ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Here's my idea for what pledging loyalty to the assassin lord would entail.

Assassin lord quests would show up like random escort quests do. A bandit will meet you at the beginning of a new level and say:
"Hey, new dog! I've got instructions from the boss for ya. There's an &item& around here that the boss wants. Go get it and bring it to me, and don't even THINK of running off or taking it for yourself! The boss doesn't take kindly to the disloyal..."
a) Got it.
b) [attack]

The bandit that shows up is both immune to enemy attacks (but not to yours) and remains stationary, not helping you in combat. The item you've been ordered to retrieve should be quite valuable, enough to make you consider keeping it for yourself, ego equipment, etc. Returning to the bandit gets this:

"Got the &item&? I haven't got all day!"
a) [With the item] It's right here.
c) [With the item] I've got it... and I'm KEEPING it! (Response: "You've just made a big mistake!", turns hostile.)
b) [Without the item] Not yet. (Response: "Hurry up, you dawdling know-nothing!")
d) [Without the item] Get it yourself. (Response: "You've just made a big mistake!", turns hostile.)

Handing over the item results in the bandit vanishing, a paltry reward (0.50 - 2.00 gold) and:
*The bandit snorts as you hand over the item* "Feh. Good work, dog. We'll be watching you!"

Leaving the level without completing the request, quest item in hand or not, or killing or aggravating the bandit causes the assassin's gang to turn hostile: Further levels will have groups of assassins waiting in ambush for you, with far greater regularity than the original quests.

Things continue in this way until you reach the bottom of Moria. On killing Golbug and picking up the Orb of Many Ways, the Assassin Lord will appear a small distance from you, replacing the normal courier:

[If you've obeyed him previously:]
"Oho! What have we here? I know exactly what plans you have concerning that little trinket, &playerrace&! You truly thought you had escaped my notice? You're not going anywhere! You belong to me! Hear me?! ME!"

[If you've disobeyed:]
"Insolent whelp! You infiltrate my lair, you kill my men, you falsely pledge loyalty to me, and now I find you here?! You will flee no longer, not even with that blasted orb! You'll regret crossing the Lord of Assassins!"

Either way, obviously, he's hostile, and a fair sight stronger than he was previously. Stronger than Golbug, with a full complement of nasty rogue/shadow blade skills (Stealth, Dirty Fighting, Flurry), you have the choice to either fight him, potentially getting his artifact dagger:

The Lord's Blade - Long Dagger
"This masterwork knife has been stained by the blood of a thousand unaware victims."
+0.20 Dirty Fighting Mastery
+5 Cunning
+5 Dexterity
+1 Backstab Skill Lvl.

Or you could just flee and enter the portal. He'll wait for you if you head back through Moria.

Subidea #1:
Another type of random quest that could appear is, obviously, assassinations. An assassin would appear, and say:

"Hey, get over here! There's a &class& around here, and the boss doesn't want them leaving this place alive! Think you can handle this job? Of course you can. Get to work!"

The assassin would then vanish. Your target would be an adventurer of a random class; like the escort quests, but not nearly as frail. On facing one, he/she would say:

"Ho! It is unusual to meet a fellow adventurer in these parts. How fare you, &playerrace&?"
a) Silence! Your death beckons! ["Assassin!"]
b) I am afraid I have been ordered to bring about your death. My apologies.
c) I fare well, &class&. Good day. [This renders the target neutral, and angers the assassins unless you kill him afterwards.]
d) [attack]

Choosing b would result in:

"You are an assassin?! No doubt an underling of that blackguard, the assassin lord. Listen to me; no good can come of you obeying that man. He sees his men not as his comrades, but his tools, and like a tool he will dispose of you the moment he suspects fault. Forget your craven employer; without thralls who obey him, he is powerless."
a) ... I'm sorry. ["Fool..."]
b) Your words ring true. I will leave you. ["Bless you, &playerrace&." Turns the target neutral.]
c) [attack]

Subidea #2:
Obeying the assassin lord would not result in the rare goods shop closing in Mina Tirith, but rather it being "under new management". The range of goods there would be of slightly lower quality, and at a FAR more exorbitant price. Notably, the items that you would've retrieved on previous quests would be there.

Hum I like that !
Gimme mooaarr quests !

*thread necromancy* Wondered where this thread went.

In light of haenlomal's AL problems, I propose this: If the player chooses the "I serve you, Mr. Assassin Lord sir!" convo line, roughly every 3rd-5th level from then to Golbug will have an OOD rogue/thief/bandit/bandit lord/assassin greeting the player like an escort quest would (preventing escort if it's chosen to show up), and either telling the player to go kill whoever, get whatever (maybe weird treasure-styled items in the style of the alchemist ingredients, things that'd otherwise be worthless, like the items Torchlight's Hatch has you go fetch). If the player killed the AL after agreeing to work with him, the OOD thug'd be hostile. If the AL is still alive, it allows the player to switch places with it like escorts and npcs. The player must then do the quest and return to the thug once completed. If at any time the player tries to get out of his/her/its arrangement with the AL, all further thug encounters will be hostile.

Furthermore, there'd be a quest that the thug can give that says "The boss wants you to go (pull a lever, push a button, solve a puzzle) here." Puzzle'd be something like "push barrels onto the correct tiles", and be a kind of puzzle vault. Player has the "errr...ok" response, or can choose to attack as with the other quests.

At Golbug's death: If the AL lived, he appears with a retinue of level-appropriate thugs (and is himself leveled up). He makes some grandiose speech about how he'd thought the Farportals were myths thought up by simpletons, and notices the Orb of Many Ways. Instead of attacking, he sees the potential of ... expanding operations, as it were, to the Far East. He then orders a lieutenant (maybe 1-3 of his retinue'd be elite rank) to accompany the player to the Far East. Player can refuse, and then enjoy fighting another boss fight, or can accept the company.
If AL lived, but player eventually found his/her spine and told a thug to bugger off, AL will be hostile and give speech Burb proposed.
If AL was betrayed by player, a different AL will show up with the same retinue, and will thank the player for ... disposing of his former employer and his tools, but will attack because the new AL does not wish to see the player acquire more power.

On the Far East: If the original AL lived and the player agreed to have a thug accompany him/her to the Far East, the thug runs off using a teleportation rune or some other power, immediately on entering unremarkable cave. At same pace as thug quests in Maj'Eyal they'd continue, up until a 5th puzzle quest is completed (or just the first one in the Far East, if for some reason the RNG gave 5 while in Maj'Eyal). When the puzzle is completed, a trinket is revealed in a cache. The thug appears from the shadows (he's 15 levels above the player) and tells the player to use the trinket and recover the treasure for the boss. Player can attempt to fight off thug, or accept and be taken to a very, very hard dungeon (something like "Ureslak's Lair." Would be a small cave system with a bunch of hatchlings, leading to a huge open cavern system with a few 2x2 stalactites/stalagmites to break LOS from Ureslak and his wyrms. If player somehow manages to kill Ureslak, the thug will walk in with a bunch of orc assassins and demand the treasure. Player can choose to attack or to obey, but if the player chooses to obey the thug (and AL) don't have any more use for the player, so a fight will happen anyway. Would be another very hard fight, but about halfway through Fillarel and Aeryn will walk in with a bunch of anorithil and sun paladins and help the player destroy the thug and his orc friends. Aeryn will have some convo where she reprimands the player for allowing the AL's plotting to continue as long as it has, and will say that she hopes the player has learned his/her lesson, and leave.