ROGUE-ASSASSIN KIT

Executioner

Description:  The Executioner is the most directly and brutally violent sort of 
Assassin.  While other Assassins tend to favor subtlety, infiltration, 
deception, and trickery, an Executioner is a bundle of incipient menace just 
waiting to be unleashed.  An Executioner uses his or her skill at stealth and 
dealing out death to make horrible and messy examples out of those who cross 
someone with the power, wealth, or connections to retain an Executioner to wreak 
their vengeance.  At lower levels, Executioners often act as intimidators, 
street toughs, or simply common thugs--the muscle called in when an Assassins' 
Guild, Thieves' Guild, or similar group wants to shake down a business or 
merchant that has been late paying its 'protection' money or to fight out turf 
wars with a rival group.  At higher levels, they can command high fees as 
murderers for hire, people who don't mind 'getting their hands dirty' or taking 
on challenging 'wet work'.  Those who hire them are best advised to keep any 
contracts they make, however, as Executioners do not take kindly to being 
double-crossed, and more than one Executioner (particularly non-evil 
Executioners) has been known to take 'jobs' based entirely on matters of 
principle and conscience and never for monetary reward (though they sometimes 
receive rewards for such action after the fact).

Requirements:  An Executioner needs to be very physically imposing and therefore 
must have Strength of at least 15 and a Constitution score of at least 12.  
Unlike other Assassins, a Thug has no minimum Wisdom or Charisma requirement.  
Executioners are usually evil, though rare individuals may be neutrally aligned.  
An Executioner cannot be of good alignment.  Note that Half-Ogres are capable of 
becoming Executioners--this is the only Assassin kit available to them.

Weapons & Armor:  Executioners share the standard Assassin weapon and armor 
restrictions.  In addition, Executioners tend to favor two-handed weapons for 
their massive damage potential, and at least half their slots must be spent on 
weapons that can be used two-handed.

Thief Abilities and Modifiers:  Climb Walls, Detect Noise, Escape Bonds, 
Find/Remove Traps, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently

Special Benefits:  Executioners are expert combatants, being equally proficient 
at fighting with weapons or mixing it up with their bare hands.  Executioners 
love nothing better than being elbow-deep in the blood of their enemies, and 
their Backstab is just as nastily effective as that of a common Assassin.  In 
addition, an Executioner gains the following special abilities:

Intimidation:  An Executioner exudes such a palpable aura of menace that they 
gain a +1 bonus to their Intimidation proficiency score for every three levels 
of experience.  In addition, an Executioner of 6th level or above can cause fear 
in all creatures with 1 hit die or less (save vs. breath weapon allowed to 
resist) that he or she meets--the Executioner must be in plain sight within 10 
yards.  Any character struck by fear will flee from the Executioner or surrender 
to him or her, begging for their life, depending on the circumstances, and if 
possible will seek to avoid any confrontation with the Executioner for the rest 
of that day.  If forced into combat and/or unable to flee at least 30' away from 
the Executioner, the creature suffers a -2 penalty to initiative, attack rolls, 
saving throws, and ability checks.  These penalties apply to a 1 HD or lower 
creature even if the save is successful.  At 11th level, this ability improves 
to include creatures with 4 or fewer hit dice/levels.  In addition, though 
creatures with 4+1 or greater hit dice/levels cannot be made to flee in panic, 
they must save vs. breath weapon or suffer the above penalties if they are close 
to the Executioner.  Creatures with 4+1 or greater hit dice who save suffer no 
ill effects.

The Executioner can choose when to use this ability, turning it on and off (as 
it were) at will.  A creature that makes its saving throw vs. this power is 
immune to the fear effect for the duration of that encounter with the 
Executioner but must save again if they meet the Executioner again later and the 
fear power is again invoked.  Note that this ability generally affects only 
humanoid creatures--animals and most non-humanoid monsters cannot be affected.

Executioners themselves are unaffected by attempts at Intimidation regardless of 
their level, and in fact an Executioner's unshakable self-confidence grants a +1 
bonus per three levels (rounding up) to saves vs. fear, and he or she can 
attempt an unmodified save vs. breath weapon to resist fear effects that 
normally allow no save.

Knockout:  If an Executioner is wielding a blunt weapon, he or she can attempt a 
knockout blow against a target not more than twice his or her own height.  The 
Executioner must make a called shot to the head, applying a -8 penalty on the to 
hit roll (note that an unarmored head is only AC 10).  If the Thief scores a 
hit, the blow inflicts half normal damage and half temporary damage (temporary 
damage is regained with a full turn of uninterrupted rest) and the victim must 
save vs. petrification or be rendered unconscious for 2d8 rounds.  The victim's 
saving throw should be modified (positively or negatively) by the difference 
between the his or her level and the Executioner's level.

Street Fighting:  Executioners are experts in all manner of fisticuffs and 
unarmed combat.  They are able to ignore the 'weapons in defense' rule, 
suffering no penalty when attacking an armed opponent when they are themselves 
unarmed.  In addition, an Executioner begins play with free Skilled 
Specialization in either Punching or Wrestling (player's choice).  As an 
Executioner advances in level, he or she can spend further weapon proficiency 
slots to improve this specialization (or to gain specialization in the option 
not selected at 1st level).

In addition to this general facility at unarmed combat, an Executioner learns an 
assortment of dirty tricks and unorthodox and unexpected combat maneuvers in the 
course of their careers, which they may attempt in the course of a combat.  Only 
one such maneuver (regardless of which type is selected) can be attempted per 
combat encounter.  Such an attack need not be made with a weapon, depending on 
how the attack is described by the player--such as pulling the rug out from 
under an enemy's feet, whipping his or her cloak around an enemy's weapon arm, 
or even putting a bag over the target's head.  Regardless of whether a weapon is 
used or not, the Executioner must describe how he or she will attempt the attack 
in order to achieve one of the following results:

  - Blind (the target's vision is blocked, though a new save can be attempted 
    each round to shake off the effects)
  - Disarm (the target's weapon is either trapped and cannot be freed without a 
    successful Open Doors roll)
  - Immobilize (the target is entangled and cannot get free without a successful 
    Open Doors roll)
  - Stun (the target is stunned, though a new save can be attempted each round 
    to shake off the effects)
  - Trip (the target must save at -4, and failure results in the target ending 
    up prone on the ground, damage may occur if the target was moving faster 
    than 12)

A Street Fighting special maneuver requires an attack roll by the Executioner, 
though the attack is made against AC 10, modified only by magical and Dexterity 
bonuses (e.g., a fighter in plate mail +2 with no shield but a 15 Dexterity 
would be AC 7 vs. Street Fighting, rather than AC 0).  If the attack roll 
indicates a hit, the target must save vs. petrification, modified by his or her 
Dexterity bonus (unless surprised, in which case the Dexterity bonus is lost and 
an additional -2 penalty applies) and positively or negatively by the difference 
between the Executioner's level and the target's level.  Other modifiers may 
apply at the DM's option, based on how well the described attack form could 
plausibly work; the save is automatic if the method of attack is completely 
inadequate for the situation (e.g., trying to Blind a giant or dragon by 
throwing a bowl of oatmeal into its eyes--unless, of course, the Executioner can 
reach the creature's face, in which case it might work).  Street Fighting counts 
as a 'free action' for an Executioner if it succeeds; if the attempt fails 
(either because of a failed attack roll or a successful saving throw), Street 
Fighting counts as an action for the Executioner that round.

Special Hindrances:  Since they spend most of their career learning about the 
many and varied brutal methods of killing others, Executioners neglect the more 
subtle arts of Assassination and Masquerade that characterize other Assassins.  
In addition, their focus on direct combat and intimidation leaves them little 
time for the study of poisons, and as a result their Poison Mastery ability 
operates as an Assassin two levels lower than their actual level (i.e., 
manufacture of poisons is not learned until 4th level, but new poisons are 
learned at the normal rate thereafter, with a -2 penalty to the random die roll 
to determine new poisons learned).

Executioners are probably the most despised of Assassins, suffering an 
additional -2 reaction penalty over and above normal Assassin penalties.  In 
addition, because of their particular special skills and brutal methods, 
Executioners tend to develop a reputation for their cruelty (real or imagined) 
and become notorious for their 'crimes against society.'  As a result, there is 
a base chance of 10% + 2% per level of the Executioner in any given situation 
that someone will be able to recognize the Executioner (assuming that he or she 
is not in disguise).  The results of someone recognizing the Executioner depend 
entirely on the situation, ranging from offering a reward to offering a job or 
simply buying him or her a drink (assuming they have a reason to be positively 
inclined toward the Executioner), or perhaps to trying to slip poison into his 
or her drink or selling the Executioner out to his or her enemies (including 
friends, allies, or relatives of people taken in by the Executioner).

Required Proficiencies:  Anatomy, Herbalism, Display Weapon Prowess, 
Intimidation
Preferred Proficiencies:  Alertness, Ambush, Blind-fighting, Close-quarter 
Fighting, Drinking, Endurance, Immovability, Instant Stand, Night Vision, Prone 
Fighting, Torture, Trailing, Weapon Improvisation