Author Topic: Assassin warlock  (Read 3036 times)

Offline ZMiles

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 1076
    • View Profile
Assassin warlock
« on: June 14, 2011, 05:00:03 AM »
I've been considering an NPC idea for a game I'm running as such: he has the bare minimum stunts/powers to enable him to magically kill people, and no other abilities that cost fate points or refresh. This saves his FPs so that he doesn't go down to 0 refresh from taking Lawbreaker and so that he can pay off the various compels from his Lawbreaker aspects (so he can be an assassin without going full on Omnicidal Maniac). He doesn't break any laws besides the 1st (although he's broken that one innumerable times before the game even starts), and has no magical ability besides the powers that let him kill people.

* Is this viable in a Chest-Deep game? In submerged?
* What combination of powers, if any, would let him accomplish this? Is there a set of evocations or something that actually have a strong possibility of killing, say, a baseline human, without costing more refresh than he could have? What about a stronger character, assuming he got an ambush (i.e., roll 0 to defend)?
* Assuming he weren't actually targeting the PCs, at least at first, would it seem cheap to actually drop such a specialized character into the campaign?

(I know that NPCs don't technically need to have >0 refreshes, but I generally like mine to so they aren't overpowered relative to the main cast).

(And obviously I'm not going to introduce an NPC to just one-shot the PCs; that would be mean. But he might be a sort of Kincaid-like 'possible ally, but very scary' fellow).
« Last Edit: June 14, 2011, 05:02:05 AM by ZMiles »

Offline EldritchFire

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 164
  • Everyone needs magical fire in their lives!
    • View Profile
    • My Blog: EldritchFire Press
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2011, 06:05:25 AM »
I've been considering an NPC idea for a game I'm running as such: he has the bare minimum stunts/powers to enable him to magically kill people, and no other abilities that cost fate points or refresh. This saves his FPs so that he doesn't go down to 0 refresh from taking Lawbreaker and so that he can pay off the various compels from his Lawbreaker aspects (so he can be an assassin without going full on Omnicidal Maniac). He doesn't break any laws besides the 1st (although he's broken that one innumerable times before the game even starts), and has no magical ability besides the powers that let him kill people.

* Is this viable in a Chest-Deep game? In submerged?
* What combination of powers, if any, would let him accomplish this? Is there a set of evocations or something that actually have a strong possibility of killing, say, a baseline human, without costing more refresh than he could have? What about a stronger character, assuming he got an ambush (i.e., roll 0 to defend)?
* Assuming he weren't actually targeting the PCs, at least at first, would it seem cheap to actually drop such a specialized character into the campaign?

Channeling with an appropriate Killing Magic focus, [-2]. Take a stunt or two for Refinement to get a bonus for Killing Magic [-2]. Lawbreaker: 1st [-1].

That's 5 refresh. A chest-deep game is 8 refresh, so you're good. A submerged has 10, so even more fun to be had! In order to kill a baseline human, you just need to inflict 5 or more stress. Most mortal humans don't take consequences, and the stress track tops out at 4 stress without stunts, so 5 or more stress is taken out.

(I know that NPCs don't technically need to have >0 refreshes, but I generally like mine to so they aren't overpowered relative to the main cast).

Pages 326-338 would seem to disagree with you. One character who is an "equal opposition" should have spent refresh equal to the total refresh spent by the party. So a party of 4 chest-deep characters would need one character with 32 refresh worth of powers. Granted, you can easily split that 32 refresh up between multiple characters, but still.

-EF
This isn't D&D where you can have a team of psychopathic good guys running around punching everyone you disagree with.
Twitter
My Blog

Offline EdgeOfDreams

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 332
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2011, 06:19:00 AM »
Most mortal humans don't take consequences, and the stress track tops out at 4 stress without stunts, so 5 or more stress is taken out.

Correction: most *nameless npc opposition* don't take consequences, because they don't have enough motivation to keep fighting 'til they're dead, and because it keeps the game moving faster.  To actually kill someone, you have to be prepared to deal with their consequence slots, just in case they feel particularly motivated to live.

Offline sinker

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2115
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2011, 06:41:13 AM »
Meh, some people just don't realize the scope of things until it's over. Just because they haven't taken any consequences when you take them out doesn't mean you can't kill them.

On to the actual question. Something to consider when you make the character is that one must only take a maximum of 2 refresh worth of lawbreaker so long as you're only breaking one law, so having a character that's already as twisted as they are going to get is totally possible (and s/he could still have positive refresh). In addition you should just set all of their aspects to reflect the lawbreaking portion of them and then you never have to worry about how much they break the law, because they've already taken all of the possible consequences for that action.

Something else to consider is that just because you've broken the law many times and are completely corrupted does not mean that you're necessarily a raving madman that kills everything in your path. I could see a warden who simply kills when there's even a hint of lawbreaking because that's more reasoned then the alternative to him. He still has all of his own personal goals and values, however killing is no longer an issue for him and has become a common solution to any problem. It's part of his life and his core now, but it isn't all that he is. Or Kincaid is probably another good example of how one could lose the value of life. He only sees his bottom line. You don't have to be completely devoted to the concept of death if you're corrupted, you just have to see the world through a death-colored filter.

In fact being the kind of person I am (who takes a negative reasoning and makes a positive attitude from it) I could see a very happy, outgoing person who simply thinks that death must be a great alternative to a lot of the pain that people must go through on a regular basis. Ever seen "Arsenic and Old Lace"?

Edit: Something I forgot is that I mostly agree with EldritchFire there, but I'd take thaumaturgy. It lends itself much better to the whole sneakily killing someone from somewhere else. You have to be right there with channeling/evocation. You could take both though. Channeling:air/water/spirit is what I'd go for and then maybe ritual:transformation and disruption or maybe a thematic focus like biomancy or entropomancy.

So yeah, channeling, ritual and a complete lawbreaker 1st only costs six refresh, the sight might also be a decent idea, but not necessary.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2011, 06:57:59 AM by sinker »

Offline UmbraLux

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 1685
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2011, 12:01:49 PM »
Meh, some people just don't realize the scope of things until it's over. Just because they haven't taken any consequences when you take them out doesn't mean you can't kill them.
Stress is scene pacing (toughness), consequences are "health" - or at least "consequences are the real meat of the system".

* What combination of powers, if any, would let him accomplish this? Is there a set of evocations or something that actually have a strong possibility of killing, say, a baseline human, without costing more refresh than he could have? What about a stronger character, assuming he got an ambush (i.e., roll 0 to defend)?
* Assuming he weren't actually targeting the PCs, at least at first, would it seem cheap to actually drop such a specialized character into the campaign?
Some good options above - I second Sinker's full Thaumaturgy suggestion, it gives far more potential for the capably scary character you appear to be looking for.  However, you could go the opposite way...if you want someone less capable.  Perhaps he found a grimoire somewhere and a single spell worked...that's the only spell he knows.  Charge one refresh instead of two for Ritual or Channeling and play him as the guy who decides everything is a nail because all he has is a hammer.  :)
« Last Edit: June 14, 2011, 12:32:05 PM by UmbraLux »
--
“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.”  - Albert Einstein

"Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength."  - Eric Hoffer

Offline Wyrdrune

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 236
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2011, 12:38:16 PM »
damn, i was expecting to find a write up of a vatican assassin warlock with tiger's blood and adonis DNA here.

Offline Belial666

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2389
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2011, 11:04:00 PM »
A good powerset/skillset for a chest-deep spellcasting assassin is the following;

Quote
Powers
[-3] Evocation - spirit power specialization +1, offensive spirit power focus +2
[-2] Refinement - spirit control specialization +2, offensive spirit control focus +2
[-2] Lawbreaker 1st -  +2 bonus to all rolls for lethal magic

Skills
+5: Conviction, Discipline
+4: Athletics, Stealth
+3: Alertness, Endurance
+2: Resources, Lore
+1: Craftmanship, Deceit

Rotes and often-used spells
[rote] Shadow Stalker: a double spirit maneuver (8 shifts of power) to apply the sticly aspects "universal chameleon" and "utterly silent" to self.
[rote] Assassinate: weapon 15 spirit attack (requires 4th mental and physical stress box plus 2 milds) to telekinetically explode a head.
Eldritch Missile: Hurls tiny projectile at supersonic speed. Weapon 8.
Force Crush: Telekinetically crushes target as if by extreme pressure or gravity. Weapon 8 vs Endurance.
TK throw: Might 9 telekinesis effect. Use power 9 for what you can throw/push, control for targeting. Effects depend on the projectile rather than the spell.
Catastrophic Failure: 9 shifts of hexing, actually targeted as a full spell.

Equipment
high-quality scope
military vest; armor 3 vs piercing and blunt, armor 1 vs the rest.
silver, iron, wood and bronze slugs
thirty-pound sachel of explosive; weapon 8 zonewide


Submerged Improvement
Add Ritual Entropomancy, and raise his Lore to Good, and his spirit offense foci by +1 power and +1 control.


This guy can kill people really, really, really well. He works as follows;

0) Rule 0 is that he never misses. Ever. His control (and thus attack) for lethal spells is +11. Against unaware targets, it is a moot point. In unprepared combat he uses Force Crush to target Endurance and thus gets 6 points more attack than anybody has defense. Theoretically, there is still 1 in 1312 chance for him to miss if he rolls a -4 and the enemy rolls a +3 or a +4 but that's why you got Fate points for rerolls.

1) Against the average mark, he can set an ambush unobserved with his Stealth of Great and the Shadow Stalker rote. He spends a few moments getting "Focused" (discipline) and "Calling Up Power" (conviction) and then fires his "Assassination" rote at Weapon 15, Attack 15 against a defenseless target. Just about any human has their heads exploded outright. Even armor of 3 and a defense roll of +4 and a couple fate points (or a magical block item of 8 ) will force a PC to take a mild, moderate, severe and extreme consequence to survive. If he spends his own fate points here, or takes a few more moments to make more aspects, they are dead no matter what.

2) If there is the White Council about, he will use his Eldritch Missile spell to hurl bullets and thus make his kill look like a mortal assassination rather than black magic. This method is far less effective than hitting the target with the Assassination rote (weapon 8 rather than weapon 15) but on the other hand, a hurled projectile will ignore magical immunity (if you want to kill ogres), iron works extremely well vs Fae, silver vs shapeshifters, wood is good vs vampires and bronze vs greek and sumerian critters.

3) He can make assassinations look like accidents. His "TK Throw" can hurl a person off a building as if they'd jumped, throw a car off a bridge or into another car or force a car to run over a pedestrian or even make a wall or ceiling or other big object collapse on somebody.

4) If the target is on a plane or other vehicle, the "Catastrophic Failure" rote can make the plane crash or the car's steering break and send it off the road. 9 shifts of hexing could even make an old steam-powered train engine or small ship explode.

5) His Submerged version has +1 power and +1 control to his spells and access to entropomancy rituals. Not that he needs them - just for the sake of completeness.

Offline Sanctaphrax

  • White Council
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12405
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2011, 02:19:59 AM »
I don't think that characters get to choose whether they take consequences or not. That's up to the players/GM.

And as Belial just showed, a character that the rules call "minor opposition" can kill an entire party easily.

Offline sinker

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2115
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2011, 02:48:30 AM »
Of note Belial, there's no reason to take evocation. Every rote is spirit based, so you could do channeling:spirit. I guess that'd reduce his capability with refinements, but it wouldn't be a serious issue till he got into the 5th refinement or so (the point at which he can no longer raise foci higher).

Offline Becq

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 1253
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #9 on: June 15, 2011, 05:49:38 AM »
And as Belial just showed, a character that the rules call "minor opposition" can kill an entire party easily.
Perhaps, but not at once.  The second casting of the Assassinate spell within a scene would cost a Severe Mental and Moderate Physical plus the second physical and mental stress boxes (since the milds and fourth boxes are used).  After that, he's going to have to call it a night, I think.

But the character would be very good at a series of 1v1 ambushes with some down time to recover the milds.

Of course, if a GM really wanted to kill a party, a sniper or two would be a simpler solution, and just as effective assuming the snipers had sufficiently appealing navels to gaze at for extended periods of time.

Offline sinker

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2115
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #10 on: June 15, 2011, 06:08:29 AM »
I just realized something while I was looking over that character write-up. The "shadow stalker" rote isn't technically legal. Evocation maneuvers can only generate one aspect at a time. Thaumaturgy is the only thing that can create multiple aspects at once.

Offline Belial666

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2389
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #11 on: June 15, 2011, 08:17:47 AM »
@Sinker;
Evocation represents the character's extreme innate talent of destructive magic. Someone with Ritual would also need a high Lore skill to craft his foci. This guy can get by with a Lore of +2, depending on talent and specialization rather than crafting. As for the "Shadow Stalker" rote, you can do it as a Spirit Veil of the 'magical stealth' version. I.e. 8 shifts give you an effective stealth of 8, which is the same thing as getting a +4 bonus from 2 aspects to your stealth of Great. (I just wanted the character to depend on his physical stealth a little rather than do everything with magic.

@Becq;
He can kill the whole party with one shot. He simply lowers weapon rating for the assassination by 2 and spends those shifts into making the attack zone-wide. He can make up the difference by spending a fate point and/or setting up one more ambush aspect to tag.

Alternatively, if he really wants to kill something, he spends his severe consequence for 6 more shifts and his moderate and a fate point to soak up the extra backlash. This can raise his weapon rating to 21 for a single target or apply his Assassination rote to three entire zones. Remember that even big vault doors break at 12, exterior walls break at 10 and that spell is at 15? He can literally rip apart the foundations of large buildings and have them collapse - even if they have a Good threshold, which most of them won't. Like the skyscraper your office is in. Or the White House where the president lives. Or the power station giving power to the city. It might hurt him for a few days, sure. But he can do it.


@Sanctaphrax;
Spellcasters are not minor opposition if given the chance to prepare. This character is simply focused enough in blasting magic that he can do it without the 'preparation' part. Leveling buildings is more fun than it looks.  Makes you wonder what a major-league warlock could do... oh wait. I am already playing one of those. (though not as specialized)

Offline Sanctaphrax

  • White Council
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12405
    • View Profile
Re: Assassin warlock
« Reply #12 on: June 15, 2011, 10:09:04 PM »
My comment was intended as a snarky shot at the rules for setting up the opposition in YS. As you may have gathered, I don't like them all that much.