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[Furious Fish]

Kobolds are pretty much a joke now. The only time they ever steal anything is if you're foolish enough to leave anything of value outside, and even then that's hardly much of a loss.
So after a while they should send assassins. These shouldn't be too much of a threat at first, they should just hide inside your fortress and wait til they find a lone, unprotected dwarf, and strike, and then presumably get torn to pieces by war dogs soon afterwards. The main purpose of them should be to warn the player that eventually the kobolds will send master assassins, who go after nobles (maybe after the fortress gets a Baron?). These guys should be considerably more dangerous, with better Ambusher and Knife User skills, and should pose a considerable threat to the lives of your nobility, forcing the player to actually make an effort to defend them.

Yes, I know there are plenty of players out there who would be less than distraught to see one or two of their nobles stabbed to death, but it would still be a bit of an embarrassing cockup for your fortress, and would be an interesting challenge for the player.

[Tamren]

There is a flaw in your argument We already dispose of the nobles in any manner convenient the moment they go nuts or make an impossible demand. Adding kobold assassins just creates another "accident" that no one can pin on us!

Maybe once we get important nobles that actually do some work. The appointed nobles are usually from the founding 7 and by the time the assasins show up they would be multi legendaries. Assuming you keep em busy.

Now if they poisoned the food or something, THAT would be interesting.

[ January 28, 2008: Message edited by: Tamren ]

[Furious Fish]

Not everyone kills their nobles. Personally I do everything I can to defend them, even if they are currently annoying and useless.

[evktalo]

I think assassins are a good idea. The element of stealthy enemies sneaking into the fortress is neat and provides an incentive to develope your defenses in a certain way, which in itself gives character to the fortress designs. (Certainly I sometimes design to kidnapper paranoia.) More of types of lurkers sounds good to me, especially if the assassins would actually be deadly.

--Eino

[gurra_geban]

if dying nobles gave all dwarves in your fortress two unhappy thoughts for a really long time, then the assasins would be really dangerous... one of the unhappy thoughts could maybe be removed through a good funeral (like a golden coffin)

[umiman]

It's all fun and games until the assassin kills your triple legendary mayor. Then we raise the banner of "HAX" and "NERF"

[Fenrir]

quote:Originally posted by gurra_geban:
<STRONG>if dying nobles gave all dwarves in your fortress two unhappy thoughts for a really long time, then the assasins would be really dangerous... one of the unhappy thoughts could maybe be removed through a good funeral (like a golden coffin)</STRONG>

pfft. If anything the death of a noble would be celebrated. The unhappy thought would be from the lack of safety.

Urist McDwarf has been unhappy lately. He has witnessed an assassination lately. He is afraid the assassins will get him next.

...or something like that.

[BurnedToast]

Assassins are a really good idea, but I don't think it should be kobolds - kobolds seem to be unorganized and generally primitive. Goblins seem a better choice, but we already have goblin sieges and snatchers so maybe that's a bit much from one race? Elves don't really seem to be the type to assassinate either, I think the current elf 'siege' fits them pretty well...

Maybe humans could send assassins if you anger them too much? they could be sort of a midway point between kobolds and goblins - sneak almost (but not quite) as well as goblins, and avoid traps that the human diplomat has seen so sort of like kobolds. They would also be tougher in combat thanks to their size, and better equipped then a kobold. Even better, once wars and armies start going could be dwarf assassins - maybe disguised as a diplomat or trade representative.

In either case they could be sent in advance of a siege to sow confusion and remove leaders or maybe high level military members. Possibly also sent after a failed siege in an attempt to push over an already weakened fort?

would give the royal and fortress guard a new purpose, especially if they were better at spotting thieves/assassins then normal dwarves or normal military dwarves.

[McDoomhammer]

I wholeheartedly agree with this.  It would add a really neat element, make defense and vigilance more important, and give royal guards a use other than preventing Noble pissiness- there would be an incentive to make them skilled fighters rather than broken down wrecks of no further military use.  And I think kobolds are the race for it- sure, most of them are petty annoyances, but they could still have really devious bastards who are actually dangerous.  Love it.

[Bricktop]

I think Kobold assassins would be great. It basically means that you have to design your fortress to defend against real stealth threats.

Also, kobold assassins should be equipped with Obsidian Daggers, just for coolness :d

[John Johnston]

I'd love to see assassins from all and sundry, especially if they stood a real chance of knocking off the occasional top dwarf.  And just imagine if they carried flint and tinder with them, too...  

[evktalo]

Kobold Arsonists heading for the booze pile. Oh yeah.

--Eino

[Armok]

Why do everybody think kobolds are evil?  
They're not, they are valiant and brave and...

I like the idea of assassins, and of saboteurs that poison food/drink and light things on fire, maybe they could pull levers to.
Toady has stated that sometime [animal]men will have entities...

[Fishersalwaysdie]

Kobolds do stuff like knock on your door leaving a goat head on your doorstep and then steal your baby.
It sounds pretty much like someone who would assassinate other people.

[McDoomhammer]

Ooh, how about messing with seige engies too, if we're getting into saboteur territory?