Maddened Assassin

Maddened Assassin (CR 10)

True Chaotic - Medium - Humanoid (Outsider)

Lore:	Know (Local)
20		35
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

20

Perception:
26	+16
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Lifesense 30 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 40 ft.

Defense

AC

28

Man Def

29

Monster Health
210	105	16
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+12
Refl:	+7
Will:	+12

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

• Vulnerable: Interstice damage

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+16

Man Off

+16

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Maddened Sword +16 (3d8+9/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Maddened Sword +16 (2d8+10/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Chaos Darts +16 (2d8+10/19-20 x2)
  as piercing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Chaos Darts +16 (2d8+10/19-20 x2)
  as piercing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

20

STR

18

DEX

18

CON

14

INT

10

WIS

14

CHA

Skills:

• Acrobatics: 18
• Escape Artist: 16
• Perception: 16
• Stealth: 18
• All other skills: 11 (no ranks)

Languages: Common, Gurahn'lloig (Low Aberrant)

Feats:

• Combat Reflexes (EFFECT: Monsters with this feat make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round instead of one.)

Special Abilities

Fanatical Vengeance (Ex) Automatic 1/Enc

Once per encounter, whenever any Maddened creature is killed by enemy actions, any Maddened Assassin who has line of sight and line of effect to the attacker who made the killing blow may choose to make an immediate action attack of opportunity against that creature. They must have an attack of opportunity available (although with Combat Reflexes, this is rarely a problem). They may make this attack with either their Maddened Sword or their Chaos Darts, and they must take all normal modifiers for such attacks as normal. If they have a flank, they may use their Chaos Stab ability as well.

Chaos Stab (Ex) Automatic with flank

If, during battle, a Maddened Assassin is receiving a flanking bonus, they may, once per round, add 2d8+10 of interstice (physical, rare) damage to one successful attack made with that flanking bonus.

Maddened Assassin

It is widely accepted among most intelligent creatures, at a very general level, that the world we all live in is balanced upon the surface of a much larger, darker, and far more terrible reality called the Outer Madness. Most people have little understanding of Planes, and in the minds of most people, Demons, Devils, Aberrations, and most 'weird' monsters are part of this terrifying background reality.

However, there are always those who think that 'larger and more terrible' means, 'a convenient way to get power'. As a result, all over the world, in every race, creed, and culture, civilized or not, there are those with far too much greed and far too little wisdom who seek out this Deep Darkness and pledge themselves to it. The Creeping Madness is easy to access, easy to draw upon...and insanely dangerous. A fair number of those who attempt this foolish act are consumed utterly by their very first sup of that dark well, their lives, essence, souls, and flesh consumed entire.

Many of those luckless fools do not quietly disappear, however.

Maddened Assassins are those creatures, with the Spark or without, who have reached out to the Madness, and not only survived, they have thrived. Maddened Assassins are corrupt enough that they cannot pass as their original race any longer, and so frequently go cowled or masked or otherwise crudely disguised. Maddened Assassins are usually drawn from the Civilized Races, people who should have known better. It is possible that the occasional Orc, Goblin, or Gnoll will also be subsumed by the Outer Madness, and thus become Maddened Assassins, but amongst those without the Spark, this terrible transformation is not so stark, and their native 'cultures' tend to exterminate such fools quickly. Such non-civilized Assassins tend to migrate to the fold of their civilized brethren, where they are given a place...until their use comes to an end.

Maddened Assassins, like all of the Maddened, are united in their allegiance to the Devouring Madness, the True Depths that lie Outside. They are not terribly organized, but they act, vaguely and constantly, to tear down civilization, destroy all the structures of the world, material and social, for good and for ill. They lurk and plot, they poison, murder, and ruin, they steal and burn, everything. Madness Assassins will attack babes in arms just as readily as they will battle undead, and for the same reason: All things must fall to the Dark, sooner or later.

Unlike lesser breeds of the Maddened, Assassins are actually uncomfortably good at what they do. Madness Assassins are a terrible force in the world, although they are thankfully rare. When Assassins are discovered, they must be confronted and rooted out with terrible urgency.

When more than one Maddened Assassins meet each other, they naturally band together, as every hand in the Prime Plane is raised against them as their enemies, and you must take your allies where you can find them. Bands of Madness Assassins seem almost like cults, except that there is no Deity involved, simply the utter alien void that has subsumed these maniacs, and invests their every action.

Combat Tactics

Maddened Assassins are simple, murderous enemies. Once battle begins, they will never break away, fighting to the last maddened breath, utterly convinced they are winning. They usually try to make pack attacks, jumping their victims from ambush if they can manage it, and using their quite good Stealth and Perception skills to get into position. They also tend to attack anyone they encounter, as long as they can commit their depredations with some degree of stealth. Like all the Maddened, Assassins want to destroy as much of the structure of the world as they can before they are destroyed, and so they sneak and creep, attacking under cover of darkness.

Their connection to the Outside gives them the ability to detect the living, their hated foes, within a short distance. This is not terribly useful for getting around, since it is short ranged, but once they have closed into battle range, they are nigh-impossible to deter, and will frequently try to knock out lanterns and other light sources and fight in the dark.

They prefer to use their sword attacks, and will go to considerable effort with their Acrobatics (performing Tumbles) to set up flank attacks as often as possible, hoping to get their Chaos Stab ability to fire. They will throw darts of maddened darkness without hesitation if that's a better way to kill. Their Fanatical Vengeance power is a terrible surprise to whoever manages to drop one of their Dark Brothers, and they will typically use this ability without hesitation as soon as they are able to do so...waiting to use it rarely works out well. With luck, the barrage of sword strikes, chaos stabs, or darts will kill or cripple one of their enemies outright, and allow them to turn the tide of a battle.

Out of Combat

Maddened Assassins do not try to blend in with civilization...but they are very good at hiding within it. Maddened Assassins wind up living in lairs and dungeons of other monsters, or hidden in abandoned, ruined places in cities, acting as bandits and raiders. Maddened Assassins, to be fair, can and will attack monstrous neighbors just as readily as they will attack the civilized, and an infestation of madness can actually drive away local orcs or hobgoblins, as the maddened fiends kill everything they can catch. Maddened Assassins can blend in, and individually, they can be found in cities, typically cloaked and skulking around, buying weapons and poisons and food, using their Stealth skill to spy up juicy targets for their murderous deeds, as well as sneaking in the occasional gory murder.

Surprisingly, Maddened Assassins seem to tolerate Vampire Thralls quite well, and it is not unheard of for the two types of wild-eyed beasts to work...not together, but toward similar goals. Such alliances are dark days indeed for all other creatures, and must be rooted out immediately.

Rewards

XP: 9,600

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 6,875 gp.

Weight: 100 lbs.     Volume: 4 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)