Oppressor - Evil/Dead Prestige Class
This Prestige class uses elements that may not be applicable to the Forgotten Realms Campaign
The term assassin conjures an image of a black-hooded rogue slinking through the darkness, poised to put a dagger through the throat of his victim. These silent killers are hired when a murder must be committed without drawing undue attention, or when the one commissioning the deed would like to remain nameless.
Sometimes, however, a killing is meant to send a message to the living. Crimelords often make examples of lackeys who have failed in their tasks, and rulers frequently find it useful to display their intolerance for rabble-rousers and insurrectionists with special shows of force. Even churches sometimes use less-than-subtle methods to prove themselves worthy of their followers' faith and coin. Missions that involve making an example of the victim call for the special talents of an oppressor.
Oppressors specialize in brute-force assassinations, although many of their assignments are less deadly "legbreaking" missions. Members of this prestige class know how to bloody their targets before killing them and how to intimidate bystanders into staying out of the fray. The brutal and violent methods of an oppressor invariably make a lasting impression on the minds of witnesses, who thereafter tend to consider opposing the oppressor's employer an unhealthy prospect.
The typical oppressor is a full-time employee of a crime boss, thieves' guild, or local ruler. Independent agents are rare in this profession, primarily because the populations that oppressors terrorize would certainly retaliate were the assassins not under the constant protection of their employers. A few oppressors are paid to root out their employers' enemies wherever they lurk or to serve as a symbol of their employers' power. Such agents generally find that traveling with others helps deter the wrath of those they terrorize.
Oppressors are almost universally scorned by the societies in which they work, but most of them never give this social ostracism a second thought. They love their work and get paid well for it, and that is enough for them. Oppressors do not expect the affection of others, nor do they seek it. Theirs is a lonely profession, but those who choose it know the consequences well in advance.
Hit Die: d8
To qualify to become an Oppressor, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any evil
- Skills: Intimidate: 8 ranks.
- Feats: Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Persuasive.
- Base Attack Bonus: +5.
- Sneak Attack: +1d6.
- Special: The candidate must have killed someone in public and be a known killer in at least one region.
From:
Dragon #313
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