Assassin missions?

[Rel]

In case you haven't already, Eric, I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you read the Vlad Taltos, Jhereg novels by Steven Brust. I particularly liked the setup for the assassination that was central to the first book (Jhereg). I hope I get this spoiler tag thing right...

Spoiler

Vlad has to kill a man who has stolen a HUGE amount of money from a criminal organization. Complicating this is the fact that this man has taken refuge in the castle of a noble who is also a friend of Vlad's. Killing the guy in his friend's home will result in the end of the friendship (since the noble will be honor bound to kill Vlad in retaliation) AND all out war between the criminal organization and the noble house.

Add to this the fact that every passing hour brings the likelihood of the theft being discovered and the criminal organization losing face at having somebody steal from their treasury. So they are VERY anxious and starting to send other assassins to do the job that Vlad is hesitant to tackle or to kill him for not getting on the stick quicker.

Then the big whammy hits: The target KNOWS that his death will bring about the fall of both the criminal organization and the noble house and he WANTS to die to cause this to happen because his family was wronged by both parties in the distant past.

It's a sticky situation and I've ripped the whole thing off to great effect in a solo campaign long ago that I still regard as one of my best triumphs in gaming.

 

[Creamsteak]

Here's one more:

A member of your guild has been using an alias ever since you've known him. When hired to take out a long lost criminal who has been spotted in the guilds hometown, the aliased character seems to start acting awkwardly.

Maybe he's involved. Maybe he's the target. Maybe he's trying to protect the target.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Here's one to really test the resolve of your 'evil' or morally bankrupt assassins:

There is a prophecy about a young child rising to prominence among the common folk and leading a rebellion against the ruler. The ruler hires the assassin to kill the child before a specific age is reached and/or a specific event comes to pass.

But the prophecy was a little vague on who the young child is. There is only a description (a certain distinguishing mark {dragon-shaped birthmark or a scar}; certain conditions {a twin with blond hair or the seventh son of a seventh son}; a certain accomplishment {swam across a certain, fast-flowing river without drowning or won an annual foot race}; etc.), and when the assassins start to look, there is more than one child who fits the description. So they have to kill all of them to make sure.

Or be really mean to them and have the prophecy say it is a blond-haired child born during the month of a lunar eclipse or some such. Then they would have to travel around killing all of the blond-haired children born during that month. What if the eclipse occurred during the night of transition from one month to the next? And the eclipse lasted from before midnight to after. Then, to be sure they have the right one, they'd have to kill all the blond-haired children born during both months.

And they have to be killed before they start to walk. Or talk.

 

[Richards]

Mongoose's Signs & Portents magazine, issue #11, has an "Assassination Contracts" article in it with a couple dozen specific assassination targets, each with details on who's hiring the assassin, and a complication that makes things more interesting.

Johnathan

 

[Henry]

Other mission ideas:

-Timing is everything. add one of the above missions, with the stipulation that it must be done at an EXACT time, whether for symbolic significance, or to coordinate with someone else's plans.

-One scenario I've always liked is having the assassin SAVE someone instead of killing them. They go into a mission, and suddenly the parameters change, whether they've been screwed by the employer, or they have to work with a target to avoid an even greater evil.

-Also, don't forget the occasional gratuitous open wetwork of someone particularly scummy, so as to send a message.

 

[rbingham2000]

reasons to kill:
Direct supervisor - for the promotion opportunity
Dad - inheritance
Dad the king - I want to rule now
Older brother - inheritance rights
Neighboring ruler who opposes you or won't sign a treaty - get in a more cooperative heir
King - create opportunity for new dynasty, power struggle
Royal family member - plant evidence from neighbors you want to invade
Your lover's spouse - so you can make your relationship legit!
family member of deadbeat - intimidate them to pay up
Rival organization leader - disrupt the organization
hated nemesis/tormenter - revenge they can't do themselves
spouse - want a new one and divorce/polygamy not an option
own child - feel they are not worthy of family because of X. when disowning is just not enough.

In addition to that, there's also:

Spouse - caught the other one cheating and wants both parties in the affair dead.

Plus, a lot of the other ones could have more personal reasons besides the stated reason.

Someone might want his or her brother dead because he or she's always hated him. Or another spouse example, he or she could be seriously abusive to the point of violence, and the spouse hiring the party is doing so out of fear for his or her life.

And love triangles can lead to all kinds of assassin nastiness.

 

[hong]

Here's one to really test the resolve of your 'evil' or morally bankrupt assassins:

There is a prophecy about a young child rising to prominence among the common folk and leading a rebellion against the ruler. The ruler hires the assassin to kill the child before a specific age is reached and/or a specific event comes to pass.

IME, killing babies is a great way to introduce sick humour into the game, more than anything. It's so extreme that it can't be taken seriously, unless the DM goes to great lengths to portray the real-life squick factor. So it becomes a test of YOUR resolve as much as your players'.


Hong "Killing Babies would make a great death metal band name, BTW" ooi

 

[Hand of Evil]

Oh, never forget the movies Grosse Point Blank and Assassin (the one where the assassin starts taking care of the kid and training her).

 

[diaglo]

Hong "Killing Babies would make a great death metal band name, BTW" ooi

i was in a garage band back in high school called Mangled Baby Ducks...

the other name the band considered was Solid Waste...

diaglo "still can't the smear of the name off his shoe" Ooi

 

[Varianor Abroad]

What about an assassin who gets a job to prevent a killing? They know that the world's best assassin will be trying, so they have to come up with preventive measures? (For a nice once-only reversal.)

As to the more mundane stuff, there's a lot of good things mentioned. It might also be fun to have religiously motivated killings. A prominent church decides quietly that they need people eliminated who don't fit in, who oppose them or who are just "bad people" as defined by their tenets. But it has to look like it's the hand of their god.