Goblin Squad Member
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So an assassination is a pretty rough form of death, and has some major consequences but it requires that the person being killed have a contract on them. – this part I get
I am curious what it is going to take to create a contract? Some folks already sound like they really want to be able to assassinate other people that get in the way during the deed so to speak. Or just want to assassinate people they have recently encountered.
Is there going to be a limit to the number on contracts a character can take on?
I may have missed that if there is, but it would seem to me that there needs to be 1 contract at a time. It also seems to me that in addition to only allowing one contract there has to be some sort of restriction on how long it takes to draw up a contract, or perhaps a time to implement(like you can accept this contract but for the first 3 hours killing the subject will not have the desired effect.. see below)
Ex: I see a character out in the wild in hex that I need something from, I log in an alt, create a contract to assassinate that character( so if I kill him he has major issues getting back at me right away). I would hope that to accept the contract you would have to meet , and accept the contract in a controlled setting. Otherwise I keep my stealthy character in the same area, run my alt near there accept the contract for said person hopefully kill him and ruin most of his day. This basically could turn what is meant to be a straight forward PvP moment into something that is a lot more than it is intended to be..
I certainly hope things like this are being taken into consideration..
A typical Eve skill for this sort of thing would be to have a skill that allows you to take more contracts at one time
ie level 1 = 1 contract
level 2 = 2 contracts etc
Multiple contracts makes sense to be able to take, imagine an assassin gets sent into the enemies city with a fistful of contracts to take down the oppositions leadership. He shouldn't have to infiltrate - assassinate one target - go home - get contract - infiltrate - assassinate one target
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Goblin Squad Member
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Perhaps a Blood Pledge from both the Contractor and the Assassin is inscribed on the Contract, forming an unbreakable bond between the two?
Not only does it really belt your alignment, but if the Contract is uncovered, the Blood Pledge within the Contract can be used to turn the tables on both Assassin and Contractor.
Holding the Contract forces the Assassin to either rescind their kill-order on the Target, or turns them back on their Contractor?
The Contractor is openly exposed as hiring an Assassin and might become shunned by both PCs and NPCs? Or perhaps suffer something worse?
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Goblin Squad Member
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I was thinking more a subtle flag that's not blatantly obvious that affects Contractor, Assassin and Target? IE, a Flag that only 'physically' appears after certain events happen.
So long as the Contract is in play, the Assassin cannot take a second Contract, but at the same point gains a 'focus' in regards to the target, gaining a slight bonus to damage depending upon how much they 'know' about the target?
And killing the Assassin will net you the Contract ... which can add to the fun!
IE, Bob the Assassin has taken a Contract from Player A to kill Player B.
He can't take on another contract until Player B dies by his hand (one way or another, attacking Player B but somebody else kills Player B in the scuffle won't void the contract.) but the longer he leaves the Contract, the greater his 'power' against the target will grow as he 'studies' the target.
Studying the target might mean making checks using Social Badges such as Bluff, Knowledge and physically 'studying' a character, which may be a 'Badge' that only veteran Assassins might learn. (Assuming that we don't have automatic Inspection skills and that our ability to adopt alter-egoes isn't just hot-air)
This means Assassinations aren't an instant "F you!", but a 'hunt' that takes several hours at least.
For the Contractor, so long as the Contract is in play, they cannot gain 'Good' Alignment points. In addition, the could be other in-game effects that affect them, dependant upon the alignment of the settlement they reside in and, if the existence of the Contract is discovered, they could suffer anything from imprisonment, execution, total confiscation of their property within the borders of the settlement or even banishment.
For the Target itself, dependant upon the Stealth and Social skills of the Assassin, they might be able to 'notice' somebody shadowing them without the player needing to actively do so, also dependant upon their own Detection and Social skills.
If the Target survives the first Assassination attempt, they then gain the 'Hunted' Flag, which makes the fact that somebody has put an Assassination Contract out on them plainly visible to PCs and NPCs alike.
This might make certain Settlements and NPCs avoid them like the plague, to avoid getting caught up in the mess, while other PCs and NPCs might flock to their side to defend them against the Assassin for pay and the chance to gain 'Good' Alignment points.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I love the idea of an assassination contract being made literally with coin as a material component, and the contract turns back into coin if it is in the possession of an assassin who completes the hit.
This.
I love this idea and would suggest that anyone killed and looted while holding an assassin contract receive the full negative consequences as if they were a failed assassin.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Perhaps a Blood Pledge from both the Contractor and the Assassin is inscribed on the Contract, forming an unbreakable bond between the two?
Not only does it really belt your alignment, but if the Contract is uncovered, the Blood Pledge within the Contract can be used to turn the tables on both Assassin and Contractor.
Holding the Contract forces the Assassin to either rescind their kill-order on the Target, or turns them back on their Contractor?
The Contractor is openly exposed as hiring an Assassin and might become shunned by both PCs and NPCs? Or perhaps suffer something worse?
I wouldn't want the contract itself to be some sort of magical binding agreement. The only thing that should hold me to my agreement is my word. If I say I'm going to kill someone for you, I'm going to do my damnedest to stick to it.
However, I wouldn't object to there also being a magical variant of contracts that could potentially be used and abused as you say. Just as long as it's not every contract.
I definitely think you should read the bit about disguises and such in this post.
https://goblinworks.com/blog/index.html#20130410
I was thinking more a subtle flag that's not blatantly obvious that affects Contractor, Assassin and Target? IE, a Flag that only 'physically' appears after certain events happen.
So long as the Contract is in play, the Assassin cannot take a second Contract, but at the same point gains a 'focus' in regards to the target, gaining a slight bonus to damage depending upon how much they 'know' about the target?
Here I disagree, I should be able to take a contract to assassinate any number of people at any given time, because if I'm good at my job, I can sneak into a settlement and assassinate 2, 3, 5 or more people. I'd hate to sneak in, kill someone, sneak out, get new contract, sneak back in, kill someone, sneak back out, etc, etc.
For the Contractor, so long as the Contract is in play, they cannot gain 'Good' Alignment points. In addition, the could be other in-game effects that affect them, dependant upon the alignment of the settlement they reside in and, if the existence of the Contract is discovered, they could suffer anything from imprisonment, execution, total confiscation of their property within the borders of the settlement or even banishment.
I disagree here as well. Just because you did a bad thing, doesn't mean your good deeds mean nothing for a set amount of time. I see this as essentially the same as saying if you kill someone, you shouldn't be able to gain good points for X hours.
I'm also curious as to how people believe contracts should be "discoverable" by uninvolved parties.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I am of the mind that the simple expedient for who is a legal target is who you have an accepted contract for on your person. They should not be threadable and if destroyed should count as a failure and thus count against your reputation.
If you die during your infiltration you risk those contracts falling into the wrong hands, provided you do not destroy them somehow before or at the time of death (some of the higher tier assassin's tools touched on destroying your corpse on death to remove evidence).
The number of contracts you carry should be entirely up to you, the consequences should be very cut and dry.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I havent read everything but I can say this as an example of how things will work.
If a contract is placed on my head (Xeen) then my alt will accept it. The alt will not be aligned with Xeen at all so it will be easy. Skill wise, I will make sure the alt has the skills needed to accept a contract unless its too intensive.
Or I could hand it over to a friends alt to take.
Either way, the assassint or bounty contracts will be abused. There is no complete way to stop it.
@Xeen you are assuming that assassin contracts are open to first acceptor. I see no reason to suppose that in the least. I fully expect such contracts being able to be offered to a select group or individuals as well.
Ryan et al are well aware of the abuses that the original eve bounties were prone to and I am sure they will be putting in place things to stop such abuse.
For instance in Aeturnum we will have our own band of bounty hunters. Should I wish to put a bounty on your head it will certainly be offered to them and not as a public thing.
You get offered the contract, doesnt mean you have to accept it. If you decline they go offer it to someone else. Fairly simple.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Pagan
Yes. Well said.
@Xeen
Assassinations are brutal, not just a targeted killing. If one does not fulfill them one will lose rep and likely will not receive more contracts; if one does fulfill an assassination against one's own character, one is screwing oneself over. Either way I will be pleased to know such a person has harmed themselves.
If you think this does not matter because you collected the coin or prevented someone else from doing so, based on the attitude you have projected as perceived by myself in the brief time I have watched you posting, I can assure you it will not be much coin you will be receiving and that there will be plenty of takers when you decide it is not worth your time to harm your own interests for so little.
If you display a great deal more grace in game than you have so far, I would count it a win to have dealt with you either way. I am sincerely hoping for the latter.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The negatives involved will be time based from what I remember, granted I could be wrong.
On the personal note, Do you honestly think you know my attitude I have in any regard from text?
Most of my writing is playing devils advocate, or defending what most will attack in the open and do the opposite in private.
Dont get me wrong there either... I do plan to play a bandit and a good guy.
You never really know who someone is from a wall of text... Unless they are pretty blatant in attacking you personally... then you know the kind of person you are dealing with.
For instance, The post in the PVP Settlement thread I responded to about epeen waving and etc. I first thought... Ok here is a guy that is waving his morally righteous epeen trying to make my deflate my killer epeen.
LOL
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Goblin Squad Member
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Haha, no nothing so deep, and it really had very little to do with what you have said so much as choice of phrasing. Me, personally, I am more likely to respond to perceived personality than I am to the subject at hand.
I get the feeling that some people might just be more likely to get a plethora of bounties and contracts on them than others. I think you might be one of them. ;) It sounds like that suits your playstyle just fine though.
I am well aware that I may also end up with my own share of bounties and I am fine with that as well. I try to be fairly cognizant of when I am likely to be tweaking someone's sensibilities or just rub them the wrong way.
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Goblin Squad Member
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What I am really counting on is that your typical DnD/Pathfinder/PnP-of-choice player tends to have a great deal of practice in critical thinking and devising plans to accomplish whatever it is they mean to do within the rules available.
That all wrapped up in an open world is one helluva recipe for something big.
Nothing I have seen so far in these discussions has disabused me of this notion. =)
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'm still stuck on this concept of carrying a sheaf of papers into a settlement with you, while you're on contracts to take out the top 5 leaders of that settlement. I would never carry that information on the job with me. I know that (assuming the systems work the way I've read) I'll be going into the settlement in disguise, possibly with 1-2 backup disguises, and tools to destroy my corpse should I fail to escape unscathed.
Aside from those, and any tools I'll need to actually pull off sneaking in, and tracking/locating my target, I would bring nothing that I wouldn't want someone else to find. Such as a list of contracts stating potentially who I was, and who I was there to remove.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I agree, Axies, but at the same point, we have to somehow have a MECHANICAL method of determining who is shanking who on the orders of who.
Assassinations should be something carried out by a 'Master'.
If I want Bob the Carrot-Vendor taken out, I'll go pay the Bandits a couple of bags of gold to mug him on the way home.
I want Bob the King taken out ... I need to go a fair bit higher up the ladder, and I'll naturally want to distance myself from the offing of such a powerful and influential person.
Likewise, the Assassin is going to want something to hold over me to ensure I pay up for services rendered, and the Contract is a decent mechanical method to do so.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Likewise, the Assassin is going to want something to hold over me to ensure I pay up for services rendered, and the Contract is a decent mechanical method to do so.
I absolutely agree, however I don't agree that I should be forced to have the contract on me. I should have the option to store it in a lockbox in what I consider a safe location.
I especially feel that way if destruction of the contract nullifies it, or marks it as failed. If I die trying to assassinate someone, there's nothing to prevent me from coming back and trying again. But if I have to take the contract with me, I only get a single shot. And we're playing in a world of second chances.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I don't work at GW, but I am fairly certain that contracts will be "meta physical" things. Something you can track, open, review, cancel, complete, etc... Much like a quest tracker, or sub menu.
Edit: It just doesn't make sense to make them objects. Limited threads, destruction, looted on death etc...
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Goblin Squad Member
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I don't work at GW, but I am fairly certain that contracts will be "meta physical" things. Something you can track, open, review, cancel, complete, etc... Much like a quest tracker, or sub menu.
Edit: It just doesn't make sense to make them objects. Limited threads, destruction, looted on death etc...
Agreed, that concept didnt make sense to me either.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Bringslite
It definitely makes sense, for exactly the reasons you stated.
@Axies
As discussed out of forums, I firmly believe that if there is no risk of discovery for the issuer that it is a system lacking necessary depth.
People cannot die and come back to life seconds apart and miles away, or log off for hours/days at a time shortly after murdering someone, conveniently bypassing most attempts at investigation.
Physical contracts need to be present precisely so they can be intercepted if things go horribly wrong. They can disappear for all I care the instant the job is complete (though I would leave that up to the contractor in case they wish to keep trophies), until then there should be hard evidence of who is doing what to who and has reasonable potential of being discovered. This is simply a concession to that end.
I am not very much concerned that this is the form such measures take, simply that there are measures towards this purpose.
We cannot have a system that lacks consequences befitting the actions of all involved. That defies the point of meaningful conflict.
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Goblin Squad Member
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It defies common sense to have the world's backpacks full of copies of every active contract, one for each principle at least. Far easier to make them just info accessable from the UI.
There is no reason (or logical universe) for an assassin to carry incriminating evidence, nor for mysteries to be solved without good old fashioned work.
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Goblin Squad Member
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As discussed out of forums, I firmly believe that if there is no risk of discovery for the issuer that it is a system lacking necessary depth.
People cannot die and come back to life seconds apart and miles away, or log off for hours/days at a time shortly after murdering someone, conveniently bypassing most attempts at investigation
But victims can come back with full knowledge of who might have wanted them rubbed out. It is a wash.
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Goblin Squad Member
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But victims can come back with full knowledge of who might have wanted them rubbed out. It is a wash.
Conjecture at best without hard evidence.
There is no reason (or logical universe) for an assassin to ...
... disappear into thin air based on unrelated events in alternate universe for hours/days at a time.
... be able to leave absolutely no traceable evidence, in any way whatsoever, of a hit without any preparations made to to that effect.
... carry around a backpack full of unrelated, yet still incriminating, documents that could potentially cause far more damage to their reputation than would have occurred if they had packed appropriately for the mission and not brought along all of those other contracts.
... have a completely untraceable means of recalling minutiae about any accepted hit without any risk of that information being discovered. (Not every assassin has eiditic memory.)
Enough of that though, this has far less to do with the assassin (who would be put out only slightly by the presence of an item directly related to the task at hand in their inventory) and far more to do with the issuer.
All of the objections I have seen so far regarding carrying a contract with you onto the job do nothing to address accountability of the one who issued the contract in the first place.
As per the start of this thread, I fully support measures being available to aid anonymity. This does not mean it should be automatic. I do not want to see assassination contracts issued with no regard to the weight of the action, nor do I believe the devs would allow this.
So...
What do we do to ensure that it is possible for all parties involved with an assassination to be discovered, and what steps can they take to mitigate this chance.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The best assassins leave no clue as to their identity or presence, so this should be an option in PFO. Sure, there will be those who prefer to gain a reputation by revealing their identity to the victim, or leaving behind a cryptic signature item. A modern sniper, however, does not shoot the victim and then call up the bodyguard to let them know who did it.
In a pseudo-medieval world there are plenty of ways to kill someone anonymously; delayed action poison, traps and boobytraps, missile weapons, spells, summoned monsters, and so on.
Even within a game I see no good reason that the victim needs to know who killed them. They died, they are now alive again and can either get on with life suspecting who was responsible for issuing the contract, or actively go on an investigation to root out the perpetrator. In either case, knowing the identity of the assassin himself is a very secondary consideration.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Darcnes
This is way outside my intended area of operations, so I may not argue my point very well. :)
There are multiple reasons that people issue assassin contracts on others. so many that it is useless to list them. One common denominator, though, is using an assassin because you want anonymity. If you force assassins to carry their contracts physically, you ruin that for sure. You also make an entire mess of contracts all about the place. Should assassin contracts be the only physical "hard copy" contracts? Do I lose the chance to fulfill contracts if they are looted/destroyed?
Should there be some kind of accountability for doing so? Yes, I suppose that there should be if you are discovered. Perhaps there should be a rep/alignment hit to issue the contract and even more of a hit if the victim can prove that it was you. So far, rep/alignment loss is the only real game mechanic penalty for anything. Evil characters will welcome alignment loss. In, at least high profile cases, the victim will have a pretty good idea who was behind it. If they are mistaken, well that adds to the fun doesn't it?
All that is really left is banishment from the victim's settlement and/or retaliation.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I never want my victim to know who killed them, but I do want my employer (person who wanted the contract) to know that it was me, and that I did my job well. So later in the game, I can be sought after and referred to by people.
This is why I was hoping that there will be some sort of "mark" system where we can leave an item near the body, or in their inventory. Like a calling card. I don't care if they make it a higherish skill for assassins, but I want some way to stamp my name on the kill so people know who did it. And by name I mean whatever "alias" I have. So if I am known as "the black death" then I want people to know this man was killed by "the Black Death." Maybe I leave a black rose with the body. Maybe I leave a black dot on his forehead. Someway for people to see it and know, "This man died at the hands of the Black Death."
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Goblin Squad Member
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Isn't the simple solution for the Assassin to use Disguise while taking the contract, and then the Assassin's Mask when carrying out the contract?
As for the contract being a physical thing, I don't see why it would have to be. More importantly, I did see why either the employer or the assassin would want it to be? I certainly don't see why an Assassin would carry it on his/her person while in the process of carrying out the contract.
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Goblin Squad Member
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This is why I was hoping that there will be some sort of "mark" system where we can leave an item near the body, or in their inventory. Like a calling card. I don't care if they make it a higherish skill for assassins, but I want some way to stamp my name on the kill so people know who did it. And by name I mean whatever "alias" I have. So if I am known as "the black death" then I want people to know this man was killed by "the Black Death." Maybe I leave a black rose with the body. Maybe I leave a black dot on his forehead. Someway for people to see it and know, "This man died at the hands of the Black Death."
I was trying to think of a way to implement this within the game (without having to create a physical object for every signature required). The best I can come up with is the option to leave a small message with the body, either a metagame 'hovering icon' or an in-game inventory message. On that you could leave a small description or phrase for whoever read it - "The Black Death claims another victim", "You find a black rosebud", "KillRoy was 'ere'", or whatever.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Sadurian
None of this hampers good assassins, they are the ones getting the job done, though it could cause reputation (both real and meta) trouble for the lesser among them. Who this does cause potential trouble for is the person taking out the hit on someone.
I have no vested interest in seeing a literal paper trail, I only want to ensure that such a paper trail does exist.
No consequences is bad and that is potentially what we have if the issuer has no way of getting caught except through outright betrayal, which we want to avoid.
Instead of focusing on not wanting to carry "stacks of papers" (really, no one making good decisions would be doing that out of risk alone), come up with something that works better. All I have said is that this is one way of keeping the issuer accountable, feel free to blow this suggestion out of the water with a better one.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Agreed. I threw the 'Contract' idea out as it gave an easily understood point we could all work from.
Perhaps every Assassin automatically has something on their bodies that might start a bread-crumb trail back to the Contractor? Maybe we're talking a 'Dark Brotherhood' angle here, perform the Ritual, the Assassin kills the target and you pay up ... ?
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Goblin Squad Member
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Darcnes, I already gave you a better option in our other conversation. Make the contracts a physical item, but give me the option to store it in a safe place.
That place could be found, broken into, and pillaged. If I'm on a dozen contracts, I'd be right proper f#~!ed then. At that point, safety and security are on my head.
I don't want to have to carry my contracts, and risk them being destroyed when I inevitably make a mistake that results in my death, and the destruction of my husk and everything I had on me.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Axies
Yes, there is that.
How is it exactly that someone robbing an item bank even knows whose stuff they're grabbing though? The time during which that contract is relevant to you and thus discoverable as having not been destroyed yet is a rather small window. Plus, how is it relevant to involved parties rather than whoever stumbles across your anonymous cache of contracts.
It is an option to be sure, those are my concerns with that option (just as yours are with packing it around). Mine makes more sense mechanically, yours is definitely more ideologically sound.
How do we find a happy medium? ;)
I will add what I think would need to happen in this case. If it goes into a nice hidey hole instead of on person, it stays in existence once it is made, until it is manually destroyed. The issuer's name and the target's name are both listed. Even if the issuer cancels the contract, the paper still exists, the assassin will always have that leverage.
I am sure many issuers would build part of the payment into returning the contract to be torn up by the issuer themself.
It seems like that gets into making the process a bit too complex if that is the sole means of discovery, which is why I am more in favor of the expedience of the contract carrying method. I would actually like to see assassins use both methods to some degree, taking the one or two targets that they need with them and leaving the rest behind.
Again, my concern is that a paper trail be established. I do actually believe that the intended victim should not be so obviously be given the identity of issuer. I just lack ideas towards anything more mechanically sound in that regard.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Gather information, search, speak with dead. Some form of those. Detective work. When an assassin doesn't give up his employer, it often comes from a different stool pigeon. Bribes for info, best educated guess based on your knowledge of who are your enemies or adversaries.
Why so much emphasis on "who"? Give the contract initiator a rep and alignment adjustment, call it a fair trade off.
Goblinworks Executive Founder
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Seriously, how many people will be targets of an expensive contracted assassination and not know (to a very short list) who is responsible for putting the hit out? Is there some kind of political assumption that being discovered putting out an assassination contract will result in noticeable political consequences?
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Bringslite
Depth.
Who initiated the contract is every bit as important as who fulfilled it and who the target was. Why the assassination takes place is a very important piece to the puzzle, which requires a who.
Besides which, the ability to simply hand out death warrants on people is too powerful to be left at an alignment adjustment, and I think you might be confusing the purpose of reputation here. The only time I could think of a rep boost applying to an issuer is perhaps a small bump at the time of completion, but given the nature of contract escrows I do not think that is particularly applicable. You should not be rewarded reputation for properly paying a reward when you have no choice in the matter. (Nor should you lose reputation for doing something despicable, but well played.)
Taking an alignment hit for issuing an assassination contract is something we touched on above, without much attention given to it.
I see an assassination process as involving (at the least) an issuer, a contract, an assassin and a target. Ignoring the why for a moment, somebody wants someone else dead in a manner that can greatly impact a large number of players. In order to have conflict, you must have some sort of opposition to conflict with. Ideally we want to avoid RPA as much as RPK.
If the issuer has no tie to the deed (beyond a quick alignment hit, which would likely be taken by a sort of assassin notary if you will), they have no reason to provide meaningful conflict. The internet is a beautiful example of what people do with a bit of anonymity. When you want a system that has consequences for one side of the equation, you must apply the same to the other side as well. At least, if you wish to have the system retain balance.
issuer + assassin = dead target
issuer + assassin =/= dead target (consequences)
(issuer + assassin) (consequences) = dead target (consequences)
issuer(consequences) + assassin(consequences) = dead target (consequences)
This really has to be the most basic sanity check to a system being implemented on a wide scale. Just the same, it would not be a good system if the issuer and assassin had to accept consequences but the target did not.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Decius
I am a little confused, are you implying that if a person was discovered taking a hit out on a king, that there would not be political consequences?
Likewise, is the assumption being made that only individuals who were somehow wronged (thus giving them probable cause) by this person would target them for assassination? In the instance of a king at least, there are a great number of other reasons that could motivate someone, not all of which would be even remotely apparent to the victim. It could be something the person did that they did not even realize gained them the ire of the issuer in the first place.
@Darcness
It is a complete waste of time developing a contract system of the type you envisage. All it would mean is that those that want to issue an assassination contract use an alt to do so.
Unless you can stop people using alt's the whole system just becomes a waste of time. The risk and reward side is all between the assassin and his target. You seem to be assuming that issuing an assassination order is a surefire thing it is not by a long shot, it is also likely to be expensive due to the need for items such as an assassins mask which aren't going to come free of charge. Most of the time the only time those being assassinated are likely to be the characters that rarely or never leave their settlement. Not people like mercenaries or bandits.
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Goblin Squad Member
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"Knowing" and "Proving" are two very different things.
I might know that the only person who might be willing to burn 10,000 gold to have Fullskucker the Incompetent come kill me is Bob the Fruit Vendor, but PROVING that is an entirely different story.
If I attack him, I'm the one breaking the law and driving the Development Indexes down, and the Controlling Faction of the Settlement/Territory will be well within their rights to smack me down, imprison me or banish me.
If I hire an Assassin of my own for a bit of vengeance, I'm kicking my own alignment in the balls and it will be obvious to EVERYONE what has happened. Again, I will be smacked down, imprisoned or banished.
If I send out other PCs to track down clues ... I might manage to provide the "Proof" I need to drag not only Bob the Fruit Vendor before the Ruling Faction for both justice and repatriation of the wealth and resources I have lost recovering from the Assassination, but I'm also providing content for other players.
And if in the process my hirelings manage to fulfill the optional quest-point of killing and tea-bagging Fullskucker the Incompetent in the process, so much the better.
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Goblin Squad Member
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It is an exercise in thought. I will give you that. Just seems like an over complication of a feature. Too much hassle to implement, too many workarounds.
If you want to find out who ordered you killed, take your best guess. Do it the hard way if you can't. There is no CSI that is really conclusive in this setting, except skills and spells. If they choose to make it possible that way, fine and dandy.
Making it a formula (with plug ins) to solve, will make every assassination crime solved. Bad move.