What details do I need for an assassination target?

[Wednesday Boy]

Hi ENWorld!

I am at the very beginning steps of creating a one-shot inspired by the film Munich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_(film), wherein the PCs will have a number of targets to assassinate. I think the Dread system will be a good system for alluding to the film. And it means I don't need to focus on stats, maps and such. But I need help on story details to have prepared.

I never GM so I'm looking for advice on how I should go about designing the targets and encounters. My players are proactive, so can I simply rely on their own ingenuity? Or should I design specifc ways each assassination should go down just in case they flounder?

If I'm relying primarily on the players' ingenuity, what should I have prepared? Would it be sufficient to give them the target's typical routines and improv from there or do I need something more?

And I think I neded to have a number of snags to throw at the players when they do their missions to make them interesting. So any SNAFU recommendations would be awesome.

You general thoughts, recommendations, and brainstorms would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[jimmifett]

Takign Munich as an example, create the targets. Know what they did to get put on a hit list. Decide if they are part of a group. If they are part of a group, come up with other secondary circles / groups individuals members may hang out with. From there, create tertiary groups and circles for the secondary groups. This established a chain of breadcrumbs for the PCs to follow when they start busting down doors looking for thier targets. Have both low ranking/tangentially related unimportant associates, as well as associates in highly placed positions in regular society.

Now that you have a network of contacts, work out a general timeline of where each bad guy is going to be over the course of however much in game time is going to be taken up. This forms the basis of what the contacts know of locations of the targets when the players shake them down. Thier knowledge might also be outdated, as the targets may have left by the time the PCs get to them.

Finally, come up with fleshed out scenarios for final confrontations. Safe house, manor, public venue, back alley chase, favella, government facility/jail where target has already been captured and secured, but isn't about to hand them over to you. Come up with things like booby traps, dead drop locations and signal locations, general population/kids hired as lookouts, local gangs that may or maynot interfere, flavorful stuff like that.

Pop 1 or 2 targets into a selected scenario after they get tracked down.
From there, determine if the targets had any info on them that would lead to the next target, or if the players have to try new leads.

 

[Hammerhead]

Listen man, I only need to know one thing:

Where

They

Are



Seriously, I would come up with the cool location/scene first, then build everything else up so that the hit takes place somewhere interesting, instead of capping the guy while he's in the bathroom.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Listen man, I only need to know one thing:

Where

They

Are



Seriously, I would come up with the cool location/scene first, then build everything else up so that the hit takes place somewhere interesting, instead of capping the guy while he's in the bathroom.

I have to spread XP around but good call. Although capping the guy in the bathroom made for a great scene in Lethal Weapon!

 

[Gilladian]

As far as Snafu's go - once you know WHERE it is likely the PCs will run into each target, or at least know where they'll be over a period of time, you can start thinking of things IN the environment that can cause trouble.

If a victim is going to be traveling on the highway (whether by car or horsedrawn carriage) the weather could be an issue. Heavy rain, snow, sleet, or even just mud can all create interesting problems to getting into position in time.

How about trying to off the target in his bedroom and finding out he shares it with a great dane?

Or what if they're thinking the NPC is unskilled and unlikely to defend him/herself and turns out to be a master at some martial art? Or has a secret skill with small handguns? Or a really nice wand of charm?

There's always the "mistaken identity" problem; they're given a photo/image of a target, and they mistake a relative/total stranger for the person. Or the person has one or more body doubles; the PCs may or may not realize it before they kill an innocent hireling.

 

[Rel]

Interesting idea for a game and a creative idea in using Dread as well. I'll note right away that Dread, because it is so mechanics light and of course without anything like a battlemat, lends itself well to the party splitting up.

The first thing that resonates with me about this game is the idea of player handouts. I think that coming up with a "dossier" of sorts for each target would be totally cool. And it could also be one of those "picture worth a thousand words" moments where the file on the target contains most of the info you'd normally deliver via Q&A with the players. Things like the target's home address or favorite restaurant or other such info that they might use to set up the hit.

The other idea that comes to me in terms of complications is having there be some conditions on the assassinations. For example let's say they are given targets A, B & C. They are told that targets A and B must be killed simultaneously or nearly so (maybe they are told why or maybe not). And target C must be killed within 24 hours of A and B and it must look like an accident. This makes things MUCH more challenging than "Here's a list of three guys who need to be taken out."

 

[Wednesday Boy]

As far as Snafu's go....

Great list of SNAFUs. At least some of those need to show up.

Since I want the players to create their own plans for the assassinations, should I have all of these SNAFUs prepared so I can pick whichever ones will make the most sense for the players' plan? That seems like the best idea but I haven't run a games in years and years and I'm anxious about improvising.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

The first thing that resonates with me about this game is the idea of player handouts. I think that coming up with a "dossier" of sorts for each target would be totally cool. And it could also be one of those "picture worth a thousand words" moments where the file on the target contains most of the info you'd normally deliver via Q&A with the players. Things like the target's home address or favorite restaurant or other such info that they might use to set up the hit.

That is nothing short of genius! I LOVE that idea! I only imagined this as a one-shot but it could also be cool to mail the players an information "drop" before the game started. A non-addressed manila folder thrown in their mailbox or on their windshield would be a cool way to give out info and get them psyched for the game.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Here's a rusty-to-the-point-of-being-a-newbie-GM question; if the game is going to be about six hours long, how many assassinations should I plan for? It seems like maybe three would suit. Or possibly more if I threw in Rel's suggestion of having to hit two simultaneously. But right now I'd be blindly guessing an estimate. (And maybe I should caveat that the gaming groups that I'd run this for are friends, so I'd be given more leeway for imperfection than say at a Con with strangers.)

 

[Rel]

That is nothing short of genius! I LOVE that idea! I only imagined this as a one-shot but it could also be cool to mail the players an information "drop" before the game started. A non-addressed manila folder thrown in their mailbox or on their windshield would be a cool way to give out info and get them psyched for the game.

So this gave me a good laugh and let me simply voice my word of caution:

The image I have in my mind is of you tucking this unmarked manila folder in somebody's mailbox and driving away. Moments later the mail truck pulls up and the mailperson sees this unstamped mail having been placed in there (a federal offense!) and removes it. But as they do some papers fall out...and they see a picture of a person with crosshairs over their face and the word "Target" along with a list of facts about how to locate and assassinate them!

This sounds like it would make a fantastic game of Fiasco...