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Next Friday there is going to be a new development in Dark Ages. I am going to introduce personal murders!
Right now there are two ways to perform an assassination: through a plot and through a targeted decision, both addressing an order from the ruler to kill the target. You can also turn down the diplomatic decision Assassination through a game rule, making it “Plots Only”.
What I have been coding over the past weeks is a system to invite the player to play with the rule of using only plots to assassinate by implementing a close and personal way of murdering characters.
What does this comprise? It means a random setting is created, the target will have opportunity to get suspicious about the assassin, or even alerted, that in turn conditions the action of murdering the target... which in itself can be “clean” (meaning it was absolutely successful) or “dirty” (meaning the assassination was successful but the target got aware of the assassin doing the deed and raised the alarm). Finally, if the victim survives and is aware of the attempt – there is also the chance that the unsuccessful attempt goes undetected by the victim – an immediate attempt on the murderer’s life is done. This act of revenge, like everything else, depends on the traits of the victim.
So, suppose I am getting your attention and you want to be a successful murderer. What stats, traits and focus give you a nice bonus to go unnoticed in your attempt? Basically, the stakes are favouring you from the start. You plan the occasion of the murder, so you make sure the victim is not aware of the murder attempt. But if the victim is Trustful you’ll get a bonus.
Now, what influences the probability the victim getting suspicious? In the positives, if the victim is an Assassin (a new lifestyle trait based on the successful attempts you did with this targeted decision), a Master Schemer, if the victim is focusing on intrigue, if the victim is paranoid (unless you are an accomplished killer – tested later on - it’s usually bad karma to attempt to murder paranoid characters), if the victim is Cynical, if he has an intrigue education trait, if he is a Genius, Quick, Shrewd, if he has high levels in Intrigue, Diplomacy, Martial and Learning – from the mod rules, remember that high level in Dark Ages means a score of 12 – if he has very high levels – 15, 18 and 21 – in Intrigue and if the murderer is Honest. On the other hand, what reduces the chances of the victim getting suspicious is for the murderer to have the Deceitful trait.
And what influences the probability the victim getting alerted (a higher state than being suspicious and also influent later on)? It’s not very different from the suspicious level of alertness but lets enumerate the positives in the knowledge this alert state has the lowest base probabilities of happening (5%): Victim being Genius, Quick, Shrewd, Assassin, Master Schemer, focus in Intrigue, Paranoid, Cynical, Elusive Shadow, high levels of Intrigue, Learning, Martial and Diplomacy, very high levels of Intrigue, the murderer being Honest. If the murder is Deceitful the chances of the victim getting alerted are reduced.
So, it remains to be written that different weights are attributed to different variables. For the safety of the victim, it’s much more important being Paranoid or Genius than being Cynical, for instance.
At this point, we know if the victim was unaware, suspicious or alerted. But to the prospective murderer, not to worry. Even with an alerted victim the mission can be a major success... it’s only harder.
So, what influences the success of the murder? For a successful murder, murderer traits Assassin, Schemer, Cruel, Elusive Shadow and high and very high levels of intrigue. If the victim is Dull the assassin also gets an advantage.
And what influences the failure of the murder? The assassin being known as a murderer or a failed murderer is a great liability – ah, the inconveniences of fame! – low values of Intrigue for the murderer, the victim suspecting or alerted to the act, the victim being Shrewd, Elusive Shadow, having Intrigue focus, having high and very high levels of Intrigue and high and very high levels of Realm Intrigue ( at scores 30, 35, 40 and 45).
And now the only part that remains to be calculated is if the assassination was clean or dirty, dirty meaning the character was discovered even if successful. I am not going to post here what influences but it’s not much different from the variables considered earlier.
Is it the end? No it is not. After all, you may end up in the receiving end of a murder attempt... and, to make things interesting and tickling your Paranoid side, it may be a fake murder attempt. Contrary to the AI, the player has always the chance to call the guards at the onset of the assassination. Calling the guards has a great effect: nullifies the murder attempt! However, not knowing if the attempt was a real or a fake one, the player never knows what to expect...and if your vassal is humiliated for nothing, consequences to the player character will be significant (Paranoid trait, Craven Trait, significant loss of prestige, hit with the person wrongly accused of attempted murder, etc...).
When you read the text of a murder attempt your decision to call the guards should be considered using your stats and traits as a victim. You will also get to know if you are alerted or suspicious of the attempt to help in your decision.
So, next Friday you are going to be able to actually do the thing yourselves instead of relying in complex and unreliable plots! Or perhaps you will indulge in both as they can be useful in each own circumstances...
For now consider these three pictures with an unsuccessful attempt:
If the victim is a player, it will have the option to call the guards and stop the assassination attempt. The peoblem is that this event might also happen without an assassination attempt and in that case, calling the guards has harsh penalties. In the image above, and from the first option, you can see the victim is alerted for the danger, which gives a penalty for the actual assassination attempt
As you can see, the assassination was not successful and the assassin ended up being wounded, even if the victim ended up being unaware of the attempt.
Right now there are two ways to perform an assassination: through a plot and through a targeted decision, both addressing an order from the ruler to kill the target. You can also turn down the diplomatic decision Assassination through a game rule, making it “Plots Only”.
What I have been coding over the past weeks is a system to invite the player to play with the rule of using only plots to assassinate by implementing a close and personal way of murdering characters.
What does this comprise? It means a random setting is created, the target will have opportunity to get suspicious about the assassin, or even alerted, that in turn conditions the action of murdering the target... which in itself can be “clean” (meaning it was absolutely successful) or “dirty” (meaning the assassination was successful but the target got aware of the assassin doing the deed and raised the alarm). Finally, if the victim survives and is aware of the attempt – there is also the chance that the unsuccessful attempt goes undetected by the victim – an immediate attempt on the murderer’s life is done. This act of revenge, like everything else, depends on the traits of the victim.
So, suppose I am getting your attention and you want to be a successful murderer. What stats, traits and focus give you a nice bonus to go unnoticed in your attempt? Basically, the stakes are favouring you from the start. You plan the occasion of the murder, so you make sure the victim is not aware of the murder attempt. But if the victim is Trustful you’ll get a bonus.
Now, what influences the probability the victim getting suspicious? In the positives, if the victim is an Assassin (a new lifestyle trait based on the successful attempts you did with this targeted decision), a Master Schemer, if the victim is focusing on intrigue, if the victim is paranoid (unless you are an accomplished killer – tested later on - it’s usually bad karma to attempt to murder paranoid characters), if the victim is Cynical, if he has an intrigue education trait, if he is a Genius, Quick, Shrewd, if he has high levels in Intrigue, Diplomacy, Martial and Learning – from the mod rules, remember that high level in Dark Ages means a score of 12 – if he has very high levels – 15, 18 and 21 – in Intrigue and if the murderer is Honest. On the other hand, what reduces the chances of the victim getting suspicious is for the murderer to have the Deceitful trait.
And what influences the probability the victim getting alerted (a higher state than being suspicious and also influent later on)? It’s not very different from the suspicious level of alertness but lets enumerate the positives in the knowledge this alert state has the lowest base probabilities of happening (5%): Victim being Genius, Quick, Shrewd, Assassin, Master Schemer, focus in Intrigue, Paranoid, Cynical, Elusive Shadow, high levels of Intrigue, Learning, Martial and Diplomacy, very high levels of Intrigue, the murderer being Honest. If the murder is Deceitful the chances of the victim getting alerted are reduced.
So, it remains to be written that different weights are attributed to different variables. For the safety of the victim, it’s much more important being Paranoid or Genius than being Cynical, for instance.
At this point, we know if the victim was unaware, suspicious or alerted. But to the prospective murderer, not to worry. Even with an alerted victim the mission can be a major success... it’s only harder.
So, what influences the success of the murder? For a successful murder, murderer traits Assassin, Schemer, Cruel, Elusive Shadow and high and very high levels of intrigue. If the victim is Dull the assassin also gets an advantage.
And what influences the failure of the murder? The assassin being known as a murderer or a failed murderer is a great liability – ah, the inconveniences of fame! – low values of Intrigue for the murderer, the victim suspecting or alerted to the act, the victim being Shrewd, Elusive Shadow, having Intrigue focus, having high and very high levels of Intrigue and high and very high levels of Realm Intrigue ( at scores 30, 35, 40 and 45).
And now the only part that remains to be calculated is if the assassination was clean or dirty, dirty meaning the character was discovered even if successful. I am not going to post here what influences but it’s not much different from the variables considered earlier.
Is it the end? No it is not. After all, you may end up in the receiving end of a murder attempt... and, to make things interesting and tickling your Paranoid side, it may be a fake murder attempt. Contrary to the AI, the player has always the chance to call the guards at the onset of the assassination. Calling the guards has a great effect: nullifies the murder attempt! However, not knowing if the attempt was a real or a fake one, the player never knows what to expect...and if your vassal is humiliated for nothing, consequences to the player character will be significant (Paranoid trait, Craven Trait, significant loss of prestige, hit with the person wrongly accused of attempted murder, etc...).
When you read the text of a murder attempt your decision to call the guards should be considered using your stats and traits as a victim. You will also get to know if you are alerted or suspicious of the attempt to help in your decision.
So, next Friday you are going to be able to actually do the thing yourselves instead of relying in complex and unreliable plots! Or perhaps you will indulge in both as they can be useful in each own circumstances...
For now consider these three pictures with an unsuccessful attempt:
If the victim is a player, it will have the option to call the guards and stop the assassination attempt. The peoblem is that this event might also happen without an assassination attempt and in that case, calling the guards has harsh penalties. In the image above, and from the first option, you can see the victim is alerted for the danger, which gives a penalty for the actual assassination attempt
As you can see, the assassination was not successful and the assassin ended up being wounded, even if the victim ended up being unaware of the attempt.