhancement (Ex): At 7th level, with great experiance the shrouded assasin has mastered the use and creation of poisons. By spending one hour on a poison, and making a Craft (alchemy) check with a DC equal to the base Fortitude save of the poison to be altered, several effects are created. First, all damage dice done by the poison is increased one step (1d6 becomes 1d8, 1d8 becomes 2d6, etc.), although this applies only if the poison is applied by the Shrouded Assassin. Second, the assassin can apply other changes as follows. For each additional change he makes, he must add +2 to the DC of his Craft (alchemy) check. This enhancement process may only be done once, and is impossible to reverse once completed. Failure means the effort was lost and the Shrouded Assassin must try again the next day. Failure by more then 5 results in the poison being ruined and unusable. Hard to Notice: May make the poisons primary effects delayed for up to one minute per assassin level (secondary effects apply a minute later). Slow Death:. May make the poisons secondary effects delayed for up to ten minutes per assassin level. Undetectable:. May make the poison tasteless/odorless/colorless (a Craft (alchemy) check with the DC of the poison is required to detect it). Natural Causes. May make the poisons external effects appear as an illness or natural causes (a Heal check with the DC of the poison is required to detect it). Master of Infliltration (Su): At 8th level, the shrouded assasin can make an opposed Charisma check after talking with any humanoid for one miniute. If the assassin wins, the target is influenced by a charm person spell for 1 hour per character level. If the assassin fails, the target is immune to this ability for 24 hours. The assassin gains a +2 bonus on this roll if used against a target that has failed the opposed roll in the past. Know Weakness (Ex): At 9th level, every time the shrouded assassin learns of a target's weakness he also learns the range of that creature's ability score. The DM gives the player information based on a scale, with “weak” being 1-5, “below average” being 6-9, “average” being 10-13, “exceptional” being 14-19, “inhuman” being 20-27, “epic” being 28-39, and “godly” being 40+, or whatever description the DM feels appropriate. Hide Mind (Sp): At 10th level, the Shrouded Assassin can become immune to all mind-affecting spells and divinations by rigorously silencing his mind. Using mind blank is a standard action. The Shrouded Assassin can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his intelligence modifier. This ability works exactly like a mind blank spell cast by a sorcerer of the characters level, except that it affects the Shrouded Assassin only and its duration is 10 minutes. Perfect Poison (Ex): At 10th level, the shrouded assassin’s poison becomes magically resistant as part of his enhancement process. Firstly, poison refined by the shrouded assassin is immune to all forms of magical detection. If the subject is under a magical effect that grants him a resistance or immunity to poison (such as Neutralize Poison), the spell must make a caster level check vs the improved DC of the poison or it grants no protection against either the primary or secondary effects of that dose of poison. Poison Immunity (Ex):At 10th level, the assassin gains an immunity to all poisons.
RobbyPants 02-19-07, 12:01 PM	It's a nice idea, but my only concern is a lack of sneak attack progression.
Kevmann 02-19-07, 08:47 PM	I felt the increase in the power of his poison, and the fact he could apply it to his weapons, made up for this loss of progression. However, I have been playing around with adding a +3d6 sneak attack progression to the class. But I also was thinking about adding the assassin bonuses vs poison as well, and I am worried that adding either one or both might be to overbalancing. What do you think?
Mordin 02-19-07, 09:33 PM	I felt the increase in the power of his poison, and the fact he could apply it to his weapons, made up for this loss of progression. However, I have been playing around with adding a +3d6 sneak attack progression to the class. But I also was thinking about adding the assassin bonuses vs poison as well, and I am worried that adding either one or both might be to overbalancing. What do you think? The bonus to saves versus poison sounds good to me. In fact giving the SA an immunity to poison eventually would make even more sense. As far as sneak attack I don’t think its needed or even makes much sense with this class (IMO of course). Cool class by the way :D P.S. IMO this would be a good assassin for a low magic game.
Sudnji_cas 02-20-07, 08:42 AM	Have you found Distracting Hands feat somewhere or did you make it, because it is so much more realistic than normal sleight of hand.
RobbyPants 02-20-07, 11:03 AM	I felt the increase in the power of his poison, and the fact he could apply it to his weapons, made up for this loss of progression. However, I have been playing around with adding a +3d6 sneak attack progression to the class. But I also was thinking about adding the assassin bonuses vs poison as well, and I am worried that adding either one or both might be to overbalancing. What do you think? You have a point. I tend to think of the standard DMG assassin when I think assassin, which is what made me think of the sneak attack. I wasn't implying that I thought it was underpowered without it. I guess the other nice thing about this is that it makes you less dependant on taking rogue as your class leading up to it (for purposes of beefing up your sneak attack damage). I'd have to take a close look at the skill list of various classes to see who could qualify for it by level 5... I do like the poisoning idea. If you ran a game with this, would you include both versions of the assassin for variety/flavor? If I were to adopt this class, that's how I'd handle it.
Encard 02-20-07, 03:17 PM	Hmm... My main concern with this class is that it requires a fair bit of prep time to use its poison abilities. With eight hours requires to get anything extra out of (I assume a single batch of) poison, the character would need a lot of downtime to prepare enough poison for a reasonable-length adventure. Each dose of poison also costs the character money, of course. The class also has nothing that actually makes poison more deadly... although it's a lot less likely that a character will avoid the effects of a high level Shrouded Assassin's poison, the character is still not very likely to die/be incapacitated by it. This seems like a pretty solid class for an NPC, but I feel that it has some issues as a PC class in most games, much more so than the DMG assassin does.
DarkRhystar 02-20-07, 04:20 PM	This class gives up pretty much everything that makes the Assassin decent (Spells, HiPS, SA, DA) for some misdirection type abilities and enhanced poison use. Seems really weak to me.
Kevmann 02-20-07, 07:14 PM	Mordin, Thanks a lot for posting, I value your opinion. I agree, as well with other posts I think that sneak attack is out, and saves vs. poison is in. However, I don't know about immunity to poison (the Princess Bride comes to mind), perhaps I will have made up my mind by the time I am done writing this post. And yes, I also liked the low-magic aspects of the class. Too bad they are so hard to come by these days. Sudnji_cas, actually I whipped it up on the seat of my pants when I was creating the class, this was about a year ago. However, upon re-posting it I added some clarification to make it easier to read. I also like how this works, although it makes it much much more difficult for others to notice your SoH, so probably why its not widely used. Robbypants, thanks for the clarification. Please post some of your ideas about alternative core classes that could meet those reqs, I really didn't think about that and it might prove to have insight. Thanks for the poison input. I would keep both assassin versions in a game just like I would keep fighters and barbarians. Its just a different slice of the same apple. Encard, you bring up an excellent point. I forget that a lot of games have very little downtime. Otherwise, the assassin is forced to make only one poison each adventuring day, perhaps more or less while traveling. I will probably knock it down to a poison an hour, that gives them about 8 poisons in a day and should fit all but the highest paced games. Do you think that would clear up your concerns as a PC class? DarkRhystar that’s an interesting point. I guess I tend to make my classes a bit underpowered in fear that they be overbalanced as compared to the rest of the prcs in the rulebooks (and thus unviable to most games). Do you think that the addition of the poison save bonus, with perhaps the crowning of immunity to poison at 10th level, would make the class more balanced? Thanks everyone for posting, I appreciate all of your input. I will have a class update soon. EDIT: Updated. Also, does anyone (including you DarkRhystar) think that any of the other assassin abilities should be added to the class? Or do you think the class is now balanced as is? -Kevin Rose
Mordin 02-20-07, 08:21 PM	Since this is a kind of espionage/spy class maybe something that gives them a bonus to Disguise Self. One concern that came to mind is increasing the damage a poison can do is very dangerous IMO, because poison in general dose ability damage witch can kill quite easily. That brings another thought to mind, maybe give them an ability that lets them know the lowest trait of a target. So they could observe someone for X amount of rounds/time to determine what the best poison to use against that target. For example, a SA watches someone for X rounds and determines that their Int is only 10 so use a poison that dose 2d6 points of Int damage and wa-la instant death. Hope that gets the creative juices going.
DarkRhystar 02-20-07, 08:28 PM	DarkRhystar that’s an interesting point. I guess I tend to make my classes a bit underpowered in fear that they be overbalanced as compared to the rest of the prcs in the rulebooks (and thus unviable to most games). Do you think that the addition of the poison save bonus, with perhaps the crowning of immunity to poison at 10th level, would make the class more balanced? EDIT: Updated. Also, does anyone (including you DarkRhystar) think that any of the other assassin abilities should be added to the class? Or do you think the class is now balanced as is? The class needs something offensive. All you've got is Perfect Poison with 3/4 BAB, and I guarantee that won't cut it for many things at level 15. I recommend giving the Assassin spell progression to your variant.
Kevmann 02-20-07, 11:25 PM	Mordin, While I agree that increasing the damage can be dangerous, I think it is worth the loss of the sneak attack progression. Also, the poisons that are really dangerous with this increase are also pretty expensive, which calculates a lot into the equation. The ability you mention is interesting, I'll have to think how I would word that. DarkRhystar, Really, I kind of hesitated about giving this class the spell progression because I don't really understand why assassins get spells. Do you think this class fits the flavor of having spells? It would fill a big espionage gap that Mordin noticed might be missing (disguise self for instance). What spells would it get in its spell list? Thanks again guys for your help.
Tuhljin 02-20-07, 11:40 PM	First off, I like the concept and flavor of the class a lot. Mordin's idea about being able to study a target to see which ability score is lowest sounds like a great idea - though I don't know if I'd have it actually give the exact number of the ability score... maybe a range of numbers would be better (like "weak" being 1-5, "below average" being 6-8, "average" being 9-11, "above average" at 12-16, "strong" at 16-21, 22-29 being "very strong," and 30+ being "immense" or some such label). The ability could give more detail about each score the longer the target is studied. For example, studying for X rounds tells you which score is lowest and what "range" it's in (e.g. "below average"), another X (or a different #) rounds tells you the second lowest score and its range, etc. The class says it's about poison and guile. I'd like to see more guile in the class abilities - as it is, it seems you've only got a +2 bonus to a few skills and invincible lies. Yes, there are anti-detection abilities as well, but those don't really shout "guile" - "insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity" - to me. Off the top of my head I don't have many suggestions, but if I come up with something that hasn't ended up here first I'll post it.
erebfaer 02-21-07, 04:11 AM	I would just like to say LEVEL TO POISON DC IS INSANE!!! +10 to DC makes some posions (for a average con char with good fort at lvl 20 [thats +12]) impossible short of a natural 20. I would suggest taking that down to a maximum of +5. Appart from that, great! I have been looking for a poison specialized class!
RobbyPants 02-21-07, 10:15 AM	Robbypants, thanks for the clarification. Please post some of your ideas about alternative core classes that could meet those reqs, I really didn't think about that and it might prove to have insight. I'll have to find some time to look at the class list for each class, to find out which skills are class and cross-class skills. My only fear is that the skill list you have for the prereqs will force this to be a rogue-only PrC (or at least attaining it at minimum level). One thing to consider (if you want people to qualify at 5th level) is to make any "impoartant" skills have an 8 rank requirement, and other "non-important" or "flavor" skills have a 4 rank requirement (reachable as a cross-class at 5th level). Just as a suggestion, consider (changes in blue): Bluff 4 ranks, Disguise 4 ranks, Sleight of Hand 4 ranks, Craft (alchemy) 8 ranks, Hide 8 ranks, and Move Silently 8 ranks Perhaps you could drop the Hide and Move Silently to 6 or 4 ranks. This is just one option that I thought of to broaden the list of classes that could take the PrC at a lower level. The five ranks you had actually isn't a bad idea, it just forces those with cross-classes to wait until level 7 instead of 5 (and maybe that's what you want). I added Hide and Move Silently, because a poisoning assassin would still want to be stealthy (IMO). Also, the list I posted is pretty large, and could be cut down to about four skills (otherwise, only high Int and/or high skill point classes can qualify). Just my :twocents:
Kevmann 02-21-07, 07:50 PM	Exploit Weakness (Ex): At 4th level, the shrouded assassin is able to study an opponent, learn their weaknesses, and select the poison that would most debilitate their mark. After studying a target creature for 1 round, the assassin learns which ability score is the lowest among all their ability scores. If there is tie for the lowest ability score, the assassin learns all of them. For every additional round the assassin studies, the shrouded assassin learns of the next highest ability(s) and so forth. The assassin must have unbroken sight of the target, but otherwise can act normally. If their line of sight is broken or if the assassin decides to study another target they can do so at the beginning of their next round. Know Weakness (Ex): At 8th level, every time the shrouded assassin learns of a target's weakness he also learns the range of that creature's ability score. The DM gives the player information based on a scale, with “weak” being 1-5, “below average” being 6-9, “average” being 10-13, “exceptional” being 14-19, “inhuman” being 20-27, “epic” being 28-39, and “godly” being 40+, or whatever description the DM feels appropriate. Thanks Mordin and Tuhljin for the ideas! What do you think of them as written before I update the class? Tuhljin, I wanted to keep the "guile" part of the class to the skills. Do you think I should add in another ability that gives an even larger bonus to social skills? What kind of extraordinary and/or supernatural abilities did you have in mind? erebfaer has a good point, but I have played in games were DMs have had some exceptional Fortitude saves. Since Fortitude can be boosted in many ways but the DC of poison is set by the most you can afford, does anyone feel that +10 is too powerful, and that it should be reduced to a max of +5? RobbyPants, I don't want to change any of my skill reqs, however I will reduce disguise to 4 ranks, that way it is easier for cross-classers to meet. Thanks a lot everyone, I feel us getting close.
Mordin 02-21-07, 08:50 PM	Exploit Weakness (Ex): At 4th level, the shrouded assassin is able to study an opponent, learn their weaknesses, and select the poison that would most debilitate their mark. After studying a target creature for 1 round, the assassin learns which ability score is the lowest among all their ability scores (this dose not tell the SA the actual number just that the trait is the lowest see Know Weakness, below) . If there is tie for the lowest ability score, the assassin learns all of them. For every additional round the assassin studies, the shrouded assassin learns of the next highest ability(s) and so forth. The assassin must have unbroken sight of the target, but otherwise can act normally. If their line of sight is broken or if the assassin decides to study another target they can do so at the beginning of their next round. Or something to the affect just to clarify that they do not learn the actual score just that its the lowest. Other than that it sounds good. Know Weakness (Ex): At 8th level, every time the shrouded assassin learns of a target's weakness, using the Exploit Weakness ability, he also learns the range of that creature's ability score. The DM gives the player information based on a scale, with “weak” being 1-5, “below average” being 6-9, “average” being 10-13, “exceptional” being 14-19, “inhuman” being 20-27, “epic” being 28-39, and “godly” being 40+, or whatever description the DM feels appropriate. Just a suggestion I’m actually not very good at rewording things. :) Thanks Mordin and Tuhljin for the ideas! What do you think of them as written before I update the class? Your welcome erebfaer has a good point, but I have played in games were DMs have had some exceptional Fortitude saves. Since Fortitude can be boosted in many ways but the DC of poison is set by the most you can afford, does anyone feel that +10 is too powerful, and that it should be reduced to a max of +5? I think I have to agree with this line of thinking +10 is huge and yes you are limited to how high by the amount of money one has but I’ve never come across a player who doesn’t manage to have just the right amount of money when one needs it. The most likely candidate for this is a Rouge or Bard after all. My suggestion: The DC is increased by +1 per to class levels to a maximum of +5 at 10th level. Or say +2 at 3rd level, +4 at 6th and +6 at 9th level something like that. Maybe a way to add more “guile” to the class since you want to keep this class skill oriented is add the Skill Mastery ability from the Exemplar from CA. Hope that helps.
Kevmann 02-22-07, 07:57 PM	Alright, a lot of major updates to the class I think you will like. Undetectable alignment was too specific, easily covered by a magic item, and became virtually useless at lvl 10 with mind blank anyway. Non-detection was cut for the same reason, being redundant at lvl 10. Mostly, these items freed up room in the class for other abilities. Since we agreed that poison application was too powerful, I have melded it in with their save vs poison progression. Thus Poison Mastery was born, and I like the progressive DC increase. The Exploit & Know weaknesses have been added in at 4th & 9th lvls, with edited text for clarification. Abilities have been shuffled up a lot, more powerful abilities towards the back of the class with less powerful abilities towards the front. Mostly this was also done to provide more room for new abilities. Finally, as far as guile is concerned, I think I whipped up something pretty cool with the Master of Infiltration ability. I think it helps explain why the assassin can get so close to his targets. So... what do you think of the balance of the class now that everything has coalesced? EDIT: Also, I have reduced the amount of time it takes to enhance a poison but made the extra die damage only apply if the Shrouded Assassin. I changed some wording here and there as well.
Mordin 02-23-07, 08:19 PM	I like that you made it so a SA’s poisons only work with the added benefit if he/she is the one applying them. Here is my stamp of approval :)
Tuhljin 02-23-07, 11:05 PM	I like it! Good work. I don't know if you have access to Complete Scoundrel, but the Second Impression skill trick and perhaps Social Recovery seem ideal for this class. (Edit: Actually, Master of Infiltration mostly trumps Social Recovery, so I wouldn't go with that.) Perhaps Smooth Tongue could give you your choice of one of the two. Assume Quirk would also work well... though I don't think you should give all three of them away for free.
Mordin 02-24-07, 12:06 PM	Ok I know I've done this a couple of times with some of your classes so as you know this is the best way for me to give my best advice. Hope you like, Mordin.:) The Shrouded Assassin Requirements: Alignment: Any non-good Skills: Bluff 8 ranks, Disguise 4 ranks, Sleight of Hand 8 ranks, Craft (alchemy) 8 ranks Class Feature: BAB: Average (as rouge) Good Saves: Reflex and Will Poor Saves: Fort Hit Die: 1d6 Class Skills: Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft(Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex). Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier LEVEL ABILITIES: 1. Poison use, poison mastery +1. 2. Smooth tongue, the black connection. 3. Invincible lies, poison mastery +2. 4. Distracting hands, exploit weakness. 5. Master infiltrator, poison mastery +3. 6. Enhance poison. 7. Poison mastery +4. 8. Know weakness. 9. Hidden mind, poison mastery +5. 10. Poison immunity, perfect poison. Poison Use: A shrouded assassin is trained in the use of poison and never risks accidentally poisoning themselves when applying poison to a blade, food ect. Poison Mastery (Ex): The shrouded assassin is the master of both applying and resisting poisons. A shrouded assassin gains a +1 natural saving throw bonus vs. all poisons. Furthermore, any time a shrouded assassin applies a dose of poison (to a weapon, in someone’s food etc.); the saving throw DC of that poison is increases by +1. These bonuses increase to +2 at 3rd level, +3 at 5th level, +4 at 7th level and +5 at 9th level. Smooth Tongue (Ex): At 2nd level, a shrouded assassin becomes exceptionally glib; he/she gains a +2 bonus to all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Intimidate checks. The Black Connection (Ex): At 2nd level, a shrouded assassin has the connections in the black market to purchase any materials needed to make poison at a reduced cost. When in any settlement that is considered a city (DM’s choice), a shrouded assassin can purchase any materials he/she needs through the local black market at half price. Invincible Lies (Su): At 3rd level, nothing can detect the lies of a shrouded assassin. A shrouded assassin is immune to any spell that reveals or detects lies; this includes but is not limited to such spells as detect lies and zone of truth. Distracting Hands (Ex): At 4th level, a shrouded assassin is able to distract others when using the Slight of Hand skill. Before making a Slight of Hands check, a shrouded assassin can make a single Slight of Hand vs. Sense Motive check against any target who may be watching the shrouded assassin. Any target who fails this check may not make a Spot check the next round against any Slight of Hand check the shrouded assassin makes that round. If this Sense Motive check, succeeds the target is allowed a Spot check as normal. Exploit Weakness (Ex): At 4th level, a shrouded assassin is able to study an opponent, learn their weaknesses, and select the poison that would be most affective against their mark. After studying a target creature for 1 round, the shrouded assassin learns which ability score is the lowest among all their ability scores (only that it’s the lowest not actual score). If there is a tie for the lowest ability score, the shrouded assassin learns all of them. For every additional round the shrouded assassin studies his/her target, the shrouded assassin learns of the next highest ability(s) and so forth. The assassin must have unbroken sight of the target, but otherwise can act normally. If their line of sight is broken or if the shrouded assassin decides to study another target they can do so at the beginning of their next round. Master Infiltrator (Su): At 5th level, a shrouded assassin can make an opposed Charisma check after talking, uninterrupted, with any humanoid for one minute. If the shrouded assassin succeeds, the target is treated as if under the affects of a charm person spell with a duration of 1 hour per character level. If the shrouded assassin fails, the target can not be affected by this ability for 24 hours. A shrouded assassin gains a +2 bonus on his/her Charisma check if this ability is used against a target that has failed the opposed check in the past. Enhance Poison (Ex): At 6th level, a shrouded assassin, throw years of experience has gained great knowledge of the use and creation of poisons. A shrouded assassin can manipulate a poison in several ways by using the Craft (alchemy) skill (see below). The base DC to do this is the poisons base Fortitude save. Each modification adds a cumulative +2 to the Craft (alchemy) check’s DC. Any one affects can only be applied to a poison once. This enhancement process may only be done once to any one poison, and is impossible to reverse once begun. If a shrouded assassin fails his/her Craft (alchemy) check by more than 5 the poison is ruined. • Distilled Poison: A shrouded assassin makes a poison more lethal by filtering it for purity. Increase the primary and secondary damage dice one step (1d3 to 1d4, 1d6 to 1d8 ect.). • Natural Causes: A shrouded assassin can enhance a poison to appear as a normal illness or natural cause. A Heal check with a DC equal to the poisons modified Craft (alchemy) DC is required to identify the poison for what it is. • Slow to Notice: A shrouded assassin can cause a poisons primary effect to delay for 5 rounds per class level. The secondary effect occurs normally. • Slow Death: A shrouded assassin can cause the secondary effect to delay for up to two minute per class level (player’s choice). • Tasteless: A shrouded assassin can remove any trace of flavor from a poison. • Odorless: A shrouded assassin can remove any trace of odor from a poison. • Colorless: A shrouded assassin can remove any trace of color from a poison. Know Weakness (Ex): At 8th level, any time a shrouded assassin learns a target's weakness (see Exploit Weakness, above) he/she also learns the range of that target's ability score. A shrouded assassin knows whether the target’s ability score is “weak” 1-5, “below average” 6-9, “average” 10-13, “exceptional” 14-19, “inhuman” 20-27, “epic” 28-39 or “godly” 40+. Hidden Mind (Sp): At 9th level, a shrouded assassin has learned to rigorously silencing his/her mind. A shrouded assassin can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his intelligence modifier, activating this ability takes a standard action. This ability works exactly like the spell mind blank with a caster level equal to his/her character level with two exceptions; he/she may only target him/her self with this ability and the duration is 10 minutes. Poison Immunity (Ex): At 10th level, a shrouded assassin gains immunity to all poisons. Perfect Poison (Ex): At 10th level, poison enhanced by a shrouded assassin becomes magically resistant as part of his enhancement process. A shrouded assassins’ poison is immune to all forms of magical detection (such as detect poison). Furthermore, the poison is resistant to magic that can neutralize or delay poisons. If a target of a shrouded assassins poison is affected by spell like, but not limited to, neutralize poison or delay poison the caster of the spell must make a caster level check vs. the improved DC of the poison or the spell or effect is countered.
Kevmann 02-28-07, 05:20 PM	Thanks Mordin, I liked your name for Mind Blank so I changed the name of that ability. I also took a lot of your ideas for your wording on Poison Enhancement, but I didn't acctually change any of the mechanics of the class. Does anyone else have any final changes they feel the class needs?