Identity
Assassins are not duelists. They do not announce themselves, give last words, or fight fair. The craft is patient — observation, mimicry, opportunity, and one strike delivered to a target who never knew the trade was made. Aurelion courts maintain Assassins as instruments of succession; the Black Meridian Syndicate keeps them as the closing argument in negotiations. Their work is rarely public, but it is always remembered by the people who hire them — and that, more than any blade, is the reason they sleep behind locked doors.
Features
- L3 Bonus Proficiencies & Assassinate
You gain proficiency with the Disguise Kit and the Poisoner's Kit. Additionally, you have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that has not yet taken a turn in the current combat. Any hit you score against a surprised creature is a critical hit. **Assassinate** triggers regardless of whether the creature can perceive you — what matters is initiative order and surprise, not concealment.
- L7 Infiltration Expertise
You can spend a day and modest resources (forged documents, a wardrobe, a rehearsed history) to assume a false identity that holds up to routine scrutiny for up to 7 days. While the cover is active, you have advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks made to maintain the identity, and routine social or security systems treat the identity as authentic. The cover is broken by sustained investigation by a Tier III or higher security organization, by recognition from someone who knows your true face, or by acting in a way clearly inconsistent with the assumed identity. You may maintain one Infiltration cover at a time.
- L11 Imposter
Given 3 or more hours of observation — in person, through recorded footage, or via detailed dossiers — you can mimic the appearance, voice, mannerisms, and signature of a specific individual. You have advantage on Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Performance) checks made to impersonate that individual. The mimicry is good enough to fool casual acquaintances and recorded biometric voice-prints; close friends, immediate family, and biometric DNA-grade scanning systems are entitled to an Insight or Investigation check against your DC (8 + proficiency + CHA) to detect the imposture. You may have one mimicked identity prepared at a time; switching to a new one requires the full observation period.
- L15 Death Strike
When you successfully trigger Assassinate against a surprised creature and hit, the target must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier). On a failed save, the damage of the attack — including the critical hit and Sneak Attack — is doubled against the target. On a successful save, the attack deals its normal damage. This feature applies only to the first attack you make against the creature in the combat, and only while the creature is surprised.
- L18 Whisper of the Knife Capstone
Your craft has reached the level of legend: a target dies, and there is nothing left for the investigators to find. Once per long rest, after you score a critical hit with Sneak Attack against a surprised creature and reduce them to 0 hit points, you may declare the death **deniable**. For the next 24 hours, anyone investigating the death by mundane means — autopsy, forensic reconstruction, interviewing witnesses, reviewing recordings — concludes the death was accidental, natural, or self-inflicted, consistent with the scene as you left it. Channeled divination, Tier IV+ forensic riftcraft, or the testimony of a creature that directly witnessed the strike and was not affected by it can pierce the effect. After 24 hours, the cover decays — physical evidence remains as it was, but supernatural concealment ends.