Arcane Assassin (5e Class)

Arcane Assassin

An invisible man walks into a noble's home, as the noble falls asleep, his invisibility dissipates, and he slides his dagger over the sleeping noble's throat.

Arcane assassins are people who were born with some innate magical talent, but, not as much as say, a sorcerer. These people used their magic to assist them in life, with more practical uses, say, in a fight, using it with a weapon, for assassination, maybe stealing, etc. They are also a force in combat, using spells to envenom and bleed out targets with spells and cuts.

Creating an Arcane Assassin

Where were you born? Were you from the streets, using your innate magic to help you survive? Were you a noble who got bored and decided to adventure with just a few weapons and their magical talent? Why did you go adventuring?

Quick Build

You can make an arcane assassin quickly by following these suggestions. First, Dexterity should be your highest ability score, followed by Charisma. Second, choose the Urchin background. Third, choose a Shortsword, and an Explorer's pack.

Class Features

As a Arcane Assassin you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per Arcane Assassin level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Constitution modifier per Arcane Assassin level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light Armor
Weapons: Simple Melee Weapons, Dart, Hand Crossbow, Blowgun, Rapier, Short Sword
Tools: Thieves Tools
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma
Skills: Choose 2 from Acrobatics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Arcana, and History.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• One melee weapon than utilizes dexterity and four daggers.
• leather armor.
• A Pair of bleeding daggers (Detailed at the 1st level)
• Arcane Focus
• (a) an explorer's pack or (b) a dungeoneer's pack
• If you are using starting wealth, you have 4d6 x 10 gp in funds.

Table: The Arcane Assassin

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Spells Known / Level	Cascade Attacks	—Spell Slots per Spell Level—
					1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st	+2	Blades With No Equal	1	2	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	Spellcasting	1	2	2	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	Cunning Action	1	3	3	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	2	3	3	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	—	2	4	4	2	—	—	—
6th	+3	Blade Arcana feature	3	4	4	2	—	—	—
7th	+3	Jack of All Trades	3	5	4	3	—	—	—
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	4	5	4	3	—	—	—
9th	+4	—	4	6	4	3	2	—	—
10th	+4	Blade Arcana feature	5	6	4	3	2	—	—
11th	+4	Evasion	5	7	4	3	3	—	—
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	6	7	4	3	3	—	—
13th	+5	—	6	8	4	3	3	1	—
14th	+5	Blade Arcana feature	6	8	4	3	3	1	—
15th	+5	Cunning Reaction	6	9	4	3	3	2	—
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	7	10	4	3	3	2	—
17th	+6	—	7	10	4	3	3	3	1
18th	+6	Elusive	7	11	4	3	3	3	1
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	7	12	4	3	3	3	2
20th	+6	Blade Arcana feature	7	13	4	3	3	3	2

Blades With No Equal

At 1st level, You have a pair of daggers that help you killing and making wounds, these daggers:

• The daggers cause either 1d6 slashing damage or 1d4 bleeding damage on a hit, (or both on a critical hit or sneak attack).
• These can be traded out for magic daggers later on. (They can still deal bleed damage)

Cascade Attacks

• Whenever you hit with one blade, you can attack with the second blade as well.
• At higher levels you can keep this cascade going longer a number of times shown in the table, as long as you keep hitting.

Arcane Attack

This is the 'arcane' part of being an arcane assassin. Whenever you hit using your blades with no equal, for the next ten minutes you know:

• the total hit points that the creature has when fully healed.
• its current temporary hit points
• its current remaining hit points.
• its constitution.
• its proficiency bonus.
  • This means that the dungeon master can and should offload the book-keeping related to the creature's hit points and bleeding saves to the player playing the arcane assassin.

Bleeding Hit

When you hit, you may choose to do bleeding damage rather than immediate damage.

• Choosing bleeding damage ends your cascade of attacks.
• The creature takes no damage from bleeding this round but takes full damage for each of the next four rounds at the beginning of your turn.
• The enemy must make a constitution saving throw each turn to avoid the bleeding, the DC = 8 + proficiency + dex modfier. Once the creature saves, the bleeding stops.
• If the creature receives medical attention or healing the bleeding stops.

Cascade Damage Plus Bleeding Damage

• Upon a critical hit or a successful sneak attack, you may both do bleeding and regular damage and continue your cascade of attacks.
• Only the first hit in a cascade may be a sneak attack.
• Sneak attacks do double normal damage.

Spellcasting

You are a user of magic that helps you with everyday life. The magic comes from deep inside you, but, sometimes study can be a large help to you.

• At 1st level, you know 1 cantrip of your choice from the list at the bottom of the class.
• The arcane assassin table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
• You have a list of arcane assassin spells that are available for you to cast.

Spells Known Per Spell Level

'Spells Known' indicates the number of spells that you know at each spell level (for levels which you can cast spells). The maximum number is 7.

• For example a 10th level arcane assassin knows 5 spells each of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level, and 5 cantrips.

Spellcasting Charisma

• Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your arcane assassin spells. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability.
• Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
• Spell Attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.

Cunning Action

Starting at 3rd level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.

Ability Score Increase

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Jack of All Trades

Starting at 7th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn't already include your proficiency bonus.

Evasion

Beginning at 11th level, you can dodge out of the way of many area effects. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Cunning Reaction

Starting at 15th level, you may take a cunning action as a reaction once per round, in addition to having a cunning action as a bonus action. You may use this as a reaction to an action by any creature that is engaged with you or any creature that you are engaged with.

Elusive

Beginning at 18th level, you are so evasive that attackers rarely gain the upper hand against you. No attack roll has advantage against you while you aren't incapacitated.

Blade Arcana

Starting at 6th level you choose a blade arcane specialty. You may either choose Blood Arcana or Poison Arcana.

Blood Arcana

You embrace the blood of your foes, you use your magic to bleed them out faster and stop them from defeating you.

Exsanguinate

The urge of taking out your prey grants the following benefits.

By expending a spell slot you drain out the blood with magic on a bonus action. The target must be bleeding by any means. Using a level 1 slot, you deal 2d10 necrotic damage and is increased by 1d10 for each spell slot above the first.

The target makes a constitution saving throw, on a failed save, the target has their blood drained from their body taking 2d4 necrotic damage and must repeat the save on each of your turns for the duration of the spell. On a successful save the spell ends and exsanguinate is expended.

If the target drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends, you can use your action on a subsequent turn of yours to drain a new creature that must be already bleeding.

Quick on the kill

At 10th level, when you must finish a target quickly you can:

• After you hit an attack with advantage, before rolling the damage, you can declare that the attack is a critical and gain all the benefits of a critical hit if both of the attack would have hit and the target is not bleeding.
• Whenever you apply a new bleeding on the target, the target has disadvantage on the saving throw to stop the bleeding.

Precise striking

At 14th level, you have learned to strike where it bleeds.

• Bleeding dices are increased by one category.
• When the target has disadvantage on the saving, whenever he tries to stop the bleeding and fails, the bleeding damage is caused again.

Blood bath

At 20th level, you have mastered the blood techniques

• Bleeding dices are increased by one category.
• Critical strikes are reduced by 1

Whenever you attack the enemy you garrote them, causing:

• You max the bleed damage you cause once.
• Their move is reduced by half.

Poison Arcana

Poison at a Distance

Starting at 6th level, You learn rogue tricks that will help you with your attacks. You can:

• Spend a level 1 slot to create 2 serrated blades and throw them as an action. They cause 2d4 piercing damage and 2d4 bleeding damage. Increasing the spell level causes an aditional blade to be created, Make separated attacks for each of the blades using dex + proficiency.
• Spend a level 2 slot to create a smoke bomb. The bomb creates a 20 feet area that prevent vision while inside and outside. You, however, can see perfectly inside it as any creature with blindsense and true sight. The smoke lasts until your next turn. And you throw it as a bonus action

Play with your food

At the level 10th, you start to play mind games on your victims.

Whenever a poison hits a foe, they also:

• Tormented with visions, he must succeed on a wisdom throw to be able to attack, on a succeess, he can attack and does not gain another stack of poison. On a fail, he gains another stack of poison and cannot attack on that turn
• The creature is frightened

Poison Frenzy

At the 14th level, The poison and the fear in your victms instigate you

Whenever a target fails to escape the poisoned condition, they gain a stack of poison.

You also gain a +1 chance to hit with your blades with no equal on every enemy poisoned that you can see.

Mass Purge

At the 20th level, as a bonus action, you can purge all poisoned characters in the range when using the purge action.

Arcane Assassin Spell List

The arcane assassin spell list has 7 spells at each level. A 17th level arcane assassin knows all of them.

Cantrips

Aerostrike, Arcane Sneak Attack, Conjure Twin Foxes, Death Blade, Detect Secrets, Shadowstrike, Venomstrike

1st Level

Armor of Agathys, Burning Hands, Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, Disguise Self, Inflict Wounds, Shield

2nd Level

Darkvision, Detect Thoughts, Invisibility, Misty Step, Repartition Spell, See Invisibility, Spider Climb

3rd Level

Exsanguinate, Gaseous Form, Heart Strike, Magic Speed, Meld into Stone, Nondetection, Vampiric Touch

4th Level

Blood Teleport, Chaos Hand, Freedom of Movement, Greater Invisibility, Hands of Elements, Locate Creature, Shadow of Moil

5th Level

Compel Suicide, Contagion, Darkbolt, Direct Strike, Disrupting Weapon, Far Step, Shadow Walk

Multiclassing

Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the arcane assassin class, you must meet these prerequisites: Dexterity 13, Charisma 13., and Intelligence 11.

Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the arcane assassin class, you gain the following proficiencies: Stealth, Arcana. You also get one cantrip from the list above.

Spellcasting. When you multiclass with the arcane assassin class with another class that has spells,

• You have all of your spell slots for the arcane assassin, however...
• You may not know more than three spells at every arcane assassin spell level you can cast until your arcane assassin level exceeds the total of levels in your other class(es).

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