Is the Spell Assassin's Senses too powerful?

[Thistleknot]

I was looking over the spell Assassin's Senses from Relics and Rituals. I was wondering what people think of this spell.

Basically it ups the threat range by 1 and the crit multiplier by 1 for 1 round a level and is only usable on melee weapons of the caster only. And it's a second level spell.

Most everyone I know think that it's overly powerful.

But comparing it to Keen Edge (3rd level), which is much more versatile--cast at short range, applicable to both melee and ranged weapons, or 50 ranged weapon projectiles, lasting 10 minutes a level, and upping the the threat range by 2, makes me think that Assassin's Senses is perfectly okay right where it is as a second level spell, useful for a fighter/magic-user type only, and not for very long.

I was wondering if other people thought this spell was too powerful, and if anyone has in-game experience with this spell.

Thank you for your time.

 

[hong]

First, keen edge doubles the threat range of a weapon, rather than increasing it by 2.

Second, you can think of the "criticality" of a weapon in terms of the effective number of extra hits you get. For example, a longsword (crits on 19-20/x2) gets effectively 2 extra hits: +1 on a roll of 19, and +1 on a roll of 20. Similarly, a battleaxe also gets 2 extra hits, all on a roll of 20.

Keen edge increases the criticality of a longsword by 2, since it doubles the threat range to 17-20. It also increases the criticality of a battleaxe by 2. Assassin's senses increases the criticality of a longsword by 4: you get two extra hits on a roll of 18, and one extra hit on a 19 or 20, on top of what you would normally get. It also increases the criticality of a battleaxe by 4: 3 extra hits on a roll of 19, and 1 extra hit on a roll of 20.

Third, all other things being equal, a foe with assassin's senses is much more deadly than a foe with keen edge. This is because x3 crits and higher have a very good chance of killing a character outright, even at mid-levels. A x2 crit is dangerous, but you're normally still standing, and can retreat to avoid getting hit again.

Basically, assassin's senses is a very powerful spell for an adversary. For a PC it's not so powerful, but still better than keen edge when you're fighting the evil boss. I'd drop it, or raise it to 4th level.

 

[Crothian]

It's a powerful spell, but I don't think it's any worse then Haste which is also third level.

 

[hong]

It's a powerful spell, but I don't think it's any worse then Haste which is also third level.

Or polymorph other, which is 4th level.

 

[bret]

I wouldn't allow it for a very simple reason.

It increases the randomness of battle. A couple of lucky hits in a row and all the sudden you've done huge amounts of damage. It messes up combat on both sides, since it is much more likely that a single lucky roll can determine the battle.

Normally, the fighter can figure out when they are low enough on HP that they need help. With this spell, suddenly a longsword is much more dangerous than it appears. It is critting much more often than it should, and when it does the critical does more damage.

I would also worry about the interaction between this spell and some of the feats related to Criticals in MotW. I haven't got the book so I'm not sure exactly how they work, but it would be a concern anyways.


Some groups love critical hits. I've played RoleMaster, where the criticals pretty much determined the battle. I didn't like that style of combat. It works much more against the PCs than the opponents, since it is just a matter of time before an NPC gets an instant kill on the PCs.

 

[RogueJK]

I don't think that Assassin's Sense, by itself, has anything wrong with it.

But there are simply too many critical-affecting feats, spells, and enhancements to keep it from being overpowered. When you take Keen, Improved Critical, Power Critical, Vorpal, or any the various other things which affect crits, and then throw in Assassin's Sense on top of those, it creates problems.

If was erratad so that it doesn't stack with Keen, or that it wouldn't raise the critical multiplier over x4 (or both), then it would be fine IMHO.

 

[Crothian]

Well, the DM can determine how many other crit modifiers the PCs get. It can get abusive, there is no doubt in my mind. The DM and the PCs have to jiontly make sure it doesn't happen.

 

[kreynolds]

I was looking over the spell Assassin's Senses from Relics and Rituals. I was wondering what people think of this spell.

Well, since I thought Relics and Rituals was a big-ol'-piece-o'-crap, there you go.

 

[James McMurray]

Well, I'd have to disagree with R&R being crap, since I consider it to be the best 3rd party book of magic out there so far. But that just goes to show that opinions differ.

As for the topic at hand, there's a cleric in my group who uses persistent Assassin's Senses, and it hasn't hurt anything. It's nowhere near as bad as a Paladin smiting with a Keen, Improved Criticaled sword.

 

[Petrosian]

Seems like double dipping to me...and second level to boot.

when a spell is described as "not as bad" as some of the better spells of one or more levels higher in its defense, thats probably a clue.