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I know of two sources of death attack that use Charisma, rather than Intelligence, for the save DC: the marrulurk race from Sandstorm, and the 7th-level vestige Marchosias, King of Killers from Tome of Magic. As far as I know, there are no options for a Wisdom-based death attack.

Are there any others, or ways to convert an Int-based death attack to use Charisma or Wisdom? (Or Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution, I guess, though I’d be very surprised).

Charisma is preferred, as is something accessible in a single level, as death attack is from assassin 1st (among others), but ultimately I’d like the complete list—because I’m pretty sure it’s empty.

A lot of lists note the death touch ability of the Death domain, slayer of Domiel, etc. That’s not of interest to me: anything with a daily restriction is not what I’m looking for. Studying the target is an acceptable cost, obviously. Things that “effectively” kill the target, like paralysis or petrification, are acceptable, even if they are not named “death attack.”

Any 3.5e-legal Wizards of the Coast material, or Dragon or Dungeon material, is acceptable. I am ideally seeking a complete list, which again might very well be an empty list.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Does being a non-int based caster count? So, casting a death spell as a Cleric? \$\endgroup\$
    – goodguy5
    Feb 3, 2022 at 16:37
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @goodguy5 “anything with a daily restriction is not what I’m looking for” And anyway, no, I’m ideally looking for an Ex ability, though I’d consider a Su one. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Feb 3, 2022 at 16:43
  • \$\begingroup\$ ah yea, fair. For some reason, spells didn't occur to me as a daily restriction. \$\endgroup\$
    – goodguy5
    Feb 3, 2022 at 17:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ What if you put an ability into a wand with unlimited uses? \$\endgroup\$
    – goodguy5
    Feb 3, 2022 at 17:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ @goodguy5 I’d really rather you didn’t, seeing as the majority of your answer is things I specifically asked not be included. You have a good answer with deathstalker of Bhaal, but adding so much extraneous stuff really just takes away from it. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Feb 3, 2022 at 22:37

2 Answers 2

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I could only find two that didn't have uses-per-day limits.

Deathstalker of Bhaal

(DrMag 322)
Standard Death Attack, but:

If the victim of such an attack fails her Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + double the deathstalker's level + the deathstalker's Charisma modifier) against the kill effect, she dies.

Darkwood Stalker (gotta mention it)

(complete warrior, 23)

Death Attack (Ex): If a 10th-level darkwood stalker studies a particular orc 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 killing the target. While studying the orc, the darkwood hunter can undertake other actions as long as his attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the darkwood stalker or recognize the darkwood stalker as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the darkwood stalker’s class level + the darkwood stalker’s Wis modifier), he dies. If the victim’s saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal sneak attack. Once the darkwood stalker has completed the 3 rounds of study, he must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds. If a death attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes his save) or if the darkwood stalker does not launch the attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before he can attempt another death attack.


I know that these were excluded, but a few examples that I found WITH uses per day were

Nightmare Spinner
3/day (Complete Mage p74)

Warrior of the Animal Fist (Shen) - Tiger
1/day/level (DrMag 319)

OsteoMancer
1+/day (DrMag 315)

Infused (Exalted prestige class)
3/day (DrMag 321)

Blackweave Warlock
1-3/day (Polyhedron #159 p15)

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Deadly Nightmare is 3x per day. Osteomncer, Infused, Warrior of..., all have daily limits too. Still +1 for the DeathStalker. Looked it up, and it req's 3rd level Divine Casting. \$\endgroup\$
    – Chemus
    Feb 3, 2022 at 20:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Chemus dang it! \$\endgroup\$
    – goodguy5
    Feb 3, 2022 at 20:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeah, but the requirements comment was not a detraction, simply trying to add info. \$\endgroup\$
    – Chemus
    Feb 3, 2022 at 20:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeah, I’d prefer to avoid non-answering things here; deathstalker of Bhaal (the ‘s’ isn’t capitalized, by the way) is a fine answer all by itself, and of course darkwood stalker is valid too, though it’s been covered. But kudos on the deathstalker; that’s a great find that might work very well for my purposes, depending on how well I can cheese the 3rd-level divine spell requirement. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Feb 3, 2022 at 20:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @KRyan yea I forgot/didn't notice the limits \$\endgroup\$
    – goodguy5
    Feb 3, 2022 at 20:13
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There Can Be Only One!

10th level Darkwood Stalker (Complete Warrior, 23) is Wis based, but seems to be vs orcs only, and requires 10 levels of Darkwood Stalker, so probably doesn't fit...

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  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ I actually checked this one, and yet somehow missed it. Probably stopped reading after I saw it could only target orcs, since that’s patently useless, but still, +1 as it fits the criteria in the question. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Feb 3, 2022 at 18:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @KRyan I don't have a machine searchable Dragon resource, so that's probably the best I can get you for a 3.5e list. For me, it's like trying to find a needle in a needlestack. \$\endgroup\$
    – Chemus
    Feb 3, 2022 at 18:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ As far as I know, there isn’t one, so yeah, this is just kinda hoping that someone out there happens to have played such a thing or something and remembers it. Of course, again, I’d be kinda surprised if there actually is anything out there, but then, darkwood stalker was, so maybe. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Feb 3, 2022 at 19:02
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    \$\begingroup\$ forums.giantitp.com/… seems like a pertinent resource. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ben Barden
    Feb 3, 2022 at 19:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @BenBarden Wanna make that into an answer? Looks like a very good one! \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Feb 3, 2022 at 20:15

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