I may be wrong but assassins in the pnp version (1st edition) used to have a chance to kill humanoid opponents outright instead of backstabbing. The chance of success increased in levels.

I can't see any justification for limiting the thief points each level. Of course in PNP the assassin used to be limited to about 13th level and could be challenged by any 12th level assassin who fancied becoming grandmaster.

Now you're all refering to 1st ed. where the Assasin was a distinct class, but the Assasin in BGII is simply a kit for the thief class, as such he is supposed to be a stealthy, discreet killer rather than an all-out mangler like the fighter Assasin kit (which exists in PNP AD&D 2nd ed. fighters handbook).

Granted my Assasin which I am currently playing the game through with, contributes less to battles against things like dragons but that is why I have three front-line fighters in my party...I've been playing this new game for about half a week and am still in Chap.2 but the party I am using is tearing things up...and my Assasin has contributed greatly to this. I can honestly say that this is one of the most deadly parties that I have taken through SoA so far.