LORD MERRICKS GUIDE TO ASSASSINATION
"kill without been killed , the art of assignation"
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At the request of the master of the
Hidden Blades I have put together a combination of tactics and stratagems that
aid and abet us in our cause . The following there for is a simple guide from
the experienced to the novice in the arts of the assassin and there application
.
Lord Merrick Taboner
A Gentleman of Moonward
OOC . I am famous for my hatred of
discussing tactics and game mechanics OOC . If you were to ask me what a goblin
was like and how dangerous they were you would probably get the reply "
There nasty little green buggers , better off killed , they don't take much
offing though if you hit them really hard with a big axe . " as opposed to
a list of there stats and health etc. .
As for OOC tactics based on game mechanics , Personally I despise them . So I
don't use fighters as Tanks and enchanters as artillery . My characters do
things for IC reasons only , for instance my GB basis his whole philosophy of
combat on the fact he has this really big axe , he would never use a bow for the
first 5 orders before he charged in to weaken an opponent , even though if you
understand the game mechanics it would make sense to use a bow while you move
within close combat range then swap to the strach because it is preferable at
close range . And weaken the enemy while you move rather than just running
towards him . Fell is a barbarian of the old school , bows are for hunting ,
axes for killing . if he wants to kill something he runs at it till he is close
enough to hit it .
All that said , there are tactics based on game mechanics that work very well
with any character , but which suit assassins more than any other . So I will
explain them OOC after the IC bits .
Paul bugged me to do this . I doubt you will ever see me do it again , I am not
a power player and don't base actions on pure mechanics .
1/ sneaking
As with anything else in the world an attack with the curved dagger or any other
weapons is always more effective when you time it right . take your time and
sneak up on an opponent , never rush in , surprise is everything , if he gets a
chance he may well attack you before you get a blow in , and the first blow can
often be decisive ..........................................
OOC . Okay this is one of the
simplest of DW mechanic based tactics , and by far the most important to know
about .
You have 15 orders , monsters on the other hand don't . the vast majority of
monsters get 6 orders e.g. goblins . some better ones get 8 e.g. Dark
walkers , and really big nasty ones may get 10 e.g. Dragons . There are a few
monsters with 12 or 15 orders , but if your a lone assassin you would be
avoiding them anyway . even most of the really dangerous enemies like chaos
guardian and spine devils only have 10 orders .at the most
This works in your favor how ?
well you will find you are never attacked by a monster through anything other
than reply orders after phase 6 unless they are the rare ones that have more
than six order . even then by phase 10 you should be safe .
So to sneak up on your enemies and get the first attack in make sure you stay
out of range or don't move into range of there attacks till after phase 6 , use
the early orders for the Y7's Y8's or skill attempts than you want to do that
turn rather than latter ones . That puts you in charge of the combat . They will
only attack you with replies which means you will always attack first , and if
you are attacking a group of monsters you will only get replied by one , unless
they are smart enough to set overmatch orders on each other , which is rare .
You can walk into 6 goblins this way after order 6 and take them out one at a
time . and you always strike first , so as long as you hit and kill em you will
most likely never get attacked at all .
2/ tactical retreat .
Warriors talk of honour and never backing down from an enemy . An assassin has
to be smarter than that if he wants to survive . Plan your retreat ahead if you
need to , and always be prepared to retreat ......................
OOC . As above remember you
have more movement than most monsters and more orders in which to move . And
that after phase 6 your in charge of the combat . They can't follow you if you
retreat since they have no orders to do so with . So if your facing a large
opponent for example move in to attack on phase 6 , but move away again on
order 13 so you end up 3 squares away at the start of the next turn . This
means if you know a monster does 1 to 6 damage and you can sustain 6 hits from
it you can plan for the worst case of it hitting you for the full 6 each time it
replies to your attack , and be out of range of it attacking you in the next
turn if you failed to kill it and need healing in a hurry .
one of the best ways to do this is using the M o ( target) order and the m 9 (
target ) order .
moving to attack the troll on order 5 or 6 with M 0 ( target ) then retreating
via the M 9 (target) order . using an anchor character as a target in the second
case , such as a handy enchantress staying out of range of the beast .
3/ Forewarned is for armed
A good assassin knows it is best to know your target and as much about them as
you can in advance . no point staying out of close range combat with an archer ,
OOC self explanatory , use V
orders on anything you are not sure of ,
4/ The curved dagger
The most dangerous of weapons , both for the user and the target . Used right it
can be devastating . Missused it is lethal to yourself .................
OOC Many people never use a curved
dagger , simply because the -10 attack seems devastating . However used in
combination with the above basics it can be very devastating . The art is
knowing when to employ it . attacking a monster after applying rule 1 and
knowing that the monster is not going to attack you back with anything other
than replies is one of the main factors to consider . if you hit it a killer
blow in your first attack which with a curved daggers damage and backstab bonus
is easy with most beasties then you can negate the -10 by going aggressive .
Your defense is not a major factor . And if you don't then the poison effects
will negate it for you , see below .
5/ Poison ,
of course your an expert on poison , but incase you are not let me explain the crippling
effects of the average grade one poison ................
OOC poison in the game works very simply , it reduces the inflicted parties
stats . both defense stats , there attack stats and there str. dex etc stats .
So though you may have -10 to attack , after one blow is struck on a powerful opponent
there defenses will go down to a point where that -10 is negiable .
eg. you hit a darkwalker master with 40 hit points for 16 damage , + poison ,.
and his great defense of norm 0 becomes a laughable -20 . so in effect on your
next attack you have 20% more chance of hitting than you had with your first
strike .
he is also less likely to hit you back with his great 35 attack be reduced to 20
which effective gives you a +15 defense bonus
-10 for a curved dagger may seem bad , bbut belief me once you have hit your
first blow you actually have a far great attack than you started with .
most of the above can be applied to any character of course , but as a set of IC
tactics sneaking up and surprising oponenants when they can not respond suits assassins
.
and of course using a bow before hand ....
6/ Our Fellow Adventurers and others
It is a strange but often true thing , that the most dangerous of all opponents are those who you walk with each day . Adventurers and others who we class as on the side of good are ever the most dangerous of targets . And should be left to the most skilled of assassins , not least because in killing them you risk not only your life at the time but your liberty from then on, I do not advocate the murder of innocents , but who is ever truly innocent ? Should some one place a price on a head you can be certain there is a reason for it been there , but tread carefully and plan in advance how you would do such things ..................
OOC . Killing PC's is very dangerous and very difficult , since you don't want to become an outlaw in the process ,. however there is always a way to achieve these things , I am just not going to tell you them <eg> But if your target was a centaur , how would you make sure you could keep pace with the target ? I know exactly what I would do , riding down a target is always such fun ..................
Fair well and good hunting .....
Lord Merrick Taboner ,Gentleman of Moonward