Paladin or Assassin
Moderator: Stik
- Rankhar_Zenthis
- Vagabond
- Posts: 59
- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
- Location: Penguin Afterlife
- Wizard_of_Wumbo
- Freeman
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- BryantTheSwordsman
- Freeman
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- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
- Location: San Diego, CA
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- Rankhar_Zenthis
- Vagabond
- Posts: 59
- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
- Location: Penguin Afterlife
Wumbo, please stick to the topic here; if you want to discuss shrubberies, knights who say Ni and other such important things, head to the BMP where you will find the topic He said it!
A herring is never silly
- SightblinderX
- Vagabond
- Posts: 80
- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
- Location: Decatur, TX, USA
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The problem I've seen with the Assassin in game (at least in 3.5) is that its basically a Rogue with Death Attack, and Death Attack sounds scary, and often is to PC's, but it's tough to work that on the big monsters because big monsters almost always have ungodly Fort Saves.
That was ultimately what frustrated the player in my group who had made an Assassin. He had to hide for 3 rounds, doing nothing, all for one roll that had a very small chance of taking a monster off the board. A good rule of thumb is that if the monster is weak enough that you have a decent chance of getting the Death Attack to kill it, you're better off just hitting it for three rounds.
The exception is against casters with abysmal Fort saves, but that tends to be a special circumstance, and it's never a good idea to be a one-trick pony who's trick doesn't come up a lot. (My theory on character design has always been you can be a one-trick pony as long as it's a good trick.) But even if you're fighting a lot of low-Fort opponents, it's still kind of a pain to have to observe, strike, go invisible and then observe some more. At that point, you're basically acting in every fourth round.
Paladins I like, but I have to be in the mood for it, and it has to be a game in which moral choices matter, otherwise I'd rather play a Fighter. (I think that holds true of the Assassin as well, in that it's more fun to play an amoral character in a game where morality matters.) I've played Paladins in games where every scenario was basically presented as, "Do you make the Right choice, or the Wrong one?" and I end up switching my character out for a Barbarian or a Rogue.
That was ultimately what frustrated the player in my group who had made an Assassin. He had to hide for 3 rounds, doing nothing, all for one roll that had a very small chance of taking a monster off the board. A good rule of thumb is that if the monster is weak enough that you have a decent chance of getting the Death Attack to kill it, you're better off just hitting it for three rounds.
The exception is against casters with abysmal Fort saves, but that tends to be a special circumstance, and it's never a good idea to be a one-trick pony who's trick doesn't come up a lot. (My theory on character design has always been you can be a one-trick pony as long as it's a good trick.) But even if you're fighting a lot of low-Fort opponents, it's still kind of a pain to have to observe, strike, go invisible and then observe some more. At that point, you're basically acting in every fourth round.
Paladins I like, but I have to be in the mood for it, and it has to be a game in which moral choices matter, otherwise I'd rather play a Fighter. (I think that holds true of the Assassin as well, in that it's more fun to play an amoral character in a game where morality matters.) I've played Paladins in games where every scenario was basically presented as, "Do you make the Right choice, or the Wrong one?" and I end up switching my character out for a Barbarian or a Rogue.
- BryantTheSwordsman
- Freeman
- Posts: 140
- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
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- Wizard_of_Wumbo
- Freeman
- Posts: 119
- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
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- SightblinderX
- Vagabond
- Posts: 80
- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
- Location: Decatur, TX, USA
- Contact:
- BryantTheSwordsman
- Freeman
- Posts: 140
- Favorite D&D Edition: 2nd Edition
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Contact: