Assassin

The primary function of an assassin is to kill their target with one, well prepared attack, usually using surprise. They are the masters of hit and fade battle tactics, but do not fare well in intense combat.

An assassin's primary skill is to perform what is known as an assassination attack. If successful, an assassination attack will reduce a target's stamina to zero or less, no matter what their previous state of health was. In order for an assassination attack to succeed, there are a number of conditions that must be met. These are:

• The attack must successfully hit the target.

• The assassin must achieve a choice of placement; either by beating the targets duck roll by ten or by rolling a six on the placement roll.

• The attack must be able to get past any shields or vital armour the target may have.

• The maximum damage of the weapon used times ten must be greater than the target's stamina.  If this condition is not met, the target would take damage equal to ten times the weapon's maximum damage.  For example, if the target has 100 stamina, and the weapon used to assassinate him is a 1D pistol, then the assassination is only partially effective.   The attack would inflict a total of 60 points of damage. (Optional Rule)

If a target is assassinated then his stamina is reduced to zero for a first stage assassin, -1 for a second stage assassin, and so on. A fifth stage assassin will reduce their target's stamina to -4. Also, since the assassin needs to hit in the vitals to achieve an assassination, he usually will inflict a mortal wound, killing the quarry permanently after a brief time.

Assassins can not wildly attack round after round and use their assassin ability every attack. (Ok, some assassins can, but those are the scary ones.) The assassination attack can only be performed after the assassin has had time to prepare himself. Preparation involves picking a target and concentrating on them; mentally preparing for the attack. This is called acquiring a target. To do this, the assassin would state which target he is going to try to assassinate and then roll one die (D6) each round until a total of 13 is reached. This preparation is not exactly the same as aiming. In fact, aside from an intense stare, the assassin need not show any outward signs that he is preparing for the attack.

It is possible to spot an Assassin acquiring on you. First, you must have a stage of Assassin yourself, be a seasoned character, or have dealt with a few Assassins already (referee discretion). Next you must beat the Assassin in a stealth roll. The Assassin gets to add any sneak bonus. You can add any locate bonus if you state to the referee that you are actively trying to find any Assassins.

When a character gains a stage of Assassin, they gain bonuses for duck and stealth, and gain the ability to make an assassination attack with any weapon. Also, they get an assassination bonus for a particular weapon of the character's choice. This bonus can be used in one of two ways; as an aid in preparation or as a bonus to hit. When the assassin is preparing his attack, he may use part or all of his bonus to reach 13. Once 13 is reached, any bonus that was not used to gain the assassination attack is used as a bonus to hit.

Assassin is an occupation that can be very frustrating to play, especially in the early stages. A first stage assassin in a group of combatants could go through battle after battle without being effective at all. To make matters worse, once the enemy realises you are an assassin, you suddenly become a prime target. It takes a great deal of patience and finesse to play an assassin.

Once a character has three or more stages of Assassin, however, he could suddenly find himself the most effective in the group. A third stage Assassin, in some circumstances, could perform an Assassination attack every round, or, given time to acquire, could amass a huge bonus to hit. High stage Assassins are some of the most feared combatants.

Because of the difficulty of being a low stage Assassin, and the immense effectiveness of a high stage Assassin, high stage Assassins are somewhat rare. Often a character will not have the patience required to gain skill towards Assassin, or will be killed because so many enemies don't like the possibility of being eliminated with one shot.

DICE POOLING
When using the dice polling method of game play, there is the question of how many dice it takes to acquire. For a standard acquire, it is the same as a standard attack; two dice. However, there are some variation. The table below shows the details. (When rolling a half-die, round up.)

When not using dice pooling, an Assassin can not acquire and fire at the same time. Using dice pooling allows the Assassin to use however many dice to acquire, and then the remaining dice to attack. (Hopefully, this situation will only arise when the Assassin knows he is going to be successful.) Dice pooling also allows for a faster acquire when the Assassin is hidden from view - or desperate. In situations where combat has not started yet and the Assassin is trying to be subtle, the more dice he uses, the more obvious he is, as indicated by the sneak modifier shown above.