Here's the math and explanation I included in my article: This assassin will mark a target with Path to the Grave, making it vulnerable to the next instance of damage it receives (x2 damage). The Death Strike assassin feature doubles your attack’s damage, meaning your amplified attack can effectively deal a maximum of x4 DAMAGE! ((2d8 rapier) + (18d6 sneak attack) + dex mod 5) * 4 = Min 100, Max 516, Average 308 Minimum = (2+18+5) * 2 * 2 = 100 Maximum = (16+108+5) * 2 * 2 = 516 Average = (9+63+5) * 2 * 2 = 308 This is the kind of out-of-context damage you brag to your crush about, no doubt. ;)
just found your channel on my hunt for a better assassin rogue and I cant believe you don't have more subscribers! Your content is so high quality! thanks for the great stuff, and I hope you keep making the stuff you love to share
Thank you, Ethan! I have a revision of the Assasin Rogue you might like. I gather that you may have seen it already; just checking based on your interest. We appreciate the encouragement! We create content based on our interests, so we'll keep it up.
Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to mark another creature’s life force for termination. As an action, you choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you, cursing it until the end of your next turn. The next time you or an ally of yours hits the cursed creature with an attack, the creature has vulnerability to all of that attack's damage, and then the curse ends. You don't even _point_ at them. It just _happens_. No vocal, material _or_ somatic component.
I remember reading this a year a ago on your web site and made an executioner npc of the Raven Queen pursuing those who escaped their death . Love the concept , very thematic . 🍺
the dex mod is not doubled from the crit but is doubled from the channel divinity... it is so unlikely you will ever do min or max damage, but the average of the rapier will be: 9 and the sneak attack: 54 so you that will be: 63 +5 from your dex mod is: 68 and the channel divinity will double that to: 136 total on average. (remember these are just averages and it will be slightly higher or lower at times due to randomness) thanks for this awesome build (if anyone was curious the min is: 50 and the max is: 258)
Hi Arcane Recovery, thanks so much for watching! I'm glad the idea was exciting enough to run some numbers. I added a pinned comment with the math from my article for minimum, maximum, and average damage. :)
1:55 Yeah, that didn't fly with my DM. He just wouldn't accept that a debilitating action doesn't cause initiative, and break of any possible surprise round. He eventually made an exemption when I told him, and the party what was my exact final goal with multi classing, but at this point there's no surprise for the others, or the DM to go "Dammmn!". It was more like "Oh, Jo is doing that thing he has given permission to do.. cool..." I wish you made it more clear in the article that this requires some homebrewing, and doesn't exactly stand as it's own, based in the game rules.
Hi Joe, there isn't homebrewing necessary. It's a gray area of the rules. I am taking your feedback to add more information on this in my article, so thank you! The ruling is based on an interpretation of what a perceptible hostile action is. This Channel Divinity doesn't 'debilitate' the enemy because it only says you point at them. They don't feel anything until they take damage. I addressed this nuance in my article and the article's comment section. I also have a whole article about how 'surprise' works that can be helpful. Picture this: if you used the Channel Divinity on your turn, and the DM said ROLL INITIATIVE to count that as your first turn, but you didn't do anything on your next turn and you didn't reveal yourself from being hidden.... does combat just stop or did it never start in the first place? If you were hidden, you probably remained hidden when you pointed at someone. This is why I rule the way I do on this.
@@FlutesLoot Thank you for the reply. To answer your hypothetical scenario, and how my DM would have handled this, it'd go like this. So, I'm hidden, and I say that I "point" some half sleeping guard, using path to the grave. After that the DM describes how my "spell" causes the person I pointed to feel discomfort, veins pop, heavy breathing, tired all of a sudden, sweating, kinda like bad food poisoning. Then he'd ask us to roll initiative. Assuming I'm very well hidden, and no other comrades are near, or also did a very high stealth roll, the guard starts complaining that he feels crappy all of a sudden, starts questioning the fact, all the other guards hear him. That breaks the surprise round. Choice 1. I attack once my turn arrives. I don't get the assassinate bonus. They are alert. Choice 2. I sit still, and so does my party for some reason, which I find quite improbable. You see, we made a rule that no big conversation about anything happens during initiative. We can exchange a few words as a free action, but that's it. I can try and tell them "Don't attack!", but I doubt they'd agree, and even if they do, my words maybe would be heard by the guards, making us all a target, totally borking the whole endeavor. The specific party, and DM is pretty much the reason that I switched playing a character with specific strategies in mind, to a mindless barbarian (INT 6). And before you ask, no, I can't switch party. We don't even have tabletop clubs in my city, maybe whole country has 2, or 3?
@@JoTheVeteran I see what you're working with. While I fundamentally disagree with the group's ruling on this point for several reasons, it's their game to enjoy as they see fit, right? :) I hope you're still having a good time! I'm not the type to tell people to find different groups because I know it's often not practical to suggest. Thank you for the feedback!
Thanks BertyBadass! Make sure your DM understands surprise rules and that you're on the same page, and then make sure your Initiative rolls are really strong. Don't forget to roleplay the fun combination of a Cleric with an Assassin, like a divinely appointed reaper. The character would probably have interesting 'rituals' or 'traditions' that they perform before seeking their marks. This could be a prayer over the weapons, a warm-up routine, or a special diet. Have fun, and thank you for your support!
The biggest problem with surprise attacks. The target needs to not know you are there. Meaning a rogue has to be stealth before combat starts or attack from stealth to start combat. Find it very hard to be surprise if you where spotting in combat. Ran around to hide. Then strike from the shadows. As they know you are there and it would be more of a sneak attack with advantage.
great build for a one-shot. i definitely agree that path to the grave shouldn't be perceived as a hostile act but i understand DMs who'd say they do. i've had a similar build in the past but was played in tier 2-3. similar concept but using eldritch smite more than sneak attack and using a ranged weapon. the level 10 theorycraft back then was grave 2, daolock 5, assassin 3. I also had another version which replaced daolock with divine sorc, ignored sneak attack and used distant upcasted inflict wounds (with empowered spell just in case i roll low). my only suggestion for your build is to switch to a ranged weapon as in my experience it's much easier to generate surprise as a ranged character than a melee character especially with auditory perception occurring at closer ranges.
I agree with you. This was probably my first "whoa this build is crazy!" ideas. I understand the game much better these days. This is evidenced by how this build didn't use DPR calculations for accuracy and such.
@@FlutesLoot I think DPR calculations involving accuracy can be left in the article/spreadsheet. no need to include that in the vid as it's harder to understand than 100% accuracy for the typical viewer. when i do share my own builds in the comments i typically share 100% accuracy dpr calculation. most of my striker builds though reach 88+% hit rate without magic weapons vs. 18 AC because i typically include advantage generators as a baseline of the build and accuracy boosters (like precision attack, archery fighting style, favored of the gods) if the build has something that penalizes attack rolls like sharpshooter.
@@TheRobversion1 it occurs to me that I don't typically factor in magic weapons for attacks. I guess it doesn't matter (much) when comparing two weapon attackers as opposed to Warlock.
@@FlutesLoot I only factor them in if the character has spare spell slots and concentration to cast magic/elemental weapon or if they picked up an appropriate artificer infusion.
I like this build a lot but the math ain't mathin' for me. How is the intitial damage starting at 2d8 and 18d6? It looks to me like you are doubling the dice before the 2x for Assassinate and the 2x for Path to the Grave. What am I missing?
Critical hit. 2d8 and 18d6 are crit dice for a 1d8 weapon with 9d6 Sneak Attack dice added. Then come the multipliers. If I did this again today, I'd account for actual DPR based on accuracy, but this is still fun.
