Stealth Takedown System

An Assassin's Creed / Hitman-Style Stealth Subsystem for D&D 5e

Core Requirements

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Out of Combat

No initiative has been rolled. You are operating in stealth, not active engagement.

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All Movement Used

Your entire movement must be spent reaching the target. You are committing to the kill.

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Target Unaware

The target must be unaware of your specific position. They can be alert to danger generally.

Resolution Flow i Roll a flat d20 with no modifiers. The target's CR determines the difficulty, not your character build. This creates equal opportunity for all classes.

High Roll

Clean Kill

Silent, instant

Mid Roll

Subdue Phase

Roll dice vs HP

Low Roll

Scramble Round

One chance to salvage

Very Low

Complete Fail

Instant alert

Clean Kill

Best outcome

Target eliminated silently and instantly. No sound, no struggle, no complications. Body remains where it falls.

Subdue Phase

Roll Subdue Dice vs Target HP

You have your hands on them but it is messy. Roll your Subdue Dice. If you meet or exceed their HP, messy kill. If not, proceed to Scramble Round.

Scramble Round

One desperate action

Things have gone wrong but you have one chance to salvage before full alert. This is NOT initiative. Choose from Silence, Subdue, Abort, Redirect, or Creative.

Complete Fail

High CR only

Only applies to CR 2+. They caught your wrist. You do not even get a chance. Alert triggers immediately, target gets free attack or raises alarm.

Takedown Resolution Table i Roll a flat d20. Compare to the target's CR. The result determines which outcome tier you land in. Higher CR targets are harder to take down cleanly.

CR	Clean Kill	Subdue Phase	Scramble Round	Complete Fail
0	2+	—	1	—
⅛	3+	2	1	—
¼	4+	2–3	1	—
½	5+	2–4	1	—
1	6+	2–5	1	—
2	8+	3–7	2	1
3	9+	4–8	2–3	1
4	11+	5–10	2–4	1
5	12+	6–11	2–5	1
6	14+	7–13	3–6	1–2
7	15+	8–14	4–7	1–3
8	17+	9–16	5–8	1–4
9	18+	11–17	6–10	1–5
10	20 only	15–19	11–14	1–10

CR 10 is the maximum CR that can be targeted with a takedown attempt.

Subdue Dice by Level i When you enter the Subdue Phase, roll your Subdue Dice against the target's current HP. This works like the Sleep spell. Your ability modifier adds bonus dice based on how you describe the takedown.

(Level + 1)d6 + (Ability Mod)d6

Ability Modifier = STR, DEX, or Spellcasting Mod (player's choice based on method)

Level	Base Dice	Example (+4)
1	2d6	6d6 (avg 21)
2	3d6	7d6 (avg 24)
3	4d6	8d6 (avg 28)
4	5d6	9d6 (avg 31)
5	6d6	10d6 (avg 35)
6	7d6	11d6 (avg 38)
7	8d6	12d6 (avg 42)
8	9d6	13d6 (avg 45)
9	10d6	14d6 (avg 49)
10	11d6	15d6 (avg 52)

Level	Base Dice	Example (+5)
11	12d6	17d6 (avg 59)
12	13d6	18d6 (avg 63)
13	14d6	19d6 (avg 66)
14	15d6	20d6 (avg 70)
15	16d6	21d6 (avg 73)
16	17d6	22d6 (avg 77)
17	18d6	23d6 (avg 80)
18	19d6	24d6 (avg 84)
19	20d6	25d6 (avg 87)
20	21d6	26d6 (avg 91)

Alert State System i The facility's alert level modifies effective CR when reading the Resolution Table. Lower alert states make takedowns easier; higher states make them harder or impossible.

Unaware

CR -2

Business as usual. Guards relaxed, chatting, distracted.

Alert

No Change

Baseline awareness. Standard patrols, normal vigilance.

Suspicious

CR +1

"Did you hear something?" Checking corners, hands near weapons.

Searching

CR +2

Actively hunting. Moving in pairs, weapons drawn.

Lockdown

No Takedowns

Full alert. All converging. Fight or run.

Scramble Round Options i When you enter the Scramble Round, you have one desperate action to salvage the situation. This is NOT initiative. Success means the mission continues; failure means escalation.

Silence

Attack with Advantage

Attempt to kill them through brute force. If you drop them to 0 HP, no alert. If not, they scream.

Subdue

Contested Athletics/Acrobatics

Grapple and choke them out. Win = restrained and silenced, finish next round. Lose = they break free and alert.

Abort

Stealth vs Perception

Disengage and vanish. Success = they are alarmed but do not know where you are. Fail = spotted and alert.

Redirect

Deception vs Insight

Blame someone or something else. Success = "Must have been the wind" or blame another NPC. Fail = alert.

Creative

Player pitches, DM sets check

Pitch something creative to your DM. They will set an appropriate ability check based on what you describe. This is where the best stories happen.

Class Takedown Flavour

Every class can attempt takedowns. The mechanics are identical, but the narrative should reflect class identity.

Rogue

DEX

Throat slit, nerve strike, garrotte

Barbarian

STR

Neck snap, crushing chokehold

Fighter

STR or DEX

Military takedown, grapple-and-stab

Monk

DEX

Pressure point, chi disruption

Paladin

STR

Armoured hand over mouth, weight pin

Ranger

DEX

Hunter's kill, predator ambush

Wizard

INT

Sleep touch, arcane paralysis

Sorcerer

CHA

Magic surge, charm-and-drop

Warlock

CHA

Soul rip, shadow embrace

Cleric

WIS

Divine silence, peaceful passing

Bard

CHA

Lullaby whisper, flourish into strike

Druid

WIS

Animal instinct, vine choke

Limitations

Takedowns cannot be attempted against the following:

✕ Creatures above CR 10

✕ Creatures with Legendary Resistance

✕ Constructs (no anatomy)

✕ Most Undead (no vital functions)

✕ Oozes and Elementals

✕ Immune to relevant damage/condition

Quick Reference

Requirements

Out of combat + All movement used + Target unaware

The Roll

Flat d20, no modifiers. CR determines difficulty.

Subdue Formula

(Level + 1)d6 + (Ability Mod)d6 vs HP

Outcomes

Clean Kill → Subdue → Scramble → Complete Fail

Max Target

CR 10 (adjusted by Alert State)

Key Insight

Target CR = risk. Your level = salvage capacity.

Core Requirements

Out of Combat

All Movement Used

Target Unaware

Resolution Flow i Roll a flat d20 with no modifiers. The target's CR determines the difficulty, not your character build. This creates equal opportunity for all classes.

Clean Kill

Subdue Phase

Scramble Round

Complete Fail

Clean Kill

Subdue Phase

Scramble Round

Complete Fail

Takedown Resolution Table i Roll a flat d20. Compare to the target's CR. The result determines which outcome tier you land in. Higher CR targets are harder to take down cleanly.

Subdue Dice by Level i When you enter the Subdue Phase, roll your Subdue Dice against the target's current HP. This works like the Sleep spell. Your ability modifier adds bonus dice based on how you describe the takedown.

Alert State System i The facility's alert level modifies effective CR when reading the Resolution Table. Lower alert states make takedowns easier; higher states make them harder or impossible.

Unaware

Alert

Suspicious

Searching

Lockdown

Scramble Round Options i When you enter the Scramble Round, you have one desperate action to salvage the situation. This is NOT initiative. Success means the mission continues; failure means escalation.

Silence

Subdue

Abort

Redirect

Creative

Class Takedown Flavour

Rogue

Barbarian

Fighter

Monk

Paladin

Ranger

Wizard

Sorcerer

Warlock

Cleric

Bard

Druid

Limitations

Quick Reference

Requirements

The Roll

Subdue Formula

Outcomes

Max Target

Key Insight

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