Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 kalthandrix Mar 05, 2007 21:32:18	Here is my answer to the lame assassin class - I have always had issue with assassin's having spells or gaining psionics in the athas.org cookie cutter version of the DMG assasin - so IMO this fixes it. Enjoy - feedback is always welcome and appreciated. Honed Blade “Sometimes people just need killing.” - Ashryk of Raam, honed blade The one truth of life on Athas is that everything can die; it just depends upon the use of the right timing, skill, and necessary tools on hand to do the job. The honed blade is a master at sending those they stalk to the Gray and leaving no sign of their passing except for the cooling bodies of their marks. Those who take up the path of the honed blade kill for reasons that drive them; be it money, revenge, justice, or the glory of the kill. Highly sought after for their abilities and discretion, the honed blade may or may not take a particular job because it conflicts with their personal moral code or the price it too low. Due to the high skill requirements, most honed blades have levels as either a bard, ranger, rogue, or other class that excels at sulking within the shadows. Hit Dice: d6 Requirements Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Stealthy. Skill: Hide 9 ranks, Move Silently 9 ranks Special: Must have successfully killed someone without them detecting the honed blade.
#2 elonarc Mar 06, 2007 0:26:16	Special: Must have successfully killed someone without them detecting your presence. So, to become a honed blade, the prospective blade has to kill someone without their victim detecting my presence? Or is it the honed blade candidate himself who must not detect me? If so, how do they know they have fulfilled the requirements? "Hey, I now have a Death Attack! Seems my last killing was witnessed by Pikachu! YAY!"
#3 j0lt Mar 06, 2007 2:35:51	Did you leave Sneak Attack out of the requirements on purpose? (if so, I like it, it opens it up to many more classes)
#4 kalthandrix Mar 06, 2007 6:58:33	Did you leave Sneak Attack out of the requirements on purpose? (if so, I like it, it opens it up to many more classes) Yes - I did leave it out to open the class to others. There is no reason a fighter would not become an assassin like character, or anyone else for that matter - it all depends upon their motivation. Elonarc - you will pay :P
#5 cnahumck Mar 06, 2007 10:20:59	Sneak Attack: As per the Player’s Handbook pg.50. The starting at 1st level, a honed blade’s adds +1d6 damage on a successful sneak attack. This damage increases by +1d6 again at every even class level. The progression is off, at 7th level it changes. I would either change it to start at second level, or continue the use it at every odd level Other than that, looks good.
#6 kalthandrix Mar 06, 2007 10:43:29	The progression is off, at 7th level it changes. I would either change it to start at second level, or continue the use it at every odd level Other than that, looks good. Whoops - I missed that. Thanks Chris! I made some changes to this PrC and did not realize that it was slightly off - maybe I will make the sneak attack gained at 2nd level - so make people take more of the class instead of trying to power game it - I will think more on it, but what do you all think about the idea? Or I could do something like 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 -> do you think 6d6 would be too much? The assassin PrC only gets 5d6, but they also gain at least 12 spells to cast - where are this class gets some of the better high level rogue abilities and some of the assassin ones too - with the ability to really be different from other honed blades of the same level - where as assassins with the same number of class levels are basically the same. Well - I made a few changes - but this still had some issues I think we could inspect to make it better.
#7 cnahumck Mar 06, 2007 10:44:54	i think that every even level works better
#8 brun01 Mar 06, 2007 10:55:12	I think I've already mentioned that I like the HB a lot, however I think it needs to be toned down a bit. It get more skill points than the assassin, is much more versatile and has some pretty strong abilities (since they can't be countered or supressed as the assassin spells). Special: Must have successfully killed someone without him detecting your presence. Oh, and I think that a class that is so focused on killing should be for nongood characters only.
#9 kalthandrix Mar 06, 2007 11:04:22	I think I've already mentioned that I like the HB a lot, however I think it needs to be toned down a bit. It get more skill points than the assassin, is much more versatile and has some pretty strong abilities (since they can't be countered or supressed as the assassin spells). Oh, and I think that a class that is so focused on killing should be for nongood characters only. I think that some of the balance issues are address in the abilities the HB gets though - most of them requiring the HB to reduce their sneak attack damage by varying amounts to get a certian effect. Maybe I should post a side by side comparison of a rogue 10/assassin 10 and a rogue 10/honed blade 10 to give the over all picture and balance for people to see. One thing to note is that the ability to cast spells/use psionics is very potent and should not be over looked as a major balance issue when looking at these to PrCs. I do agree that non-good might be the way to go, but making them evil, like the assassin, I think would be a bad move.
#10 brun01 Mar 06, 2007 11:18:40	I do agree that non-good might be the way to go, but making them evil, like the assassin, I think would be a bad move. That's why I said nongood, silly :P
#11 kalthandrix Mar 06, 2007 11:30:20	That's why I said nongood, silly :P I was just pre-empting any suggestions of making them evil is all my comment was about ;)