rrwoods
2015-10-12, 03:16 PM
The concept: An assassin (but not necessarily an Assassin) who does what must be done when law-abiding men can't.
The (level 3) character was recently (at level 1) initiated into an organization dedicated to doing such things. The existence of the organization is not known to many, though some of the high-ups in town may know of it and even enlist its services (I and my character are both not sure on this point but strongly suspect it). The character's initiation rite was a "kill this mark, we will explain why afterward" mission, which he accepted, but not without asking the question anyway. The question was respected -- those who simply kill without question would not be regarded highly anyway. Nonetheless, as a test of loyalty to the ideal (that what must be done, must be done, even when you don't know why), the question was also left unanswered.
Despite the existence of this organization being left as yet unknown to the rest of the party (kudos to my DM on this and many other aspects of this campaign), this ended up being easier than I expected, as said mark ended up revealing himself as an impostor and trying to kill us.
My DM asked me some questions to help flesh out my background:
Q: You kill people for a living, but you are no simple murderer. No, you are an assassin. You kill with a purpose, and direction, and those that employ you are just as important as the deeds themselves that you carry out. Who do you serve?
A: I serve a cause. Death is a tool. There are some things more important than laws and kingdoms, and some threats to the greater order that cannot simply be reasoned with. Others might shun me if they knew of the blood on my hands, but I know my calling is true.
Q: How long have you been with your order?
A: I recently joined, and this mission will be my final test for full acceptance.
Q: An element of your training stands out to you; what was it?
A: My weapons training was especially intensive. So intensive that some of my training involved the mystical, bordering on magical.
==
So originally, I envisioned this character as LN. Serving the balance, etc. The Lawful component didn't represent strict adherence to literal laws, but rather strict adherence to an ideal, which qualifies (qualified?) as lawful to me when I made the character.
However after reading Red Fel (...Red Fel! Red Fel!) give advice on several threads over the last few months, I'm wondering if LN really describes this character. The surge of alignment-handbook threads has been the straw that broke the camel's back on asking this question: Am I Really Neutral?
If I am actually LN, I feel the "Patriot" archetype most fits here -- especially given James Bond as the example. I'm a character serving a secret(ish) organization with the means to operate above/outside the written law, and kill who needs killing. I'm 6 Charisma, which Mr. Bond definitely is not -- but like Bond, I have a somewhat tough time making actual friends, and adhere to many principles. "The mission matters more than anything else." I am "expected to engage in all sorts of questionable or immoral behavior in pursuit of the interests of" balance.
But! The "Dark Knight" archetype in the LE handbook (of course, written by Red Fel (****, that's four, am I dead now?)) seems to fit pretty well too -- maybe even better than the "Patriot" archetype. Willing to do what the Good characters can't. Putting the party (and the ideal) ahead of myself (even with 6 Cha). And in general, the description of Evil as "ruthlessly pragmatic" is very compelling here. Mentally recasting evil as [a] necessary [evil] (hah!... ok, sorry.) rather than as the stark opposite of all that is Good has shed new light (darkness?) on what this character might be.
So, Playground, I ask you:
As the assassin, killing who needs killing because they need killing, what alignment am I?
The (level 3) character was recently (at level 1) initiated into an organization dedicated to doing such things. The existence of the organization is not known to many, though some of the high-ups in town may know of it and even enlist its services (I and my character are both not sure on this point but strongly suspect it). The character's initiation rite was a "kill this mark, we will explain why afterward" mission, which he accepted, but not without asking the question anyway. The question was respected -- those who simply kill without question would not be regarded highly anyway. Nonetheless, as a test of loyalty to the ideal (that what must be done, must be done, even when you don't know why), the question was also left unanswered.
Despite the existence of this organization being left as yet unknown to the rest of the party (kudos to my DM on this and many other aspects of this campaign), this ended up being easier than I expected, as said mark ended up revealing himself as an impostor and trying to kill us.
My DM asked me some questions to help flesh out my background:
Q: You kill people for a living, but you are no simple murderer. No, you are an assassin. You kill with a purpose, and direction, and those that employ you are just as important as the deeds themselves that you carry out. Who do you serve?
A: I serve a cause. Death is a tool. There are some things more important than laws and kingdoms, and some threats to the greater order that cannot simply be reasoned with. Others might shun me if they knew of the blood on my hands, but I know my calling is true.
Q: How long have you been with your order?
A: I recently joined, and this mission will be my final test for full acceptance.
Q: An element of your training stands out to you; what was it?
A: My weapons training was especially intensive. So intensive that some of my training involved the mystical, bordering on magical.
==
So originally, I envisioned this character as LN. Serving the balance, etc. The Lawful component didn't represent strict adherence to literal laws, but rather strict adherence to an ideal, which qualifies (qualified?) as lawful to me when I made the character.
However after reading Red Fel (...Red Fel! Red Fel!) give advice on several threads over the last few months, I'm wondering if LN really describes this character. The surge of alignment-handbook threads has been the straw that broke the camel's back on asking this question: Am I Really Neutral?
If I am actually LN, I feel the "Patriot" archetype most fits here -- especially given James Bond as the example. I'm a character serving a secret(ish) organization with the means to operate above/outside the written law, and kill who needs killing. I'm 6 Charisma, which Mr. Bond definitely is not -- but like Bond, I have a somewhat tough time making actual friends, and adhere to many principles. "The mission matters more than anything else." I am "expected to engage in all sorts of questionable or immoral behavior in pursuit of the interests of" balance.
But! The "Dark Knight" archetype in the LE handbook (of course, written by Red Fel (****, that's four, am I dead now?)) seems to fit pretty well too -- maybe even better than the "Patriot" archetype. Willing to do what the Good characters can't. Putting the party (and the ideal) ahead of myself (even with 6 Cha). And in general, the description of Evil as "ruthlessly pragmatic" is very compelling here. Mentally recasting evil as [a] necessary [evil] (hah!... ok, sorry.) rather than as the stark opposite of all that is Good has shed new light (darkness?) on what this character might be.
So, Playground, I ask you:
As the assassin, killing who needs killing because they need killing, what alignment am I?