Topic: Cost of assasination ?

[AbleKain]

The setting is Gryphon World,  place is the city of Tarahir.
How much would it cost to hire an Assassin of 3 lvl to kill an lesser elven lord (The lord being Sarok from stone of Seven souls adventure) ?

I know that it seems stupid to hire a lvl 3 assassin to kill a noble but I'm figuring it is a guild contract, and that the assassins guild sent out 2 lvl 3 assassins to take care of Sarok. However something failed and now they are acting as Saroks bodyguards (maybe he isn't as harmless as people think  ) . So now it's up to the fledgling Nightblade to set things right and take care of the traitors and if possible take care of Sarok (He won't be able to take on Sarok and if he's smart he gets it, if not he dies). But what do I tell him when he asks how much they "stole" from the guild ?

[markc]

  IMO the cost of the job is based on the level of the assassin, level of the person, the job of the persona and the importance of the person.
  On just how much to charge I do not have a good idea, sorry.


MDC

[AbleKain]

Yes I agree that the cost has to be calculated based on those criteria. But I know these and I still haven't got a clue

The level of the assassin is 3, the level of the target is unknown but they (the assassins guild) assume that he is of very low level (1-3) ,that's a faulty assumption however.The targets is a landowner of very little economical or political influence (again a faulty assumption).

Would the contract be worth 50sp,10gp or even 100gp ?

[pastaav]

I think it is horrible complicated question...for instance the cost must depend on the trouble the guild will get in if implicated in a failed attempt. Basically assassinations are only safe to do to people who are at the lowest social level. The level of the target is much less important than how money the authorities are expected to devote to catch the assassin. A level zero toddler that is a price is a very expensive target while a master warrior that is a outcast is probably affordable if the assassin think he can take the warrior in defenseless situation.

In general I think the best option is to work with the concept of alternate costs. How much would it take to achieve the goal in a different way than assassination?

Of course there is never a perfect match. The contract on the landowner might not be because he is a landowner, but you get a good idea about a persons worth by deciding what it takes another party to defeat him on his own turf. The actual assassination price will of course be much less, perhaps a tenth of this price unless it is expected the assassination will bring problem for the guild, then of course the price will climb rapidly.

[rdanhenry]

I would not use level at all. That's metagaming. The assassin's reputation or reliability would be a major factor if an independent operative. Within an organization, the assassin's rank within the organization would, along with the nature of the assignment, determine pay scale. As others have noted, the risk of both the assassination attempt itself and the retribution of the law (or of the victim's family/associates) are factors on the side of the victim. The price may also be higher or lower based on existing rivalries or cultural attitudes. (Half cost to kill a member of the guild of bounty hunters, hated by the assassins. Double costs to kill a woman.) In some cases, the mission might simply be refused: the assassin might be unwilling to kill children, or a figure might be sufficiently important that it could cause general instability if he were killed, something not desired by the guild. There are also client-based modifications to cost: long-time associates and repeat customers may get a discount, members of disliked or distrusted groups are likely to be charged more.

[DangerMan]

In general I think the best option is to work with the concept of alternate costs. How much would it take to achieve the goal in a different way than assassination?

Good point.

IMO you shoud first consider the supply and demand for assassins. How many assassins are there that would be willing and able to do the job? Then consider the alternate costs of having him killed. Last, when you've come up with some tentative price, make a dice roll to subtract or add to the price, as humans are irrational, and setting prices in an objective manner is an impssible endavour 

[AbleKain]

In general I think the best option is to work with the concept of alternate costs. How much would it take to achieve the goal in a different way than assassination?

Good point.

IMO you shoud first consider the supply and demand for assassins. How many assassins are there that would be willing and able to do the job? Then consider the alternate costs of having him killed. Last, when you've come up with some tentative price, make a dice roll to subtract or add to the price, as humans are irrational, and setting prices in an objective manner is an impssible endavour 

The supply part is easy, there are exactly:
Assassins: 195
Nightblades:  38
Thieves : 775
Rogues: 496
(this is of course all in my version of Tarahir,I used RoCo I City design and tweaked the numbers a bit, haven't figured out how many of them are in guilds yet though.)
The alternate cost of killing him is a bit difficult to calculate as he is to all appearances a low level noble but in reality he is a lvl 15+ Conjuror and the high priest of a Cult that worships the Celebdel E´lanya but of course the assassins guild doesn't know all this.

I'll think I'll just settle for 50gp this small issue is starting to give me a headache, but thank you all for you input(s)

[Fenrhyl Wulfson]

Simple question : how much is a worker's daily ages? Then extrapolates on this.

[yammahoper]

Simple question : how much is a worker's daily ages? Then extrapolates on this.

According to castle and ruins, a days wages equals 8cp poor.   12-20cp a day for "middle class".

[Nders]

With that many villainous characters about I would say that lives would be rather cheap - a few pieces of silver at most. If they get paid pr job that is and that is rather unlikely with that many agents available, assuming there is some manner of organisation or guild, as I gather from your initial question that there is, overseeing this kind of work.

[AbleKain]

Yes I was pretty amazed myself when I calculated the numbers, of course there wasn't any assassins on the underworld table, instead there would have been 233 Nightblades. I thought it was a bit over the top so I remade the most of them into assassins. The population of the city is 109000 but I agree there are still a lot of them.
But then I thought: Hey this could be really interesting lets go with this and see what happens

P.S Castles and ruins seems to be a good book to have, I'll probably have to get me one of those.

[yammahoper]

233 killers, sure.  Perhaps 3% of THOSE would be NightBlades.

OTOH, history shows life is cheap.  30 silver sold out a wanna be king with very real political power.  A murderous street thug would do the job for a handful of Bp, I'm sure.

[Fenrhyl Wulfson]

It depends on the law. In the law says you have to pay a wergeld when you directly or indirectly cause the death of someone, then you can expect the price of murder will be higher than the wergeld to pay.

In a society with slaves, the promise of liberty could be enough to have someone kill your foe. It was this way Sigbert, king of Austrasia, was killed by his rivals.

Whatever the case, the higher the mark is on the social ladder, the higher the pay. Expect to pay a week worth for a commoner and several years worth for a prince or a king.

[Right Wing Wacko]

OTOH, history shows life is cheap.  30 silver sold out a wanna be king with very real political power.

I don't want to derail the thread, but He wasn't a "wanna be" king, He was/is the real thing... and He wanted no political power.

You're right though, life is cheap... especially in that part of the world.

[markc]

 The thread has taken on a little bit of a religious tone and I hope by mentioning it here that I will nip it in the bud. IMO the main thing to remember is that not all religions share the same beliefs and that can lead to verbal conflicts.
 So if the topic could move on without any religious overtones that would prevent a moderator from stepping in a making a official comment or shutting down the thread.

Thanks and post on
MDC

[dutch206]

As an assassin, I would offer two tiers of service:

1)  The top tier would be "Dead beyond all hope of resurrection".

2)  The second tier would be "Dead but revivable".

Obviously, the top tier is going to be outrageously more expensive than the second tier.

[AbleKain]

As an assassin, I would offer two tiers of service:

1)  The top tier would be "Dead beyond all hope of resurrection".

2)  The second tier would be "Dead but revivable".

Obviously, the top tier is going to be outrageously more expensive than the second tier.

Hmm.... kind of like in the books about Vlad Taltos....me like 

[AbleKain]

Heh ! I solved the problem with all the assassins. I decided to make the city governed by a council of guildmasters. Every three years the guilds decides who they will send to the council. And since there are only 9 seats in the council and a lot more guilds there will be many who wants the places. And since I decided that the civilization is VERY decadent...well there we go, we need A LOT of assassins and bodyguards (who better to stop an assassin than an assassin ?)

I like my version of Tarahir, I'll be almost sorry when the Cyradon book comes and I'll have to "burn it down".... almost 

[Old Man]

As an assassin, I would offer two tiers of service:

1)  The top tier would be "Dead beyond all hope of resurrection".

2)  The second tier would be "Dead but revivable".

Obviously, the top tier is going to be outrageously more expensive than the second tier.

Hmm.... kind of like in the books about Vlad Taltos....me like 

LOL. I've used the same Vlad-style guidelines. Morganti (aka Dark Absolution equiv) being really really pricey (10x or more).

Cost-wise, one could adapt the old AD&D assassination price table...

Regards,
Old Man