Brotherhood Member

The Creed

Much like a paladin's oath, those that become members of the Assassin Brotherhood must always follow the creed. The creed, in Common, is as follows:

• "Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent."

• "Hide in plain sight, be one with the crowd."

• "Never compromise the Brotherhood."

These tenets permeate every aspect of Brotherhood daily life, as well as their fight for "Peace in all Things". The Brotherhood carries out their duties through strategic assassination in the hope that killing one individual will lead to the salvation of thousands. Also believing that they fight on the behalf of those who do not possess the abilities, resources, or knowledge to speak out against those who abuse power. Recently, the Brotherhood has banned the use of poison and similar weapons as "tools of the cowardly," but this portion hasn't been officially included in the creed.

Breaking the Creed

A Brotherhood Assassin that breaks the creed is taken to be judged by the Assassin Council, the higher powers within the Assassin Brotherhood. If the council determines through a vote to expel the assassin, then the assassin is stripped of their rank and exiled from the Brotherhood. Rogues that have been exiled from the Brotherhood lose access to their Brotherhood Assassin subclass features as well as their Brotherhood Armaments, which are surrendered to the council upon expulsion. In rare cases of extreme disregard for the creed, some expelled assassins have become targets that are hunted down by their former brothers.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with the disguise kit.

Assassination Technique

Starting at 3rd level, you are at your deadliest when you get the drop on your enemies. You have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn in the combat yet. In addition, any hit you score against a creature that is surprised is a critical hit.

Additionally, you can use a bonus action to target a humanoid you can see for assassination, a technique that has you focus entirely on them gaining various benefits against them. When you designate your target you gain a bonus equal to your proficiency bonus (double this amount if you already have proficiency) on Survival skill checks you make to track the targeted creature and Investigation skill checks made to learn more about your target. At level 17 you are able to further increase these benefits with the Advanced Techniques feature.

You can also deal an extra 1d6 damage to an enemy targeted for assassination that you hit with a melee weapon attack (the extra damage increases to 1d8 at level 9, 1d10 at level 13, 1d12 at level 17 respectively). This extra damage can only be applied once per turn, and you or a companion must slay your target in order to designate a new assassination target.

Tools of the Trade

Starting at 3rd level, you receive the Brotherhood Assassin's most important tools.

Firstly, you receive a set of Brotherhood Attire, an elegantly crafted set of clothing with metal plating secured underneath to protect your most often struck body parts. If you are wearing light armor, you can wear the Brotherhood Attire over your armor. While wearing the Brotherhood Attire over your armor, you may spend one minute in a crowd of people to almost perfectly blend in as part of the whole, giving you advantage on any Stealth skill check you make to avoid detection. This disguised state ends if you leave the crowd of people, attack a creature or force a creature to make a saving throw. Note: if you are attempting to blend while being actively chased and/or searched for, this will instead negate any disadvantage when performing a Stealth/Deception check.

You also receive one hidden blade, the signature weapon of the Assassin Brotherhood. If you lose this weapon or wish to own a second one, you can use a set of tinker's tools and 75gp worth of materials to craft a new one. The time required is 2 hours (cannot be performed while long resting) and the DC for creation is a static 18, with possible defects or complications occurring if you roll between 17-10 and 9-2 respectively (DM's discretion will be applied here). Rolling a natural 1 will result in complete failure using up all the time and materials to no success. A natural 20 rolled will instill a +1 bonus to hit and damage for that singular blade.

This concealed weapon is the signature weapon of the Assassin Brotherhood. It is primarily used for assassinations, as the blade can be controlled by the user to hide under their sleeve and then extend instantly to stab a creature with a single touch. The weapon is also lightweight and retractable, making it perfect for carrying while avoiding detection or chasing a creature. The weapon can only be obtained through the Brotherhood, and those that sell the weapon are compromising the safety of the Brotherhood, often leading to expulsion, and in rare cases, execution.

Skills of the Trade

At the 9th Level, you have mastered the free-running technique, an advanced form of parkour taught to all Brotherhood Assassins. With your knowledge you are capable of climbing any man made structure, as well as most trees and large rocks without expending extra movement. Additionally, while your target is within 500 feet of you and you have line of sight, you gain advantage to acrobatics checks, as well as a +10 to your base movement speed.

The Brotherhood has also taught you the most utilized ability of the greatest Assassins. You have learned the Eagle Vision technique, a very iconic assassin skill that allows you to keep tabs on friend and foe.

You can use a bonus action to activate this enhanced visual perception skill for up to one minute. While Eagle Vision is active, creatures and objects that you can see are given an aura of light that corresponds with their personal relationship towards you, regardless of any further attempts a creature makes to deceive you. Creatures that are given a red hue are either those that are hostile towards you or your targets for assassination. Blue-hued creatures are those that are friendly towards you, and objects given a golden hue are objects that are of interest to you/ones you wish to take into further account. Additionally, you can always see a creature that you've targeted for assassination with this feature, even if they enter a building or use magic to conceal their location until there is 50 feet or more of distance between the both of you. You can use this feature a number of times equal to half your Proficiency Bonus  (rounded down, minimum 1). You regain all expended uses of this feature after taking a long rest.

Brotherhood Craftsmanship

Upon reaching level 13 you have learned the ability to craft rare and powerful gear, including the ability to access upgrades for any Hidden Blades you have in your possession. Keep in mind that only one upgrade is possible per each crafted blade. The gear is crafted using Tinkers Tools, various materials, a gold cost, and a minimum of 2 hours spent to craft (this time may not be spent while long resting!) The user does not need to make a DC check in order to accomplish upgrading, however, once a Hidden Blade is upgraded it cannot be reverted or changed. The available upgrades are listed below:

Hook-blade:

Hidden Blade, Crowbar, 25 GP worth of Tinker materials used for attachment.

This hook attachment to the hidden blade allows for the user to extend their high jump range by 10 feet and gain advantage to athletics and acrobatics checks when involved with climbing.

Hidden Firearm:

Hidden Blade, Pistol/Gunsmith Tools, 75 GP worth of Tinker materials used for attachment and modification.

This upgrade adds to the hidden blade by introducing a compact firearm that can be switched to with ease. Upon creation the user must choose what model of firearm to install, a single-shot firearm that deals 1d8 piercing damage, or a 3-shot firearm that deals 1d6 piercing damage. Both models require Pistol Ammunition to shoot, as well as both gain a permanent 1st shot advantage per combat. The wearer may switch between blade mode or gun mode as part of an Attack Action, however, the weapon cannot be changed back until the start of your next turn. Bullets may be loaded with a Bonus Action if the user succeeds a DC 13 Sleight of Hand Check, if failed then it takes an Action as normal.

Hidden Dart Launcher:

Hidden Blade, 1 Dart / Crossbow Bolt, 1 Small Vial worth 5 GP, 25 GP worth of Tinker materials used for conversion.

Additional darts may be created one at a time via a DC 13 Tinker Check and consuming: 1 Dart, 1 empty Small Vial, 1 hour of work, and 15 GP worth of Alchemical ingredients which will be consumed to make each of the different serums/poisons. Darts may be loaded with a Bonus Action if the user succeeds a DC 13 Sleight of Hand Check, if failed then it takes an Action as normal.

This upgrade replaces the blade portion with a small single-shot dart launcher. The launcher darts are loaded with one of 3 types of serum/poison vials: poison, sleep, or paralysis.

• The poison vial is useful for quickly removing single enemy targets quietly and efficiently, a target that is hit takes 1d4 piercing damage and must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 2d10 poison damage on a failed save and adds the poisoned condition, on a successful save the target takes half as much damage and ignores the poison condition.
• The sleep vial is useful for incapacitating a single target for up to 10 min, a hit target takes 1d4 piercing damage and must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be knocked unconscious. If they take any damage while under the effects of this vial they will immediately begin to wake up, being able to act as normal on the following turn. They must make the saving throw until they have either succeeded twice or failed twice as the serum takes effect. Once they get either two successes or fails they become immune to the effect of this vial for the next 48 hours.
• The paralysis vial is useful for when an assassin needs to incapacitate a target mid-combat to make the process of elimination much easier. A hit target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for up to 1 minute. They can make a new saving throw at the end of their turns, but for Medium or smaller targets  failing twice will result in having to make further saves at disadvantage as the poison takes full effect within their body. A creature becomes immune to the effect of this vial for 24 hours after being inflicted with it no matter what.

While each of these vials may only provide temporary advantages in taking down a target, the key to success is being able to flexibly use them when you feel you can gain the upper hand and not just focusing on the short term outcome of their imminent death.

Parachute:

10 Feet of Cloth, 2 Metal Rods worth 5 GP each, and 1 hour of crafting time.

This simple parachute is useful for gliding short distances and lowering fall speed. You can use a Reaction to deploy this chute as you begin to fall from a distance of 60 feet or higher, becoming able to either glide in a single direction on each turn for up to 30 feet, or vertically dropping down from your current position and reducing any fall damage by an amount equal to your Total level x 5. 

Smoke Bomb:

Alchemy ingredients worth 15 GP, Tinker materials worth 15 GP, and 2 hours of work. Creates 3 smoke bombs and any smoke bombs can be held individually or in a small coin sack sized bag.

This small ball explodes in a cloud of fog completely impenetrable to the human eye, it requires a Bonus Action to use and has a thrown range of 15 feet, effective radius of 15 feet spreading out from where it impacts, and lasts for 1 round. When aiming to hit a target with it they do not take any damage from impact, however, you successfully hit them if you land a normal Attack roll.

 

Advanced Techniques

At Level 17 you have trained in the arts of Assassination and know how to study your targets weaknesses and strengths allowing you to now possess many advantages against them in combat. You must watch your target for 30 minutes in order to get a basic idea of how they act, this is lowered to 5 minutes if they are in combat the whole time. After having viewed them you gain the upper hand in combat against them with the following techniques:

Parry Moves:

• If your target tries to attack you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and attempt to perform any one of the following moves: 
  • Grab: You can grab on to your enemy, allowing you to either knock the target prone on the ground, or attack them on your next turn with advantage (this effect option lasts until the end of your next turn for all available attacks)
  • Counter: You can attempt to block the enemy attack by immediately making a single melee weapon attack against them, possibly avoiding that hit and damaging them
  • Disarm: You can attempt to disarm the target of the weapon they attacked you with, either knocking it 1d4 x 5 feet away, or equipping it to yourself if you are unarmed or have a free hand (so long as the enemy weapon is not listed as Heavy, Two-handed, or Special)

In order to perform these moves you must roll a contested Attack Check (not counting the initial attack), if they then roll under your AC you succeed on the move, otherwise highest roll wins with ties going to original attacker.

This ability can be used once and is then exhausted, refreshing after either landing a successful attack on your target, or if the target dies.

Assassin's Awareness:

For up to 1d6 rounds after entering combat with your assassination target, you gain advantage on the first attack roll of each of those turns. This cannot be cancelled out by any means short of being Incapacitated, and can only affect a target once while they are alive.

You are also aware of your targets basic resistances and immunity if they have one or more of the following: Bludgeoning, Piercing or Slashing immunity, you can also override resistance to those three damage types, but must take disadvantage on the attack.