Master spy at 15 was the closest i could find.
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There's a Slayer Advanced Talent (at 10)
Compare with the Assassin ability, which has a longer studying time but also the capability of paralyzing your victim:
I'm intent to find more sources now.
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The assassinate ability can get a pretty decent save DC all things considered. You get your studied target bonus added to the DC and Intelligence is pretty cheap. Let's say your're going for Gang-Up, for instance, and start with 13 in the stat, buy a headband and put one stat point to it at 8th (after your accuracy stat gets to 18 or 20). Once you pick assassinate as your first advanced talent, its DC is going to be 21 with just that meagre investment. Pretty fun.
Now, going for assassinate means NOT picking Evasion, so slim chance someone might go this path, but it was worth a ramble.
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I suspect it has less to do with good/evil than being incredibly impractical. Full-round provoking action which requires a melee weapon and a helpless target? That's already a won fight.
That's pretty much it. There are some instances where the target is only temporarily helpless, but most of the time Coup de Grace only functions after battles are already won (which is what makes it evil, as it serves no purpose other than a desire for more death).
Not to mention that most things you really want dead will very easily succeed the fortitude save...
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Might just be a local thing, but I hadn't seen too many coup de gras attempts. Then again, it's never felt like something a Good align ed character is likely to do to me.
You are role playing this one perfectly. You see this more often with Chaotic Neutral PCs (and with wannabe Paladins really failing to grasp their code...).
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Quite a number of my PCs carry (more than one) set of manacles- often both Large and Small, as well as Medium.Minor quibble... but it's Coup de Gras, not Coup de Grace.
Also, how many lodges carry around rope mainly because they take prisoners so regularly? Or have a monk who uses non-lethal strikes by preference unless facing undead, clear monsters, or proven unredeemable foes?
One of my masterwork sets are fur lined and very stylish. Though I usually refer to them as "Fuzzy Love Cuffs"
;)
Which is just plain wrong. Without the proper additional parts to characters the pronunciation changes, thus making the word completely different. But as you said, the book lists it one way. Thus why I call it a minor quibble.
In English it is coup de grâce
The special characters are often ignored in printed material.
And again, removing the special characters changes how the word is enunciated. And thus it's not the same term. But that's neither here nor there.
Its not like English has consistent correlation between letters to the sound they make. Thats why you can spell fish Ghoti
So slayer is a better assassin than an assassin.
Yes, definitely; With no alignment restrictions.
In fact, I'd say Swashbuckler is a better Duelist than Duelist too, overall.
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So slayer is a better assassin than an assassin.Yes, definitely; With no alignment restrictions.
In fact, I'd say Swashbuckler is a better Duelist than Duelist too, overall.
Well, it seems that a base class designed to do something usually does it better than a prestige class designed to do it, especially with the power creep present in later classes.
Well, it seems that a base class designed to do something usually does it better than a prestige class designed to do it, especially with the power creep present in later classes.
IMHO new classes ar fine, its PRCs that used to be too weak. Assassin was never worth it - except for basically unrestricted HIPS -
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Swashbuckler is better than duelist. Magus is better than eldritch knight. Counterfeit mage beasts an arcane trickster. Slayer and ninja are better than an assassin. There are oracle, arcanist, druid, witch, and shaman builds that are far better than a mystic theurge. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I'm really wanting a way to get a good one hit kill via death attack, getting someone cowering and using dastardly finish, or reliable insane one hit damage that is pfs legal, and doesn't require having to be high level to make it work.
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Swashbuckler is better than duelist. Magus is better than eldritch knight. Counterfeit mage beasts an arcane trickster. Slayer and ninja are better than an assassin. There are oracle, arcanist, druid, witch, and shaman builds that are far better than a mystic theurge. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I'm really wanting a way to get a good one hit kill via death attack, getting someone cowering and using dastardly finish, or reliable insane one hit damage that is pfs legal, and doesn't require having to be high level to make it work.
If going the one-hit wonder route, I've always thought there must be a way to maximize damage via use of the True Strike combined with a bunch of those abilities that reduce the roll to hit in exchange for more damage. Haven't figured it out yet, but I'm not looking hard because I've found killing the enemies is often counter-productive in PFS, as most missions are easier if the enemies can be defeated without deaths.
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There are a lot of pfs encounters that do let you talk your way out of combats, and many where it is preferable, but that is often not the case. There is no quick diplomacy in Pathfinder like there was in 3.5. Once initiative is rolled, you had better be prepared to kill or disable all the enemies.
True, but I lean towards disabiling. Killing often results in not getting the information we need, or in creating further negative encounters later in the scenario. You can always kill them later, if their death proves absolutely needed, but wait until they are tied up/disabled.
Not to mention, a rather large chunk of enemies can be avoided entirely if you've got a character with Wild Empathy feats/archetypes, to enable peaceful encounters with the normally not peaceful enemies. Vermin Heart, Ooze Whisperer, and Greater Wild Empathy are amazing feats to avoid combat. There's druid archetypes for both Plant and Elemental Empathy, plus there's a ranger variant that gives a construct empathy (reprogram, it's called). With an Undead Sorcerer, you can even charm your way past most Undead.
Explore, Report, Cooperate. Don't need to kill anyone.
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Yeah, that isn't really that feasible. How many pfs groups have you seen that have obscure druid and ranger archetypes with feats picked just so they can get past that ooze or magical beast without fighting? It's an interesting concept, but far from the adventuring norm. You also have to factor in the tactics of creatures you can't normally talk out of fighting you default to attacking you because the scenario writers are not going to take these corner case abilities into account when writing encounters, and the gm is supposed to strictly use the written tactics when possible during encounters. Your resources are generally better used elsewhere. Most of the time you are lucky if you have one pc with decent social skills.
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Yeah, that isn't really that feasible. How many pfs groups have you seen that have obscure druid and ranger archetypes with feats picked just so they can get past that ooze or magical beast without fighting? It's an interesting concept, but far from the adventuring norm. You also have to factor in the tactics of creatures you can't normally talk out of fighting you default to attacking you because the scenario writers are not going to take these corner case abilities into account when writing encounters, and the gm is supposed to strictly use the written tactics when possible during encounters. Your resources are generally better used elsewhere. Most of the time you are lucky if you have one pc with decent social skills.
Depends on the group. Not all PFS players seek to increase the negative reputation of the pathfinder society by killing and destroying everything.
If I remember correctly, Combat Diplomacy exists in Pathfinder, with one of two feats:
-Call Truce
-Conciliator
I'm no expert of PFS and I have no idea wether they are legal there
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and the gm is supposed to strictly use the written tactics when possible during encounters.
When was the last time the Players did exactly what the pre-generated scenario assumed they would do? Players are a huge variable, and the GM is free to alter their NPC's actions to fit with unexpected sitatations. Yeah, if the Players adhere to the script, the GM has limitations, but do your players stick to the script? Maybe sometimes...