Paleblade Assassin Requested by Joshua Corsair during our Kickstarter Thank you! With the shattered worlds bleeding into reality comes different, sometimes dangerous, god-like beings These divine entities vary in power and persuasion—from kami who manifest as abstract concepts offered lip service for their aid in easing life’s struggles to demigods of lesser portfolios such as tricks, treats, mirth, and murder One such being, the Assassin Queen, has taken the opportunity to build a new following in worlds where her notoriety has yet to be truly noticed Even whispers of this lesser aspect of Death, Shadow, and Secrets are met with the end of a shimmery dagger that glows silver as it draws away the light around it For those who earn their queen’s favor, however, a gift of seemingly eternal youth awaits Role: Unassuming in the best possible ways, paleblade assassins are to rogues as barbarians and rangers are to fighters Where the latter two trade armor and defensive capability for sheer strength and scouting, respectively, the paleblade assassin gives more attention to infiltration and the quick elimination of one target versus scouting and diving between shadows in combat to confound multiple enemies Alignment: Any nongood Hit Die: d8 Parent Classes: Shifter and vigilante Starting Wealth: 4d6 x 10 gp (average 140 gp) Class Skills The paleblade assassin’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), and Stealth (Dex) Skill Ranks per Level: + Int modifier Class Features All of the following are class features of the paleblade assassin Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Paleblade assassins are proficient with all simple and martial, light and one-handed weapons, as well as all crossbows and shortbows They are proficient with light armor, but not with shields Youthful Identity (Sp): A paleblade assassin’s goddess grants her the ability to transform into a humanoid child at will At 1st level, this functions as alter self, except the form taken is always small and always keeps the same general appearance Spells that would alter the assassin’s size to make her larger dispel this effect unless the assassin succeeds against the spell’s saving throw to avoid it (for this purpose only, a spell with no saving throw has a Will save DC of 10 + the spell’s level + its caster’s spellcasting modifier) Gaining Personas: With each divine aspect she gains beyond the first (see below), a paleblade assassin can also create a new persona for her youthful identity that pertains to that aspect (complete with a new appearance, personality, and so on) She can use these personas to interact with other creatures and gather information without revealing her true identity or other personas Knowledge checks about the paleblade assassin not reveal information about her personas, unless the assassin’s true identity is revealed to the world at large Activating personas: Adopting a persona is more than simply transforming, which can be done independently (such as when entering combat) Changing from one persona to another takes minute while the assassin recalls mannerisms, speech, and the way she interacts with others A paleblade assassin who does not take this time can still transform her appearance for the purpose of combat ability, but does not gain any of her social talents (if any) The change of persona is as much a state of mind as of body, so items such as a hat of disguise and similar spells and effects not reduce the time required to change personas Divine Aspect (Su): At 1st level, a paleblade assassin gains her first divine aspect—a blessing from the Assassin Queen that gives her supernatural abilities while in her youthful identity She can access her aspect’s minor form for a number of minutes per day equal to + her paleblade assassin level The duration need not be consecutive but must be spent in 1-minute increments Shifting into a minor form is a swift action, while ending the effect is a free action that can be taken only on the assassin’s turn Until a paleblade assassin reaches 9th level and gains the chimeric aspect class feature, she can assume only one minor form at a time Shifting to a new aspect (or aspects, in the case of chimeric aspects or greater chimeric aspects) ends all minor forms currently manifested The minor forms of aspects are not themselves polymorph effects, and the assassin does not lose the benefits of a minor form while affected by polymorph effects As the assassin gains levels, she gains more aspects; she gains her second aspect at 5th level, a third aspect at 10th level, and a fourth at 15th level A full list of aspects can be found at the end of this section Pale Blade (Su): While in her youthful identity, a paleblade assassin can conjure a special weapon referred to as a pale blade despite not always being a bladed weapon At 1st level, the assassin chooses a weapon with which she is proficient and associates it with one or more of her personas As a move action equivalent to drawing a weapon, the assassin can call upon her pale blade, which takes the form and function of the chosen weapon When she gains a new level, a paleblade assassin can change the weapon associated with one of her personas Otherwise, the choice is permanent 175