The Red Mantis assassins on page 15 of Pathfinder 9 list (1) 2nd Level and (3) 1st Level spells, but the assassins are listed with an Intelligence of 8.
The class description from page 70 says, "To cast a
spell, the Red Mantis assassin must have an Intelligence score
of at least 10 + the spell’s level. Red Mantis assassin bonus
spells are based on Intelligence...."
Question: Is the class description or the stat block in error?
|
The Red Mantis assassins on page 15 of Pathfinder 9 list (1) 2nd Level and (3) 1st Level spells, but the assassins are listed with an Intelligence of 8.
The class description from page 70 says, "To cast a
spell, the Red Mantis assassin must have an Intelligence score
of at least 10 + the spell’s level. Red Mantis assassin bonus
spells are based on Intelligence...."Question: Is the class description or the stat block in error?
I would hazard a guess that their spellcasting is meant to be Charisma-based, rather than Intelligence. I just checked the pdf and their Cha of 14 is sufficient to grant them a bonus 1st and bonus 3rd level spell, which is consistent with the number of spells they have.
U
PS: Love the PrC, by the way. And the art, especially the way the assassins are holding their sabres with the blades down. At first I thought it was goofy, then I twigged that it made them look more like a mantis themselves! Awesome stuff. The whole class is much more fun than the DMG's assassin, although the shapechanging felt a little out-of-place at first.
Creative Director
|
The Red Mantis assassins on page 15 of Pathfinder 9 list (1) 2nd Level and (3) 1st Level spells, but the assassins are listed with an Intelligence of 8.
The class description from page 70 says, "To cast a
spell, the Red Mantis assassin must have an Intelligence score
of at least 10 + the spell’s level. Red Mantis assassin bonus
spells are based on Intelligence...."Question: Is the class description or the stat block in error?
That's an unfortunate typo in the class description. At first, the mantises used intelligence as a base score, but we decided to change that since they were more about presence than smarts. Red Mantis assassins use Charisma for all their spell-casting needs.
Thank you for the clarification! And I think the class has great "presence." (Charisma definitely feels better as a basis for their spells.) I also like their visual nature (sneaky but scary when you finally see them).
When I showed a picture of a Red Mantis Assassin to my players, they were mocking him. "He's sneaking around and is wearing RED? Good luck."
I just replied "Yes, he's wearing red. And he still sneaks past everyone with ease. Yes, these guys are THAT good."
I think that convinced them somewhat. I have to show our resident power gamer the PrC. Once he just blurts "Excessive!" they'll know that these guys aren't messing around.
|
Creative Director
|
When I showed a picture of a Red Mantis Assassin to my players, they were mocking him. "He's sneaking around and is wearing RED? Good luck."
I just replied "Yes, he's wearing red. And he still sneaks past everyone with ease. Yes, these guys are THAT good."
I think that convinced them somewhat. I have to show our resident power gamer the PrC. Once he just blurts "Excessive!" they'll know that these guys aren't messing around.
Also... keep in mind that while the red mantises are sneaky... they're more about making impressions. They're not the types of assassins that go in, do their thing, and get out without anyone noticing. If they need to be TOTALLY unseen, invisibility's a good choice, but for the most part, once they make their moves, they want to be showing off.
That, and yeah, they're that good.
When I showed a picture of a Red Mantis Assassin to my players, they were mocking him. "He's sneaking around and is wearing RED? Good luck."
I just replied "Yes, he's wearing red. And he still sneaks past everyone with ease. Yes, these guys are THAT good."
I think that convinced them somewhat. I have to show our resident power gamer the PrC. Once he just blurts "Excessive!" they'll know that these guys aren't messing around.
Also... keep in mind that while the red mantises are sneaky... they're more about making impressions. They're not the types of assassins that go in, do their thing, and get out without anyone noticing. If they need to be TOTALLY unseen, invisibility's a good choice, but for the most part, once they make their moves, they want to be showing off.
That, and yeah, they're that good.
Red also actually blends into shadows pretty well. Black doesn't really do so sometimes (it seems too black against the darkness). Grey is the best and was the most preferred by ninja back in the day, at least that's what a ninja once told me once. :-)
I prefer a nice shade of green. Nice insider tip I got from someone in the biz.
The showmanship part makes sense, and I'll guess they're more than up to the task of getting past those between them and their mark.
Where can I find the stats for a prayer mantis (giant or not) and a bloodred prayer mantis, please ? Which book ?
Thanks for your future help.
Where can I find the stats for a prayer mantis (giant or not) and a bloodred prayer mantis, please ? Which book ?
Thanks for your future help.
"Blood red" merely refers to a change of coloration and the subsequent loss of the racial bonus to Hide / Stealth.
The basic statblock is on page 285 of the MM for Giant Praying Mantis.
They're pretty wuss unless you take some pains to tweak them a bit though, at least at the point at which the characters encounter any one that can summon them.