My biggest issue with Assassins has always been that they are way too similar to the thief while having worse thieving skills which are already bad to begin with. Add to this that the main feature of the class revolves around using those skills especially stealth. That doesn't make any sense. You're basically left with an even crappier thief who can't even utilize his main ability. And this is a common issue with subclasses as they tend to be redundant compared to its core counterpart. My version here fixes that. Key differences compared to the default Assassin are listed below:
- HD of 6 instead of 4
- XP progression is the same
- Can only wear leather but can use a shield
- Improved Sneak Attack. Assassins should be better at this. They do triple damage. I removed Assassinate as I didn't like having it and Poison. I would rather the Assassins instant kill tactics be focused around the use of Poison hence why that skill has been fleshed out more. This makes Poisons more desirable and limited plus it could produce some interesting role play opportunities
- Disguise
- Fleshed out the use of Poisons. I wanted this to be a focal point of the class. This skill is expanded to be more useful and necessary
- Thief Skills limited to Hide, Move Silently, Listen, & Climb Walls
As you can the biggest difference is loss of some thieving abilities. But this change keeps the Thief & Assassin from stepping on each other's toes which is a good thing in my humble opinion. In addition I use my own thieving tables so that Thieves & Assassins actually have a decent chance of using their skills successfully even at level 1. I've always looked at the Thief as an opportunist who specializes in dungeoneering while the Assassin is your expert in stealth & subterfuge for the purpose of killing. Pick your poison. Enjoy.