OSR: Assassin

Some of my beloved power-gamers complained that they would like to play a Scoundrel, but they wanted one with a bite more bite. After much suffering, this is the result.

by Hammling

Where were you born?

1d4

1- From the mouth of Hell. You were born on a battlefield, in a slave pit or in some other horrific place. Dark omens marked your birth.

2- The lowest of the low. You were born among the lowest, poorest and most despised people in all the land.

3- Into a poor family. Your parents tried their best, but they were desperately poor.

4- In a palace. You are the child of privilege and for most of your childhood, you wanted for nothing.

What motivated you to become a killer?

1d6

1- Revenge. Those who wronged you must pay.

2- Justice. You desire to punish those who the Law cannot touch.

3- Patriotism. You want to serve your country.

4- Money. You needed money and had a talent for ending men's lives.

5- Family. You got into the family business once you were old enough.

6- Murderous Intent. You like killing people.

Where did you receive training?

1d4

1- One of your parents. Your parents were involved in this dark, bloody business. They taught you everything.

2- A government official. You were trained and fed by the organs of state, trained to be a hidden knife for the Crown.

3- A charismatic leader. You served a charismatic leader who made you his instrument of righteous retribution.

4- An Assassin-King. You were trained by an older Assassin who got out of the game long ago. Don't think he still couldn't beat you into the ground though.

by Lars125

Assassin

Starting HP: 1/3 Con

Fighting Spirit: +1 per Scoundrel level, up to COG score

Atk Modifier: +1 per Scoundrel level (max +7)

Starting Equipment: Leather (Light) Armor, 2 Daggers or Shortsword and Buckler, Bow and Arrow or Blowpipe and Darts, 1d4 rations or 50' rope

1: Instinct Points, Prowler, Sneak Attack

2: Parry, Target Weak Spot

3: Disappearing Act, Acrobatics

4: Sever Artery, Vicious Strike

5: Assassinate

6: Cruelty's Kiss, Evade the Rain

7: Evade the Rain, Patient Blade

8: Kiss of Death

9: Night Angel

1:

Instinct Points: Whenever you do something that a Rogue, Thief or Assassin would do such as stealing something, sneaking into a place you're not supposed to be in, deceiving someone with a disguise or clever ruse or something similarly underhanded, you gain 1-3 Instinct Points (IP). You may have any number of Instinct Points at one time. Once spent, IP are expended and do not renew.

Prowler: You are exceptionally sneaky. When you roll a check or save to sneak, hide or remain undetected, you may add your Assassin level instead of any other relevant modifier instead. You may also spend IP to increase any roll based on stealth or sneaking, increasing the roll by +1 per IP spent.

Sneak Attack: When attacking an enemy that cannot see or detect you, or is otherwise not expecting you to attack them, you have advantage on your attack roll. Additionally, you may roll your damage di(c)e twice and select the better result.

2:

Parry: When you take damage from a source that could be parried (enemy with knife, not collapsing roof), you can roll your Damage Die and reduce the damage by that amount. You may also spend IP to increase this roll by +1 per IP spent.

Target Weak Spot: If you hit a creature in combat, you can force that creature to make a save. On a failed save, you target one of the creature's weak spots and that creature suffers a negative status effect on them such as blinded, stunned, etc.

Examples:

- You stab out a creature's eyes: The creature is blinded and has disadvantage on all saves (assuming it relies primarily on vision)

- You kick a male creature (with external genitals) in the crotch: The creature is stunned and may fall prone from the pain

- You cut a creature's Achilles tendons: The creature is slowed and cannot move as fast, may fall prone

3:

Acrobatics: When you roll a check or save based on Dexterity or using agility, such as dodging falling debris or walking across a tight-rope, you can add IP to increase the results of your roll. You may also use this ability to modify DEX saving throws. For each IP spent, increase or decrease the d20 roll by 1 (player's choice).

Disappearing Act: You can attempt to hide or sneak even when being observed. As an action, you may make a DEX check, as opposed by an enemy's d20 roll, who uses d20+Atk. If you beat the enemy's roll, you manage to conceal yourself. You may receive a bonus to this roll if you use some sort of equipment to hide yourself (a smoke-bomb) or perform some sort of action that distracts an enemy (throwing a knife at them, ducking behind a pillar). You may also add IP to this roll, increasing it by +1 per IP spent. The Referee may choose to ignore this roll if there is no way for you to actually go unobserved.

4:

Sever Artery: When you use your 'Target Weak Spot' ability, you can inflict the Bleed status effect. On a failed save, this causes a creature to take 1d4 damage per round until it receives magical healing or successfully completes a DC 13 COG (Medicine) check.

Vicious Strike: When you hit a creature in combat, you may spend IP to increase the damage you do, increasing the damage by +1 per IP spent. You may also use this ability when using 'Sneak Attack'.

5:

Assassinate: When you use "Sneak Attack" against an enemy, instead of doing damage, you may force the enemy to save. On a failed save, the enemy is instantly killed instead. You may also spend IP to decrease the enemy's save by -1 per IP spent. On a successful save, the enemy instead takes no damage and survives. Note that this ability only works on enemies you could kill with one strike- certain enemies, such as those too large for you to kill, too tough or immortal ones may be immune to this ability.

Slick Dodge: When you would be hit in combat, you may spend IP to make a DEX saving throw instead. On a successful save, you instead take no damage. This only applies to damage that could be physically evaded (Referee's Discretion applies).

6:

Cruelty's Kiss: When you use 'Vicious Strike' to increase the damage dealt on a successful hit, you may increase the damage by +1d4 per IP spent.

Silence Speaker: When you use the 'Target Weak Spot' ability against a spell-caster, you can attempt to stab them through the tongue or otherwise damage their mouth. On a failed save, such a creature has a 1d4-in-6 chance of each time he attempts to cast a spell triggering Chaos instead.

7:

Evade the Rain: When you are attacked in combat, if adjacent to another creature, you may force the enemy to make a DEX check to oppose your own. If you roll higher, you slip out of the way and the attacker strikes the adjacent creature instead. If there are multiple creatures adjacent to you, you may select one. You may also spend IP to increase your roll, increasing your DEX check by +1 per IP spent.

Patient Blade: When you use 'Assassinate' against a target and the target survives, you may do (Atk modifier+X) damage to the target instead, where X is any amount of IP you are willing to spend. This cannot reduce the target below 1 HP.

8:

Kiss of Death: When you use your 'Target Weak Spot' ability, you can inflict the 'Dead Man Walking' status effect. On a failed save, this causes a creature to have one more round to make any action it wishes, afterwards it dies immediately. This can only be averted by powerful magical healing, divine intervention or other extreme measures (Referee's Discretion applies).

9:

Night Angel: Once per in-game month, you can declare that an NPC that is not currently present in the scene is dead or mortally wounded. If it was possible for you to have snuck off and killed them without anyone noticing, the Referee should allow you to roll 1d20. If you roll under your Assassin Level, you succeed and the NPC is dead.

You may receive a +1 bonus for each preparation you took before-hand, if any. Note that these preparations must take "on-screen" during game time.

However, if it was impossible for you to reach the NPC, the Referee may simply state that you could not kill him. If you choose to target that NPC again, you receive a +4 penalty to your next roll to assassinate him off-screen.

by JoshSummana