Combat Assassin (3.5e Prestige Class)

Combat Assassin:

“	A good assassin never knows, he only assumes. If things don't go my way I will adapt to the situation.	”
—Salgen, Human Assassin

The Combat Assassin is an advanced Assassin who is capable of adapting to his situation and fight his way out of a tight situation. while they are not useful for jumping into heavy battle, they are able to defend themselves and win in a smaller conflict.

Adventuring Assassins tend to adventure for very specific reasons only. They may run off in an attempt to get power once in a while, but mainly they are seeking a target. Most frequently an assassin will only leave his city if he plans to make a new life, or he has to leave to get his job done.

Characteristics Assassins, depending on alignment, think that they MUST kill in order to gain their objective. They believe that death is the final and only option. In many cases the assassin will question his actions, but will likely come back to the same conclusion, either a true or false reason as to why this person had to die. The assassin is usually very confident, but is not proud of himself. He sees himself as the only one who can do this job. They frequently compare themselves to a man on the front line, its not the favored thing, but it has to be done.

Alignments Assassins are chaotic, they kill frequently. Assassins don't always see each other as good and evil, but they distinguish by the reasons they kill. An Assassin that kills to help only himself is considered "evil", while an assassin that kills because he must to improove the community is considered "good".

Religions Assassins have no set religions. They tend to avoid any god that is against death.

Background Assassins have been around since the creation of the first weapons, and possibly even further back. Whether they plotted for themselves or for others, assassination is a primal instinct in humans, although many suppress it. As weapons evolved, so did assassins. They could kill from a distance, blend with the shadows, or poisons their victims.

Races Assassins come in a great many of races, but for some reason the pattern tends to hold in humans. Humans Are the race that tends to kill its own the most frequently.

Interaction Other classes tend to avoid assassins, they believe them untrustworthy. Some classes, such as the rouge, can get along with the assassin.

Requirements:

To qualify to become a Combat Assassin, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

• Skills: Hide rank 8, Disguise rank 4, Move silently rank 8,

• Feats: Combat Reflexes, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus

• Special: May become a combat Assassin at lvl 5 Assassin. (Retains Assassin abilities.)

Alignment Anything Chaotic

Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level)
Balance, Climb, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spot,

• • Class Special Skills** Study, Counter

Table: The Combat Assassin

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
5th	+4	+1	+4	+1	Improved Uncanny dodge, minor counter attack, sneak attack 3d6, Kill strike
6th	+6	+2	+5	+1	Capture, Death From a Distance
7th	+7	+2	+7	+2	Sneak attack 4d6, break defense
8th	+9	+3	+8	+3	Improved Evasion, Special
9th	+10	+4	+9	+3	Crippling strike, sneak attack 5d6, Flank strike
10th	+12	+5	+10	+4	Expert uncanny dodge, Counter Attack, Special
11th	+13	+6	+11	+4	sneak attack 6d6, Stealth
12th	+15	+6	+12	+5	Slippery mind, Special
13th	+16	+7	+13	+6	Sneak attack 7d6, Defensive Roll
14th	+18	+8	+15	+8	Special, Shadow Blend
15th	+20	+10	+16	+9	Expert Counter Attack, Sneak Attack 8d6

• BAB does not stack with previous assassin BAB

Class Features:

All of the following are Class Features of the combat Assassin prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Combat Assassins gain simple and martial weapon proficiency. they have light and medium armor proficiency, but different armors can be louder while moving.

Uncanny dodge: Improved uncanny dodge negates bonus damage taken while flanked. expert uncanny dodge gives a +1d4 chance to dodge a trap or ranged attack.

Counters: The Combat Assassin is able to use its foes attacks to its advantage. You must be in defensive combat to use this ability. when an enemy makes an attack the player makes a d20 check. With Minor Counter Attack a 20 allows the player a an immediate attack. With Counter Attack, a 15 or higher gives an immediate attack, and a 20 is an immediate critical hit attack. With Expert Counter Attack, a 15 or higher allows a critical attack, and a 20 gives the player an instant kill if enemy fails a fortitude save with a DC of 10 + assassin's level + assassins dexterity modifier. A minor counter has a 20% knock down chance, improved has a 40% knock down chance, and an expert counter has a 60% knock down chance.

Kill Strike: While following your intended target, if you take 3 rounds, or 15 seconds, to study your opponent, your sneak attack has a 40% chance to instantly kill the target. Using this ability leaves the player open for an attack of opportunity, and is treated as a surprise attack. When using kills strike the player can choose to roll percentile dice to see if the kill strike succeeds or he can choose that the target make a fortitude save. fortitude save DC = 10 + assassin lvl + Dex modifier.

Death from a Distance This ability allows kill strike to be used with a ranged weapon within 30 feet.

Break Defense: While fighting an opponent in a defensive stance, the combat assassin can use this ability. It has a 50% chance of breaking the opponents defense, leaving him flat footed until struck or one turn goes by.

Improved Evasion: When making a reflex save against an area attack, improved evasion causes a successful save to take no damage and a failed save to only take half.

Special: this allows the player to either choose a bonus feat or add a +3 miscellaneous modifier to a class skill.

Crippling Strike: A successful sneak attack decreases the targets strength or dexterity by 1. Points are regained at a rate of one per day.

Flank Attack: Like Counter attack, when an enemy attacks you can use this ability. Cannot be used with counter attack, must use one or the other. gives a d20 check. If a 15 or higher is rolled it causes player to move to flank of enemy, if a 20 is rolled the assassin moves to the enemies flank and gives an immediate attack with a +5 hit chance, and +5 damage.

Defensive Roll: Once per day if the Assassin is attacked and his hit points would be lowered to 0, he can make a reflex save. If successful, he only takes half damage.

Stealth: While in shadows, Assassin can pass up to 20 feet of enemies searching for him and remain undetected, ineffective within 10 feet, and 30% success at 10-20 feet.

Shadow Blend While being chased or watched, the Assassin can jump into shadows and disappear entirely, treating it as a hiding place. This includes other forms of concealment such as smoke, brush, any other concealing factors.

Capture If study is used for 3 rounds or 15 seconds, the option to try and knock out the victim is available. Has a 30% success rate if no study is used, an 80% success rate if a successful study check is made.

Combat Assassin spells See assassin spell table

• Beyond level 10, DC modifiers treat assassin level as 10, Flank attacks and counter attacks do not negate damage taken

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