Darkwraith Assassin (3.5e Prestige Class)

Darkwraith Assassin
"The Darkwraiths came again... like vultures that expect their fill of doomed men's flesh. Out of sight and shot they flew, and yet were ever present, and their deadly voices rent the air. More unbearable they became, not less, at each new cry.  At length even the stout-hearted would fling themselves to the ground as the hidden menace passed over them, or they would stand, letting their weapons fall from nerveless hands while into their minds a blackness came, and they thought no more of war, but only of hiding and of crawling, and of death."

Rogues who learn of the shadow hand disciple find its powers useful in battle, but the wise ones realize there is so much more to be had from the dark powers which fuel their arts. Swordsages and other users may strike from the shadows, but they become them and in doing so become as if death itself, silent, deadly, unseen...

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Darkwraith Assassin.

Maneuvers: At 1st level and every odd level beyond (3rd, 5th, etc), you gain a new maneuver known from the Devoted Spirit, Diamond Mind, Narrow Bridge, and Shadow Hand disciplines. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. You add your full darkwraith assassin levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known. At 3rd level and every two levels beyond (6th, 9th, etc), you gain an additional maneuver readied per day.

Stances Known: At 6th level and every 6 levels beyond (12th, 18th, etc), you learn a new martial stance from the Devoted Spirit, Diamond Mind, Narrow Bridge, and Shadow Hand disciplines. You must meet a stance’s prerequisite to learn it.

 : At 1st level, a darkwraith assassin's feet lift from the ground. From now on, she can float a foot above the ground. Instead of walking she glides along, unconcerned with the hard earth or difficult terrain. While she remains within 1 foot of a flat surface of any solid or liquid, she can take normal actions and make normal attacks, and can move at her normal speed (she can even “run” at four times her normal speed). However, at distances higher than 1 foot above any surface, her speed diminishes to 10 feet.

While she remains within 1 foot of a surface, she can make melee and ranged attacks normally, but if she moves any higher, she incurs the penalties on melee and ranged attack rolls as if she were the subject of the levitate'' spell.

The extra damage dealt increases by +1d6 every other level (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th). If an darkwraith assassin gets a sneak attack bonus from another source the bonuses on damage stack.

To use a wraith maneuver she must expend a use of one of her prepared maneuvers. She may only select a wraith maneuver once unless otherwise specified. The saving throws for any of these abilities are 10 + 1/2 HD + Charisma. Select from the following choices:

 : As a standard action, you can blast living beings with a glance, at a range of up to 30 feet. Creatures that meet the darkwraith assassin’s gaze must succeed on a Fortitude save or take 2d10 points of damage and 1d4 points of Charisma damage. This is a gaze attack, and thus does not function on sightless beings.

 : As a standard action, you can hit a living target with an incorporeal touch attack and deal 1d6 points of damage. You can strike ethereal opponents as if they were non-ethereal and may use any attack options such as Power Attack or Sneak Attack if applicable.

 : As a standard action, a darkwraith assassin may make a incorporeal touch attack and drain 1d4 points from any one ability score you selects, Fortitude save negates. On each such successful attack, the darkwraith assassin heals 5 points of damage to itself for each point of drain dealt.

 : A darkwraith assassin can emit a frightful moan as a standard action. All living creatures within a 30-foot spread must succeed on a Will save or become panicked for 2d4 rounds. This is a sonic necromantic mind-affecting fear effect. A creature that successfully saves against the moan cannot be affected by the same darkwraith assassin’s moan for 24 hours.

 : You can effect the ethereal plane easily. As a swift action you imbue your gear with the Ghost Touch armor or Ghost Touch weapon enhancements for 1 minute.

 : For a brief moment you flash the enemy a sight of death itself. Any living creature within 60 feet that views you must succeed on a Fortitude save or immediately take 1d4 points of Strength damage, 1d4 points of Dexterity damage, and 1d4 points of Constitution damage. A creature that successfully saves against this effect cannot be affected by the same darkwraith assassin’s horrific appearance for 24 hours. You must be at least 6th level to select this ability.

 : Once per encounter, a darkwraith assassin can merge its body with a creature and possess it. This ability is similar to a magic jar spell (caster level equal to initiator level), except that it does not require a receptacle. To use this ability, the darkwraith assassin must be on the same plane and must try move into the target’s space; moving into the target’s space to use the malevolence ability does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The target can resist the attack with a successful Will save. A creature that successfully saves is immune to that same darkwraith assassin’s malevolence for 24 hours, and the darkwraith assassin cannot enter the target’s space. If the save fails, the darkwraith assassin's current body seemingly falls helpless and seemingly dead as her spirit vanishes into the target’s body. If the darkwraith assassin's body is destroyed, she will not be able to return to her body and die when the magic jar effect ends. You must be at least 6th level to select this ability.

 : Your connection to the darkness grants you a certain amount of protection from energy drain. As an immediate action you may negate 1d4 negative levels from your body.

 : A darkwraith assassin can use telekinesis as a standard action (caster level equal to initiator level). When a darkwraith assassin uses this power, it must wait 1d4 rounds before using it again even if it has refreshed its maneuvers. You must be at least 6th level to select this ability.

 : You may counter the effects of shadow spells as an immediate action. If you are affected by a [Shadow] spell or effect, you always treat as if you succeed your Will save to recognize it as being only partly real, thus taking the decreased effect of the spell.

 : You weave pseudomatter around you in faint but tangible whisps. You gain a +4 deflection bonus for 1 round as an immediate action. You may take this ability multiple times, each time increasing the bonus granted by +1.

 : As a standard action you can heal yourself from the shadows, so long as you are in shadowy illumination or darker. If you are, you recover twice your initiator level in hp.

 : As a standard action, whenever you make a sneak attack you deal an additional +1d6 points of damage as the shadowy energies leave much more damage than what actually should have been. You may take this ability multiple times, each time adding +1d6 damage. If you are not making a sneak attack with this maneuver, this maneuver has no effect.

 : At 3rd level, your awareness of the flows and eddies of spiritual power lets you strike hard at beings with no visible weak points. You may make sneak attacks and critical hits against the undead.

 : At 5th level, you learn to purge your own body of your spirit and manipulate it through supernatural forces, mimicking an effect similar to undeath. While you are in a stance from any discipline your know, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of deathseek stance. This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, or as described below. You can also stop using deathseek stance and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action.

While you use this ability, you gain certain undead traits becoming immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. They are not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects, though they retain any previous damage they possessed. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal you but positive energy harms you. You gain immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless), and do not breath, eat, or sleep. You count as undead for spells and effects, and can be turned or bolstered as if you were undead. If the result of the turn or rebuke undead is destruction or control, you immediately fall out of this stance and take 1d6 points of backlash damage per HD, and are dazed for 1 round.

In addition, you are sensitive to light. You gain daylight powerlessness. In natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) you are only able to take move actions, and take 1 damage per HD until you are out of the light. While using this stance, you take on a shriveled and dead appearance, and get a +10 on disguise checks to appear as a corpse or undead.

Deathseek Stance is equivalent to a 6th level stance.

 : At 6th level, if a creature dies within 30 feet of you, you may choose to devour its soul as an immediate action. You may store up to 1 soul in your body at a time, if you devour another soul the previous soul escapes to whatever afterlife awaits it. As long as you hold onto the soul, the creature whose soul you devoured cannot be raised or resurrected without first killing you or forcing you to give up the soul. In addition you are protected once from any attack which would effect your soul, such as trap the soul, or from any [Death] effect. In such a case, you substitute your captured soul for your own. You may transfer your captured soul to a capable medium, such as thinaun or a trap the soul item, as a move action.

 : At 9th level, you can attempt to escape a situation and trick your enemies into believing they were successful. As a standard action, you may appear to commit suicide and fall down dead. In truth, you leave a duplicate body made of shadowstuff from the plane of shadow, as you appear in your space on the ethereal plane, as if using the etherealness spell. Those inspecting the corpse or within 5 feet of it can make a Spot check against your Disguise check (with a +10 bonus) to realize the fake. The copy has useless duplicates of your magic items, and disintegrates into shadow motes in 24 hours. Your etherealness effect remains for 1 round per initiator level. You can use Escape Through Death 1/week.

 : At 10th level, you transform yourself into a purely spiritual creature of the shadow plane. While you are in a stance from any discipline your know, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of haunter in the dark. This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, or as described below. You can also stop using haunter in the dark and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action.

While you use this ability, you and all your gear become incorporeal as a ghost, with all the benefits and drawbacks. Your base land speed becomes your fly speed (perfect), unless you have a superior fly speed already, and you obtain daylight powerlessness as per the Deathseeker Stance. Use gain the ability to use invisibility and shadow walk (self only plus 50 lbs) at will. You are considered a native to the ethereal and shadow planes in addition to your own, and never gain the extraplanar subtype while there.

While in this stance you appear nothing more as a hazy shadow of yourself and your features are obscured. You may choose to appear with glowing eyes, or only a skull, or an other disturbing effect as you wish. Haunter in the Dark is equivalent to a 9th level stance.

Playing a Darkwraith Assassin
Combat: The darkwraith assassin is a rogue-type, the glass cannon who flanks the opponent and brings pain with either the power of sneak attack on a full attack, or the tactics which maneuvers bring. With his power over the shadows he shores up his weaknesses with necromantic or incorporeal immunities, while being able to strike down the same.

Advancement: Classes suitable for initiators or rogues are idea. Assassins make a fine choice, gaining more sneak attack and being thematically synergistic.

Resources: Darkwraith Assassins are the ill spoke branch of those of the shadow hand discipline. Because of its associations with darkness and murder they are not well known nor operate publicly. Only in the seedy underbellies might a guild be found. Yet in spite of the associations, darkwraith assassins are unaligned and can be noble rogues as well as heartless murderers.

Darkwraith Assassins in the World
"Did you hear something? ....must be the wind."

NPC Reactions: For some reason, saying you are a professional assassin or a merchant of death doesn't quite get you the ladies or make you friends with the law. Needless to say, it is better if darkwraith assassins kept the knowledge of what they do private, for better relations overall.

Darkwraith Assassin Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge Local can research darkwraith assassins to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Darkwraith Assassins in the Game
Adaptation: Instead of advancing initiator levels, you can advance spellcasting every other level (5/10 casting, with the first casting advancement at 2nd) and make the requirement [Shadow] spells of 3rd level or below.

Sample Encounter: A darkwraith assassin is coming for you. You have something of his, and he won't stop until he has it back...

EL 15: PENDING