Ratguard's page

The way I see it, back in the days of AD&D you would encounter far more enemies than you do now, balancing was less of an idea presented by the system, which went for more of a, "there are 30-300 goblins in a tribe, put them on the ground, determine their habits, weaponry etc... and let your players tackle the problem, and play the enemy as dumb goblins." Which would have made the cleave feat amazingly more helpful back in those days, or when a GM today GMs like that. Another thing is the power curve was a little less extreme, and the pre packaged modules supported more minion type enemies to wear down the group, and to make it where not every enemy you fought at a certain level was your equal.

The issue I see is that 3.X changed these assumptions, and led to a shift in play to a certain extend, that leads to cleave being less helpful overall, than it could have been. So for cleave to be helpful you need to have a GM that doesn't look at a part, and select close to their level varied threats for high tactics relatively equal numbers on each side play, you need a GM that throws weak enemies at you when it makes sense, and has the ability to handle initiative and multiple foes, so that you can use the Cleave feat against things like goblins, orc, bugbears and wild animals.

Cleave should be helpful all the time in my opinion, but a fair few GMs on top of their default GMing style not favoring large amounts of weaker enemies instead of a few stronger ones, also may not adapt to make your feat helpful. You have to go with your best judgement on whether the feat is worth it, but I don't think it is a trap, merely a situational thing like the ranger's favored enemy ability.

I find not being in person helps me get into character more, as in the social anxiety from acting out a completely off the wall character is removed when my face is not present, I sometimes wish I could do facial expressions and all that jazz. But I feel like my roleplay as a DM has benefited.

I'll probably be joining a new group and they mentionned they've always been missing a healer..and at the same time commented how the climate of the campaign might not suit a cleric very well. Apparently they're leaning towards chaotic with not much attention for gods.

The group mentionned consisting so far of a "warrior, thief and mage"..with the "mage" apparently being a druid really

I've thought of a life oracle with my self-made race, that would have a neat look together, but there's a question mark on whether or not they might accept the race.
On the other hand I just can't "see" myself playing an oracle with anything else..not enough feel for the class i suppose.

What else could I have to fill in a healer role, look cool with a race from the books and hopefully not be just a healbot? And not be a cleric/oracle/overly lawfulness-enforcing creep?

and while at it, problem nr.2: they mentionned starting around level 10..and my parties so far never made it further than 7, so..yeah I'll be needing help actually building that character with feats and gear

There is no problem being a cleric. Just follow Gorum who only cares about fighting. Or Cayden Cailean who is out to have a good time and promote freedom and ale. Tons of options exist.

You should look at Burn the same way you look at spell slots. You can only do it a limited amount of time every day to be at your fullest potential, you have to make the same decisions that other casters do. But instead of "Should I use a spell here" It's "Should I use a burn here"

What are fighter and rogue? New NPC classes?

No one plays those silly classes anymore, even in my low optimization groups.

Actually plenty of people still play these classes, at least in online games. Especially the Rogue with the introduction of the absolutely mental archetype "Phantom Thief" letting them be the Skill Monkeys to the extent that it's actually useful. And fighter have nice things, and make pretty stellar archers and close weapon fighters.

Simple, bind protean and inevitables. A paladin cannot complain about you binding proteans, unless he goes "You are bind a free being that loves freedom" in which case just bind inevitables.

Here is a list of townsfolk and such. You can use it if you want, just ignore all the crazy crap that I came up with when I was younger, you can use it as a pool to pull from whenever they run into a random person.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WrXiuwtLm0hLoL54wzGKv-MOWmPRhk8e2mr 8de3TCHU/pubhtml

After spending far too long playing Darkest Dungeon I decided to bring one of the characters to the Pathfinder Universe http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=316453

This character is based off of the Grave Robber from Darkest Dungeon, being resourceful and helpful in a diverse mix of situations. She wields a Pick, preferably heavy. And has a brace of daggers for use in various situations, she will also have access too poison darts, as well as buffing potions to make her more effective either in the back or the front. Most variations of this design require a fair amount of feats for combat, so you may find yourself dipping into fighter to satiate your needs. Most Grave Robber Variations will not put many levels into fighter, so a good choice if you can use it would be Mutation Fighter to emulate Toxin Trickery. Allowing you the ability to boost the stat that seems most valuable at the moment, you will also be avoiding heavy armor to get the most out of your Rogue/equivalent class levels.

Variation 1. Back line Knife Thrower. The Grave Robber depends upon several tricks to be useful in many situation. Chief among these are her daggers. This build takes advantage of her natural propensity for ranged attacks, whilst mixing it with a decent amount of combat versatility. For a 20 PB. Pathfinder Society Standard. You should have as a human a 14 Str 17 Dex 12 Con. 12 Int 12 Wis. and 10CHA. With a 15 point buy you have less points to throw around. a good 15 point buy would be 14 Str 16 Dex 12 Con 10 Int 13 Wis 10 Cha

It is usually best for first level to pick Mutation fighter. This allows you access to Point Blank Shot and Quick Draw early on, if you are human go ahead and pick up Rapid Shot or Shattering Weapon. Point blank will help you with dagger damage, and Rapid Shot will allow you to double your damage power, the penalty to this is your to hit chance, only throw 2 dagger early on if you are relatively sure you can hit with them. Quick Draw will allow you too rapid shot with your dagger. Shattering weapon can help bleed enemies dry with stacking damage.

A good mutagen to prepare would be either STR or DEX. Dex if the enemy seems well armored and are foiling your attacks, and strength if you are hitting them, but could use some extra oomph to make them go down a round earlier.

Currently you are doing pretty well on the raw damage, You should have, without mutagens, A +4 to hit for 1d4+3 damage, which is not shabby at all. This gives you a good ability to deal decent damage against a variety of foes, Using mutagens you can get a +6 to hit. or a +5 to damage. Not shabby for such small blades.

For your second level you can pick from Slayer and Rogue, and their included archetypes. Going along with the slayer, Cutthroat is a good archetype for it's free action study target when you ambush enemies, which if you are a good Grave Robber, you should be doing. Allowing you to boost your damage even more. Stab and Grab can allow you to snatch important magical items in the midst of combat, potions, amulets of fireball. Etc... Though it is a circumstantial bonus at best. Especially considering you will not be getting that many crits, unless you are using your daggers in melee, (Hint you should not be unless you are a knife master) Grave warden is a good choice, since you will already have quick draw for reasons. However it's bonuses are circumstantial Unless you are in a undead campaign, and fits a little less into the Grave Robber theme. Going back to default slayer. Slowing strike is good, though scaling off of intelligence is less than ideal since this is not a skill monkey variant. Ranger fighting style however is good allowing you to get Far shot and Precise shot.

If you decide to go rogue for this variant a good choice would be Knife master. This will allow you even greater damage with your knives, though you will take a hit to melee effectiveness. And later on will replace trap sense, while it is a circumstantial bonus it does fit the flavor of the grave robber. Though being better with knives does as well. Poisoner allows you to go down the path of the Poison darts skill, however to be truly effective with poison you need to spend a fair penny, and make sure you hit. However poison is a boon against mages and the like with low fort saves, or simply throwing out a large amount of cheap poisons and hoping that some of it sticks.
Scout is a good archetype, however it does not help you until much much later on, it is better suited for the build of Variant 2 The Switcher. And you will be losing uncanny dodge. And finally, though the bandit archetype takes a while to get going. You can combine it with knife master so at level 4 rogue you can take a move standard and swift. Combining this with underhanded and quick draw can lead to a very large amount of damage being dealt in surprise rounds. Good rogue talents include Snap Shot for being able to throw your dagger at a large choice of target. Surprise attack, to take advantage of the Underhanded Quick Draw Bandit Archetype, though it does not synergies well with Snap Shot by my understanding of the rules. Bleeding attack is great for getting damage out early that keeps adding up.

As for 3rd level feats. Splintering weapon can be nice since you will be throwing out so many dagger. And that bleed damage should stack, allowing a fair amount of damage over time, combined with bleeding attack and underhanded with the bandit archetype with rapid shot you can deal a lot of damage. If you like critical hits Disposable weapon can help you turn out good damage. The penalty for these 2 feats is you need non magical fragile primitive material using weapons, making them a weapon for the earlier levels. If you went for splintering weapon instead of rapid shot, now would be the time to grab rapid shot. Precise shot can help if your teammates have the curious problem of standing in front of the person whose only want in the world is to throw things. Deadly aim can help now that your to hit is a little higher, though keep in mind, use it against low AC targets.

This is variant 1 As you continue leveling up this character it may be time to start grabbing a few feats here and there for your pick, or you could focus solely on the fun of hurling daggers into foes from the back lines.

Variant 2 Pick and Blade. This variant combines Both knife throwing and and the immeasurable enjoyment of the pick. There are multiple ways to go for this Variant, you can alternatively go for Primarily Fighter levels, or you can go down pretty much the same path as the Back Line Knife Thrower. For the sake of this example we will be taking our first level in Mutation Fighter. For a 20 Point Buy you should look like this. 16 Str 16 Dex 14 Con 10 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha. Alternatively if you wish to capture the Grave Robber more accurately you can do 15 STR 16 Dex 14 Con 11 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha

Good Mutagens for Pick and blade run the Gamut from Str Dex and Con. Depending upon the situation. A good solid choice at all times is Str, though in cases where a meatier character is not around you should go for Con or Dex. And when the front Line is full Dex is a good choice to help you hit foes, especially if you do not have precise shot.

Lets get cracking at the feats now. Power attack is a good choice, it allows you to effectively deal large amounts of damage with your two handed pick, with mutagens up you can be hitting for +6 to hit for 1d6+7 points of damage, if you dump power attack on top of that you have +5 to hit for 1d6+10. Don't roll a 1 brave warrior. Combat Reflexes can help you swing your pick more times in a turn, helping protect the people in the back, combined with stand still you are making a road block, but be prepared to take a beating. Dodge and mobility can help you keep enemies occupied making AOOs at you whilst your friends can run blithely past, or you could be smart and use it to maneuver to flanking positions. Improved initiative can help insure that you are the first into the fray, and the first out if things take a turn for the worse. Point blank shot can help you with the dagger situation, you may notice that you are dealing less damage with them now, let's fix that problem right up. Quick draw is helpful if you think you will have to switch between throwing dagger at enemies just out of reach, and swinging a pick at the ones in reach, dagger in one hand, Pick in the other. Speaking of Pick and Blade, Two weapon fighting can allow you to wield a knife in one hand, and a pick in the other. However the one lost benefit is the you will be dealing a little less damage with the pick, and a slightly lower chance to hit. The dagger can help offset this slightly though as can double slice. Alternatively you can depart a little from flavor and carry a light pick in your other hand. I know some people love massive crits. Which brings us to disposable weaponry, This is a great feat for weapons like picks, you have a small chance to crits, but when you do everyone around takes note. Once again though you have the problem of the weapons having to be fragile, it is certainly a boon early in the levels though. Splintering weapon is less ideal for this build, though it still has a place with your throwing dagger. Allowing you to bleed an enemy for a while before moving in. Cleave is useful, the more attacks you get the more crits you can do. Weapon focus can help offset power attack and Two weapon fighting penalties.

Overall just make sure you are competent with ranged weapons and good with melee.

Now at this point you are probably asking, why would I depart from the glory that is the fighter, and avoid this massive well of feats, most of them just from the core, just to get some sneak attack dice! you are right, the benefits of keeping fighter are strong, you are just going to get better and better at killing things, but let us not forget something, you are not a warrior, you are a grave robber! Plus you can get some nice things from being a rogue (Wait, where are all those pitchforks coming from, it was a joke a jo.... Aiiiiieeeeeeehhhh) The basic rogue does not have much to give you, sure it has uncanny dodge evasion and the like, but you can benefit from other abilities let us jump right to rogue talents.

Assault Leader! Once a day when you miss with a melee attack you can designate an ally that is flanking the enemy to have a free swing, nice when you have a beautiful hulking I smash barbarian, Beautiful when you have another Pick and Blade, or just plain Pick and Pick rogue along for the ride. Positioning attack can help you get into a good flanking position, or just get the hell out of dodge if you are caught in a flank. Offensive defense can help a decent amount, the problem is you will not always be flanking. And better to kill an enemy quickly than survive an extra attack, still pretty nice.

Skill point wise you will be looking for things that fit thematically. Things that would assist a Grave Robber in their "task" The most important skills would be. Perception for locating traps. Disable Device for circumventing them. Knowledge Local can assist one in discretely learning the location of a tomb, and stealth can help evade any unruly guardians left behind, and lastly Appraise to find out how much that doo-dad will sell for. Secondary skills include Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Knowledge Dungeoneering and Engineering, Sleight of Hand, and heal.

Good equipment for both variants is usually constant, though there is some variation, for the first variant your first priority is to acquire several daggers, especially if you use splintering weapon. Then you need a moderately protective armor, something like studded leather or chain shirt. A couple of masterwork daggers is something to aim for later on. A belt of Dex is a good purchase to assist you in hitting your mark and avoiding attacks, and later on enchanted daggers are a must,

For the second variant your first priority is a good heavy pick, MWK will do for now, then you want a chain shirt, for protection, then some daggers, a Belt of Strength or Constitution can be a great help, later on you want to get a magic pick, keen is a decent choice, and if you notice yourself fighting alot of the same foe it may be worth it to invest in some sort of bane weapon.

For both variants you wish to be a prepared and alive adventurer, so don't be afraid to splurge on magic and alchemy. 2 2nd level potions of vanish are a good purchase, rich parents can give you extra money to throw around if you want these at the start. After that you want the whole gamut of alchemical remedies from Ultimate equipment, I have a list in the character sheet, some things may be a little outside of your price range, and that is find, just make sure anything major is dealt with, Anti plague, antitoxin, Cure light wounds, smelling salts, soothe syrup, wismouth salix, the whole list of alchemical remedies and what has a fair chance of coming in useful, obviously you may have to put your collection together across a few sessions, but a prepared adventurer is a live one. Healing kit, thieves tools, rations, and torches finish up the list

These are the two variants that I have made, by all means this is not a optimization build (I am using rogue levels for god's sake) But it is an interesting build based on a rather interesting game, I look forward to using it in the future for more than just theory craft.

Sorry, I am not well versed in the technicality
of forum posting. The second line is my text.

One thing that I would do is have Armor = DR. I really like the vibe that it gives - but slapping it on top of the current system doesn't work as the whole system would need to re-balanced around it.

If you are not aware. Ultimate Combat gives rules for turning armor into DR. As well as Piecemeal armor.

That was an awesome game to DM, but to be fair, I did ask Svetlana's player if his character would have to roll a sense motive check, he immediately grabbed for his dice, and said that he indeed did believe.

Though keep in mind, these mites are still wandering around, trying to pick up their friends, who are just left out to rot.

Assuming a temperate forest, I rule a 1d100, and get a 79. So I roll 2d6 wolves and get a 9.

I see a pack of nine wolves loping around an injured elk, occasionally snapping at it's crimson painted legs and flank. Until eventually they take it down. And then turn to me, blood still dripping slowly from their stained muzzles.

I don't like what I see in the forest.

I am sorry that the thread has not headed the way you desired. That does not mean you have a bad idea though. It just means that for the majority of the posters here believe it is.

A simple thing to do could be to concede that this is not the gaming community for your idea, as represented by the strong feeling that people here have against it.

No matter it's controversial nature, it is still a great rule, for you. Simply said this is one of the rules that people dislike, it's the cult classic of movies, it's the song that only a couple people like, but when they like it boy do they like it.

I am sorry that your idea does not work for the people on here, and hope that you can find a better gaming system/ community forum, that will embrace it.

I look forward to see how this works out for you. Personally every single rules besides #1 #3 make me flinch.

However, if this is what your gaming group desires, this is what you should run with. I see a few problems, the BAB to dodge Ac could lead to a harsh time having creatures actually hitting PCs, at least martial ones. And leads to ray attacks sincerely sucking later on.

And the rest I will avoid going on a rant about, because it would just be a rant about enjoying the familiar, and how far out that is.

However I wish you the best of luck, and hope that you let us know how your sessions go in the future.

A Cleric of Gozreh with the growth plant domain.

"You dare attack the mother of nature!" Grows very big, pulls out trident/spear, goes to town.

You could then pick the Animal domain, and at some point pick an appropriate animal companion.

Just my two cents, it isn't optimized by any sense of the word. But could provide rousing role play possibilities.

I am honestly, kinda amazed at this. Whilst I did play AD&D a couple months back, and vastly enjoyed it. That is not what this kind of gaming crowd is looking for.

The statistic limitations are a terrible idea in my opinion. I have seen a couple clerics tank their charisma, and role-play it well. They aren't there to spread their religion they are there to crush heads of infidels, and often times come along as zealots.

However! I do believe this could be a FANTASTIC way for more old style players to enjoy the Pathfinder system. Though in such a scenario it would be best of them to play with rolling stats.

However, it is a horrible choice for the crowd that pathfinder is aiming for, a major source of it's appeal is to make oddball characters, Gunslingers that aren't that great at shooting, but their grit pulls them through the day. Or Gunslingers who don't have much grit, but are overall more skilled and tougher in a fistfight.

("Rant Time!" I dislike the system as a whole, but the rogue INT requirements drive me up the wall, I have in the past played a half-orc rogue, that tanked his intelligence, and played the Thug archetype, he also had a 12 dex, but had a good STR and CON, he would intimidate the crap out of people, then start smacking them with his sap. And was one of my favorite characters to date.) Rant Time ended

Elf Cleric, this could be interesting

I am actually surprised at the hostility that Magda is showing

"Second PC has decided not to stabilize the first PC but instead chase after the worg (it matches his character actually very well). "

It seems like, at least to the DM's knowledge, that he is not metagaming, instead following his character. Whilst abandoning his comrade was a horrible act, it shall be punished by player animosity, this is a teamwork game. And if the other players are fine with it, then so be it.

The DM has specified this is a solo warg. Easily explained by a possible attempt to overwhelm it's former pack leader.

The above advice for tracking is wonderful advice, it's also a possibility that instead of running away all the way, the Warg is desperate for a meal, and has no pack to run from and does not wish to die whilst sleeping. So thus decides to fight him. Which could lead to an epic standoff, and let the dice fall as they will.

Yes, it is much harder to pin a crime on someone if they don't remember it.

Ah little mage, perhaps you would like to stay backstage?

In This situation, why not form a way-station?

The "Rope Trick" is all you should be looking for, handy for escaping even a minotaur.

Or perhaps you wish to control, for in your presence, no undead will have self-control.

If you decide upon "Command Undead" just think of the dead, who will paint your foes in red.

"Invisibility". Could provide you with great capability.

"Glitter Dust" Is no doubt one of the best spells. For when you cast it, eyesight and invisibility, will say their farewells.

But! You live for glory, so that one day they shall tell a story.

So here they are. Spells to make enemies jaws hang ajar.

"Ghoul Touch" is the spell that will paralyze a foe. So you may their evil, sterilize.

Or perhaps you will destroy your foe's senses, then "Blindness/Deafness" Will destroy their defenses.

"Scorching Ray" can turn your foes into a fine puree.

A "Burning Sphere" Will make all your foes. Decompose. Well not really decompose since they will be burning, but you get the message, and it's hard to rhyme with everything.

"Acid Arrow" may take a while but it will work. on that big jerk

May I draw you to the attention of the "Black Alibi"

The blade of this +1 short sword appears to be nothing more than a shadow, but is quite solid and as sharp as steel. Five times per day, the wielder can as a move action create a featureless black "mask" of illusory cloth on the face of a willing target he touches. This mask obscures the wearer's identity and lasts for 10 minutes. Once per day, the wielder can activate the sword as a swift action; 1 minute afterward, the sword completely erases the wielder's memory of the previous minute (as if using modify memory).

He could even use it on himself if he feared detection, so that he has no memory of killing him. He could also combine it with a mind compulsion/Charm effect. "That young Servant with the bloody knife, aw he's innocent, he doesn't have a memory of the thing." Or, for longer assassinations

"False Alibi"
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (emerald dust worth 100 gp)
EFFECT

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one living creature
Duration permanent; see text
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

This spell functions similarly to modify memory, except you can modify the target's memory only in a specific way.

In response to a triggering condition you determine, up to the last 5 minutes of the target's memory are eliminated and replaced with a memory of your choosing (or no memory at all).

For example, you could cast this on an assassin, set it to trigger when he completes his kill, and replace his memory of the murder with the memory of him discovering the body and picking up the murder weapon. You can cast this spell multiple times on the same target, even with the same trigger, affecting different memories. A single casting of false alibi affects a creature only until the specified condition has been triggered; once a condition has been triggered and the target's memory altered, that condition no longer triggers this spell unless the victim is subject to another casting of false alibi that specifies the same trigger.

And, if he wanted to throw his enemies off the trail, or at least discourage them. He could cast this spell either the way he fled, or down a goose chase passage.

"Night of Blades"
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
EFFECT

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect wall of blades up to 10 ft. long/level and 10 ft. tall
Duration 1 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw Reflex half; Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

Useful primarily to those who skulk in the darkness, this spell is a temporary trap for the unwary. You create an immobile wall of tiny black blades that whirl and tear into creatures like a cyclone. Anyone who enters this space takes 1d4 points of damage per caster level (maximum 10d4), though a successful Reflex save halves the damage. The spell cannot be cast so that it appears in a space already occupied by Small or larger creatures.

Hmm, once again up to DM interpretation. Which also draws attention to the fact that the Festrog is horribly written out. And in looking at this, many DMs would have different stances in the matter, possibly leading to players crying out over it. Whilst I do tend to think of the abilities in a more beneficial way for them. Other DMs may not, and I certainly believe most players also would not.

So, I humbly doff my hat to you, and your expert observation. It is too reliant on DM judgement calls, to truly be a "Pathfinder Monster That Is Not Fun For It's CR"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't really have a ranged martial character. Paladin (Divine Hunter) Could potentially be a unique class to play as.

Well that is certainly a point of contention, and would be up to the DM

Four-Footed Run (Ex) A festrog can run on all fours at speed of 50 feet if it doesn't hold or carry anything in its hands. When running on all fours, it is treated as if it had the Run feat.

I personally think that this would not be treated as using the Run action. As it is not being described as such, I believe it is merely boosting the speed from a 30 to a 50.

Ian Wilson 67 wrote:

I strongly believe that the Festrog can potentially be a horrible CR1 Encounter.

I feel like you're giving the festrog a LOT of favorable conditions. And I'm not sure where you are getting +8 for the trip attempt, as his CMB is +4 and charging only gives +2. (If it even gets the charge bonus to the trip attempt.) He's not going to be able to run away if the party melee guys surround him and ranged character cut off his straight lines of escape.

Personally I don't quite see where I am giving him favorable conditions. His +6 Stealth makes him a rather decent ambush critter, And his +8 from tripping is from Charging Trip

Charging Trip (Ex) A festrog that hits with its bite after making a charge attack on all fours can attempt to trip its opponent (+4 bonus). This trip does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

And With a movement speed of 50, a Full Withdraw could get him a decent distance, also allowing him to hide behind a gravestone or tomb building
if he was in a graveyard, as the description text details them as commonly residing in.

And if they are out hunting, they can just hightail it out of there, even if they do risk dying from an AOO

I strongly believe that the Festrog can potentially be a horrible CR1 Encounter.

First, it can charge up to whoever is in the back, with it's 100 foot charge, then trip them using his Charging trip power, giving him a +8 to the trip roll, on top of the bite from the charge. He then feeds on them, assuming the people hanging in the back are weaker characters, or wearing light armor, he has a +6 to hit, meaning more than likely he does make contact.

After he had fed he now has 14 HP, and it is now time for initative, with his temporary hit points he should be able to survive a couple good jab, which is a very very bad thing, for the more hits he takes, the more chances his Diseased Pustules can take effect, causing 1d4 con damage a day, admittedly only with a 11 Fortitude save, it can still pose a problem for classes with slow fort saves.

On top of that, if he survives to go on his next turn, he can do many things, a first level party has no way of catching him if he runs, unless they have gathered enough money to purchase a horse by now. And if he does not run, he can get a rather nifty full attack, with Bite +4 (1d6+3) And 2 claws +5 (1d4+3) And if his bite does land, he gets more temporary hit points,

And to make matters worse, these things can come in pack, using their Charging Trip power to trip most of the party, forcing them to either bite a -4 or get up provoking and attack.

One thing that I have found in my games, and I cannot stress enough. Is humanizing a villain can be a great asset for getting players to remember, and reminisce, about the villains.

Seeing what you have written up, it would be an interesting technique to make them seem remorseful before a fight, such as "The Youngest of the sisters looks over to you as her sister gloats over being chosen as the divine heralds of their God, you almost don't catch it. But she appears to be mouthing something to you (Sense Motive Check!) Okay, with that roll, you can determine that she is mouthing "I'm Sorry". And she draws a wicked curved knife. Before going into a battle stance."

Or other such things, don't paint them all Black. THey genuinely believe that they are helping a good God, their lair/temple should be adorned in bright colors. And their cultists should seem righteous and just. All the while dropping hints that not all is well. This can lead to the Sisters being more than just another crazed cult trying to end the world. It really drives home the point, that they believe what they are doing, is the right and just thing.

Well, you guys are all looking at the Assassin in relation to all the classes, Back when the Core Rulebook was the only thing for players, it was a decent class. But when they added the new classes, such as Slayer and Ninja. It rapidly fell behind.

The one way that I can see it being decent, is if you are playing a Core Rulebook only game, which some DMs do.

If this is your first level listen well. you only have two spells to pick.
Whilst you may want to deal damage you have a choice here.

"Silent Image" is the first spell that you must seek. Even if your DM is not lenient on illusion, creating a simple wall in front of archers or other spell casters, after alerting them that it is not real. Can provide a 50% chance for enemy caster or archers to miss. And one can even flavor text it to seem as if it is "Wall of Stone" thus leading to even more confusion.

For your second spell I would suggest even more battle field control. "

"Grease" could trip up a platoon of kobolds or orcs. Or make that ogre drop his greatsword.

"Summon Monster I" Even though regarded as a terrible spell by some, could provide a flanker for your rogue, though remember. The eagle is one of the only worthy summons on the list.

"Sleep" and "Color Spray" can help you out immensely, whilst sleep soon drops off in effectiveness, it can be targeted past the front line fighters of your group, allowing you to incapacitate the foes that he is fighting, without risking taking him out.

But you desire damage for your second spell. And thus you are given an extremely hard choice.

You can use a touch spell. Either "Chill Touch" Or "Shocking Grasp" Whilst Chill touch could send Undead packing, It drops off in effectiveness after first level. And Shocking Grasp is the leader, in damage, and is best against foes wearing heavy armor. One of the redeeming factors of Chill touch however, is you get one touch/level. Making it a pretty decent spell for disrupting undead attacks.

Or Perhaps you desire an AOE? "Burning Hands" Could provide you with the ability to moderately damage a fair amount of enemies. Though you must be careful to avoid harming allies.

And lastly you could pick the classic "Magic Missile" Allowing you to stay in the back, inflicting guaranteed low amounts of damage against a singular foe, such as the caster hanging out in the back, you could even ready an action to cast it as he starts casting, forcing him to roll a concentration check, or lose his spell.

As you see. It is up to you, and how you desire to play. In my opinion however, unless you party is made up of Murder Hobo melee fighters. Silent Image is always a good choice as an illusionist.