Hidden Blade

[Fellick]

So I was trying to build an Assassin's Creed-esque character and I was trying to figure out how to do the hidden blade. Right now my thoughts are on a Killing Attack with invisible power effects, requires a sleight of hand skill roll. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Dreamstreamer]

Re: Hidden Blade

 

Cool idea! If I remember right, the hidden blade wasn't very effective in actual combat. Perhaps it can only be used on targets that are surprised? It couldn't be used to parry (if I remember right), so would using it be similar to being unarmed for most purposes? Also, it could be used to kill armored enemies, which makes me think that it would have some kind of Armor Piercing or perhaps a No Normal Defense advantage. The invisible power effects is an interesting idea. In the game you could stab somebody and walk a short distance before the body hit the ground, but it didn't always work that way. Perhaps it could be a multipower, using the hidden blade(s) as a focus and with each power a different use of the blade(s)? One power for stabbing in the back (or front with surprise), one power for the flying takedown attack, one for a multi-attack (with Ezio's double hidden blade attack), etc. I would still limit its effectiveness to surprise attacks, though.

 

Just some of my thoughts.

[Escafarc]

Re: Hidden Blade

 

I've use Skill Levels with Concealment, seems to work OK.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Hidden Blade

 

So I was trying to build an Assassin's Creed-esque character and I was trying to figure out how to do the hidden blade. Right now my thoughts are on a Killing Attack with invisible power effects' date=' requires a sleight of hand skill roll. Any thoughts or suggestions?[/quote']That would be a quick and easy way to do it.

 

Me? I would do it differently. The blade would have a Base DC of 2 (1/2d6 Killing) and a +1 OCV bonus.

 

For the Stealth attack:

 

• I would just require a Concealment roll to keep the blade hidden. I might add a bonus to the roll or make it something that must be actively searched for.
  
• Award the Surprise Move bonus and possibly Surprise (1/2 DCV) with a succesful Sleight of Hand skill roll. The amount of the Surprise Move bonus is determined by how much the Sleight of Hand roll is made by. Just making the roll would be +1. Every two the roll is made by beyond that would add +1 to a maximum of 3.
  
• Damage would be DC 2 + (STR - Str Min)/5. Use the Fast Strike maneuver with it and it could get up to 5 - 6 DC. (1 1/2d6-2d6 Killing). Fast Strike also adds an OCV bonus.
  

For the Leaping Kill attack:

 

• PRE attack ((at +3d6 for Violent action) to see if the target hesitates) followed by
  
• Some form of enhanced damage attack like Sacrifice Strike or Sacrifice Lunge. Either one also adds OCV bonuses.
  
• For location, I would either define head strike as Special Effect or give the Head Shot (-4) penalty (not to be confused with a Called Shot to the Head). See Special Hit Locations 6EV2 Page 110. I would go with the Head Shot Special Hit Location only because it has a penalty of -4 to off-set the Surprise Move and Sacrifice bonuses.
  
• Damage would be 2 + (STR - STR Min)/5+4 (from the Maneuver) puts you anywhere around 9-10 DC (3d6 -3d6+1 Killing). If the location hits the Head and it is not defined as Special Effect, you are looking at around 18-19 Body (average; max is 38) in one shot.
  
• Against most mooks, it would probably be an instant kill. Against more powerful opponents (especially those with high PRE) it would probably not work as well. This maneuver depends on a successful PRE attack to make the bad guy go "What the f-" right before the blade slides in.
  
• If it is too powerful against more powerful opponents, lose the +3d6 PRE for the PRE attack. Allow the NPC to use the Abort maneuver. Require an Acting roll in order for the character to get close enough to spring the attack.
  

General Notes

 

• Weapon Master may add even more damage but do you really need it?
  
• If the GM uses the optional Damage Doubling Cap rule. I can't find the page reference at the moment. Anyway, that reduces the max DC to 4 (1d6+1) with a x2 for hitting the Head (total Body average around 7 with a max of 14). Still enough for most mooks. Not necessarily deadly against more powerful opponents with Resistant Defenses.
  
• Hit Location Stun Multipliers would render most characters Stunned, which gives the PC the tactical advantage.
  
• This all seems more complicated, but it really is just an exhaustive breakdown of the steps. In play it would go much smoother than that.
  

[AlHazred]

Re: Hidden Blade

 

• If the GM uses the optional Damage Doubling Cap rule. I can't find the page reference at the moment. Anyway, that reduces the max DC to 4 (1d6+1) with a x2 for hitting the Head (total Body average around 7 with a max of 14). Still enough for most mooks. Not necessarily deadly against more powerful opponents with Resistant Defenses.
  

Damage Doubling is automatic for Foci, but not for non-Focused Powers.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Hidden Blade

 

Ahhh. Page 99. Well it is in the Toolkitting section so that makes it optional. I think, as GM, I would establish some sort of damage cap. In my own game, this hasn't come up but that is going to be a topic of conversation this evening. Just looking at my example above makes the thought of unrestricted damage adding unattractive. I have always disliked the Double max. I am thinking of Triple Max.

 

Another thing that entered my mind is that Move Through is probably the better maneuver. It simulates the whole jump thing well enough and it also simulates the jumping from a building thing too. The more velocity, the higher the damage but the harder to hit.

 

So to edit my original idea...

 

For the Leaping Kill attack:

 

• Acting roll to position himself into prime position for Surprise Move. Use the guidelines for Sleight of Hand in my first post.
  
• PRE attack ((at +3d6 for Violent action) to see if the target hesitates) followed by
  
• Use the Move Through maneuver. At base it provides a -1 OCV, -3 DCV, and +1 DC. This assumes a Leaping score of 6>. I would add Falling velocity to Leaping velocity so even a short fall of 10M would make the total velocity somewhere between 14-20 (+1-3 DC) depending on how much Leaping the character has. Remember though that it will increase the OCV penalty by 1.
  
• Remember to calculate damage to attacker based on Knockdown or Knockback (half or full).
  
• For location, I would define head strike as an attack against Special Location: Head Shot at -4 OCV.
  
• Damage would be 2 + (STR - STR Min)/5 (round down)+vel/6 (round down)+ (from the Maneuver). You can assume that STR adds +1 DC and Velocity adds +1. So figure somewhere around 4 DC with the option of it being higher in some circumstances. That makes your attack a 1d6+1 Killing. Figure 4 Body average and 7 Max. Remember to subtract the Resistant Defense before multiplying for the Hit Location. Combat Luck should apply unless the PRE Attack achieves PRE+20.
  
• The above notes generally apply. This method does reduce damage overall from the previous method. Still with a lucky roll and no Resistant PD, the attacker could achieve up to 14 Body with a single attack. That's a little more reasonable than 38 and still likely to reduce a mook to 0 or less Body and probably Stun him. In fact, I would just call a successful hit with this attack an automatic mook killer.
  

[Markdoc]

Re: Hidden Blade

 

I haven't played assassin's creed, but inspired by the samurai film Hidden Blade, I have written up a hidden blade technique for my game game. It was actually built with HKA, continuous uncontrollable 0 END, fully invisible effects and with the sleight of hand roll on the invisible part - just like the first post. In use, it was a 1DC killing attack which meant up to 1/2 HKA with STR (Strength doubling rule was in effect). That doesn't sound like much, but the weapon was described as a very, very sharp, thin punch blade: so sharp that even the target might not know at first what had hit him.

 

That means in practice that it was not much use as a combat weapon. But that wasn't the point - it was designed to be used on an unsuspecting target, allowing the user to target the head or vitals, and specifically, to target an unarmoured bit. The wound itself was trivial, but the victim would bleed - and he might not even realize he was hit, until he saw blood and collapsed. By the time he keels over and starts dying, the assassin is probably a couple of blocks away and whistling. Indeed, since the amount of STUN done is so trivial the victim might literally bleed to death before he realized that something was wrong - and at 1-3 BOD per round, that will take about 10 phases for your average person - which is less than 30 seconds.

 

Fast and nasty. Since continuous attacks need some way to be turned off, I ruled that a successful healing roll would do the job.

 

cheers, Mark