Xaeyruudh's Index

Assassin

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This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.


At a Glance

Assassin is a class in 1e, a kit in 2e, a prestige class in 3e/3.5e, a class in 4e, and presumably some sort of class in 5e.


Campaign Notes

One of several aspects of the Time of Troubles which should be rejected by all FR DMs is the death of all assassins.

According to the official Realms, all of the NPCs listed on this page who were alive in 1358 DR dropped dead in 1358 DR. The story is that Bhaal absorbed their lifeforces to power himself. The reality is that TSR nixed the assassin class in 2e AD&D. Assassins were still around in 2e, though, as a rogue kit. So my frustration is that rather than rewriting a few NPC assassins and giving players some tools for translating assassin PCs into other classes, taking the assassin kit if they wanted it, TSR decided to be lazy and just kill off all assassins in 1358 DR, leaving players to shred their dead and roll up new characters. In the process, the story also implied considerable consternation in the underworld of every major FR city: all the assassins suddenly vanished. This must have created quite a political upset in places like Westgate.

Assassin, from the Epic Level Handbook art gallery. All rights assumed to be reserved by Wizards of the Coast.

Am I being harsh? Hindsight is 20/20, after all. Nah.

You’re probably aware that Artemis Entreri didn’t die in 1358 DR. What made Artemis so special? Well, the man who created him cared enough to fight for him. Mr Salvatore put his foot down and refused to take death for an answer. Artemis was an assassin, but not necessarily part of the assassin class. Assassination is a thing that some people do, and some people make a career out of it, but that doesn’t mean they’re limited to the game mechanics of the assassin class.

Mr Salvatore presented them with this logic, so they had it. It wasn’t a hindsight situation where they just didn’t see any alternatives. They had an alternative thrown in their faces.

When a class is removed, we don’t need to kill off everyone who has levels in that class. We can just rewrite NPCs in terms of the new ruleset. A rational solution… a beast which TSR and WotC have been notably poor in tracking. In this case, it was handed to them on a silver platter, and they still managed to fumble it.


Notable Individuals

Individuals are listed on another page.


Sources

Primary Sources
Passing Mention
Other Resources

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