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Post by dmsam on Mar 2, 2016 16:28:29 GMT
Assassins add a lot of flavor in a story. They are dark, dirty and dangerous. Best yet, they are instruments of their employer's will.
They don't fight fair. Assassins would slit your throat in your sleep, poison your drink and hit you while you are down.
It's fun to BE an assassin, but more often than not it sucks to be on the receiving end.
How do you make assassin baddies more fun for the PCs to parley with and not fear for every second their lives?
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Post by lasersniper on Mar 2, 2016 17:57:15 GMT
I think the fearing for your life is the fun part. If you think about it, most often then not the PCs are being pursued by one group or another that wants thier heads. So assassins are just another enemy to watch out for. I of course always give chances for them to see it coming though. If they actually see the assassin, ie they are delivering a drink or he is casually walking past them, then perception checks can help spot a killer, or even alert them that something is off about them. Since they are assassins, the check would be difficult. I also usually ramp up the assassination attempts as they go, so the first one is unlikely to kill somebody straight off, though it does depend on the assassin. A more deadly one should be able to down a PC in an assassination attempt. Lastly, always remember that an assassin is not a combatant. If caught in an open fight they almost always will lose. If you have time, I would recomend reading the Assassination Classroom manga, as I think it gives great examples on how a ttrpg assassin should be.
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Post by dmsam on Mar 2, 2016 18:44:07 GMT
That's the thing. The assassin can incapacitate a pc upon a surprise round, leave him useless or dead for the rest of the fight (my particular party does not have a healer).
That player will hate me for that, no matter how good a sport he is.
Conversely, if I drop too many hints and the assassin loses his element of surprise, he will end up as a red smear on the ground before round 3. The whole fight gets ruined. . .
It's harder to run an assassin than it is for a mage, I swear.
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Post by lasersniper on Mar 2, 2016 20:07:57 GMT
That's the thing. The assassin can incapacitate a pc upon a surprise round, leave him useless or dead for the rest of the fight (my particular party does not have a healer). That player will hate me for that, no matter how good a sport he is. Conversely, if I drop too many hints and the assassin loses his element of surprise, he will end up as a red smear on the ground before round 3. The whole fight gets ruined. . . It's harder to run an assassin than it is for a mage, I swear. Here is the thing though, an assassin should not be in a fight. Like ever if he wants to live. He poisons someone with a drink he serves them, stabs someone while passing in a crowd, or snipes from a rooftop with a crossbow or bow. Writing this I realized that you are more concerned with an ensuing fight after the assassin attempts a kill. Well, most assassins will attempt to get away or negotiate for their lives rather then get into a combat, so I wouldn't worry about a player being left out as any fight usually will be nonexistent or done very quickly. As for the player hating you, I don't know if you are assuming your players will or if you are talking out of experience. However, if an assassin is coming after them then they probably did something to warrant that, whether it be a good or evil action. It is a consequence of their actions they have to deal with. If they can't understand this (which I think is very silly) then you could just send murder's after them. People hired to kill them but use brute force rather then the shadows. However I would pump up the difficulty to match an assassin threat in a combat equivalent. |
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Post by joatmoniac on Mar 2, 2016 20:34:16 GMT
Make the first attempt a failed one, but hits close to put the fear in them. I would personally give them no chance to even see the assassin. If the assassin poisoned the drink or food that is intended for the PCs maybe the wait staff tried a sample early, and died a terrible death, and it becomes apparent that the PCs were meant for the hit. A blow dart with poison is shot at a PC, and narrowly misses because someone else got in the way. Assassinate someone very close to the PCs and make it clear that they are next. I agree that it is difficult, but have the assassin have an easy out when a confrontation arises. Its a world of magic and mayhem, a spell, a ring, etc could easy get the would be assassin out of any situation.
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Post by dmsam on Mar 2, 2016 20:39:19 GMT
Never-mind, that answers quite a bit! I totally didn't realize that there was a post before I posted, sorry joatmoniac. I'll go ahead and try that on my players. Hopefully they won't be too mad at me. |
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Post by dmsam on Mar 3, 2016 19:01:57 GMT
So here's a boss-tier assassin, equipped with a cloak of invisibility! Do NOT use this on your players unless you want someone to die. If your PCs do kill him, they get a legendary cloak!   |
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Post by lasersniper on Mar 3, 2016 19:46:48 GMT
So here's a boss-tier assassin, equipped with a cloak of invisibility! Do NOT use this on your players unless you want someone to die. If your PCs do kill him, they get a legendary cloak! From someone who sucks/hates stating out new creatures, I thank you. Now if you will excuse me I have a game to prep for BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA |
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Post by dmsam on Mar 3, 2016 20:39:39 GMT
Actually, I'm going to add legendary resistance to better reflect the boss-like nature of this guy. Hold person would totally ruin this fight otherwise. . .and done!
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DM Rowan
Adventurer
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Post by DM Rowan on Mar 23, 2016 6:02:45 GMT
Have the assassination attempt accidentally kill a beloved npc instead. They mix up the drinks and swallow it them selves. They happen to trip in front of the crossbow bolt if they're clumsy or if they have high perception, they see it coming and step in the way, maybe failing to cast shield in time. Once someone falls down dead, the scene will be too hot and the assassin will flee. Perhaps he leaves a clue as to who imploded him or you catch a glimpse of his face. Then, a few days later the ocs are going somewhere and they roll perception to see if they recognize the assassin. Or they track down the guy who hired him but the assassin insists on finishing his job even after you killed the employer. honor among thieves, you know.
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