This player character build (monk 20/ shadowdancer 1/ assassin 19) is a forward scout and opportunistic fighter. This character is intended to slip behind an enemy unnoticed and unleash a flurry of deadly strikes (10d6 death attacks, possibly augmented by a poisoned weapon). Monk speed allows this scout to move as fast in stealth mode as other characters normally run, while keen senses give the benefits of detect mode at this speed.
The single level of shadowdancer is included to gain hide in plain sight, and does so with just a small impact on the abilities of the other classes (the assassin's poison save would have been incremented at assassin level 20).
Basics[]
Race: elf
Abilities: (final scores in parentheses)
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 20 (36)
- Constitution: 12
- Wisdom: 10
- Intelligence: 10
- Charisma: 8
Alignment: lawful evil
Level progression[]
Classes by character level
- 1–20: monk
- 21: shadowdancer
- 22–40: assassin
Ability increases
- All ability increases are in dexterity.
General feats by character level
- 1: two-weapon fighting
- 3: ambidexterity
- 6: weapon finesse
- 9: weapon focus (kama)
- 12: improved two-weapon fighting
- 15: dodge
- 18: mobility
- 21: armor skin
- 24: epic weapon focus (kama)
- 27: epic prowess
- 30: great dexterity I
- 33: great dexterity II
- 36: great dexterity IV
- 39: great dexterity V
Assassin epic bonus feats by character level (assassin level in parentheses)
- 35 (14): great dexterity III
- 39 (18): great dexterity VI
Skills
This build receives 174 skill points over its 40 levels.
The skill ranks required by this build are the following.
- hide 10 (at level 20 to gain shadowdancer and assassin)
- move silently 8 (at level 20 to gain shadowdancer and assassin)
- tumble 5 (at level 20 to gain shadowdancer)
The other skills most important for this build are the following. Ranks are listed first, with the score modified by the relevant ability in parentheses.
- hide 43 (56)
- listen 23 (23)
- move silently 43 (56)
- search 25 (25) class skill for only shadowdancer and assassin
- tumble 40 (53)
There are no skill points left at level 40.
Stats[]
Attack bonus
In the absence of magical enhancements, whether from items or spells, this character's attack bonus (AB) when wielding (mundane) kamas is composed of the following elements at level 40.
- 25: base attack bonus
- +13: dexterity modifier
- +4: feats (weapon focus and epic prowess)
- -2: dual-wield penalty
- -2: flurry of blows
38 AB, for attacks per round of +38/+35/+32/+29/+26/+40 / +38/+33
If the character is permitted kamas with +5 enhancement bonuses and gear that provides a +12 bonus to dexterity (increasing the dexterity modifier by 6), the attacks per round become +49/+46/+43/+40/+37/+51 / +49/+44. If the character is additionally permitted to reach the +20 attack bonus cap and acquires haste, the attacks per round become +64/+61/+58/+55/+52/+66/+61 / +64/+59.
Armor class
In the absence of magical enhancements, whether from items or spells, this character's armor class (AC) when wearing (mundane, unarmored) robes is composed of the following elements at level 40.
- 10: base AC
- +13: dexterity modifier
- +0: wisdom modifier
- +4: from monk levels
- +2: armor skin
- +8: tumble
37 AC
If the character is permitted items with a +5 bonus in each of the four applicable categories (armor, deflection, dodge, and natural) as well as +12 bonuses to both dexterity and wisdom, the AC total becomes 69. If the character is instead permitted a +20 bonus in each category and the ability bonuses, the AC total becomes 129.
Notes[]
- Rogue could be used instead of assassin. This provides access to more skill points and epic dodge, but this suggests rearranging the level progression to avoid (or reduce) the multiclass penalty. Furthermore, if the multiclass penalty is fully eliminated (instead of restricting it to levels 18-22), the base attack will be reduced by one.