'The Assassin's Primer' is a good document to have at the table for anyone wanting to take this Archetype. At only seventeen pages (including cover), you get

• an overview of the life of the assassin,
• and explanation of assassin stereotypes (from the Desperate, the Psycho, and the Idealist)
• 'Knowledge is Power' which describes the sorts of skills that are necessary and how to use them creatively
• a short section on gear and magic
• general advice and Qualities (and a Negative Quality).

All is told from the viewpoint of an assassin who realises that he has a very short time to live and wants to pass along his knowledge. Interestingly, this is the second SR product I've reviewed this week with a White Wolf connection (the other be 'The Vladivostok Gauntlet'). In this product, the handle of the assassin is Quietus (the signature Discipline of the vampire assassins in Vampire: the Masquerade). Interesting.

So, is it worth it?

The book reads like a long magazine article with some rules at the end, a format that should be fairly familiar to most gamers. It does offer some good advice and would be very handy reading for anyone considering running an assassin-type character in the Sixth World. I question the longevity of usefulness for the product; I can see players reading it once, building a character and then maybe referencing it once or twice again. The Creeds are a mixed bag, and mileage will really vary. However, you could wrap an entire character concept around them, so for that they are useful. The edges they provide are situational, but a clever player can engineer this to their advantage.

It was an enjoyable read, and I can see this document having a role at my table, but mostly during character creation.