These professional killers are trained and used almost exclusively by crime families. Streetwise and ruthless, they operate independently, often making their talents available to the highest bidder. Though a few unscrupulous executioners exploit this arrangement and force families to pay higher rates for their services, most of these assassins follow a strict personal code and maintain absolute transparency with their employers. Talents marked with an asterisk (*) add effects to a slayer's sneak attack. Only one of these talents can be applied to an individual attack, and the decision of which to use must be made before the attack roll is made. Class Skills: An executioner doesn't receive Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Ride (Dex), or Survival (Wis) as class skills. Instead, he receives Appraise (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), and Escape Artist (Dex) in addition to the other standard slayer class skills.
Replaces
Swift TrackerQuarryImproved Quarry
Archetype Features
Bloodstained Hands
Level 1
An executioner must be evil. If he ever becomes nonevil, he loses this archetype and becomes a regular slayer.
Focused Killer
Level 1
At 1st level, an executioner's studied target bonuses and the DCs of his slayer abilities increase by 1 against humanoid opponents, but decrease by 1 against non-humanoid targets.
This ability alters studied target.
Painful Strike*
Level 4
At 4th level, an executioner automatically gains this talent. Executioners are trained to cause excruciating pain when striking targets, often leaving them reeling in agony or completely incapacitated as they slowly bleed out. A creature that takes sneak attack damage from an executioner must make a successful a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the executioner's class level + his Intelligence modifier) or become sickened for 1d4 rounds.
This ability alters the slayer talent received at 4th level and replaces swift tracker.
Assassinate
Level 10
At 10th level, an executioner must select the assassinate advanced slayer talent.
Swift Death
Level 14
At 14th level, once per day an executioner can attempt to assassinate a foe without studying his foe beforehand. He must still succeed at a sneak attack against the target. At 19th level, he can make two such attacks per day.
This ability replaces quarry and improved quarry.