More Assassin ideas...

[JesterOI]

I want the chicken nuggets one!

And be sure to get my toy!

[LinuxPup]

Teleportation would be cool... kind of like what some of the creatures in the nexus' do, as well as the amazon ex-champion and vampires in HoD.

Perhaps unlimited times a day, a character with 20 Assassin levels can use a token and then point somewhere on the screen and they teleport there with a smoke cloud behind them...

A necessary delay would be set between each use of 2-10 seconds or so, and the teleportation doesn't work if the assassin has a relic, or at the very least they delay is greatly increased.

[Kirg]

Hm, and thus he could jump to places where usually you dont have access? I think that idea will never be accepted, if it can be scripted at all.

[LinuxPup]

You might be right... but I can't think of any places like that... not that there aren't any, but where? I'm of course talking about visible places on the current map... probably within a certain radius too.

[Dynmi]

Or just give assasins HIPS. I didn't both to read this whole thread but to me that would be the most direct solution.

[Binkyuk]

Against the idea of the assassin - take em unawares and hit em with a deadly one shot takedown.

[Dynmi]

I see your point, then a possible once per day death attack with Dc based on level.

[LinuxPup]

If I recall, any changes to Assassin cannot be made to their death attack directly without a hak pak. I believe this is because its an automatic feat, and not one you can invoke like a spell or disarm.

[Dynmi]

Oh I see that complicates things, is there a way to enable a devistating crit a few times a day?

[Lorkar1]

Nope that is hardcoded as well.

[LinuxPup]

Maybe they could script it into Knockdown/Improved Knockdown... Disarm was modified so it seems KD could be too.

So, perhaps instead of paralysis, an assassin gets a special type of Knockdown... when they use KD, it could be something like:

Target's fortitude + 1d20 vs. Death Attack DC (just like regular death attack). Target also stays down for a longer time than regular KD.

Can only use this attack a few times a day (like once every 3 Assassin levels), or put a delay between uses.

So either an Assassin needs to take the Knockdown feat or it's given for free.

[Go'f]

the solution to Assassins power level needs to be
1. Low code overhead (rewriting KD/IKD will cause huge delays)
2. Not game imbalancing (or the game falls apart as a whole)
3. Unique (otherwise why bother)

so
Unlimited inv... u can do that with UMD...
IKD... to code heavy
HiPs... thats what a SDD is for!

so if you accept they are not to be the stealth specialist on the server (SDD should be) and that Death Attack/IKD haks/coding is a hefty solution...

Perhaps the simplist solution I could see is to add poison token with a base effect of damage of (1?)hp/Assassin level (without save to reduce instruction cycles)... and a few special short duration weapon buff (with saves) poisons, like Ability damage, Spell Failure %, bleeding damage (neg regen).

IMHO The more complex the solution the bigger the flaw you have overlooked

[LinuxPup]

Is it code heavy? I'm not convinced it is... I thought the disarm script might be, but it seems to run fine, and the disarm script seems more complicated than this. And this is only one faction's prestige class, not everyone on the server. It can bypass all the special code for everyone else.

Also, Assassins *are* meant to be "stealth specialists"... why do you think they're given darkness, invisibility, and improved invisibility... Assassins aren't meant to be able to fight someone head-on, but to sneak up on them... in a plain one-on-one fight with a fighter with no stealth the fighter will win almost every time without breaking a sweat.

Giving HiPS is the way to go overall I think though... you ask what's Shadowdancer good for then? Every other faction.


also I think I posted this in another forum, but is it possible to give them immunity to Darkness spell?

[Go'f]

You make some very valid points Mr Pup.

Is it code heavy? I'm not convinced it is... I thought the disarm script might be, but it seems to run fine, and the disarm script seems more complicated than this. And this is only one faction's prestige class, not everyone on the server. It can bypass all the special code for everyone else.

Not many people Spam out disarm like IKD/KD and so I think even just one extra line run per escecution will run X million times a day and I suspect that will have some effect.

Also, Assassins *are* meant to be "stealth specialists"... why do you think they're given darkness, invisibility, and improved invisibility... Assassins aren't meant to be able to fight someone head-on, but to sneak up on them... in a plain one-on-one fight with a fighter with no stealth the fighter will win almost every time without breaking a sweat.

Giving HiPS is the way to go overall I think though... you ask what's Shadowdancer good for then? Every other faction.


also I think I posted this in another forum, but is it possible to give them immunity to Darkness spell?

I think you missed my perspective. I understand from a ... compared to a fighter aproach an assassin is A stealth specialists but not THE specialist when compared to the shadow dancer.

To me it would seem most productive to redefine the class as a concept that is unique in a desireabile way and then assign abilities for the new concept.

I would like to suggest the Assassin is the specialist at 'Killing without regard to honor'. This doesn't make them the instant PK king and steps on no other classes toes. It means the abilities should be tailored around 'the path of least resistance'.

Has anyone seen the Movie 'Pay it forward'

[kgb]

I played my assassin and got him epic but found the benefits of an Assassin over an equivalent Rogue was not there.

There are a few things I would like to see a great deal more of:


1. More Disease effects and
2. More Poison effects.



A number of classes and/or races have immunities to both and I don't feel making the world more "dangerous" would take away from the enjoyment but add a new dynamic to it.

It would make an investment in the heal skill and heal kits, some lesser used classes a prudent choice as well as make certain spells / rods useful in removing these effects.


As for the assassin I believe a token, as suggested by some others, should be allowed for them to use to "coat" their primary wpn with a DC Base of 10 + Assassin level. This should be a reflex-based DC as you are trying to avoid the blow in the first instance.

If it does not require too much coding, the effects could be:

Duration of token effect of 1 round per 2 Assassin levels (or perhaps 3 levels depending on balance issue)

Assassin Level / On hit effect

1-4 / Additional Damage 1d6 poison damage -2 Str
5-9 / Additional Damage 2d6 poison -2 Str -2 Con
10-15 / Additional Damage 3d6 poison -2 Str -2 Dex -2 Con
16-20 / Additional Damage 4d6 poison -2 Str -2 Dex -2 Con +Paralysis for 1 round per 4 Assassin levels.
21-25 / Additional Damage 5d6 poison + -2 Str -2 Dex -2 Con +Stun for 1 round per 4 Assassin levels.
26+ / Death.


Thoughts?


BTW I am not keen on assassin receiving HiPS as this goes against the core rules of the server for Prestige Classes, would takeaway from the specialisation of SD's.

I would be for more uses of their already available Ghostly Visage Darkness, Invis, Impr Invis spell-like abilities to be something along the lines of additional uses starting from level 11.

An additional use of each ability per 4 levels per day.

So
11 = 2 uses
15 = 3 uses
19 = 4 uses
23 = 5 uses
27 = 6 uses


cheers
kgb