"Assassins" Interest Thread-Idea for free-form

[Raiden]

Well, through some...unconventional inspiration, I've thought of an idea for a pretty much full free-form RP.

If the RP gets enough interest, I'll put in the full story, but the cut-and-dry basics is that the players are a group of assassins hired to take out another small group of rogue assassins.

There will be stats involved. While not the dice stats where you have to roll a die to figure out how much damage you cause. It's more of a guideline kind of thing, so that we can better point out what you can and can't do.

Now, the interesting part of this will be that, though I'll have a character in the RP, he won't exactly be the kind that will be handing out sage tactical advice. In fact, he's more along the lines of not saying much at all.

At the start of each mission, a leader-type guy will give out the basics of the mission, like where it is and who you're going to kill. The information he'll hand out is the layout of the area (houses, ledges, rooms in buildings, etc.), guard routines, places of interest, etc. With the information one would normally get in a military mission, you are then sent out.

After that, you're on your own.

After knowing the layout and other info, it's up to the characters to come up with strategies. Such as, I may say that there's a park less than half a mile away from the target. Well, someone might come up with an idea of somehow making the target leave a building, and having a sniper up in a tree of the park, and taking him down.

It's all about improvisation. Taking any advantage you can find, and using it. Now, if I think that a mission is going too smoothly, I may interfere by adding in little quirks that they didn't know about. Like, say, having the target be wearing a bullet-proof vest. Then, you must improvise again.

Basically, it's an RP for all those people who don't like the constraints of a GM, and enjoy coming up with interesting ideas on how to complete a mission.

[Death Dealer]

Are our characters limited to humans? Since it has guns and such, I'm assuming so, but I'm curious.

[Raiden]

Yes, it's based in our world.

[Death Dealer]

Alright, I'll have to change my initial idea a bit, but I'm in.

[PyrosNine]

Sounds cool to me. Killing people for profit is fun.

[Sprinkle_Death]

Coun't me in.

Edit: We could do it with three people...

[Phobic]

sounds interesting, I'm in

[OmniShadow]

So many good rp ideas recently...

[GARUD]

I have one word for you.

IN!

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Me = interested.

[Raiden]

Yes... Excellent. *Spoken like Mr. Burns.*

Well, since there seems to be enough interest, here's a more in-depth part of the story. I won't tell the stats yet, since I'm still trying to decide on some things.

The RP takes place in our world, but just a little bit in the future. Not far enough for any super advancements in technology, but just enough for there to be new political people in charge. (Because I am NOT going to go search these guys up on the internet.)

Now, unknown to the rest of the world, there is a secret guild called the Guild of Assassins. Now, some people simply think of assassins as people that kill for money. But, any assassin you've ever heard about is not an assassin. Simply a paid killer. Assassins never leave anyone who knows their identity alive. Assassins have rules. Rules which must be followed.

Rule 1) An assassin MUST be paid for their contract. They cannot do any charity jobs, or do it simply for the challenge. If you do so, you are considered a low-class killer, and will be eliminated. This is the most important rule.

Rule 2) If you are hired for a job, you must notify the target and give him a chance to give you a better offer. You must then take the contract with the person with the best offer. If you do not do so, you are playing favorites, and will be eliminated.

Rule 3) Under no circumstances is one assassin allowed to interfere with the contract of another assassin. If you do, you will be considered a simple thug, and will be eliminated.

Rule 4) An assassin will NEVER align itself with a specific country, factor, or religion. By joining the guild, you have given up your past. By playing favorites, you are interfering with the nature of the Assassins, and will be eliminated.

Rule 5) In order to leave the Guild, you must have your memory wiped of all evidence of the Guild's existance. If you do not allow it, you will be considered a security risk, and will be eliminated.

These rules have been around for as long as the Guild has been around, which is several centuries. While times, tactics, and technology may have changed, the rules have not. However, the rules have been broken by four people. They left the Guild, and called themselves the Crimson Blades. They are as follows:

Slash: The leader of the Crimson Blades. He broke Rule #1. He would take contracts just for the challenge of a good kill. He was apprehended by the Assassin's guild and dealt with, so he's not a target.

Rose: The second-in-command of the Crimson Blades. Her specialty weapon is a long strip of razor wire. She broke rule #2. She would take contracts, but enjoyed having the target not suspect that they were about to die. Was last seen in China.

Red Eye: The sniper of the Crimson Blades. His 'red eye' is really a cyber implant that helps him aim over long distances. He broke rule #3. He would take contracts to eliminated assassins before they could eliminate their target. Was last seen in the US.

Ballistic: The demolitions expert of the Crimson Blades. He broke rule #4 by aligning himself with a specific country, which would be Russia. He would take all contracts sent out by the Russians, and ignore any that went against it. Was last seen hiding out in Russa.

These ex-assassins have each broken a rule. And now, to hunt them down, the Guild is sending out a team of Assassins to eliminate them.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Hmm, if we are to eliminate these ex-assassins, would we need to follow the rules? Or are we exempt from rules 2,3 and 4?

[Sprinkle_Death]

I also think the rule of letting them know that they are about to die is kind of...weird. It's like walking up to someone and saying, "Hey, you're going to die sometime soon. I'm warning you, and if I don't kill you before you flee, I'm screwed! Have a nice day."

But otherwise, they're good.

[Dante]

It's like Discworld's Assassin Guild, which isn't meant to be very efficient, just to make business safer for everyone.

[Sprinkle_Death]

Safer for everyone, yes. Including the people that are about to get assassinated. It's comparable to a tiger roaring before it pounces on its prey. It doesn't and shouldn't happen!

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Well, actually, it's very efficient. Think about it. You have just been notified of a very official-looking guy, who comes up and says "Hello, I'm Fred, and I'll be your assassin of your lifetime. You are going to die within a few days, and unless you have a better offer than the other guy who wants to kill you, you're screwed! Have a nice day!"

I mean... no matter how far you run and hide, the assassin will get to you in the end...

[Sprinkle_Death]

Good point, but what happens when they can't provide a better offer and flee the next day? In a couple of hours, they can go from coastal California, to somewhere in the Indonesian archipelago. How would you find the target then?

Or, said target would go all out to keep countering the offers and delay (and possibly prevent) his own death. Heck, if I was warned, I would counter offer as fast as a heartbeat.

[Dante]

I'd coutner offer at somewhere around $1 more than the asking price, and the assassin would waste time going abck and forth between both parties.

Also, if you WARN someone you're going to kill him, you're not declaring how badass you are, you're queering the pitch for your own efforts.

I mean... no matter how far you run and hide, the assassin will get to you in the end...

This assumes the assassin has infinite resources and an intell network which stretches so far, and really, if he HAD all of those, why be an assassin? Go play the stock market and run Enron. :p

[PyrosNine]

For some reason I get the feeling that a characters will break one or all the rules sometime during this rp.

And go for something simple for the stats, will ya? It'd be my first foray into that area.

I call dibs on the knife throwing guy

[Raiden]

The rules are there to make it more like what Dante was saying. To true assassins, a paid kill is their work. If you simply take money and kill someone, you're a paid thug. Assassins take more honor in their work.

The rule that you must contact the target for the better offer is for the betterment of the guild, also. The guild gets a small cut from every contract. So, the higher the assassin is paid, the more the guild is given.

And normally, targets don't flee. As said above, the guild's resources are great enough to locate three rogue assassins, who are all very skilled in hiding. If the guild has you noted down as a target, you can't run. They'll know where you're going almost before YOU do. What this does, though, is either let you pay them more, or let you beef up defenses. As in, hiring more guards, setting in traps and alarms, etc. Making it harder for the assassin to get you.

And yes, our group is basically breaking every rule except rule #1, which is the most important rule. The group is getting paid for killing these assassins, so not every rule is broken.

And as for stats, they're basically there so that people can more easily plan and point out what a character can and cannot do. So far, I've decided that there will be a list of traits, and they will be numbered 1-10, depending on your skill in that trait. So, let's say you're up on top of a building with a sniper rifle, and you see your target a small distance away. Depending on what your skill with the sniper rifle is will decide what you hit:

0=Put the rifle down. You'll end up shooting yourself.
1-4= You'll miss, and he'll hear the sound of a bullet ricocheting off a nearby object.
5-7= You'll hit him in a non-lethal area, like an arm or a leg.
8-9= You'll hit him in the chest.
10= Pick a body part. Any body part.

That's the basics of the stats idea. Now, in the stats, the ONLY way you can have a 10 in any stat is by having a cyber implant. Like the assassin Red Eye with his cyber eye, he has a sniper stat of 10. However, having a cyber implant will greatly reduce the stat of others. With his new eye, he has greater difficulty focusing on things that are close up to him. Hence, any close-combat skill is dropped down to below 4. So, unless you're willing to give up stats in other areas, don't choose a cyber implant.

[Incendius]

When is the sign up and/or the stat system coming up?

[dementedmongoose]

*Zombie like voice* Must join...

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

I think I'm only good with simple stats, but I get what you mean, Raiden.

But if I want my character to have superior hand-eye co-ordination (eg, throw a knife into somebody's throat 15ft away) what kind of cybernetic implant and weaknesses would I have?

[Sprinkle_Death]

I'm good at stats, but I want to specialize in demolitions killing if possible. Would that require cybernetics or no?

[Raiden]

Sign-ups will be be up either late tonight (I severely doubt it, but miracles can happen), or sometime tomorrow.

And as for demolitions, that's part of the Tech stats.

So far, I've decided that the stat sections will be divided into three sections:

-Weapon Proficiency
-Tech
-Sneakiness

You are given 80 skill points, which you can use to put in the trait lists under each of these sections. You are allowed to divide your points among the sections by a score of 40, 30, and 10. For example, if you want a person that likes to hack things, then sneak in, you would probably have it set up like:

Tech (40)
Sneakiness (30)
Weapon (10)

Of course, a person like this isn't going to be shooting up a room. If you feel like going all ninja on us, it might look like:

Sneakiness (40)
Weapon (30)
Tech (10)

Now, these sections will have a small list of sub-traits under them. For example, the skill you have with a blade or gun will be found under weapons. The skill to use explosives or hacking techniques will be found under Tech. And being able to disguise yourself or the ability to move quietly will be found under Sneakiness. I'll post the lists in the sign-up.

Now, if you never intend to use something, like you never intend to sneak around anywhere, you can move tech points from one section to another.

Now, Rhiya, if the guy's only 15 feet away, then you don't really need any implants. I assume that a ninja can do that, and they're human. Implants are really only needed for reaaly spectacular kind of stuff. By having a 10 in any skill, this means that the person is almost superhumanly great in that trait. If you're a 10 with a blade, then you're basically able to clear out a room full of other blade wielding people without getting touched.

Now, as for weaknesses, that's going to depend on WHAT KIND of implant you use. While you need implants for a 10, that doesn't mean that it has to be a certain kind of implant. Make up your own implant and how it works, then see how that would affect your other abilities. We'll use your knife throw as an example:

If you decided that you wanted the implant to be in the eye, then most likely it's going to be built to aim quickly and precisely at objects that are at a further distance than average. As such, it will be fast when looking at things at a distance. However, that would mean that it would be slower to focus in close-range. So, pretty much any trait that involves close-combat is going to get fucked up. Unless you're a sniper pure-and-true, I don't recommend having implants in your eye.

Now, if you have an implant that goes in your muscular tissue to help calculate and throw a precise light object, then you'll still have your close-combat abilities. However, by having it calculated to throw a light object, that means that any skill requiring strength is lowered.

[Sprinkle_Death]

Some of that doesn't make sense to me. How can an implant weaken you? Let's say that I can lift something heavy (by close range standards) like a broadsword without a muscular implant, but I get an implant to help me aim when throwing light things. Putting in an implant doesn't (or shouldn't) weaken my already established strength.

The same goes for the eye implant. If you have 20/20 vision, an eye implant should only improve said vision. The example you used was for sniping. The eye implant might have a zoom feature, but without zooming it would look like normal vision.

Another thing that may be an issue is of the way we have to divide the points. 40, 30, 10 puts one score dangerously low. Let's say I want to be a Sam Fisher type guy. I can hack in, sneak around untill I find the target, then what? I know there's plenty of empty hand things that you can do, but I for one wouldn't want a struggle. I would want to sneak up behind him, knife him in the throat, then get out of there. Unless I can creep up and knife a guy in the throat without missing with a weapons stat of 10.

Also, are assassins allowed to do collaborative work and split the profits, or is that interfering with that one rule?

[PyrosNine]

I think the low points are so that no character can effectively be Sam Fisher, so we all have to work as a team.

So would this be a somewhat sneaky, poor techy, knife master?

Tech (15)
Sneakiness (25)
Weapon (40)

And if a character is only able to use Kinves, rather than any other type of weapon effectively, what effect would that have? I'm guessing Sneakiness would also fall under the ability to disguise one's self, as well as an ability to use discipline abilities like wall running, pole vaulting, Prince of Persia manuevers? And would the ability to seemingly have a nigh endless supply of knives count for anything?

[Sprinkle_Death]

Collaboration is kind of a problem. It depends on how you look at it, but it could be considered interfering, but at the same time it could be considered as helping out. There should be some kind of guideline when it comes to collaboration. It's all up to Raiden though.

I want a guy that slice into pretty much everything, be awesome at handling weapons, but can walk so he makes no sound. I dont want him to be great in stealth, just the ability to make no footfall noise.

Would that be like:

Tech (25)
Stealth (15)
Weapons (40)

Or can I go to 10 on the stealth and still be able to make no footfall noise?

[Raiden]

I want a guy that slice into pretty much everything, be awesome at handling weapons, but can walk so he makes no sound. I dont want him to be a great stealth, just the ability to make now footfall noise.

......

Yeah, I see many problems with that.

The point of this RP is for the players to not only work together, but to also come up with their own strategies. If there was an assassin like that, they wouldn't need the group.

And more often than not, assassins tend to specialize in one field, like sniping, cutting, or poisoning. (And for the poisoners out there, the ability to poison a target will be under the Sneakiness section, since it's not technically a weapon, and you need sneakiness to put it anywhere.)

And implants can and will weaken other traits. Since most implants are illegal, they will mostly be blackmarket merchandise.

I'll use my eye again. The implant is programmed to aim at high distances. However, that means that it can only focus on far distances. Anything close up, it can't focus on. Hence, you're basically fighting with only one eye if you're close up.

[Sprinkle_Death]

Point taken, its back to demolitions for me.

So can we expect a sign up tonight?

[GARUD]

Also can I ask if we can have weapon implants? Not stat enhancing ones, just weapons built into our bodies (like claws from your hands or blades on your toes).

[Phobic]

i like this. As far as the implants go, I believe that in order for it to enhance one's skills as much as it does it needs to throw normal functionality to the wayside, and it lowers one's already existing abilities because it replaces the body part.

I.E. the eye enhancement replaces one of the characters eyes, thus his previous 20/20 vision no linger matters, because he now has a mechanical eye which only does certain functions, leaving him a cyclops for other.

And as for the arm enhancement, one's muscles have been modified/replaced to be very good at the small and quick movements required for throwing a knife. Once again, the state of the body has been changed, and so previous natural ability has been nullified.

all that being said, I think my stats will be:
tech:30
stealth:40
weapon:10
Interesting and alternative means of death.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

hmm.... I still think that being an expert at projectile weaponry is fun, especially when you can aim, throw a knife/pin/needle and impale a guy in the left eye, straight through the cornea, a few micrometres from the centre of the pupil.

Of course, I guess I'll go with toned-down ninja-ish stats, because I still want blade-wielding as my char's main skill:

Tech: 10
Sneakiness: 30
Weapon: 40

[PyrosNine]

Yes, being like Kevin from Killer 7 or something like that's always fun. Though, our character's stats are most similar, except for the fact my guy is a bit more versed in windows, and you can walk quietly and carry the proverbial 'big stick'

"Whoo! I've just killed a target and his 7 bodyguards by throwing just five knives! And I also managed to get Linux running on my PSP! Freakin' Awesome!"

[Sprinkle_Death]

This is subject to change, but I assume this would be a great demolitons, alright stealth, crap weapons guy:

Tech: 40
Stealth: 30
Weapons: 10

Will I be able to at least use knives or something?

[Raiden]

sign-ups are up. It's called "Hired Death".

Have at it.