Followers for Upper Level Assassins	Spying	Thieves and Assassins Setting Traps	Assassination Experience Points	Assassins' Use of Poison
Spies	I.D.2. Assassin's Table for Assassinations	-	Rogue's Gallery: Assassins	L2 The Assassin's Knot
Character Classes	-	-	-	PH

SUMMARY: THE ASSASSIN
 

Assassins are a sub-class of thieves,
and they have the functions of the latter as well as their own.
Thus, to be an assassin, a character must have a minimum STR of 12, an intel of 11 or more,
and a dexterity score of not less than 12.
Assassins do not gain any xperience bonuses for having ^high^ ability scores.

ASSASSINS (THIEVES) TABLE

Experience Points	Experience Level	6-Sided Dice  for Accumulated Experience Points	WP	NWP	Level Title	THACO /  Backstab	Saves	NPC XP Value
----	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
----	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0 ---- 1,500	1	1	3	2	Bravo (Apprentice)	20 (n), x2	d13, p12, r14, b16, s15	-
1,501 ---- 3,000	2	2	^	^	Rutterkin {Rutterkin}	20 (n), x2	d13, p12, r14, b16, s15	-
3,001 ---- 6,000	3	3	^	^	Waghalter*- <>	20 (n), x2	d13, p12, r14, b16, s15	241 (T2)
6,000 ---- 12,000	4: May recruit assassins  as henchmen	4	^	^	Murderer	20 (n), x2	d13, p12, r14, b16, s15	-
12,001 ---- 25,000	5	5	4	3	Thug <Thug*>	19, x3	d12, p11, r12, b15, s13	-
25,001 ---- 50,000	6	6	^	^	Killer	19, x3	d12, p11, r12, b15, s13	-
50,001 ---- 100,000	7	7	^	^	Cutthroat	19, x3	d12, p11, r12, b15, s13	1087 (T1)
100,001 ---- 200,000	8: May recruit thieves  as henchmen	8	^	^	Executioner	19, x3	d12, p11, r12, b15, s13	-
200,001 ---- 300,000	9	9	5	4	Assassin (Master Assassin - OSRIC)	16, x4	d11, p10, r10, b14, s11	-
300,001 ---- 425,000	10	10	^	^	Expert Assassin	16, x4	d11, p10, r10, b14, s11	-
425,001 ---- 575,000	11	11	^	^	Senior Assassin	16, x4	d11, p10, r10, b14, s11	-
575,001 ---- 750,000	12: May recruit henchmen  of any class	12	^	^	Chief Assassin	16, x4	d11, p10, r10, b14, s11	-
750,001 ---- 1,000,000	13	13	6	5	Prime Assassin <Advancement>	14, x5	d10, p9, r8, b13, s9	-
1,000,001 ---- 1,500,000	14	14	^	^	Guildmaster Assassin <Advancement>	14, x5	d10, p9, r8, b13, s9	-
1,500,001 ---- and Over	15	15	^	^	Grandfather of Assassins	14, x5	d10, p9, r8, b13, s9	-
-	16	16	^	^	Iuz	14, x5	d10, p9, r8, b13, s9	-

ALIGNMENT
Just as do thieves, assassins have six-sided dice (d6) for determining the number of hit points (q.v.) they can sustain. <e>
Assassins are evil in alignment
(perforce, as the killing of humans and other intelligent life forms for the purpose of profit is basically held to be the antithesis of weal).
They can, of course, be neutral as regards lawful && CE. <UA: revise>
As mentioned above, assassins have thieving capabilities and their own ability functions.
Because they can use any sort of shield and weapon, they are generally superior to thieves in combat.


 

Q: My group allows only neutral
characters. One of the players now
wants to run an assassin, since nonevil
assassins are now permitted
according to the official update published
in DRAGON® Magazine #103.
How would I go about introducing
such a character into an existing
campaign?

A: Neutral and even good-aligned assassins
are now possible according to the update.
However, assassins must begin their careers
as evil characters, presumably because
to be interested in learning how to
kill for money is deemed an evil outlook.
Once started, however, they can change
alignment to neutral, or even good.
Despite the rules expansion, however,
non-evil assassins are not recommended.
Neutral assassins could certainly be handled
with a mature group of players, but
good assassins are too contradictory a
concept for general USE. Such a character
might make an interesting NPC, championing
a king's cause from the shadows, but it
would be a difficult thing to rationalize.

Like the example of James Bond used in
the update article (DRAGON issue #103), a
good assassin might be the sort of character
who doesn't set off to kill, but may end
up having to do so for the greater good.
Note, however, that the vast majority of
assassins are evil, and their guilds are
most often likewise dedicated to the evil
cause. Therefore, good-aligned assassins
are frequently individuals who take the
route of self-training, as guild training may
be difficult to obtain. Likewise, even neutral
characters might have difficulty dealing
with an assassins' guild for training.
(117.47)
 

ASSASSIN'S GUILDS
An assassin character need not be a member of the Assassins Guild of the town || city he or she dwells in,
but all non-player assassin characters are members of such guilds.
There is one such guild in most towns && cities, and each controls an area of from 10 to 100 miles radius around the headquarters town or city.
Any assassin discovered in a guild AREA who is not a member of the local Assassins Guild will be invited to join,
thus coming under the authority && command of the Guildmaster Assassin.
The assassin character need not join, but he or she will be under sentence of death if the character performs on assassination while not a guild member.
Further discussion of Assassins' Guilds is given later.

The primary function of assassins is killing.

* Poison: They may use poison --
ingested or insinuated by weapon.
Poison ingested must be put into the food or drink,
and the character performing this action must detail exactly when, where, and how the poisoning will be done.
The DM will then adjudicate the action.
Poisoned weapons (see POISON) used run the risk of being noticed by others.
All non-assassins within 10' of the bared weapon have a 10% cumulative chance each per melee round (q.v.) of noting the poison and attacking the poison-using assassin and/or calling for the city watch.
    (There is a 20% [1-20] chance for attacking the assassin,
    a 50% [21-70] chance for calling for the watch,
    and a 30% [71-00] chance for shouting for the watch and then attacking the assassin.)
<#-#>
<10+10+10+10?>
<10+20+30?>

Example: An assassin draws a dagger with a poisoned blade.
The first melee round it can be seen by two persons.
The percentile dice are rolled for each, but unless 10 or less is rolled, they do not notice the venom.
The next melee round the two first seeing the weapon have a 20% chance of noticing the poison,
and any others seeing it for the first time have but a 10% chance.
If any onlooker does see the poison, percentile dice are rolled:
a score of 01 to 20 indicates attack, 21 to 70 indicates a hue and cry for the watch, and 71-00 indicates both.

* Back Stab: Assassins attack on the same combat tables as thieves do, including back stabbing.

TheDungeonDelver wrote:
Gary: Backstab rule in 1e - meant to be melee only, or can it work ranged (e.g., "sniper fire")?

Not for a Thief--hand-weapon strike only in such case.
For an Assassin i would allow it.

* Assassinate:

However, if they surprise (q.v.) a victim,
they may attack on the ASSASSINATION TABLE.
This gives a roughly 50% chance of immediately killing the victim;
and if this fails, normal damage according to weapon type and strength ability modifiers still accrues to the victim.
Thus, if a poisoned weapon is used, the victim must also make the save vs. poison or die.
The assassin decides which attack mode he or she will use: assassination, back stabbing, or normal melee combat.

Q: Can thieves back-stab or assassins
assassinate with missile weapons?

A: Thieves cannot use missile weapons for
back-stabbing attacks, but assassins apparently
can do so (going by a strict rules
interpretation), though this is not recommended.
(139.67)

Primary abilities of assassins which enhance their function are those of being able to speak alignment languages and being able to disguise,
as follows:
 

1. * Languages (9th): Assassins with intelligence of 15 or more are able to learn an alignment tongue (even those special languages of druids and thieves).
        This ability is gained at 9th level (Assassin) and with each advance in experience level thereafter.
        The maximum number of alignment languages which can be spoken by an assassin is four -- one for each point of  intelligence above 14,
        i.e. one at 15, two at 16, three ot 17, and four at 18 intelligence.
        Note: An assassin would have to be of 12th level (Chief Assassin) and have 18 intelligence to be able to speak four alignment languages.
        The assassin may select from the following languages:

    CHAOTIC EVIL                          NEUTRAL EVIL
            CHAOTIC GOOD                       NEUTRAL GOOD
            CHAOTIC NEUTRALITY              NEUTRALITY
            LAWFUL EVIL                           DRUIDIC
            LAWFUL GOOD                         THIEVES CANT
            LAWFUL NEUTRALITY

    2. * Disguise can be donned in order to gain the opportunity to poison or surprise a victim -- or for other reasons.

        The assassin can disguise himself or herself so as to appear to be a human, semi-human, or humanoid creature of either sex.
        Disguise can lower height by two or three inches, or raise it by up to four or five inches.
        It can make the assassin look slimmer or appear much heavier.
        Disguise can make the assassin appear to be virtually any class of character, a simple pilgrim, a merchant, etc.
        There is a chance, however, that the victim, or one of his or her henchmen or guards, will notice the disguise.
        There is a base chance of 2% per day of a disguised assassin being spotted.
        This chance goes upwards by 2% if the assassin is posing as another class, another race, and/or the opposite sex (maximum of 8%
        chance).
        Each concerned party (victim, henchmen, bodyguards) in proximity to the assassin will be checked for,
        immediately upon meeting the disguised assassin and each 24 hour period thereafter.
       The chance for spotting a disguised assassin goes downward by 1% for each point below 24 of combined intelligence and wisdom of the
        observer concerned,
        i.e. a victim with an intelligence and wisdom combined total of 20
        has reduced his or her chances of spotting the disguised assassin by 4%.
        The reverse is also true; intelligence and wisdom above a combined total of 30 increase the chance of detection by 1% per point.
        Note: True seeing <add /true sight> or a wand of enemy detection will discover an assassin,
        as will detect evil, or know alignment in some cases.
        <age, set to 1-10>
        <appearance, set to 1-10>

Spy: The secondary function of the assassin is spying.
This mission can be coupled with the stealing of some item.

Tertiary functions of assassins are the same as thieves.
They have all abilities and functions of thieves; but, except for back stabbing,
assassins perform thieving at two levels below their assassin level,
i.e. a 3rd level assassin has the thieving abilities of a 1st level thief, a 4th level assassin the abilities of a 2nd level thief, etc.

THIEF FUNCTION TABLE (PLUS RACIAL ADJUSTMENTS)
    Base Chance to

Level of the Assassin	Backstab	Pick Pockets  [17: 05, 18: 10]	Open Locks  [16: 5, 17: 10, 18: 15]	Find/Remove Traps  [18: 5]	Set Traps  [18: 5]	Move Silently [17: 05, 18: 10]	Hide in Shadows	Hear Noise	Climb Walls	Read Languages
1	x2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	x2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	x2	30%	25%	20%	20%	15%	10%	10%	85%	-
4	x2	35%	29%	25%	25%	21%	15%	10%	86%	-
5	x3	40%	33%	30%	30%	27%	20%	15%	87%	-
6	x3	45%	37%	35%	35%	33%	25%	15%	88%	20%
7	x3	50%	42%	40%	40%	40%	31%	20%	90%	25%
8	x3	55%	47%	45%	45%	47%	37%	20%	92%	30%
9	x4	60%	52%	50%	50%	55%	43%	25%	94%	35%
10	x4	65%	57%	55%	55%	62%	49%	25%	96%	40%
11	x4	70%	62%	60%	60%	70%	56%	30%	98%	45%
12	x4	80%	67%	65%	65%	78%	63%	30%	99%	50%
13	x5	90%	72%	70%	70%	86%	70%	35%	99.1%	55%
14	x5	100%	77%	75%	75%	94%	77%	35%	99.2%	60%
15	x5	105%	82%	80%	80%	99%	85%	40%	99.3%	65%
-		-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-
Race of the Thief		-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-
Dwarf	-	-	+10%	+15%	+15%	-	-	-	-10%	-5%
Elf	-	+5%	-5%	-	-	+5%	+10%	+5%	-	-
Gnome	-	-	+5%	+10%	+10%	+5%	+5%	+10%	-15%	-
Half-Elf	-	+10%	-	-	-	-	+5%	-	-	-
Halfling	-	+5%	+5%	+5%	+5%	+10%	+15%	+5%	-15%	-5%
Half-Orc	-	-5%	+5%	+5%	+5%	-	-	+5%	+5%	-10%

* Read Scrolls (12th): When an assassin reaches 12th level, he or she
has received sufficient training to cast spells from an arcane scroll (magic-user or illusionist).
- OSRIC
(Note: This should be considered to function exactly the same as the thief ability).
 

Performing an assassination will gain experience points for the character -awarded for both the fee paid and the level of the victim. These awards
are determined by the referee on the basis of a formula given in
AD&D, DMG.
Typical fees paid (in gold pieces) for assassination are:

MINIMUM FEES FOR ASSASSINATION

Level of Victim

Level  of Assassin	0	1-2	3-4	5-6	7-9	10-12	13-15	16+
1	50	100	150	200	250	-	-	-
2	60	120	175	250	300	350	-	-
3	75	150	225	300	400	500	-	-
4	100	200	300	450	600	750	1000	-
5	150	300	450	700	900	1100	1300	1500
6	250	500	750	1000	1300	1600	2000	2500
7	400	800	1200	1600	2000	2500	3500	4500
8	600	1200	1800	2400	3000	3750	5000	7500
9	850	1700	2600	3500	4400	6000	7500	10,000
10	1200	2400	3600	4800	6000	8000	10,000	15,000
11	1700	3500	5100	7000	9000	12,000	15,000	20,000
12	2500	5000	7500	10,000	13,000	17,500	20,000	25,000
13	3500	7000	11,000	15,000	19,000	25,000	32,500	40,000
14	5000	10,000	15,000	20,000	27,500	35,000	45,000	60,000
15	10,000	20,000	35,000	50,000	75,000	100,000	150,000	250,000
16	20,000	40,000	70,000	100,000	150,000	200,000	300,000	500,000

* Important, popular, &&/II noble victims will be considered as being above their actual level with respect to fee.
For example, an elder of a town who is generous and just (thus popular) might be only 4th level, but for purposes of payment for assassination the character would be considered at three times actual level.

An assassin character cannot have any hirelings until he or she attains 4th level; at that time lower level assassins may be taken into service. <henchmen>
Upon attaining 8th level, the character may also include thieves amongst his or her hirelings. <henchmen>
Upon attaining 12th level, the character may hire any class desired. <hench>
Of course, only neutral or evil characters will serve an assassin.
The total number of henchmen is that dictated by the character's charisma score.
"Followers" are also possible, but these come only at the two uppermost levels of the assassin class.
<hirelings should prob. be corrected to henchmen, in this pp>

Advancement: Note that duplicity, trickery, ambush, and all forms of treachery are considered as fair by assassins.
A higher level character can accept a challenge and then have the challenger slain by archers, for instance.

13th, Advancement:
In order for an assassin character to gain experience levels above the 13th (Prime Assassin),
he or she must have the requisite experience points <XP> and then either assassinate the local Guildmaster Assassin (14th level) or
challenge him or her to a duel to the death.

14th (Assassin's Guilds, Guildmaster Assassin):
As Guildmaster (or Guildmistress) Assassin, a character will have a body of guild members which numbers between 7-28.
Upon change of leadership it is 75% likely that each guild member will leave the area.
Thus, it will be necessary far the new Guildmaster to allow new members into the guild.
These new assassins will all be 1st level and must be worked up in experience levels.
The maximum number of such "followers" of the local guild will be set by your referee.
They are in addition to normal henchmen.
Note that guild members are loyal only to strength, power, and profit.

The headquarters of a guild is always within a large town or big city.
It must not be a noticeable fortress or an ostentatious place.
It is typically a warehouse or other nondescript structure, with safeguards and traps added.
This avoids attention and unwanted notoriety.
All expenses of maintaining the guild and its members -- excluding the Guildmaster --
are assumed to be fully paid for by normal guild activities.
Any improvements, changes, the expenses of the leader, and all other special costs must be borne by the Guildmaster Assassin.

14th, Advancement:
Likewise, a 14th level player character assassin can journey to the place where the Grandfather of Assassins
(15th level) has his or her headquarters and slay him or her by assassination or in a duel.
<make a note about H2>

15th (The Grandfather of Assassins):
The headquarters of the Grandfather of Assassins can be virtually
anywhere and of any form - cavern, castle, monastery, palace, temple,
you name it. However, if it is a large and obvious place, the headquarters
must be located well away from all communities - such as in the midst of
a murky woods, a dismal marsh or fen, a lonely moor, a deserted island, a
remate coast, or far into forsaken hills or atop a mountain. Upon attaining
the headship of all assassins, the new Grandfather or Grandmother must
pay all remaining followers of the former head 1000 gold pieces for each
of their experience levels, destroy the old headquarters, and construct a
new one somewhere else.

Turin Deathstalker is the Grandfather of Assassins in the World of Greyhawk.
Grenell, ruler of the North Province, is the Grandfather of Assassins in the World of Greyhawk.

The Morrigan is the Grandmother of Assassins. <o'>

Iuz is a 16th level assassin.
<>

<GHA, 0 level rules : 25 SP (Study Points) to achieve 1st level (5 per ability)>

CLASS ABILITIES

0. Backstab	0. Assassinate	0. Disguise	0. Spy	0. Set Traps
3. Pick Pockets	3. Open Locks	3. Find/Remove Traps	3. Move Silently	3. Hide in Shadows
3. Hear Noise	3. Climb Walls	-	-	-
6. Read Languages	-	-	-	-
9. [Language?]	-	-	-	-

<0 = you must master these skills, in order to attain 0 level
12 or less = you can try to use any of these skills at 0 level>

<note: i chose 5 SP (Study Points) arbitrarily. assassins are left of the table at GHA.119>

SemajTheSilent wrote:
Hello again, Gary.

This may have been covered before, but I don't recall if it ever was.

A lively discussion has been going on between a few of us. In the transition from OD&D to AD&D, the assassin made an alignment shift from Neutral to any evil alignment.

The PHB alludes to the assassin being motivated by profit for his activities, therefore he must be evil. Yet there are several scenarios in which an assassin may use his skills for reasons other than financial gain...for instance, the half-orc cleric/assassin as a priest of some sick cult, or the Kuo-Toan C/As of D2.

It has been suggested that perhaps you drew inspiration from Leiber's strongarms of the thieves guild in your design of the assassin PC class. True or no?
 

Not true. I used historical fact and a whole lot of authored fistion on the subject to devise what I deemed to be an appropriate archetypical class for OAD&D, the Assassin.
 

Quote:
Secondly, and I understand if you don't remember, was one reason for assigning evil status to assassins due to fantasy-societal perceptions of the assassin as evil, or was your viewpoint that an assassin was evil by his own nature no matter what his motivations for coldblooded killing?
 

A gnarly topic to be sure, but I'm curious as to your answer.

Your stated assumption regarding the very act of assassination as a means of livelihood being inherantly evil is correct. An assassin is likely Neutral Evil, but never not evil.

Cheers,
Gary
 

meomwt wrote:
Hello Gary,

My wife always queries why Assassins have to be 'evil.' Her argument is that there are those with the same abilities who kill not for personal gain, but in the name of a cause (e.g. covert operatives who kill enemies of the state). They would qualify as assassins in all but alignment, and that could be considered subjective, based on the viewpoint of the person assessing the killing.

Sorry to be getting philosophical here, but my wife is that kind of role-player. 
 

She answers her own question by phrasing it as you note, "not for personal gain."
Soldiers are not assassins, nor is someone defending against aggression.
A hunter is not an assassin, unless they hunt humans.

Murder in cold blood for payment is unquestionably Evil.

Cheers,
Gary
 

Asrogoth wrote:
To follow up with this post -- and to query as to something I've wondered....

Where does the professional soldier/governmental assassin (i.e. James Bond type) fit it here?
 

As a professional soldier, one is likely to be Neutral.
As a givernment agent, one is likely to be the same alignment as the government for which he or she works.

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
And going back to one of those dark memories from oAD&D, might I trouble you about the assassin?

It's one of those things that I've always seen debate on amongst 1E people: does the assassination ability work against any old monster/opponent the assassin happens to surprise in a dungeon or elsewhere, or is it only usable against the poor innocent soul that the assassin has been hired to kill?

Or is it somewhere in between? Something that requires planning, or something that can be done on the spur of the moment?
 

Cheers!
As you suggest in closing, the assassin character was meant to have some limitation, the need for planning the kill. Of course, a totally unexpecting victim seen and assessed needs little in the way of thought and preparation...

Cheers, Merric,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barak
Well yes but on.. Hey! Wait a minute! You are the one who said assassin and thief would require quite an extensive bit of roleplaying, not me! You trickster you.

Heh,

Well, caught with my hand in the cookie jar playing devil's advocate

Seriously, though, the difficulty in roleplay would most likely arise from the player's mindset, not in finding a reasonable explanation for the character to be actively religious.

Speaking of the assassin PC, the Thug would likely get into hot water by preaching Kali abroad, eh? <EEK!>

cheers,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barak
Given the stuff they were on... Would they care? <cool>

thugs worshipped Kali, didn't necessarily ue any drugs, but strangled, robbed, broke the dead victims' bones to make the bodies compact, then buried them under the dirt tracks that were commin in India then.
The deaths were to honor the goddess...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuzenbach
Gary,

In 1E, Assassins could use shields while Thieves could not. Given the crossover of Thief abilities to the Assassin class (climb walls, hide in shadows, move silently, etc.), what was your justification for this allowance? Also, I always found this discrepancy a bit odd for all those Assassins wishing to remain "anonymous" or incognito. "Hmmmm. He's got leather armour, any weapon of his choice, and a shield. He's not a Ranger, he's an Assassin!"<paranoid> <devious>

Speaking of metagaming....what PC will deduce that an assassin is that because of his equipment? Now on to something meaningful :\

Of course an assassin could not perform thief activities when equipped with a shield, but otherwise in regards their assassinations the shield is not going to prevent success.

Finally, do keep in mind that most of the strictures regarding classes was to make them separate and unique, each a distinct choice that had advantages and drawbacks for a game.

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by tx7321
Dear Gary,

Do you recall how you had intended the assassination to work for an assassin? Did you intend the rules to say that the assassin always hits (as long as surprise is won), and that normal damage is taken even if the assassination attempt fails? Or did you mean to say the assassin must hit by rolling before he could attempt to assassinate?

Also, when an assassin wins surprise, does he only get 1 segment of surprise to attempt to assassinate, or all the segments he wins (ex. an assassin wins 3 segs. of surprise on a target, would he get only 1 of those 3 to attempt to assassinate, and attack normally for the other 2, get only 1 attack for that sequence of surprises, or something different).

Also, can an assassination be conducted using a missile attack (as long as the assassin wins surprise)?

I have read some who claim that the assassination attempt was meant to be a "plan" handed to the DM that is rolled for (as long as the plan is sound). A single role that shows if the overall plan worked (ex. the plan to hide above in a tree that overhangs a road, as a passing nobel rides by, drop down from above attacking with a dagger to assassinate. This would be considered a single assassination attempt, rather then a role to climb, a role to HIS, a role to see if the nobel happens to be on the wrong side of the road etc.).

Thanks for taking the time to answer such questions. Keep well!
Tx7321

The "plan" method is closest to the intent of how an assassin operates. If the attempt is against an NPC, the player whose character is the assassin can explain aloud to the DM what his character is doing. The chance for a success in the plan is the percentage given. If a spur of the moment attempt is made, surprise must be gained for an attempt to have a change of success, Failure to succeed, or gain surprise, means that damage is normal for the weapon being used.

Surprise for an assassination attempt is the number of segments, up to three, needed to make the atempt,

That's the best of my recollection.

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey
Thanks, Gary. The possibility you mentioned quoted above is the origin of mind flayers on my science-fantasy campaign world.

One more question: Do you remember who invented the assassin character class? It first appears in the Blackmoor supplement, but I know that not everything in it was authored by Dave Arneson.

In point of fact the Assassin class was something I devised as a spin-off of the Thief class.
Darned if I recall how much, if any, polishing Tim Kask did when he incirporated it into the Blackmoor manuscript he put together so as to get that D&D supplement into shape for publication.

Tim has a Q&A thread over on the Dragonsfoot boards, so you might want to query him.

Cheerio,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by khyron1144
Hey Gary,
I would be much delighted if you would tell me what you think of this entry from my blog:
http://greybeardsngrognards.blogspot...assassins.html

If you don't feel you have time to read the whole thing, I can summarize it thusly:
Properly played, paladins are more disruptive to party harmony than assassins.

Thanks for your time.
Ciao,
 

I can't believe I read the whoe essay... 

Actually, I enjoyed it and found it well-written and informative. I offer the followig comments:

Removing the Assassin from the game was as useful as KOing demons and devils.
As if those that objected to the game because of there being such monsters included would rush out and buy it, or even stop denouncing it, when such evil portions were excised from the game.

In a party of wholly Good aligned PCs the Paladin has to work at being disruptive. Many players with a Paladin PC seem to aim at being a thron in the flesh of the group.

The Assassin PC will generally have in mind "whacking" a fellow party member in order to gain the XPs from the hit and the good stuff that character possesses.

In short, both sorts of PCs can be detrimental to party harmony.

That said, the OAD&D game did not encourage backstabbing. It merely allowed characters to do that if it was their choice.
In the many years that I ran the GReyhawk campaign, there were few incidents of such behavior.
Most occurred when a group decided to create Evil PCs and adventure thus.
The several Paladins played, as well as two or three Assassins were no more disruptive that the greedy thieves 

Cheers,
Gary

<Arabic font, as in Holy SLAYER: ALQ2, Syria>

1. SUBCLASS = thief
2. SOCIAL CLASS MINIMUM = LLC (01: LLC)
3. ABILITY SCORE MINIMUMS
    STRENGTH = 12 (6d6)
    INTELLIGENCE = 11 (7d6)
    WISDOM = 6 (4d6)
    DEXTERITY = 12 (9d6)
    CONSTITUTION = 6 (8d6)
    CHARISMA = 3 (3d6)
    COMELINESS = 3 (5d6)
    PERCEPTION =
4. POSSIBLE RACES & MAX. LEVEL ATTAINABLE = dwarves (all: 9+), elves (all: 10+), gnomes (all: 8+), half-elves (all: 11), half-orcs (U), humans (15)
5. MULTI-CLASS POSSIBILITIES = CA, FA, MA
6. HIT DIE TYPE = d6
7. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF HIT DICE = 15
8. SPELL ABILITY = no (Thieves of 10th level or higher and assassins of 12th level or higher gain the ability to read M-U's (and illusionists') spells from scrolls). <>
9. ARMOR PERMITTED = any
10. SHIELD PERMITTED = yes (An assassin cannot use a shield during a melee round in which the character is engaged in the act of assassination.)
    Q: Why did Unearthed Arcana take
    shields away from assassins?
    A: Unearthed Arcana (page 13) is in error.
    Assassins may use shields but not during a
    melee round in which the character is
    engaged in the act of assassination.
    (139.67)
    Q: Why did Unearthed Arcana take
    shields away from assassins? It
    seems a high price to pay for the
    option of having a good alignment.
    A: Unearthed Arcana is in error. Assassins
    may use shields but not during a melee
    round in which the character is engaged
    in the act of assassination. The alignment
    expansion was not an error.
    (150.9)
11. WEAPONS PERMITTED = any
12. OIL PERMITTED = yes
13. POISON PERMITTED = yes
14. ALIGNMENT = any evil at start (may change alignment and retain class anytime after) <provide reference!>
15. STARTING MONEY = 20-120 gp
16. WEAPON PROFICIENCIES = 3, 1/4 levels (1st: 3, 5th: 4, 9th: 5, 14th: 6)
17. NON-PROFICIENCY PENALTY = -2
18. NON-WEAPON PROFICIENCIES = 2, 1/4 levels (1st: 2, 5th: 3, 9th: 4, 14th: 5)
19. STARTING AGE = dwarf (75 + 3d6: mature), elf (50 + 5d6), gnome (80 + 5d4), half-elf (22 + 3d8), half-orc (20 + 2d4), human (20 + 1d4: mature) <PH only>
20. COMBAT = T
21. SAVING THROWS = T
22. MAGIC ITEMS = T