The best knife is the unseen one…

The assassin, AKA the hitman, headhunter, iceman or any term similiar in any other language is a fairly universal concept. Powerful people have money, and with power comes resentment and hate. The assassin can fix those problems, namely enemies. The assassin is the modern day ninja, creeping from rooftop to rooftop to preform a ritualistic hit for a cabal (see the hunted and I don’t mean the new one). The assassin is the political killer who knocks off the competetion. The assassin can even be that shadowy man in black you hired to knock-off your ex-wife and save some alimony. Point is the assassin kills people for money, simple as that.

They say prostitution is the oldest profession, well then the Assassin is a close number 2. The word comes from arabic; the Hashishyn (I THINK its spelled correctly, any Arabs out there send me a line if its not) or the eaters of hashish were a sect of fanatical killers in the time of the crusades who hunted crusading europeans. They consumed hashish often, which was supposed to allow them to view the heaven they would achieve when they honorably died in battle. The crusaders mistakingly created ‘assassin’ out of ‘hashishyn’ and ever since it was come to mean a murderer who works for pay.

Today the assassin is present everywhere and none are safe from his cruel knife.

Symbols: dark clothing, masks, and subtle weapons, especially the dagger and the silenced pistol.

Taboos: the assassin must act professionally and refrain from using violence except when doing a hit or defending himself. Otherwise violent action is taboo as it puts the assassins reputation in jeprody as he gains the reputation as a mere violent killer and not a professional. The assassin also must not show remorse for those he slays.

Masks: virtually any that conceal the identity and are of a dark colour. Specifically the masks worn by the Ninja of ancient Japan have come to represent the image of an assassin to a large portion of society.

Channels:

1-50%- At this level the Assassin is subtle and shadowy. He can often slip by those who would stop others. This does not mean that authority figures would not let him pass or that he is not suspicious, merely that he knows the ways of the shadows and can bend light to his advantage. The gamemaster makes a avatar:assassin roll for the assassin everytime a security camera, guard, or someone else in a similiar position would normally stop and challenge the assassin. Should the check prove sucessful the guard or camera does not perceive the Assassin for a few seconds, allowing him to slip by. Note that this does not function if the Assassin intentionally announces his presence. Also do not inform the Assassin the result of this check, only reveal the consequences.

51-70%- At this level the Assassin is relentless and difficult to stop, he may swap avatar points for life points in the same way the dark hunter avatar can in one of his channels in one shots.

71-90%- At this point the avatar is highly tuned in to killing and understands the vital points of the human body. Once per contract an Assassin can opt to study a opponent not engaged in combat. For every round the victim is studied, up to a total of three rounds, the Assassin gets a +10% shift to his first combat action against the target, be it a struggle skill or a firearm skill. Note that at the end of the three rounds the Assassin must attack or lose the shift, but he may attack earlier at any time if he so wishes.

91%+- At this point the Assassin gains an innate tracking ability. When the Assassin signs a contract and is working a hit he innately knows the direction of his target. Nothing more, not which path will be the most effective to reahc the target, not where the target is, only what direction he is in. Thus if the Assassin was in Vancouver and the target was in Seattle he would know to go south, and if the target changed position the Assassin’s sense would too. Note that this affects only one target at a time and ends only when either the target is dead, the assassin is, or the contract is cancelled.