Was the 1E assassin ever playtested?

[Lanefan]

Thus:
Magical sleep == All PCs can auto-kill
Magical paralysis == All PCs can auto-kill
Normal sleep == All PCs use the assassination table
(Other) 'Helplessness' == All PCs use the assassination table

(I think the AD&D rules leave some room for DM interpretation on exactly what situations would fall under 'helplessness' -- normal sleep is the only one specifically named, but the note under table I.D.2. implies that others might exist.)

Tied up tight would be one. Stunned (as in having just been clobbered by a Monk) would be another. There's lots more.

Lanefan

 

[Nikosandros]

No... a stunned opponent is hit at +4, but is not helpless. (DMG, page 67)

 

[diaglo]

Tied up tight would be one. Stunned (as in having just been clobbered by a Monk) would be another. There's lots more.

Lanefan

monk also came into play with Supplement II Blackmoor (1975)

 

[Hussar]

Sure. 1E DMG, pg. 75, "Table I.D.2. ASSASSINS' TABLE FOR ASSASSINATIONS*" has a note below it saying "*Or attacks on helpless opponents by any character class (see COMBAT section)."

The reference in the COMBAT section is the one from pg 70, under "Magically Sleeping or Held Opponents." The relevant quote from there is "...[magically sleeping or held]...opponents may be automatically slain...note that this does not include normally sleeping opponents (see ASSASSINS' TABLE FOR ASSASSINATIONS)."

Thus:
Magical sleep == All PCs can auto-kill
Magical paralysis == All PCs can auto-kill
Normal sleep == All PCs use the assassination table
(Other) 'Helplessness' == All PCs use the assassination table

(I think the AD&D rules leave some room for DM interpretation on exactly what situations would fall under 'helplessness' -- normal sleep is the only one specifically named, but the note under table I.D.2. implies that others might exist.)

/me makes note of this the next time a discussion about 1e organization comes up.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

/me makes note of this the next time a discussion about 1e organization comes up.

Yeah, organization is not the 1E books' strong suit. There are interesting little bits tucked all over the place.

 

[Delta]

I always thought the assassin autokill table was strange (like the language about planning, target precautions, and whether they are guarded or not). One thing I noticed when reading OD&D this year is that the equivalent table in Supplement II Blackmoor was meant to be used, not as a combat strike or a class ability, but for a long-term mission where you hire an assassin and send him after someone. Which actually makes a lot more sense to me (and was something I also felt was missing from the DMG assassin hirelings description).

So it appears to me that the OD&D NPC assassin success table morphed into the 1E assassin's strike ability. Not sure how well-thought-out that transition was.

 

[JDJblatherings]

Heh. The assassin was pretty much built to kill other party members and take their stuff, much as thief's job was to find ways to pickpocket the party when they all know the pickpocketing is coming.

The assassination chart takes ome of the fun out of assassinating the target. One can reduce a sessiosn worht of espionage down to a brief description and 1 die roll.

And thieves pickpocketing fellow PCs is numb and I harldy ever saw it happen.

 

[JDJblatherings]

I was just thinking of the power capabilities of the character classes over the three editions and what it would be like to stack up a party of 1E characters against a party of 3E or 4E characters.

i frankly think a 1e fighter was tougher then a 3e fighter by a long shot. The average 1st level fighter with long sword in 1st edition is going to be able to kill another 1st level fighter more often then a 1st level 3e fighter can kill another 1st level 3e fighter.
Compare within editions and then extrapolate the impact between editions, otherwise there is no point.

 

[Imp]

i frankly think a 1e fighter was tougher then a 3e fighter by a long shot. The average 1st level fighter with long sword in 1st edition is going to be able to kill another 1st level fighter more often then a 1st level 3e fighter can kill another 1st level 3e fighter.

Okay... I don't understand what this means.

 

[Roger]

What it would be like to stack up a party of 1E characters against a party of 3E or 4E characters... the 1E's would be stomped in less than a round I'd imagine

Of course. Those old characters could only attack once per minute! The new characters would crush them.



Cheers,
Roger