Valued coin purse thieves and sneaky friends, throat slitters and silver tongues
Information for orientation: For an upcoming session I plan to play a rogue, preferably something towards (or on the subject of) Assassin. In various forums I read either that the Assassin rogue is worth 20 levels or the complete opposite. Irritated by these conflicting opinions I would like to ask for your opinion and help here on the forums. The campaign will play in the Discworld - universe, more precisely in Ankh - Morpork. My character is a member of the Assassin guild there. The group consists of three players, a Wild-Mage, a Fighter (subclass yet unknown) and myself. We will all start at level 3.
Now to my question: What is a good, and above all funny Assassin build to play? I like the idea of being able to strike from the shadows and cause high damage and perform unseen actions. What are the best ways to achieve this (e.g. via multiclass)? Does anyone know of a recommended build?
I've been messing around with a rogue 12/druid 8 build. Grassland druid so you get access to haste and invisibility, and some healing spells that it looks your group will be very happy about, and wild shaping to allow your assassin kills/getaways to have deniability. "Sir, our only lead is ... eye witnesses saw a cat with green fur leaving the area!?". 8 levels so you can wildshape into flying creatures.
As for the rogue side of things i don't think the subclass matters as much. Arcane trickster is nice as it adds more spell slots but gets a bit MAD, unless you ignore some saving throw spells. Scout/thief/swashbuckler/assassin all have their ups and downs. Personally i like scout or assassin.
I would start rogue 2/druid 1. I'm not really familiar with Diskworld setting so i don'w know if shapechangers/beastmasters/shamans/druids exist or are a thing that fits into the story.
I'm currently running a lvl 2 Warforged rogue that I plan to take to level 20. I'm planning on taking 5 levels in rogue assassin for uncanny dodge and a 3rd d6 for steak attack, 2 levels of fighter for action surge and fighting style, and 13 in ranger gloom stalker for extra attack and all the other goodies. The level 13 greater invisibility will be my character's capstone. Should be pretty devastating first round and still be able to hold his own the rest of the fight while still having the tools necessary to help as a rogue when needed. Plan on two weapon fighting and archery for my fighting style. Feats should be crossbow expert, mobile, alert and a two point bump in wisdom to increase my initiative. The straight assassin subclass just seems fairly lame as it progresses. Also most of the disguise stuff doesn't work since I'm the only Warforged in the world right now.
Gloomstalker5 / Battle master 4 / Assassin 11 Start out with 5 levels of gloomstalker.
This makes you super-nasty as assassination while still beeing very relevant in most fields. You have decent defense, some utility spells, can wield all weapons and is only reliant on dexterity. You lose a few sneak attack dice, which you more than make up for with an extra attack (five extra when assassinating) and relevant abilities all over the place, inc. the above mentioned invisibility in darkness.
I have played one for the last 2 years now a Gloomstalker5 / Battle master 2 / Assassin 7 and it have been a blast all the way.
The Discworld wiki (https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Assassins'_Guild) has soem amazing info about the Asssassins Guild so I hope its accurate...but apparently the Guild was founded on August 27th so just to mix real and imaginary worlds for a moment they are near their founding day anniversay at time of writing.
The bit I found interesting was their code of conduct which breaks down to:
1) It is considered absolutely unforgivable for an Assassin to kill (or as they refer to it, "inhume") for any reason other than being paid to do so. Of course, to distinguish themselves from common hitmen, the assassins' code also demands that they be paid a very large amount to do so. Typical Guild contracts have the Guild taking half of the payment, with the Assassin keeping the remainder.
2) The code also demands Assassins never reveal the source of the contract.
3) After an inhumation (assassination) they must by law always leave a receipt.
4) They must also give the client (they view the victim as the client) a sporting chance, and thus are forbidden from accepting contracts on those who are unable to defend themselves (though for their purposes, anyone wealthy enough to afford bodyguards is considered able to defend themselves, whether they have actually hired any or not)
5) With this in mind the Guild strongly disapproves of firearms (which are, in any case, extremely uncommon on the Disc), and also of most (but not all) other mechanical or chemical weapons.
6) hey also frown on performing jobs on the street (again to distance themselves from common hitmen) and prefer to service a client in his/her home or place of business.
7) It is accepted that an Assassin may find it necessary to inhume bodyguards, including other Assassins, while on a commission. However, if these can be incapacitated without being killed, it is considered good manners to do so.
8) An Assassin must always act with style. Without style, he's just an expensive thug. They must always dress stylishly in black (which, although not the best colour for being unseen at night, is the correct colour for being an Assassin) and must always seem vaguely bored and, if possible, slightly foreign.
Based on the various references to acting as a gentleman and distancing form common thugs I'd go for a Noble background, keep the above points in mind as a code of conduct and then go Rogue Assassin but take a club to knock people out and only taking out a rapier for killing anyne you've been paid to kill. Generally act in quite a foppish/bored manner (see Sir Rodney Effing with 2 f's from Carry on Don't Lose your Head 1960's english comedy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHMQ4WN-wFk skip to 5min 30 for his introduction).
Valued coin purse thieves and sneaky friends, throat slitters and silver tongues
Information for orientation:
For an upcoming session I plan to play a rogue, preferably something towards (or on the subject of) Assassin. In various forums I read either that the Assassin rogue is worth 20 levels or the complete opposite.
Irritated by these conflicting opinions I would like to ask for your opinion and help here on the forums.
The campaign will play in the Discworld - universe, more precisely in Ankh - Morpork.
My character is a member of the Assassin guild there.
The group consists of three players, a Wild-Mage, a Fighter (subclass yet unknown) and myself.
We will all start at level 3.
Now to my question:
What is a good, and above all funny Assassin build to play?
I like the idea of being able to strike from the shadows and cause high damage and perform unseen actions.
What are the best ways to achieve this (e.g. via multiclass)?
Does anyone know of a recommended build?
Kind Regards
MisterM1291
Gloom stalker ranger multiclass to level 5 would work well, or to 3 if you don't want the extra attack.
This would give you , effectively, invisibility in the dark , plus some useful magic
I've been messing around with a rogue 12/druid 8 build. Grassland druid so you get access to haste and invisibility, and some healing spells that it looks your group will be very happy about, and wild shaping to allow your assassin kills/getaways to have deniability. "Sir, our only lead is ... eye witnesses saw a cat with green fur leaving the area!?". 8 levels so you can wildshape into flying creatures.
As for the rogue side of things i don't think the subclass matters as much. Arcane trickster is nice as it adds more spell slots but gets a bit MAD, unless you ignore some saving throw spells. Scout/thief/swashbuckler/assassin all have their ups and downs. Personally i like scout or assassin.
I would start rogue 2/druid 1. I'm not really familiar with Diskworld setting so i don'w know if shapechangers/beastmasters/shamans/druids exist or are a thing that fits into the story.
Shadow monk makes for a fun multi-class as does the Gloom stalker ranger mentioned above. Both to 5 for the extra attack is nice too.
I'm currently running a lvl 2 Warforged rogue that I plan to take to level 20. I'm planning on taking 5 levels in rogue assassin for uncanny dodge and a 3rd d6 for steak attack, 2 levels of fighter for action surge and fighting style, and 13 in ranger gloom stalker for extra attack and all the other goodies. The level 13 greater invisibility will be my character's capstone. Should be pretty devastating first round and still be able to hold his own the rest of the fight while still having the tools necessary to help as a rogue when needed. Plan on two weapon fighting and archery for my fighting style. Feats should be crossbow expert, mobile, alert and a two point bump in wisdom to increase my initiative. The straight assassin subclass just seems fairly lame as it progresses. Also most of the disguise stuff doesn't work since I'm the only Warforged in the world right now.
Gloomstalker5 / Battle master 4 / Assassin 11
Start out with 5 levels of gloomstalker.
This makes you super-nasty as assassination while still beeing very relevant in most fields. You have decent defense, some utility spells, can wield all weapons and is only reliant on dexterity. You lose a few sneak attack dice, which you more than make up for with an extra attack (five extra when assassinating) and relevant abilities all over the place, inc. the above mentioned invisibility in darkness.
I have played one for the last 2 years now a Gloomstalker5 / Battle master 2 / Assassin 7 and it have been a blast all the way.
The Discworld wiki (https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Assassins'_Guild) has soem amazing info about the Asssassins Guild so I hope its accurate...but apparently the Guild was founded on August 27th so just to mix real and imaginary worlds for a moment they are near their founding day anniversay at time of writing.
The bit I found interesting was their code of conduct which breaks down to:
1) It is considered absolutely unforgivable for an Assassin to kill (or as they refer to it, "inhume") for any reason other than being paid to do so. Of course, to distinguish themselves from common hitmen, the assassins' code also demands that they be paid a very large amount to do so. Typical Guild contracts have the Guild taking half of the payment, with the Assassin keeping the remainder.
2) The code also demands Assassins never reveal the source of the contract.
3) After an inhumation (assassination) they must by law always leave a receipt.
4) They must also give the client (they view the victim as the client) a sporting chance, and thus are forbidden from accepting contracts on those who are unable to defend themselves (though for their purposes, anyone wealthy enough to afford bodyguards is considered able to defend themselves, whether they have actually hired any or not)
5) With this in mind the Guild strongly disapproves of firearms (which are, in any case, extremely uncommon on the Disc), and also of most (but not all) other mechanical or chemical weapons.
6) hey also frown on performing jobs on the street (again to distance themselves from common hitmen) and prefer to service a client in his/her home or place of business.
7) It is accepted that an Assassin may find it necessary to inhume bodyguards, including other Assassins, while on a commission. However, if these can be incapacitated without being killed, it is considered good manners to do so.
8) An Assassin must always act with style. Without style, he's just an expensive thug. They must always dress stylishly in black (which, although not the best colour for being unseen at night, is the correct colour for being an Assassin) and must always seem vaguely bored and, if possible, slightly foreign.
Based on the various references to acting as a gentleman and distancing form common thugs I'd go for a Noble background, keep the above points in mind as a code of conduct and then go Rogue Assassin but take a club to knock people out and only taking out a rapier for killing anyne you've been paid to kill. Generally act in quite a foppish/bored manner (see Sir Rodney Effing with 2 f's from Carry on Don't Lose your Head 1960's english comedy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHMQ4WN-wFk skip to 5min 30 for his introduction).