Legendary Assassins (PFRPG) PDF

This supplement clocks in at 26 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page ToC, 2 pages of introduction, 3 pages of advertisement, 1 page inside of back cover, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 14 pages of content, so let's take a look!

The assassin-PrC has captured the minds of gamers and GMs alike ever since its 2nd edition kit...but, alas, if there is one thing that holds true for the concept, it's that its rules-representation standard in 3.X and, subsequently, the Pathfinder-iteration, just don't do the job that well. The pathfinder PrC is hampered by having been released at a very early stage in the system, which rendered it...well, not too captivating, as it inherited the weaknesses of 3.X's takes on the concept. From Kobold Quarterly's second issue back in the day to Green Ronin's highly evocative Assassin's Handbook back in the day, there have been many attempts of making an assassin base class, but in 2016, we saw not one, but two that stand out: Number one would be Purple Duck Games' "Assassins of Porphyra", which created an intriguing prestige archetype concept. Number 2 would be the PHENOMENAL Assassin-class by Interjection Games, which employs an extremely rewarding maneuver-engine that just blew me away. Both, however, do have in common that they represent base-classes.

It is interesting, in this context that this pdf represents the first attempt I know of to salvage the assassin as a PrC. The first step towards this endeavor the pdf undertakes would be that it, after elaborating on the origin of the term and its original usage, to eliminate the nonsense evil-only restriction. In a world where murder-hobo-ism is a driving factor of economy, limiting assassins to be evil only always felt weird. (Heck, that's probably why the Book of Exalted Deeds back in 3.X had a "good killer"-PrC...). Prerequisite-wise, a BAB of +3 and 3 relevant skills at 5 ranks are what it takes to become an assassin as per this book, with the PrC providing d8 HD, 4 + Int skills per level, 1/2 Ref-save progression and 3/4 BAB-progression. Additionally, the PrC nets proficiency with all standard crossbows (light, hand, heavy), daggers, darts, rapier, sap, shortbow (normal + composite), short sword and light armor. It's a bit weird to see the garrote missing from the list, but oh well. The class can cast arcane spells while in light armor sans spell failure. At 1st level and every odd level thereafter, the assassin gains sneak attack +1d6, but may forego this progression in favor of spell progression or a bonus combat feat - big plus here, since this means the PrC retains relevance and diversity for more base classes!

Starting at 2nd level, the assassin chooses one type of effect from a list, like disease, divination, etc. - she gains +1 to saves versus such effects, +1 every two levels thereafter - I think that should be class levels, but I may be wrong and in dubio pro reo means that I won't hold that against the pdf. 2nd level also nets uncanny dodge, with 4th level providing hidden weapons and true death. As a minor nitpick, the spell reference to remove curse in the latter ability has not been properly italicized and the verbiage is fully functional, but slightly nonstandard. 5th level nets improved uncanny dodge, 6th level Quiet death, 8th level Hide in Plain Sight, 9th level swift death and 10th level, angel of death. Death attack and poison use are gained, just fyi, as we've come to expect at 1st level of the PrC. The former is modified, though: 3rd and 5th level reduce the amount of study required to execute death attacks by 1 round.

Here is where player-agenda falls into place: At 1st level and every odd level thereafter, the assassin-PrC presented here may select an assassin talent from a list of 27 available selections. These allow for scavenging or further progressing of previous class tricks like the gaining of a rogue talent, a ninja trick, counting as fighter-levels for feat prereqs, continued wild shape progression, etc. Forcing foes to roll Sense Motive twice and take the worse result versus the assassin's Bluff, increased DCs for poison-based magic, dealing sneak attack versus grappled foes (With the right build, that's a serious ouch!) - there are some serious tricks here. Characters with channel energy may expend one attempt of the ability as part of a death attack to auto-confirm threats and bypass the target's DR if he is on the opposite end of one of the alignment axes. I'm right now hearing "God punishes, I kill" by Iron Mask blaring inside my head...powerful, yet circumstantial and thematic. Nice. As a whole, these talents focus on diversifying the PrC and making the multiclassing into it from different backgrounds more rewarding...so yeah, kudos!

Speaking of options: A total of 9 feats have been provided, which should also prove to be useful from Red Mantis killers - while the feats have been stripped of references to that closed Golarion IP, adding temporarily the fiendish template to your mantis form is a nice bit. Summoners can take a feat to lend the benefits of their assassin class features via bond senses to their eidolon, which is very strong and, with minimum level 3rd in the PrC, justifiably reserved for higher level characters. Adding sneak attack to a familiar's delivered touch spell is pretty potent. Beyond these the usual extra talent, increased DC, etc. numerical upgrades can be found. Making poison stick longer to a blade, assuming mantis swarm shape or increasing death attack DCs via ki-expenditure make for nice tricks.

Now, with the prominence of Game of Thrones (say what you want - I still prefer the books...) in TV, it should come as a pleasant surprise that this pdf contains an archetype for the PrC, namely the Many-faced killer. "This is does not have a name." These guys have an alternate array of requirements regarding feats and skills - I assume that these are replacements for the regular assassin-prereqs, not additional ones, but I am not sure. Instead of death attack at 1st level, these guys gain class level to Bluff, Disguise and Sense Motive, making them experts at intrigue and social subterfuge. Fret not: Death attack is still unlocked, only at 3rd level, where it replaces the assassin-talent. They can apply disguises in half the time and reduce penalties for other races, with 2nd level providing quick change. 4th level replaces true death with at-will alter self, and 5th level provides untrained skill use of skills pertaining to cover. 8th level replaces HiPS with the option to masking his alignment or emulating others, with 10th level allowing for the at-touch subsuming of a helpless creature's aura and identity, fooling divinations etc.

The pdf concludes with 3 sample NPCs, which highlight different means of using the PrC - a CR 10 iron-arm enforcer (monk/assassin), a Cr 8 cultic purgaton (necro/assassin) and a CR 12 rogue/many-faced killer build. Each sports a bit of fluff and advice on using them.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are good, I noticed no glaring issues. Layout adheres to Legendary Games' two-column full-color standard and the pdf has some nice artworks, though fans of LG will be familiar with some. The pdf comes bookmarked for your convenience, but has no nested bookmarks, only basic ones that point, for example to the feat-section.

Jeff Lee's take on the assassin-PrC makes it a viable, strong option one certainly can consider from a PC-perspective. From getting rid of the dumb alignment-restriction to the increased multiclassing-support, the pdf significantly improves the PrC. While the slight prereq-confusion with the archetype is a bit of a hassle, that's not something I'd consider an issue. This pdf certainly achieves its goal and I'd be singing more praises if the aforementioned base-class iterations had not already taken the assassin-concept to a level that surpasses what this pdf can deliver with its improved chassis.

Personally, I enjoy the complex and extremely rewarding maneuver-management of IG's class to a point where I don't ever want to play a vanilla assassin again. That being said, this prestige class will still see use in my games, namely whenever I have to pit an NPC with assassin-levels against my group and don't want to fully redesign the statblock. Due to being pretty much compatible with the original, this is extremely useful even if you're like me and prefer another, full base-class-take on the assassin. As such, this may not reach the highest echelons of amazement for me, but it will remain a nice and handy tool in my GM-arsenal. As such, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded up for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.

Assassins. Everyone knows what they are, right? Evil, slink around alleys, use poison, try knifing your PCs in the back after they've meddled in the schemes of Ogrek the Awful for the umpty-eleventh time... They have their uses in game, but they seem to be rather limited. And what if you have a PC who wants to be a heroic or anti-heroic assassin? You were kind of stuck.

Not any more. Legendary Assassins is the latest in the Legendary Heroes line from Legendary Games. The other releases expanded on full 20-level character classes. This is the first focused on a prestige class; twenty-six pages long, fourteen of juicy content, and now let us see how well it does.

It opens with a section on historical and fictional assassins, and how the class can be more than an evil hired killer. For starters, they remove the alignment restrictions, and they change the requirements to a BAB of +3 and at least three skills at rank 5 out of a decent list.

The class also gets talents like those of the rogue that allow for considerable customization. There are ones for spell-casting assassins, for martials, gunslingers and swashbucklers, even ones to allow druids to improve their wild shape and Thousand Faces class feature. There are talents that aid clerical assassins, barbarian assassins, even monk or brawler assassins. You get a lot to choose from here! The talents really do a great job of opening the assassin up for other classes.

Sneak attack is also changed. In lieu of taking another +1d6 sneak attack damage, you can do thing like increase your spellcasting level or choose a new combat feat if you have a levels in any class with a full BAB. Very nice and another great chance at customization.

The Death Attack is still there, but now it becomes quicker to use as you increase in level. And one of the new talents allows you to base it off Strength rather than Intelligence if you like. Given the number of thuggish assassins I've seen in games that's a great idea. And at 9th level she can make one such attack a day without studying the foe. I do like what they did with the Death Attack, now it feels like it actually improves at every new level instead of just getting a higher DC.

Their normal save bonus versus poisons can now be applied to any one particular effect, ranging from poisons to mind-affecting effects to supernatural abilities.

We get one assassin archetype, the Many-Faced Killer. They specialize in disguise and slipping into a new persona, eventually gaining minor shapeshifting abilities. They even learn how to disguise their aura and alignment, defending them against alignment-based effects.

Last are some new assassin feats. One allows a summoner assassin to share their assassin class features with their eidolon. Another allows an assassin with a familiar to let it use sneak attacks when it delivers a touch spell. They have feats for an improved death attack, and one that allows monk assassins to expend ki on their death attack. There's one for poison-loving alchemist assassins, and a pair for members of the Red Mantis, referred to here as 'Crimson Assassins'. I'd call it a pretty good list.

The PDF ends with three sample assassins -- a monk who deals with unruly people who refuse to negotiate with her abbot; a necromantic cult slayer; and the Handmaiden, a Many-Faced Killer who can be used as either an ally or enemy to PCs.

This PDF is short and sweet, and it does a great job of expanding on the options for both PCs and NPCs who will either confront or want to become assassins. It makes me wonder about playing one for what could be the first time ever. Great work, five stars, and definitely worth the cost for anyone who even thinks they might use assassins in their game.

Note: I received a review copy of this product, but no compensation for this review.

Hey all, checking out Legendary Assassins, and this is actually an interesting one to me. You might have seen Legendary Rogues and Legendary Swashbuckler basically fixing the class, but this book actually fixes a prestige class, one that was in sore need of it.

What I liked

-As always, LG's artwork is top shelf, no denying the quality here.

-The introduction is nicely paced, giving us some more insight into the class from a historical perspective, which is pretty fun.

-The prereqs to get in are very loose, and thankfully no forced evil alignment.

-Assassin talents add a lot to the class, and there's a lot of great ones in here too, helping to really differentiate the class from what it used to be. It also accounts for the wide variety of ways of which this prestige class can be entered.

-Trading sneak attack advancement for bonus feat progression or spellcasting is great, although lacking full spellcasting progression will still keep this from being a huge spellcaster option.

-Archetypes for a prestige class which have different requirements are seriously awesome, this is one thing that cannot be ignored. I'm not the biggest fan of the one in the book, but whatever, it's an awesome idea.

-The feats are interesting in that a few of them work to bridge gaps between class features from previous classes, while others actually affect the crimson assassin Prc.

-Three sample NPCs is a large amount for something like this, and they're well appreciated.

What I didn't like

-Saving Throw Bonus as a class feature reads very generically, and distracts from the elegant design of the class features.

-Grim Sniper feels redundant with Lethal Range, as Lethal Range is almost always better and doesn't require a resource.

-Only having 1 PrC archetype and a somewhat lackluster feat section did leave me wanting, but not enough to besmirch a very solid product. Also would have liked to have seen a bit of vigilante intersection here, but that's just me.

Final Thoughts
I can easily see this replacing the core assassin, as the mechanics of this book are very fluid. While it still doesn't make the best segway into spellcasting due to the at best 1/2 progression, it does do a much more admirable job of it than the core class, and the assassin talents do a lot to differentiate the builds possible with this. I'd say this is a 4.8/5 to me, but that's obviously rounding up to a 5, this is a good book if you're running intrigue or just want a functioning death attack!