The Guild

[Swarbie]

Ok, so I've been . . . inspired by Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. It's an awesome game, and I love the idea of a Guild of Assassins. So I thought I might put together some background, rules and even a Random Character Generator for the organisation I have simply named the Guild. I hope you enjoy, and if you like it, feel free to create characters.



What was that? A flash of white and black, moving through the crowd. He looked around, his paranoia gripping him. He looked back and saw it was merely a circus performer. He relaxed, and then heard something shift slightly against the wall above him. He looked up and saw a figure falling to meet him. The last thing he felt was the figure's weight shattering his bones and its knives burying themselves in his skull . . .


The Guild is everything. For some, it is death. For others, life. And for some, a tool to be used against their enemies. Those belonging to the third category will usually only meet a Guild member twice in their life: when they hire one, and when they learn that their enemy has hired one. All are equal in the eyes of the Guild, for all are subject to its gaze so that the Guild may keep the balance. The guild is free of all Taint, whether it be the physical taint of Chaos or the mental perversion that is religion. A Guild member must always remember that there is nothing greater than what a man can do for himself; and to keep your blades close lest you find your Target's blades closer. A Guild member must never harm an innocent unless doing so would ensure the death of the Target. A Guild member must kill without hesitation, be swift and strong, and be prepared to choose between doing what is right and what is easy. Nothing is forbidden and everything is permitted, but only so long as the balance is kept.

The Guild is a secret order of assassins originating in the Cazaris star system. They are highly secretive, and few Inquisitors have even heard of their existence. The few that do are mostly the ones that have been allowed to learn about the Guild; the ones whom the Guild's operatives deem safe to collaborate with. The guild will sometimes supply one or more assassins to these Inquisitors; usually either one high-ranking assassin or a novice and a more experienced mentor. The Inquisitors that know of the Guild but have not been deemed safe are ignored until their actions mark a possible threat to the Guild. When this happens, a Guild member is sent to explain the Guild's situation to the Inquisitor in question. If the Inquisitor refuses to cease hostile actions against the Guild or attempts to use it for their own ends, they are killed.

Guild training focuses on blending into crowds, making attacks from unexpected directions and brutal close combats. If a particularly thick crowd is stopping an assassin from reaching his target, Guild exercises come into play. Most assassins of the Guild have slightly higher levels of psychic activity than normal; not high enough to class them as psykers, and low enough for them not to be noticed by the Black Ships. Assassins learn to enter a mental state that causes an instinctive reaction in those around them; namely, taking a step away from the assassin without even noticing it. This allows an assassin to clear a path through a crowd without being noticed by any guards inside it. Guards outside the crowd may notice this unusual behavior and the assassin himself, but Guild members rarely work completely alone. When an assassin is sent on a contract, he will be accompanied by up to three lower-ranking assassins designated to shadow him and take out any potential threats that might stop the assassin reaching his target. Although they rarely take part in the killing of the target, the sight of guards falling dead while rushing to intercept an assassin tends to demoralize the target somewhat.

Although the Guild has training centers and Guild Houses in every major system, they only recruit from Alta III in the Cazaris system. This means that all the assassins are distantly related and share similar physical features. It is possible that this is why the Guild has survived so long, being composed of literally thousands of like-minded operatives. It may also be why many recruits experience a "bleeding effect" during their induction into the Guild; in much the same way as a newborn fish knows how to swim, over 75% of recruits will, in the presence of a Guild member, begin to learn parts of the Guild's skill-set without being taught. The most famous example of this within the Guild is Thrace Elion, the Guild's Master of Poisons. Within days of his induction he knew the formulas for poisons that had been long-forgotten even by the Guild, and had devised many new ways of effectively delivering said poisons while remaining undetected. Recruits who do not experience this effect, known as the Awakening, will take longer to complete their training and become full assassins, but will also show brilliance in other areas, such as diplomacy, technology and blackmail.

The Guild's secrecy means that should an assassin be captured, he will not exist. The Administratum's records will hold no information on him, his DNA, fingerprints and facial features will not directly match any in an Arbite's database and his name will not be recorded in Ecclesiarchal records. The day after he is captured, his cell will almost invariably empty. The Guild has friends in high places, and stealth is one of their specialties.

Guild members dress similarly, but within certain confines there is otherwise complete freedom for self-expression for each member. Guild members must dress only in white, cream, black and grey, have their skin covered and must wear a hood. The style of the clothes and the fabrics used are up to each member, and all Guild Houses are staffed by skilled seamstresses.

Within the Guild, there are many ranks. Initiates are recruits that have been with the Guild for less than a year, are still going through the Awakening and are in the earliest stages of their training. Novices have worked for the Guild for up to five years and will often have taken part in contracts. They continue to study both the physical skills required by the Guild and the mental abilities needed. Assassins are those that have survived training with the Guild for between five and ten years, depending on the recruit in question. Although their physical studies have ceased, they are required to spend at least six hours a day in practice; their spare time is spent in meditation, information-gathering, psychological studies and extending their knowledge. Masters are those assassins that have risen to a position of great importance in each system's Guild House and are charismatic enough to keep the assassins in order. There are several positions, such as: Master of Poisons (the system's best poison-maker), Blademaster (best knife-fighter), Weaponsmaster (best in a variety of weapons, occasionally one Master per weapon), Father of Blades (the best smith) and the Caretaker (best at training new recruits). There are also higher versions of these posts over the entire Guild. Thrace Elion, the Master of Poisons and Khijor Mass, the Father of Blades occupy two such positions.

The Guild's members will be trained in the use of a variety of poisons, bows, crossbows, knives, swords and other weapons. However, the tenets of the guild disdain the use of any ranged weapon more advanced than basic black powder; they will use crossbows with explosive bolts made with black powder but will not train their members to use guns. This is partly to cause fear in the target. A man who is skilled enough to kill three men armed with lasguns while he himself only has a knife inspires fear in those around him. However, the recruits' home world of Alta III is still in its Middle Ages. Despite this, they do not use medieval-styled bows and crossbows, but instead the best models money can buy, fitted out with reflex scopes and steel strings.   
They will, however, use technologically advanced close combat weaponry. It is not uncommon for an assassin to carry shock weapons, and Masters will often use power weapons.

Overall, the Guild is an important organization that benefits the Imperium as a whole. However, the few Inquisitors that work with Guild members are suspicious of them; there is something almost . . . supernatural in the way they move, their stealth and willingness to kill targets they see as tainted. Most are sensible enough to keep their suspicions to themselves, knowing full well that they are under constant scrutiny by their hooded allies . . .

                 WS         BS          S               T                I             Wp              Sg              Nv              Ld
Initiate     45+D10   45+D10   45+D10   45+D10   55+D10   40+D10   40+D10   45+D10   25+D10
Novice     55+D10   55+D10      50+2D6   50+2D6   65+D10   45+D10   45+D10   60+D10   15+D10
Assassin   65+2D10   65+2D10   60+2D10   60+2D10   75+2D6   55+D10   50+D10   70+D10   10+D10
Master   70+2D10   70+2D10   65+2D10   65+2D10   80+2D10   60+D10   55+2D10   80+D10   60+D10

Notes: 1) Masters really aren't meant to be on the field, unless you devise a scenario where an Inquisitor attacks a Guild House. However, most Masters will have a high level of specialization; a Blademaster would have a very high WS but a BS closer to that of a regular assassin or even a novice.

2) As the recruits become more experienced and move up in ranks, their Ld becomes lower. This is because they are learning to work mainly by themselves and also to seem immediately intimidating. However, Masters have a much higher Ld because they have to organize an entire system of assassins and will usually be the ones to talk to outsiders.

Equipment: (Initiates) Two throwing knives and a sword

(Novices) Sword, knife, two throwing knives, one vial of Bloodfire toxin

(Assassin) Sword, short sword, throwing knife, longbow/light crossbow/heavy crossbow, twenty bolts/arrows, five vials of Bloodfire toxin, one vial of White Asp venom

(Master) Sword, two throwing knives, longbow/light crossbow/heavy crossbow, twenty-five bolts/arrows, ten vials of Bloodfire toxin, five vials of White Asp venom, one vial of Death's Hood Mushroom extract

Vials: Vials can contain one dose of a toxin. It takes one Action to apply the toxin to a weapon. Toxins can be applied to close combat weapons, throwing knives, arrows and crossbow bolts. They cannot be applied to power or shock weapons, as the liquid will either interfere with the weapon's field or be evaporated.

White Asp venom: A character that has taken damage from a weapon smeared with White Asp venom must pass a Toughness test with a negative modifier equal to the amount of damage already taken by the location hit. If the Toughness test is failed, the character immediately takes D10 damage to their Injury Total. At the start of each turn after this test, they must make another Toughness test with a negative modifier equal to the amount of damage they have taken from the venom, and ONLY the damage from the venom. If this test is failed, they suffer a further D10 damage to their Injury Total and are counted as being stunned for that turn. If one of these tests causes a character's Injury Total to fall to 0 or less, the character does not immediately die, but instead falls into a coma that will last for D6 weeks. If they do not receive treatment within three hours of being poisoned, they will almost certainly die.

Death's Hood Mushroom extract: If a character takes damage from a weapon smeared with Death's Hood Mushroom extract, the poison will remain inactive for D6 turns. At the start of the turn after the number of turns rolled, the character must immediately takes 2D6 damage to their Injury total and must then test for system shock. If they pass this test, they will not have to test for system shock again due to the effects of the poison, but must pass a Toughness test at the start of each turn with a negative modifier equal to the amount of damage they have taken from the poison. If failed, they will suffer D6 damage to their Injury Total. If they are not treated within thirty minutes of being poisoned, death is a certainty.             

Note: Assassins and Masters may use shock and power weapons and do not have to limit themselves to the weapons listed above. Crossbows may be fitted with a reflex sight, telescopic sight or a night scope.   

Special abilities: (Initiates) None
(Novices) Catfall, Acrobatic, Silent Death
(Assassins) Catfall, Acrobatic, Lightning Reflexes, Parkour, Silent Death, Part The Crowds
(Masters) Catfall, Acrobatic, Lightning Reflexes, Parkour, Silent Death, Part The Crowds.

Parkour: Parkour is a different type of movement. If moving with Parkour, a character can move up to 5 yards per Action on a vertical surface as long as there is a handhold every two yards. If they sprinted for their previous Action, they can move up to 6 yards per Action of Parkour for the rest of that turn. Note that while they can move across vertical surfaces, they cannot cling upside down to ceilings.

Silent Death: There is a -30% penalty to all attempts to detect a character with the Silent Death ability. 

Part The Crowds: An assassin may spend one Action concentrating. At the end of this Action, all NPCs within two yards of him will automatically move one yard away from him. The assassin may move at a walk and continue to concentrate. As long as he does nothing but walk and concentrate, NPCs will continue to automatically move away from him.

Example

Karl Vados entered the Guild when he was six. His parents, a Guild member and a two-copper harlot, wanted to ensure that he got a good education, would be able to take care of himself and would be someone to be proud of. The Guild provided them with what they wanted. Now in his late twenties, Karl has dozens of solo contracts and well over a hundred group jobs to his name. Experience has taught him to favour neither close combat or ranged warfare, although he undoubtedly prefers the sensation of using his shock mace to using a bow.

He is a valuable asset to his Guild Houses in the Carthaxian Sector, although he has lower than normal levels of psychic activity and never experienced the Awakening.

Assassin Karl Vados

WS  BS   S     T    I     Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld   
78   73   76  68  82  56     52  79    13

Karl Vados is right-handed.

Equipment: Shock mace, longbow, 20 arrows, throwing knife, knife, five vials of Bloodfire toxin, one vial of White Asp venom, smoke bomb.

Shock mace: Reach = 3, Dmg = 2D6+3, PP = -15%

Smoke bomb: Counts as smoke grenade

Special Rules: Catfall, Acrobatic, Lightning Reflexes, Parkour, Silent Death

[Myriad]

I like the idea, since there's always room for one more shadowy organisation.  There's quite a bit I'd tweak about the implementation though. 

Although the Guild has training centers and Guild Houses in every major system, they only recruit from Alta III in the Cazaris system.

The Imperium is *big*, and organisations that span the whole of it rare.  For an unnofficial one, recruiting solely from one system?  Hardly seems possible.  I'd ringfence their influence to a particular subsector.

When this happens, a Guild member is sent to explain the Guild's situation to the Inquisitor in question. If the Inquisitor refuses to cease hostile actions against the Guild or attempts to use it for their own ends, they are killed.

This seems a bit too much.  You seem to be setting the organisation *above* the Inquisition here, and attributing it knowledge of all the Inquisition's operations, themselves highly secret.  While they may well attempt to kill an inquisitor who are, after all, only human, for success to be a matter of course seems wrong.  Such a killing would also bring the wrath of the rest of the inquisition to bear and they would surely suffer the odd reverse.  It would be better to attribute a few such assassinations to the guild, with the norm being to avoid confrontation and rely on secrecy.  Easy enough to vanish until an inquisitor finds something better to do, since assassination is an accepted part of the imperial command structure in any case.

Similarly, you'd expect the inquisition to hold on to the occasional witness.

It may also be why many recruits experience a "bleeding effect" during their induction into the Guild; in much the same way as a newborn fish knows how to swim, over 75% of recruits will, in the presence of a Guild member, begin to learn parts of the Guild's skill-set without being taught.

I'd quite like to see this developed a bit.  It seems a good opportunity to work some dark secret into the guild's background, the kind of secret that would get an inquisitor *really* interested.

As far as the rules go, I like the rules for the toxin vials and climbing along surfaces.  The profiles are balanced for assassins with these specialisations too.

[Swarbie]

The Imperium is *big*, and organisations that span the whole of it rare.  For an unnofficial one, recruiting solely from one system?  Hardly seems possible.  I'd ringfence their influence to a particular subsector.

Hmmm, good point.Perhaps operating across the Imperium, with Guild Houses in a couple of major sectors?

It would be better to attribute a few such assassinations to the guild, with the norm being to avoid confrontation and rely on secrecy.  Easy enough to vanish until an inquisitor finds something better to do, since assassination is an accepted part of the imperial command structure in any case.

Yeah, not sure I explained this too well. I wanted to put the Guild's information-gathering abilities on a similar level to the Inquisition as they see themselves as an organisation with much the same duties as the Inquisition. I could swear I wrote in that the Guild has existed since the early stages of civilisation on Alta III (long before the existence of the Inquisition) and so see themselves as having seniority over the younger organisation, but apparently I didn't. They have watched the Inquisition's growth from its beginnings, and so know more about its history than many Inquisitors would. Of course, the arrogance this gives them is tempered by the fact that they do not have the same authority as the Inquisition; they are dedicated to keeping the balance between the forces acting on Humanity, and so are unbiased. That means no Imperial Creed, which means no "By the authority of the God-Emperor of Mankind . . ." stuff.

To deal with Inquisitors they would do the odd assassination, which would probably be seen as a play for power by a rival Inquisitor, but would also use blackmail, their ability to 'not exist' within the knowledge of the Imperium and, if all else fails, join forces with a rival of the problem Inquisitor to take him/her out. 

'd quite like to see this developed a bit.  It seems a good opportunity to work some dark secret into the guild's background, the kind of secret that would get an inquisitor *really* interested.

Yeah, I wanted there to be a very definite idea of something unnatural to them. This "bleeding effect" was, of course, inspired by the way Desmond Miles, the descendant of the Assassins in the Assassin's Creed games, becomes more and more like an actual Assassin as he relives their memories.

The idea here is that all the recruits share some genetic memories with their predecessors in the Guild. Something during their initiation awakens those memories, which start to affect them mentally. Of course, no-one's quite sure why this happens, and no-one but members of the Guild really know what the initiation rites consist of . . .

As far as the rules go, I like the rules for the toxin vials and climbing along surfaces.  The profiles are balanced for assassins with these specialisations too.

Thanks. I wanted them to be dangerous, able to work by themselves or in small groups, but I didn't want them to be unstoppable. They will, as a rule, wear little or no armour so they are somewhat vulnerable, even with their skills at fighting and their poisons.

Overall, you should be able to create a characterful Guild member using the generator and then, according to the stats you rolled, tweak their equipment and maybe even through in some of the standard special abilities in there (Blademaster or Deadeye Shot come to mind. . .) to really let the assassin's role come forward. Or you could simply pick stats within the range for each rank and specialise them however you wanted. Personally, I would love to build a little group of experienced assassins with a couple of novices or initiates. It'd look cool and the tasks the Guild requires of them could be anything from reconnaissance to high-profile killings. 

I'll probably add in some more stuff about the Guild later, and I already have a story brewing for a Guild member gone rogue. 

[Dust King]

Like the idea, been giving Assassins Creed some thought myself as a future resource for Inquisitor so I might as well add a couple of thoughts and ideas I've had;

The Sight: The character can enter a trance like state which allows them to notice details essential to their mission on a subconscious level, their targets will stand out in crowds, tools and paths will become obverse, however this comes at a cost. While using this ability their sense become dulled to the rest of the world, they may miss enemies around them or obstacles like unstable or unsafe terrain. While active the character is always aware of their target so long as they have a line of sight, in addition any personal guards or relevant items for the mission are also revealed. However when in use the character is at -20 I for awareness tests and turn sequence and sprinting or travelling over unstable terrain is now risky.

Visions: The unusual abilities of the character come at a cost, during periods of psychological stress they can lose their grip on reality, the world around them fading into one of fantasy or memory. When under the effects of any drugs or telepathic powers (as well as any situation causing psychological distress as decided by the GM) the character must pass a Wp test or roll on the hallucinogen table* to represent the separate reality they are now experiencing.

*I'd probably be tempted to replace the hallucinogen table with a different one representing the different visions ( possible results being: chassing an imaginary target, surrounded by enemies, moving to an ambush, loss of a loved one, escaping from enemies, etc.)

I'd also be tempted to say they can make sneak attacks while in plain sight so long as the target is not hostile or has their attention focused on them.

Also I'd make them a bit more morally grey in the background. As you said, they keep the balance and will not murder innocents without good cause, but both of those are entirely subjective. They decide what is and isn't balanced, they also choose who is innocent and who isn't. I'm not saying they aren't trying to do the right thing, I'm saying that they kill to make the world fits their own views on right and wrong. But that's probably because I like moral conflicts

[Swarbie]

Well, on the whole innocents level, not only are they against Chaos, but they're also against religion. An innocent is someone who is totally pure and without taint, so under the Guild's definitions a four-year old child who believed in the God-Emperor would not be an innocent. I think that's pretty morally gray.

And yes, the Guild is trying to sculpt Mankind into what it thinks it should be. They're going to have a hard slog though, seeing as few people know of them and very few people will agree to their point of view without first being inducted into the guild. And that is more than a little likely to make them biased.

I do like the idea of more experienced, possibly more psychically active assassins suffering further effects from whatever the initiation rites involve. Perhaps they find they understand languages they never learned, can hide in plain sight (distracting the minds of those around them from their presence) or just start experiencing changes in their personality and the way they operate. The visions are a cool idea too, but i would agree to them having a different chart, perhaps representing ancestral memories surfacing and taking charge.

I'm not quite sure about the sneak attack. if they had a weapon like the hidden blade from the games, it would be possible (actually, I'm working on some rules for a stiletto spring-loaded into a vambrace, but that's for something else). If you saw a mysterious looking guy standing around with a bunch of knives and a sword, you'd probably be keeping a good eye on him.

I'm still wondering about the nature of the Guild's deep, dark secret; it could be something related to the game or something completely different. If I do decide on it, of course, I'm not going to tell anyone . It has to be a secret to lure those suspicious Inquisitors in closer . . .

[MarcoSkoll]

The idea here is that all the recruits share some genetic memories with their predecessors in the Guild. Something during their initiation awakens those memories, which start to affect them mentally. Of course, no-one's quite sure why this happens, and no-one but members of the Guild really know what the initiation rites consist of . . .

"Genetic memory" is Assassin's Creed background, not 40k background. With that in mind, perhaps it might be better to imply that it has something to do with "soul memory".

Which, let's be honest, makes a darn sight more sense. DNA does not carry memories, whereas the soul is an extension of the mind. We don't know a lot about the creation of the soul in 40k, so there is some wiggle room to write that perhaps some of this is passed on - or maybe even that somehow, these initiation rites also do something to mean that memory does get passed on.

... and that would be pretty useful, of course. If your young assassins just know the basics through ancestral memory, that saves a lot of work and means more skilled assassins.

~~~~~

One thing I would add is those Ld values are... pretty meagre. I'm not saying they should be good, but remember, it does include personal discipline as well as just communication skill and charisma. (And I imagine these assassins have at least a degree of discipline.)

[Molotov]

I created my own order of assassins based around those in the AC universe. You can see my attempt here. I didn't come up with any rules, though... will have to do so when I get the character together.

[Dust King]

I agree with Marco, psychic memory makes more sense in 40k than genetic memory. Actually now that I think about it it also makes more sense in Assassins Creed, they've established both that 'genetic memory' is recorded up to conception (as opposed to stopping once the sperm/egg has been produced) and that interaction is possible between separate time periods (addressing Desmond by name in the second game). I'd say there's enough evidence to go with psychic causes rather than purely genetic.

I'd also mention in the fluff that the order treats it's victims with respect, just as a reference for playing the character. One of the major distinguishing features of the characters in AC was how they held their victims as they died. Just another idea I'd try to include in a character (mainly as I'm thinking of making one in the future so I have a lot of random ideas.)

[Swarbie]

One thing I would add is those Ld values are... pretty meagre. I'm not saying they should be good, but remember, it does include personal discipline as well as just communication skill and charisma. (And I imagine these assassins have at least a degree of discipline.)

Hmmm, you're right. Perhaps something along the lines of this?

Killers, Not Leaders: To most people, a Guild member is someone to be feared, not someone to follow to the death. However, to other Guild members, his self-discipline and mental training make him a shining paragon of integrity, his every move confident and self-assured.
When using an Initiate, Novice or Assassin's Leadership for any tests involving non-Guild characters, use the Leadership given in the Initiate, Novice or Assassin's profile. However, if the test affects Guild members, add the Initiate, Novice or Assassin's Willpower to their Leadership and use this value for the test. The conditions for tests involving Guild members overrule the conditions for tests involving non-Guild members, eg, if the test would effect both an Assassin and an Inquisitor, add the Assassin's Willpower to his Leadership for the test (This represents respect for the greater knowledge and mental discipline acting as an inspiration for other Guild members, as well as representing the higher levels of self-discipline and confidence natural amongst higher-ranking Guild members).

[Myriad]

This would tend to bump them well over 100, wouldn't it?  A +20/30 bonus might be better.

I'm not sure about the respect to victim's angle - this is the grim-dark of inquisitor, after all.  Maybe the initiation rights somehow invoke the souls of dead members, causing ancestral memories in some cases.  Maybe they're growing their own warp entity this way?

[Alta]

Although the Guild has training centers and Guild Houses in every major system, they only recruit from Alta III in the Cazaris system.

Someone mention my name?

For the 'killers, not leaders' rule I would go with Myriad's suggestion. Apart form that though, looks good.

[Swarbie]

Alta, I didn't even realise. You now have your very own planet. Three of them, in fact.

As for the Killers, Not Leaders, the maximum Ld for an Assassin is 20 and the maximum Wp is 65 (using the generator).  This would give a Ld of 85 when dealing with other guild members, but only a Ld of 20 when dealing with non-Guild members. The rule specifically does not include Masters, who would push it over 100

[Dust King]

Well this seems to be the right thread to ask this question. I was planning an assassin character and wondered if anyone had any suggestions on how to make a decent knife based combat character without relying on blademaster?

There've been several knife fighters im my gaming group using blademaster and I was looking for a way to make someone fairly powerful using a knife without it.

Any ideas?

[Swarbie]

Well, you could try giving them a good Strength, Initiative and Weapon Skill, and maybe combine that with the Furious Assault ability so they get two attacks per action. Either that or create an ability for them that lets them, for example, find weak points in a target's armour with their knives or maybe increases the damage they do. You could even just give them poisoned knives.

[Dust King]

Yeah, I didn't really think of good stats... seems obverse now.

I did have the idea of some sort of system of ignoring a amount of armour based on the to hit roll. If you roll under half of the roll needed to hit you ignore half the armour on the location, roll under a quarter and you ignore all armour. Based on the ability to find the armours weak points it only works with knives due to the accuracy needed.

Could also use ignores D6 armour like whatever the shooting ability is called...

Still I'd like to hear if anyone else has any suggestions.