So, you’ve read the part 1 of this series, and you’re ready for more. In part 2, we look at planning the attack and the immediate aftermath.
There’s a game master rule of thumb: who, where, how, and why, but never when.
In most cases, you can plan an encounter with all elements fixed in place except the time it triggers. Therefore, you can plan for NPCs to be at a certain place for a certain reason doing a certain thing, but you can’t make the PCs show up on time. You can create a situation that encourages it, but the ability for players to be self-determining is one of the things that makes RPGs so magical. The players control their characters, and you can’t control when they travel.
Leave Time Flexible
You can’t control where they travel either, but you can safely design an encounter to trigger when the PCs arrive. In addition, a competent assassin studies its targets and learns their habitual routes. The assassin chooses from among locations that targets travel regularly.
Another option, after getting to know its targets, is to create a hook guaranteed to bring them to a desired location, possibly even at the most favorable time . . .
For the assassination, you can pick the location, the assassin, how it attacks, and why. But since you don’t control the when, make it so any timing is good: morning, day, night, today, tomorrow, or next week.
Plan the Attack
Thinking ahead for how the assassin behaves makes it look more professional.
The Moment of Contact
How will the assassin take down its target? Set up the first round:
- The assassin’s location. It is best the assassin attacks from its current location. If it needs to move, all kinds of risks come into play.
- The attack type. Melee, ranged, or spell?
- Give the assassin a plan for if it gets a surprise round and if it doesn’t.
I recommend pre-rolling the attack. If you fudge as a GM, then no need to roll. If you don’t fudge, then record your results, make fake rolls behind your screen, and use the pre-rolled results instead. This lets you plan what the assassin does next, succeed or fail.
If you prefer to roll in front of your players, you need to do a bit more thinking ahead to know how the assassin behaves, but it’s not a big deal.
What Comes Next
Based on how the attack went, plan your next action. You don’t know initiative order yet unless you fudge it, so you need to plan four scenarios:
- Attack kills target, assassin wins initiative.
- Attack kills target, assassin is last in initiative.
- Target lives, assassin wins initiative.
- Target lives, assassin is last in initiative.
Cases #1 and #2 are success cases, and now the assassin needs to make a clean escape. #3 and #4 might mean a second attempt, depending on the contract and how you want to play the NPC. Some assassins are single-minded and willing to go down. More mercenary types might plan an escape after one shot to try again later.
For planning purpose, landing in the middle of initiative is the same as landing last—the killer becomes exposed to potentially lethal or crippling attacks, so these four cases are all that matter.
There’s no need to pre-roll and lay out detailed actions for all four cases unless this is fun for you and you have the time. Doing so increases the NPC’s chances of success, so feel free. Otherwise, take a piece of paper and divide it into quadrants, one for each case. Label each box (target alive/dead, initiative won/lost) and brainstorm possible tactics in each box.
Some tactics might seem like excellent ideas and prompt you to redesign part of the NPC. For example, can the assassin afford a ring of misty step because an awesome place to hide is in sight 30 feet away? Perhaps the assassin has an excellent chance to escape if its speed is 40 feet or its ability to climb is more sure. How could you make that happen?
Keep this paper nearby when the encounter starts and let it inspire your tactics as you run the game.
The Setup
Realistically, that’s about all the planning you can do, so move on to running the game. Wait until players tell you their characters are headed to the place you chose to trigger the assassination. You can’t direct them to go there, unless this is an accepted style of gameplay (some groups jump directly from encounter to encounter like a movie directed by the GM, and others game out the moments between encounters as directed by the players).
Give the PCs the incentive to travel to the encounter location without tipping your hand. Some ideas include:
- An NPC arranges a meeting there.
- The place contains a clue or next stage of quest.
- The place contains a reward.
- The location is the only route to an important destination.
- The PCs regularly visit this location (e.g., a favorite store or tavern, their home base, near a contact).
About the author
Johnn Four helps GMs have more fun at every game. He wants your players to shake in fear, beg for mercy, and declare you Best GM Ever next time you run an assassin encounter. For more GMing advice, check out his Roleplaying Tips website.
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