Goblin assassin (possible spoiler)

[I can has fun?]

Perhaps not so much a suggestion as an opinion.

I ran into a goblin assassin on the road to the Webbed Wood. I neither heard him with the max listen for my level nor had a better than twenty percent hope of making my saving throw, and only then if I had been buffed. I was pretty much doomed the moment I spawned that NPC.

Being ninja-killed while strolling through the usually safe areas of the road is neither challenging nor fun. NPCs who can and do deal out instant death with no real hope of response or escape for relatively high-level PCs should not be wandering around areas where low-level PCs are likely to travel or congregate. It feels like the equivalent of encountering a hostile medusa in the Gobsquat.

I like the goblin assassin spawn. I want to see more spawns like this. I just don't ever want to see them within three area transitions of the ziggurat unless they are being controlled by a DM. That particular encounter left something to be desired.

[djspectre]

I can admit that I have seen someone on the sloped road get hit with a death strike before by said assassin and had I not made my spot/listen check, I'd have never seen him to open fire, sparing the player from actually going to the fugue.

I agree that these are fun spawns, they make walking around that much more dangerous and point to the fact that solo exploring is even more dangerous, but they do need to perhaps be a bit further away from the entrance of the first 'explorable' area really.

[Goblin Butcher]

I love goblin assassins and actively hunt them when I'm bored. They always drop nifty little loot packs(two very useful potions) and are really not that bad. There are "Great lizards" and "Greater Werewolves" that spawn in the same place.
Ymph is not a safe place, even close to the settlement should be dangerous. The dangerous spawns seem quite rare nearer the ziggerat. I've only ever seen 3 goblin assassins along the nearby roads in dozens of treks. I think it would be undesirable to have "safe" wild lands just because they're near an unsafe undead infested settlement!

[Caddies]

The Webbed Wood is hardly a newbie zone, being filled with spawns and as you said a full three large areas from the Ziggurat (and in the opposite direction of the city, into the wilds). While you can get unlucky with the Spot/Listen checks quite easily, I don't remember their stealth being broken at all. Moreover, the DC on the DA is definitely modest, with roughly 50% chance of saving for even low level PCs without a primary Fortitude save. And if you refrain from traveling alone, your party members can easily kill the assassin before you die yourself.

Seems unnecessary to me!

[Dilandau Kale]

Other area where they seem to spawn is on top of where you go for two of the low lvl errand quests. Seems to be a bit much for a lvl 3 going for pile of lumber only to be death attacked by two of them (happend to me)  and to be honest how many people are going to be willing to form a group to guard one person who wants to pick up said wooden logs? Also they seem to be able to cast hold person as well

[TooCuteForComfort]

Haha, yes, gotta love 'em, I never ever managed to detect them even with madly pushed detect skills, but I believe that is because they're actually using invisibility on top of their stealth abilities, since they carry a lifetime supply of potions. Buut, those times my group/s got jumped by those we managed, soo..
BAM!
(Bring a meatshield..)

[Nihm]

A goblin assassin killed Jack Black in one hit when we were exploring on the first night in the new module.  While funny at the time, I'd agree that these spawns should be removed in any areas near the ziggurat.  Its no fun to be gathering firewood, to use an earlier example, and then be one-shotted by something you had no chance of seeing.
 

I love goblin assassins and actively hunt them when I'm bored.

What does this have to do with the subject?  Not everyone is playing a high-level dwarven fighter/rogue, nor should they have to to survive in the areas near the ziggurat.

[ScottyB]

We've had Deep Lizards and Hook Horrors spawn a mere two areas away from Nurtle's Cave for over three years; newbies used to go the wrong way then, too, on occasion. How is this different?

[Germain]

Myself and another PC had come across a goblin assassin just last night.  While my PC had seen it, the other PC I was with did not. My listen and spot are both 6 and my search is 8.  Not particularly high, I think, and I managed to see the goblin near instantly.  

I personally see nothing wrong with them spawning even remotely close to areas outside the ziggurat since there is wide array of other creatures that will easily kill you in one/two hits.  That same log gathering quest has been interrupted by greater werewolves more times then I wish to recall.  I have scooped up the remains of multiple PCs along the sloped road from equally scary stuff, as well.

Ultimately, I like to think the wilderness is something that should not be approached lightly.  While it may be easy to associate these areas outside the ziggurat as being remotely safe, I appreciate the subtle reminder of untimely death that they are not.

[I can has fun?]

We've had Deep Lizards and Hook Horrors spawn a mere two areas away from Nurtle's Cave for over three years; newbies used to go the wrong way then, too, on occasion. How is this different?

Because it's hard to miss a deep lizard or a clutch of hook horrors! At least with them you have a chance to run. The goblin assassin just pops up out of nowhere and then you die, the end.

If the deep lizards had invisibility and death gaze, then there would be a comparison. Those goblin assassins are like little bodaks with stealth! Usually anything that can kill PCs that easily is found pretty deep within a quest, or in an area where you know ahead of time that you could die horribly by getting anywhere close.

Personally, I think the panthers and jungle cats make the low areas treacherous enough. They already have good stealth and sneak attack damage. Giving them a death attack would be overkill, literally. It makes the difference between something difficult but fun and something that is just frustrating.

[dragonfire9000]

My Solution:

Either take away the assassins' death attacks, or move them farther away. This is not an enemy that should be faced that close to places high-levels frequently patrol.

Think of it this way: nearer the Ziggurat there is a higher concentration of people, quite a few very well-armed. They are quite often found walking outside the Ziggurat to some far-off adventure. The Ziggurat is a point in a large area where all adventurers radiate from.... until they reset their spawn point to someplace cooler, which I haven't found yet. Blech. Anyways... what with high-level adventurers and well-armed killers of all sorts frequently passing through these areas that are so close to the Ziggurat, wouldn't one think that monsters would either get picked off or simply learn not to get that close? Also, it's just mean-spirited to have something with instant death cababilities in places level two rangers walk.

My two cents!

[Letsplayforfun]

If i get the message correctly, this is not about complaining about the difficulty range of the spawn, it's about the 'no-fun' of the combination of both not detecting the threat and of the instant kill. If that's the case, i tend to agree.

Dying every now and then is part of the fun. Getting pawned without a chance of survival sucks. Even running and getting pawned by AoO is fun because you actually think you might just make it. If this gob assassin just pops up and you're dead, that's a bit rough.

That being said, i've pcs travelling a lot, and they never got troubled by those spawns.

[Winston Martin]

The thought of traveling across the island should be a sobering one. It should involve a great deal of risk assessment, particularly if you are foolhardy enough to travel alone. Nature oriented characters should know these risks better than anyone.

A character with maxed spot and listen checks shouldn't be able to detect -everything- around them. How boring would that be?

Goblin assassins are dangerous but are not bodaks with stealth. If you travel alone you run the risk of running into a compromising situation.

If anything, more predators should have start out in stealth mode. Poisonous snakes, plant creatures, and spiders should be stealthed.

Traveling the Underdark became routine when players learned what spawned where, whether they could fight it or had to turn back, and what sort of stealth/detect scores would keep them safe. Please DMs, do your best to remove this player knowledge and sense of security by continuing to keep things unpredictable.

[Letsplayforfun]

If anything, more predators should have start out in stealth mode. Poisonous snakes, plant creatures, and spiders should be stealthed.

Seconded.

[Daemonic Daz]

Yes, I think it should bring more of a "travel in groups" message instead of a "too hard, suggestion time!" message. Just travel in groups and you'll have more chance of surviving.