Class Preview: Assassin

Death comes to all eventually, but sometimes eventually is just not soon enough. In the Accordlands, such thinking is an infamous way of life for far more people than anyone cares to admit, as the Assassins Strike suggests. Whether murderous limbs of the establishment, callous servants of the Thieves Guild, or ruthless vigilantes, assassins ply their deadly trade seemingly at will.

Adventures: Though they may have to hide their true calling from allies, assassins readily take up the call to adventure. Though others may see the situation differently, assassins usually ignore the difference between their chosen career and common adventuring. If anything, the assassin argues, his path leads to fewer deaths in the long run. Many become assassins as part of complicated ploys for revenge, and rare indeed is the despot who has not inspired his share. Many heroes would be shocked to discover the shadowy aid given them in the name of vengeance.

Characteristics: Despite many a guard's creative stories to the contrary, assassins are killers, not fighters. Though a touch more capable in combat than the similar rogues, this is due to the assassins' poisons and expanded abilities in ambush, not any inherent fighting prowess. Still, should an assassin get the drop on a single foe of comparable capability, the assassin has better odds of victory than even fighters or barbarians. Cunning assassins learn a small set of spells, the better to perform their duties and escape alive.

Alignment: Assassins, even those working for their government, are never lawful. All governments openly decry murder, even if this is nothing more than a thinly disguised lie. Assassins must therefore violate the laws of the land regularly and willfully, and many are wanted criminals. Some still live by their own warped codes of honor, however, such as always fulfilling a hit... even if their employer has changed their mind. The rare good-aligned assassins are actually less reliable than most, often rationalizing their actions as divine mandate, a sure sign of madness.

Background: Assassins tend to be city folk, which eases the minds of the peasantry to no end. In the country, there is less need of subtlety - a man and his enemies are known qualities, and any killer is unlikely to go free for long. Not so in the cities, where random crime turns randomly violent. Criminals can find dishonest work in the cities.

Still, it takes a certain breed to produce assassins. Killing out of defense is one thing, but squeezing a man's life out of his throat is quite another. Others, be they commoners or fellow adventurers, have to meet certain criteria before deciding to kill. For assassins, murder is often the first impulse to adversity. Though some high-minded nobles claim this trend comes from a life of endless want or sheer instinctual survival, in truth anyone who no longer values others' lives has what it takes to be an assassin. That most people with such attitudes become fighters, barbarians, or necromancers is less a matter of inclination than opportunity.

Assassination, even among the most bloodthirsty of souls, is not a light undertaking. Even moderately competent assassins have trained for years at their craft, honing their skills to edges as fine as their daggers. Where other classes can learn through trial and error, any mistake an assassin makes is potentially the end of his life. The Thieves Guild is commonly responsible for the apprenticeships of many assassins, one of the rare bones of contention within the group.

Races: Death is the constant companion and enemy of the elves and nimbics, whose lives flash by so quickly that one generation comes of age just as the previous one dies out, with little overlap. Rather than surrender to grief, many elves and nimbics shunt away their emotions, knowingly becoming cold and callous. Eager to even the score, particularly after a century under Syneri's Geas, these bitter individuals take up the assassin's dagger.

Ironically, the other race that produces a great number of assassins isn't the Deverenians or nothrog, the other traditionally evil races, but the dwarves. Though King Xod rules with the consent of his people and the blessing of his god and church, there is no room for dissent in an eternal war. Hated and feared by their own kind, Xod's assassins do not burden their king with knowledge of their crimes.

Other Classes: Assassins favor the company of others who do not shy away from death, such as barbarians, fighters, necromancers, rangers, and some clerics. Some quietly envy the more relaxed lives of illusionists or bards, but assassins and paladins rarely if ever get along. Assassins admire the monks' efficiency, but the monks rarely return such affection.