Assassin

Experience Points			Exp. Level	6-sided Hit Dice
0	-	1,500	1	1
1,501	-	3,000	2	2
3,001	-	6,000	3	3
6,001	-	12,000	4	4
12,001	-	25,000	5	5
25,001	-	50,000	6	6
50,001	-	100,000	7	7
100,001	-	200,000	8	8
200,001	-	300,000	9	9
300,001	-	425,000	10	10
425,001	-	575,000	11	11
575,001	-	750,000	12	12
750,001	-	1,000,000	13	13
1,000,001	-	1,500,000	14	14
1,500,001	and over		15	15

Assassin is a subclass of thief whose primary concern is killing for profit. Assassins must be smart and strong in addition to quick and quite if they hope to live long. Assassins must have the following minimum ability scores: 12 in dexterity and strength, and 11 in intelligence. Assassins never gain experience bonuses.

Assassins are all of evil alignment,as the taking of life for profit is not considered a good act. They may be of lawful, neutral, or chaotic persuasions, though.

Assassins fight and save as thieves. However, they benefit from being able to use shields and may wield any sort of weapon. They are also able to attack with intent to assassinate.

The primary abilities of an assassin are:

1. Use of any poison.
2. If a victim is surprised (q.v.), an assassin may opt to attack on the assassination table, which greatly increases the chance for instantaneous death. Should the assassination attempt fail, weapon damage accrues normally.
3. Assassins with 15 or higher intelligence are able to learn an alignment tongue or special language such as that of druids or thieves. This ability is gained at 9th level and one additional language may be learned for each level attained thereafter, subject to a maximum of one language per point of intelligence over 14.
4. The assassin may disguise himself as per the nonweapon proficiency (q.v.). At every odd level beyond the first (i.e. 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc), a -1 bonus is gained.
5. The ability to spy. See the DM for more details on spying missions.

In addition, assassins possess the thief functions backstab, pick pockets, open locks, find/remove traps, move silently, hide in shadows, detect noise, and climb walls. Backstabbing is done at as if the assassin were the same level thief. Assassins begin with the following scores in their thief abilities:

Ability	Base	Maximum
Pick Pockets	5	none
Open Locks	10	none
Find/Remove Traps	5	none
Move Silently	10	100
Hide in Shadows	10	100
Detect Noise	10	60
Climb Walls	55	100

25 additional points are allotted for distribution at 1st level; an additional 25 points is gained for every level attained thereafter. The effects of wearing armor other than simple leather is the same as for thieves; see the table Effects of Armor on Thief Functions under Thief (q.v.).

The abilty to read languages is gained as per a regualr thief, but the ability to cast spells from scrolls is not gained until 12th level.

An assassin character cannot have any henchmen until 4th level is attained, at which time lower level assassins may be hired. Upon attaining 8th level, thieves may be included among the character's henchmen. Upon attaining 12th level, any class of character may be hired.

In order for an assassin character to gain experience levels above 13th, he or she must challenge the local Guildmaster of Assassins (14th) to a duel. Likewise, in order to attain 15th level, a character must find and challenge a Grandfather of Assassins (15th) to a duel. Note that assassins consider duplicity, treachery, trickery, ambush, etc. as fair, so a higher level character can accept a challenge, then have the challenger slain by archers, for example.

As a Guildmaster of Assassins, a character will have a body of guild members numbering 7-28. Upon a change of leadership, it is 75% likely that each current guild member will leave. Thus, it will be necessary for the new Guildmaster to let in new assassins. They will all be 1st level, and must be worked upwards. The maximum number of such followers will be determined by the DM. These are in addition to henchmen, of course. Note that guild members are only loyal to power, strength, and profit.

The headquarters of a guild is always in a large town or city. It is a nondescript, undistinguished-looking building. All expenses of the guild and its members - excluding the Guildmaster - are assumed to be fully paid for by normal guild activities. Any improvements, changes, the expenses of the leader, and all other special costs must be borne by the Guildmaster.

The headquarters of a Grandfather of Assassins can be virtually anywhere in any form. However, if it is in an obvious form, it must be well away from all communities. Upon attaining leadership of all assassins, the new Grandfather must pay all remaining assassins 1,000 gold pieces for each of their levels of experience, completely destroy the old headquarters, and build a new one someplace else.