The Assassin

MATTHEW Francis
Final VERSION

The Old World is a dangerous and a mysterious place, and its politics are no different. Rival states constantly keep watch on each other and the mighty realms such as Bretonnia, Kislev, Tilea and the Empire have the constant threat of annihilation hanging over their heads. Often they deal with marauding Orc Warbands or Chaos Covens as directly as possible through open warfare. But at times a subtler approach is called for, the Assassin. Most of the major cities in the Old World have a small conclave of Assassins in 'the Guild'. The Guild is usually disguised as a large townhouse in a select part of town where state messengers can be seen visiting often.

The Assassins are inheritors of the Cathayan's Assassins who also influenced the Skaven Clan Eshin. Masked and robed in black they are dexterous and subtle, trained in the arts of combat and trickery, able to mix with the finest company at court and kill hideous monsters in a sewer.

Most assassins are products of the criminal element of cities so they are perceptive and quick individuals. Many more come from unnoticed families such as tradesman, artisans... All are handpicked for their cunning and intelligence

Once trained an assassin will undergo many missions, usually as ordered  by the Grand Master and Council of his Guild House. Although their name suggests the main nature of their work, they are also picked for a variety of other missions: spying, rescues, kidnapping, couriers and even infiltration.

Assassins have a great sense of style and work ethic and can be as arrogant or as superior as an Imperial Noble when it comes to assessing another assassin or indeed any person in the same line of work. Although an Assassin will never fail to lend a hand to another assassin, even if he is from a different cities Guild House, they will still look down on any assassin who doesn't use the latest equipment or techniques. They are worse than courtiers sometimes!

An Assassin is a useful addition to a party of warriors as he brings a variety of combat and social skills to the group. However many will regard his antics as excessively dangerous and his feats of daring-do (or daring-don't as the case maybe) will occasionally annoy his comrades

STARTING AS AN ASSASSIN

Any player may start the game as an Assassin rather than one of the warriors in the Warhammer Quest box. All the rules for creating a new character apply unless otherwise stated in this article.

WOUNDS

The Assassin begins with 1D6+7 Wounds. If you roll any 1's, when rolling Wounds, you can reroll, but if the dice comes up with a 1 a second time, you must keep it.

WEAPONS

The Assassin prefers small concealable blades to carry out his work and has found them excellent for close combat. He is never without a plethora of blades about him.

The Assassin starts the game with a sword (which does 1D6 plus his strength of 3 when he wields it), 1 knife (strength 1 but may be concealed in his boot), and four daggers (Strength 1, either hand-to-hand or missile weapon, may be retrieved when all monsters in the room are dead).

ARMOUR

The Assassin relies on speed and agility in combat, he never wears any armour.

EQUIPMENT

The Assassin starts the game with an Assassin's Shadow Cloak, specially woven to deflect and warp light.

If the Assassin is at least two squares away from the warrior of the lantern all missile attacks are at -1 to hit.

ASSASSINATE SKILL

The assassin has spent years training to look for weak points in a creatures defense to land a killing blow. Look on the following table. I f the 'to hit' roll matches the number by the Assassin's level then ignore Toughness and Armour when working out damage

ADVANCED RULES

ASSASSINS AND TREASURE

The Assassin may use the following weapons: swords, knifes, daggers, throwing stars, knuckle dusters, crossbows and any that may be bought at the Assassins Guild.

They may use NO double handed weapons (not including crossbow).

Other than that he may use any that is normally allowed to warriors (e.g. a BDEW in the code)

VISITING SETTLEMENTS

When visiting Settlements an Assassin may visit all the standard locations such as the various traders and the following special locations: The Alchemist, Gambling House, Temple, Training Pit and Alehouse (no modifier).

In addition, there is a new special location - the Assassin's Guild.

All the usual rules apply to see if these special locations may be found.

SETTLEMENT EVENTS

Any event that causes the Assassin to be arrested or press-ganged then double the amount of base money to get him out (e.g. the non-variable amount). The Assassin gets +1 to his dice roll in events where he has to run away, and -1 when he is under suspicion.

ASSASSIN'S GUILD

The Assassins maintain a base of operations in every city. At first glance this will look just like a wealthy merchant's townhouse among the large boulevards of the central city. Inside, however, it is a different matter. The house is always far larger than you can see from the outside and it is filled with corridors, courtyards, rooms and halls. Assassins roam the place as do the normal mix of servants, ordinary guards, instructors and messengers. In contrast to popular opinion the Guild is always well lit and airy, fine art decorates the walls and there is almost nothing sinister about it.

Every Guild has a resident Grand Master. This is a revered assassin who has gained his monarch's trust and been put in this position as old age set in. He is usually possessed of a keen intellect and structured mind and has much wisdom and experience to impart to a young assassin.

FINDING A GUILD

The Assassin's Guild is a Special Location and may only be found in a city on a roll of seven or more on 2D6.

The Guild is where an Assassin may be informed on the latest news, receive new missions, receive aid for him and his party and train to go up battle levels. As he does this his profile changes as usual. He also gains dice rolls on the skills table.

RUMOUR NETWORK

Whilst in the Guild, the Assassin may pay a visit to the Grand Master and his council to pick up any information to help him and his friends. Because of the Assassin's having informers everywhere and a close working relationship with the government they can pick up many useful tip-bits. Roll 1D6 to see what the Grand Master has to tell him. You may only roll once per Guild.

NETWORK (roll 1d6)

ARMOURY

The Assassin may visit the Guild Armoury to obtain special weapons and supplies to aid him in his adventures.

Assassin's hold their equipment in very high regard and it is considered a bit of faux pas not to have the latest 'in' weapon. Roll a D6. On a roll of a 1, 2 or 3 the Assassin must buy something here.

No selling price is given as no Assassin would dream of selling his excellent equipment at a knock down price, and no assassin would buy special equipment of another at a cheaper price. 

ITEMS

Poison Vial (50 Gold)
Can be applied to darts or crossbow quarrels. A vial provides enough poison to last one adventure.
When working out wounds from a poisoned dart or quarrels roll 1D6.

Blowpipe (150 Gold)
Strength 2.Ignore 1 point of armour.

Darts (30 Gold)
Enough to last one adventure

1D6 Smokebombs (100 Gold)
A smokebomb may be thrown at any time and covers an area of 2x2 squares. It remains in place for two turns. It  cannot fire or go through it

Lock Tools (200 Gold)
(See rules for dwarf version)

Grappling Hook (60 Gold)
Must be attached to a rope. It may then be used to to drag enemies towards you. First roll ballistic skill to hit as normal. Next roll 1D6 and add the wielders Strength. Compare this total to the target Monsters Strength. The difference is the numbers of squares the Monster is dragged. If the Monsters Strength is greater then in remains where it is.

Boot Blades (150 Gold)
Give the Assassin +1 Attack but at  at -1 to hit.

Throwing Stars (100 Gold)
An assassin can throw as many stars in a turn he has attacks. The assassin uses his normal BS to hit. Each hit has a strength of 1 but ignore any armour when working out for damage.

SKILLS

2. Knife Thrower

The Assassin's arm are a blur of motion as he throws his blades with unerring accuracy.

He may throw as many  daggers per turn as he has attacks.

3. Acrobat

Tensing his muscles, The Assassin leaps forward, barreling through the air.

The Assassin may move 6 squares in any direction. He cannot be engaged in hand to hand combat whilst leaping, but spells and missile weapons can fire at him with a -2 to hit. To complete a leap takes an entire turn.

4. Cutthroat

When behind a creature you may trade all attacks for a single cutthroat attack. Roll a D6. On a 1-3 you are elbowed back and lay prone for one turn. On a 4-6 you cause D6 wounds per battle level ignoring armour.

5. Leap

You may leap one square in any direction as part of your move, landing in the square beyond. Any obstacle in the square is ignored, though it still counts as one square of movement.

6. Evade

Roll a 5 or 6 to evade a blow by moving into any adjacent free square.

7. Glancing blow

The Assassin may move past an enemy, ignoring pinning. Work out one attack as normal. If he stops next to monster and wishes to attack this skill may not be used. Similarly he may have to escape pinning first. Cannot cause death blows.

8. Disguise

The assassin is a master of disguise and knows how to bend his body to look like different forms at first glance.

When assigning left over monsters to Warriors and your Warrior is chosen roll a D6. On a roll of 4, 5 or 6 you are ignored, pick a different warrior immediately. On a 1, 2 or 3 resolve as normal.

9. Reputation

The Assassins reputation is well known and many people who know of him are in awe. Use this skill when buying new equipment. Roll on the table below.

However after making any  of these purchase roll a D6. On a roll of a one you get thrown out of the settlement for intimidation.

10.Contortionist

You may move diagonally between two warriors using strange (and terrifying) body movements.

Also whenever you are required to spend time in jail as part of a settlement event roll a D6. On a 3+ you escape on your first day.

11. Ignore Fear

The Assassin has a regime of mental meditation which leaves him calm in the face of even the gravest danger.

He add +2 to fear tests and +1 to Terror tests.

12. Infiltrate

By worming his way into other peoples' confidences, the Assassin opens up a whole new scope of contacts and opportunities.

The assassin can spend a week trying to infiltrate one special location of his choice.

Roll on this chart at the end of the week:

Once a location is successfully infiltrated you can buy appropriate goods and roll on the appropriate charts.

battle Level Table