Introduction

** Work In Progress **

The rules presented here are optional house rules for 3rd Edition D&D and the d20 rules system, and will require the use of at least the Players Handbook, and perhaps the Dungeon Masters Guide.

Premise

Within the most recent generations, a growing number of Drow are becoming disatisfied with the lifestyle and fickle demands given by the worship and Chaotic Evil philosophies of the demoness Lolth, and are turning instead to the philosophies of Lawful Evil. And a great number of these Drow turn to the devil Glasya as a model for their philosophy of rule by strength within the law.

Of course, the laws these Drow follow have a particularly evil bent. For example, under certain circumstances (not unlike in the Free City of Greyhawk) assassination is a lawful act...

Despite the change from being followers of Chaos to students of Law, one thing remain the same - the lawful drow are still run by all powerful matriarchs, with males continuing in the subservient role they have suffered under for time immemorable. In fact, because of their lawful bent, the gender-based class system among lawful Drow is even more rigid and structured than ever before.

Among the houses of Drow that have turned to Law for guidance, the House of Seregkir stands among the most respected and powerful - and feared among Lolth's minions. Their numbers are few, but their skill in both magic and arms is difficult to rival. They are bent on the overthrow of the Lolthian infrastructure and the establishment of a lawful Drow society overall.

Society of the Dark (Assassins)

The Lawful Evil movement among the Drow is as of yet a small one, and so the number of members of this Society are still very few, and its organization and philosophy is as of yet not well solidified. However, in general they maintain that they can only use their skills of assassination in places where it is lawful (or at least not specifically against the law) to do so, but their evil natures allow them to attempt to find any loophole in such laws that they can that gives them the permission they need. Furthermore, the Society is currently bent on the overthrow of the established control by Lolth of their fellow drow, and most often use their skills toward that end, either directly or indirectly (such as being an assassin for hire to raise money for the anti-Lolth effort) - and since they see most of Drow society as lawless, their skills can be used with impunity amongst their Lolth-worshipping sisters and brothers.

Hit Die: d6

Requirements

To become a member of the Society of the Dark, the following criteria must be met.

Alignment: Lawful Evil.

Race: Drow

Alchemy: 2 ranks

Move Silently: 8 ranks

Hide: 8 ranks

Disguise: 4 ranks

Underdark (Wilderness) Lore: 2 ranks

Concentration: 2 ranks

Feat: Two-Weapon Fighting

Special: Must be loyal to the House of Seregkir. As an initiation ritual at the end of training, must assassinate a Priestess of Lolth of no less than 2 levels lower than the assassin's character level.

Class Skills

The Society's class skills are Alchemy, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disquise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Innuendo, Intimidate, Intuit Direction, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Pick Pocket, Read Lips, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Underdark (Wilderness) Lore and Use Rope.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Society of the Dark prestige class.

Weapon/Armor Proficiency: The Society focuses on weapon training suitable for stealth and sneak attacks. They are proficient with the crossbow (preferring the hand crossbow, but also proficient in light or heavy), dagger (any type, including such exotic weapons as the Kukri and punching daggar), dart, rapier, sap, shortbow (normal and composite), short sword and shuriken. They are taught proficiency with light armor but not with shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble, and that carrying heavy gear imposes a check penalty on Swim checks.

Sneak Attack: If an assassin can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage. Basically, any time the assassin's target would be denied his Dexterity bonus to AC (whether he actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), the assassin's attack deals +1d6 points of damage every other level (+2d6 at 3rd, +3d6 at 5th, and so on). Should the assassin score a critical hit with a Sneak Attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. It takes precision and penetration to hit a vital spot, so ranged attacks can only count as sneak attacks if the target is 30 feet away or less.
With a sap or an unarmed strike, the assassin can (if desired) make a Sneak Attack that deals subdual damage instead of normal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals normal damage to deal subdual damage in a Sneak Attack, not even with the usual -4 penalty, because she must make optimal use of the weapon in order to execute the sneak attack.
An assassin can only Sneak Attack living creatures with discernible anatomies -- undead, constructs, oozes, plants and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Additionally, any creature immune to critical hits is similarly immune to Sneak Attacks. Also, the assassin must also be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach that vital spot. The assassin cannot Sneak Attack while striking at a creature with concealment or by striking at the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.
If an assassin gets a Sneak Attack bonus from another source (such as Rogue levels), the bonuses to damage do stack.

Death Attack: If the assassin studies her victim for 3 rounds and then makes a Sneak Attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the Sneak Attack has the additional effect of possibly either paralyzing or killing the target (assassin's choice). While studying the victim, the assassin can undertake other actions so long as her attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the assassin or recognize the assassin as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails his Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + the assassin's class level + Intelligence modifier) against the kill effect, he dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim's mind and body become enervated, rendering him completely helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per assassin's class level. If the victim's saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal Sneak Attack. Once the assassin has completed the 3 rounds of study she must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds. If the assassin does not launch her attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before she can attempt another Death Attack. If a Death Attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes her save), another Death Attack cannot be attempted on that victim during that melee (i.e. the victim must again become unaware of the assassin and be studied as above).

Improved Weapon Grapple: The assassin can attempt to first pin (or keep pinned) an opponent with one free arm/hand AND THEN attack using a weapon held in the other hand, all in the same round. Note that while she does not take a Strength penalty in regard to the pin attempt, she DOES take penalties for off-hand weapon use and for two weapon fighting (unless, of course, these are compensated for by feats and/or skills) in regard to the grapple grab attempt and any subsequent Sneak Attacks.

Basically, if an assassin can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack (i.e. the victim is unaware of the assassin's presence or the danger she poses to him), in the first round of grappling she does NOT provoke an attack of opportunity from the victim and she may skip directly to a grappling PIN attempt with a bonus to her grappling check equal to her Base Attack bonus. Furthermore, once the opponent is pinned (and for every round he remains pinned), the assassin can then make her Sneak Attack, since the opponent is pinned and therefore in a position where he would lose his Dexterity bonus to AC (whether he has such a bonus or not).

The assassin can use a Death Attack in conjunction with the Improved Weapon Grapple as well, but ONLY in the first round of the Improved Weapon Grapple, and must have spent 3 rounds beforehand in studying the victim (just as in a normal Death Attack). Thereafter, even if she keeps her victim pinned, she cannot attempt another Death Attack; she can, however, make a Sneak Attack each round so long as she keeps the victim pinned. Successfully pinning a victim in this way provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening enemies, but not from the victim.

If the assassin fails to pin her victim OR loses her pin during any round, thereafter normal rules for grappling apply (i.e. she loses the ability to pin with only one arm/hand, etc.).

Poison Use: Drow of all kinds are especially familiar with poisons, and the Society of the Dark are certainly no exceptions; their assassins are trained in the use of all manner of poisons and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves when applying poison to a blade, other weapon or even food or drink.

Spells: Beginning at 1st level, an assassin gains the ability to cast a small number of Divine spells. To cast a spell, the assassin must have a Wisdom of 10 + the spell's level, so an assassin with a Wisdom of 10 or less cannot cast these spells. Assassin bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the assassin's Wisdom modifier (if any). When the assassin gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 1st level spells at 1st level, the assassin gets only bonus spells. An assassin without a bonus spell for that level cannot yet cast a spell of that level. The assassin's spell list appears below. An Society of the Dark assassin prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does, generally getting her spells from the devil Glasya, but a few of these assassins worship other Lawful Evil deities and devils as well.

Saving Throw Bonus vs Poison: Assassins train with poisons of all types and slowly grow more and more resistant to their effects. This is reflected by a natural saving throw bonus to all poisons gained at 2nd level that increases by +1 for every two levels the assassin gains (+1 at 2nd, +2 at 4th, and so on).

Uncanny Dodge: Starting at 2nd level, the assassin gains the extraordinary ability to react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to even be aware of it. At 2nd level and above, she retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat footed or struck by an invisible attacker (though she still loses this bonus if immobilized).
At 5th level, she can no longer be flanked, since she can react to opponents on opposite sides of her as easily as she can react to a single attacker. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to Sneak Attack the assassin. The exception to this defense is that a Rogue at least four levels higher than the assassin can flank, and thus Sneak Attack, her.
At 10th level, the assassin gains an intuitive sense that alerts her to danger from traps, giving her a +1 bonus to Reflex saves made to avoid traps.
If the assassin has another class that grants the Uncanny Dodge ability, add together all the class levels of the classes that grant the ability, and determine the character's Uncanny Dodge ability on that basis.

Favored Victims: Much like a Ranger's Preferred Enemies ability, the Society of the Dark focuses their training on the assassination of certain types of victims. Thus, at first level they can choose a general or specific type of creature as a favored victim.
While the assassin may choose from among the same list as the Ranger, with the Society bent on the eradication of the forces of chaos among their own kind the smart assassin in the Society typically chooses her Favored Victims from among those enemies she will likely face in that effort; indeed, this often includes picking Drow as a Favored Victim at first level. Another oft selected catagory is Vermin, in order to more easily combat the giant spiders kept by Lolth-worshipping Drow as "pets". Beyond these first two choices, they then tend to select Favored Victims from among the other denizens of the Underdark who might ally themselves with the Lolth-worshipping Drow, who are simply often in the way or are bent on the desctruction of the Drow race as a whole.

Due to their extensive study of her Favored Victims' anatomies and mannerisms, the assassin gains a +1 bonus to Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot and Underdark (Wilderness) Lore checks when using these skills against this type of creature. Likewise, she gains the same bonus to weapon damage rolls against these creatures when making a Sneak Attack. She furthermore gains +1 to hit when attempting either a Death or Sneak Attack against this type of creature, and her Death attacks gain a +1 to DC. The assassin also gets these damage, to hit and Death Attack bonuses during a sneak attack with a ranged weapon, but only against victims within 30 feet. As always, the bonus does not apply to damage against creatures that are immune to critical hits, nor does it apply to creatures without discernible anatomies (undead, oozes, constructs, etc).

At 5th level and at every five levels thereafter, the assassin may select a new Favored Victim, and the bonuses associated with every previously selected Favored Victim goes up by +1.

Society of the Dark Spell List

Members of the Society of the Dark choose their spells from the following list:

1st Level -- Command, Comprehend Languages, Magic Weapon, Obscuring Mist, Doom

2nd Level -- Delay Poison, Find Traps, Enthrall, Silence, Undetectable Alignment

3rd Level -- Dispell Magic, Meld Into Stone, Stone Shape, Speak with Dead

4th Level -- Freedom of Movement, Neutralize Poison, Repel Vermin, Tongues

Table: 1-1 Society of the Dark