In different editions of (A)D&D almost all the classes have stayed pretty much the same, but assassin has been thrown around from corner to corner. Let's take a look at the history of assassins:
OD&D - I vaguely remember that some splat book had assassins, but I'm not sure...
AD&D 1E - Character class. Powerful instant kill ability, very good disguise and a bit weak skill monkey. Wide array of weapons, language skills.
AD&D 2E - Character kit. Ability to use and produce poisons and antidotes. Wide array of weapons. Also Players Option introduced an assassin.
D&D 3.5 - Prestige class. Now assassins were introduced with spell abilities, which was totally new. Poison use + save bonus vs. poison, limited skill monkey, combat abilities, hide in plain sight. Also instant kill attack was introduced after a long break, but it was weaker now since it's hard to hit high AC targets.
Pathfinder - Otherwise the same as 3.5, but some radical changes: No spells. Stealth-abilities were increased. Also the death attack was given several new uses.
4E - This one I don't know.
In my opinion after AD&D 1E the role of assassin has gone down. In 1E assassins were solely concentrated on stealth and one-strike-one-kill attacks. After that I feel that assassins have gone on a bit wrong direction, such as excelling in toe-to-toe-combat.
In my opinion, assassin should be like this:
Ability to stay unnoticed:
- I feel that this has been largely ignored since 1E. It was hard to see through 1E Disguise-ability through mundane ways, but in 3.5 there are so many spells and magical items to spot the assassin, and even normal spot check can simply reveal the assassin. The first priority should be to have as many skills as possible to hide from detection without the use of magical items, which can be detected as easily as the assassin himself.
One simple instant kill attack
- This was well done in 1E and 3.5E. One kill shot, nothing fancy. Of course the additional abilities of Pathfinder are nice, but different things should be addressed.
Poison mastery
- This was smart in 2E, but in other versions it's somewhat weak. Ok, so they can not poison themselves while applying the poison in blade... Well that is nice, but assassins should stand out as the masters of poison. Not simply have a protection against fumbles.
My opinion when it comes to newest members of assassin family, 3.5 and Pathfinder:
They should have vast protection against detection, both normal and magical. They should have better disguise skills than average roque. Also Will saves should be priority, not dex saves. Assassins and poisons have been largely ignored. Spells are a bad for the flavor, so this is why I prefer Pathfinder's assassins.
So assassination has decades of history in D&D, but have it gotten better or worse? Most importantly, have they gotten it right?
OD&D - I vaguely remember that some splat book had assassins, but I'm not sure...
AD&D 1E - Character class. Powerful instant kill ability, very good disguise and a bit weak skill monkey. Wide array of weapons, language skills.
AD&D 2E - Character kit. Ability to use and produce poisons and antidotes. Wide array of weapons. Also Players Option introduced an assassin.
D&D 3.5 - Prestige class. Now assassins were introduced with spell abilities, which was totally new. Poison use + save bonus vs. poison, limited skill monkey, combat abilities, hide in plain sight. Also instant kill attack was introduced after a long break, but it was weaker now since it's hard to hit high AC targets.
Pathfinder - Otherwise the same as 3.5, but some radical changes: No spells. Stealth-abilities were increased. Also the death attack was given several new uses.
4E - This one I don't know.
In my opinion after AD&D 1E the role of assassin has gone down. In 1E assassins were solely concentrated on stealth and one-strike-one-kill attacks. After that I feel that assassins have gone on a bit wrong direction, such as excelling in toe-to-toe-combat.
In my opinion, assassin should be like this:
Ability to stay unnoticed:
- I feel that this has been largely ignored since 1E. It was hard to see through 1E Disguise-ability through mundane ways, but in 3.5 there are so many spells and magical items to spot the assassin, and even normal spot check can simply reveal the assassin. The first priority should be to have as many skills as possible to hide from detection without the use of magical items, which can be detected as easily as the assassin himself.
One simple instant kill attack
- This was well done in 1E and 3.5E. One kill shot, nothing fancy. Of course the additional abilities of Pathfinder are nice, but different things should be addressed.
Poison mastery
- This was smart in 2E, but in other versions it's somewhat weak. Ok, so they can not poison themselves while applying the poison in blade... Well that is nice, but assassins should stand out as the masters of poison. Not simply have a protection against fumbles.
My opinion when it comes to newest members of assassin family, 3.5 and Pathfinder:
They should have vast protection against detection, both normal and magical. They should have better disguise skills than average roque. Also Will saves should be priority, not dex saves. Assassins and poisons have been largely ignored. Spells are a bad for the flavor, so this is why I prefer Pathfinder's assassins.
So assassination has decades of history in D&D, but have it gotten better or worse? Most importantly, have they gotten it right?
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