Hi guys, today I've got an idea that I haven't really seen anybody else do around here, so I thought I'd take a stab!
Role Playing an Assassin
So what is an assassin? for the purposes of this guide I will be defining it as a character who kills other people stealthily. I know that this is technically not an assassin, in fact most of the dark brotherhood appear to prefer direct confrontation over stealth, but in my opinion if you want to kill people out in the open you're a warrior and should be treated as such. In this post I'm going to be discussing how to kill people with stealth, immersion, and maybe a little style ;) hopefully this will act as a guide of dos and don'ts when beginning your new assassin character, which should be applicable to almost all character motivations and alignments (With the exception of chaotic characters who frankly wouldn't care) so with that out of the way, let's jump right in!
So when considering my next target I like to think back to my english classes with the 5 Ws and the H: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How (In pretty colours):
Who? - Tuning in to your target
Who is your target? What kind of person are they? this is perhaps the most important as it will shape your entire mission. A simple farmer can be killed at night in thier bed. However most aristocrats will probably have guards and difficult locks.
A couple of examples are the difference between taking out a simple shop owner like Belethor in whiterun and trying to stealth your way into the jarl's quarters. if you want a real challenge rather than just Ropleplaying, 'accidentally' botch a couple of kills so you rack up a nice high bounty, and then you'll really start to feel a difficulty change depending on where you're trying to break into.
What? - Choosing between the sweet melodic solo or the bombastic orchestral symphony
This one is fairly obvious. What are you here to do? Kill someone. However this should still be considered. How much collateral is acceptable? Do you want an absolutely clean kill with only the target harmed? If not this very quickly opens up your horizons as to what you can do. Instead of sneaking into the blue palace, kill a solitude guard, take his clothes and walk in. Just remember to take his imperial sword and sheild as well, else you may get caught.
For example, let's talk about everybody's favourite first kill: Nazeem. If you kill him in the night his wife will invariably wake up and attack you. Of course, you can take her out leaving no witnesses but if your character is strict on this stuff then your only option is to run like the wind and hope nobody saw your face.
When? - Timing is everything in music and murder
What time is it? this is a good one to think about. Whilst it's certainly easier to kill someone in thier bed, if style is what you're after then why not plant a poisin in thier inventory in the market? this would make for an especially crafty kill with a frenzy poison. However if you still feel like striking in the dead of night then might I suggest arranging the body to appear like a suicide? This may take some time and patience but why not? it will make it easier to get away with and you have all night after all.
Where? - Analysing the acoustics
This one is also very obvious. Where is your target? A bandit at the end of a lair will make a much more difficult kill than a farmer. He will also attack on sight regardless of whether you're in fine clothes or full Dark Brotherhood garb.
Why? - Is that a motive, or a motif?
Now this is where we pick up the most style points. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to become an assassin. consider your character's motives for killing and what he gains from it. If you want revenge against the empire for some reason consider performing all your kills in an imperial officer's uniform (because irony). If you're just a hungry beggar who's angry at the world for what's happened to him and just wants to kill shit, then make sure to rob the target of all thier clothes and plant some ragged clothes or a roughskin tunic on them, as your roles in society change at the point of a dagger. Was your family killed at the hands of a pyromancer? then throw a few fireballs around, either as your primary tool or post mortem, as your symbol This is really where you can have some fun and throw away practicality for good old fashioned psyco stuff, enjoy it!
How? - Choosing your instrument
If you've ever opened up the skills menu in Skyrim you'll know just how many different ways there are to kill someone. A dagger in the night is just as effective as an arrow from nowhere, or if you're magically oriented then frenzy spells are great as well. Experiment, play around, find your character's style. This is very much linked to the 'Why?' section, as you'll want to consider your character's past when developing your style. For example, a gruff imperial scout turned special ops assassin is unlikely to be using frenzy spells and raised dead to do his bidding. Consider this when deciding on your 'How?'
Just before I wrap up here's some basic rules and regulations for stealthing around:
- No stealth armour (Mostly) - You're supposed to be a sneaky stabby, not a oh shit everybody knows exactly what I'm here to do befor i've even drawn my weapon stabby. as such, unless you're clearing out a bandit camp or don't want to be seen at all by anyone, wear contextually appropriate clothes or armour, which means no Dark brotherhood stuff, no theives guild or nightingale armour, and definitley nothing vampiric in nature!
- No massacres - I know I said you can decide how much collateral is allowed but I mean you're allowed to kill the guy's family, not you're allowed to kill the guy's family and everyone he's ever met and everyone he's ever seen and everyone they've ever seen and all the chickens!
- No fighting your way out - if you get caught then as tempting as it might be to take on everybody who's now attacking you and justify it as self defence, don't. If a guard tries an arrest you either need to pay for your crime, do your time, or be slippery as slime. (yes I know the rhyme was forced) get out of there and lose the police asap.
Hope you guys found this helpful or at least enjoyed laughing at how wrong I am, if not I'm sorry pleas don't publicly kill me and then massacre eveybody using your full nightingale armour for protection!
Hi guys, today I've got an idea that I haven't really seen anybody else do around here, so I thought I'd take a stab!
Role Playing an Assassin
So what is an assassin? for the purposes of this guide I will be defining it as a character who kills other people stealthily. I know that this is technically not an assassin, in fact most of the dark brotherhood appear to prefer direct confrontation over stealth, but in my opinion if you want to kill people out in the open you're a warrior and should be treated as such. In this post I'm going to be discussing how to kill people with stealth, immersion, and maybe a little style ;) hopefully this will act as a guide of dos and don'ts when beginning your new assassin character, which should be applicable to almost all character motivations and alignments (With the exception of chaotic characters who frankly wouldn't care) so with that out of the way, let's jump right in!
So when considering my next target I like to think back to my english classes with the 5 Ws and the H: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How (In pretty colours):
Who? - Tuning in to your target
Who is your target? What kind of person are they? this is perhaps the most important as it will shape your entire mission. A simple farmer can be killed at night in thier bed. However most aristocrats will probably have guards and difficult locks.
A couple of examples are the difference between taking out a simple shop owner like Belethor in whiterun and trying to stealth your way into the jarl's quarters. if you want a real challenge rather than just Ropleplaying, 'accidentally' botch a couple of kills so you rack up a nice high bounty, and then you'll really start to feel a difficulty change depending on where you're trying to break into.
What? - Choosing between the sweet melodic solo or the bombastic orchestral symphony
This one is fairly obvious. What are you here to do? Kill someone. However this should still be considered. How much collateral is acceptable? Do you want an absolutely clean kill with only the target harmed? If not this very quickly opens up your horizons as to what you can do. Instead of sneaking into the blue palace, kill a solitude guard, take his clothes and walk in. Just remember to take his imperial sword and sheild as well, else you may get caught.
For example, let's talk about everybody's favourite first kill: Nazeem. If you kill him in the night his wife will invariably wake up and attack you. Of course, you can take her out leaving no witnesses but if your character is strict on this stuff then your only option is to run like the wind and hope nobody saw your face.
When? - Timing is everything in music and murder
What time is it? this is a good one to think about. Whilst it's certainly easier to kill someone in thier bed, if style is what you're after then why not plant a poisin in thier inventory in the market? this would make for an especially crafty kill with a frenzy poison. However if you still feel like striking in the dead of night then might I suggest arranging the body to appear like a suicide? This may take some time and patience but why not? it will make it easier to get away with and you have all night after all.
Where? - Analysing the acoustics
This one is also very obvious. Where is your target? A bandit at the end of a lair will make a much more difficult kill than a farmer. He will also attack on sight regardless of whether you're in fine clothes or full Dark Brotherhood garb.
Why? - Is that a motive, or a motif?
Now this is where we pick up the most style points. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to become an assassin. consider your character's motives for killing and what he gains from it. If you want revenge against the empire for some reason consider performing all your kills in an imperial officer's uniform (because irony). If you're just a hungry beggar who's angry at the world for what's happened to him and just wants to kill shit, then make sure to rob the target of all thier clothes and plant some ragged clothes or a roughskin tunic on them, as your roles in society change at the point of a dagger. Was your family killed at the hands of a pyromancer? then throw a few fireballs around, either as your primary tool or post mortem, as your symbol This is really where you can have some fun and throw away practicality for good old fashioned psyco stuff, enjoy it!
How? - Choosing your instrument
If you've ever opened up the skills menu in Skyrim you'll know just how many different ways there are to kill someone. A dagger in the night is just as effective as an arrow from nowhere, or if you're magically oriented then frenzy spells are great as well. Experiment, play around, find your character's style. This is very much linked to the 'Why?' section, as you'll want to consider your character's past when developing your style. For example, a gruff imperial scout turned special ops assassin is unlikely to be using frenzy spells and raised dead to do his bidding. Consider this when deciding on your 'How?'
Just before I wrap up here's some basic rules and regulations for stealthing around:
- No stealth armour (Mostly) - You're supposed to be a sneaky stabby, not a oh shit everybody knows exactly what I'm here to do befor i've even drawn my weapon stabby. as such, unless you're clearing out a bandit camp or don't want to be seen at all by anyone, wear contextually appropriate clothes or armour, which means no Dark brotherhood stuff, no theives guild or nightingale armour, and definitley nothing vampiric in nature!
- No massacres - I know I said you can decide how much collateral is allowed but I mean you're allowed to kill the guy's family, not you're allowed to kill the guy's family and everyone he's ever met and everyone he's ever seen and everyone they've ever seen and all the chickens!
- No fighting your way out - if you get caught then as tempting as it might be to take on everybody who's now attacking you and justify it as self defence, don't. If a guard tries an arrest you either need to pay for your crime, do your time, or be slippery as slime. (yes I know the rhyme was forced) get out of there and lose the police asap.
Hope you guys found this helpful or at least enjoyed laughing at how wrong I am, if not I'm sorry pleas don't publicly kill me and then massacre eveybody using your full nightingale armour for protection!
