Hitman for dummies, how to get started?

[Seppo87]

I made this Slayer (Pathfinder) character and I want him to work as a freelance criminal.

I need to start from scratch: my character comes from a far place (where he would rather not return) and has no contacts with the local underworld.

The character is pretty good at doing his job and, by BG and skill choices, he's also quite good at talking and knows how to deal with criminals and scum of various types.

Problem is: he knows, I don't.

I *could* probably get away with a few rolls: Gather information, diplomacy, a couple well-placed intimidate. The numbers are favorable and the character probably *will* be able to find clients.

But, if I had to roleplay this... then I'd have no idea what to do.
This is only natural. I am not a criminal and know very little about organized crime.
Worse, my character is meant to freelance, so it's not as streamlined as joining your stereotypical guild.
I need specific contacts that will call him personally.
Since this kind of work is meant to be secret, there's this conflict of priorities where you want the right people to know about you and everyone else to not know about you.
It's not like I can go to a random rich guy and tell him "hey would you happen to need a hitman?"
Could be fun for a humorous campaign or a dumb character tho it's not the case here.

How does a hitman/spy/infiltrator find clients/work anyway? (assuming you'r not working for a single specific organization)


If nothing comes up I will resort to throwing dice without being able to properly describe what my character does, that would be less than ideal for me but, well, the thread is here to try and avoid that.

Thanks to anyone willing to help and give advice.

[Mastikator]

Contacts, contacts, contacts.
What you need is networking, find some more easily accessible criminals and then figure out who they know and who they work with. This can easily lead to stepping on some very sensitive and dangerous toes, so be careful. People who make a killing by killing generally don't want competition.

Start off with "low life scum", like drug dealers, traffickers, burglars etc. You might find some in jail.

Come to think of it, if you help a career criminal who's stuck in jail to escape he might be convinced to introduce you to his friends and vouch for you.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Often enough, top criminals aren't all that secret. Depending on the area, they may be protected by armed guards, lack of good evidence, bribes, or a hidden location, but their names will be fairly well-known, in the right circles. Going to a seedy bar and asking for a 'job' with the right jargon might be enough to put you in touch. The exact jargon is exactly the sort of thing you have Gather Information for.

[Elvenoutrider]

Second that: tell your gm you're asking around in a seedy tavern. The bartenders might have connections to drug dealers, who would have connections to suppliers who would have connections to other criminals who need jobs done

[Raimun]

Perhaps you should watch a movie or two about hitmen or assassins?

Watching genre fiction always helps to prepare for RPG. Draw inspiration, don't copy. Unless some detail is so awesome that you have to copy.

[tomandtish]

The reason why you aren't sure how this would work is because it's not actually a realistic scenario. This came up in another thread a while ago, but the independent hitman is really a construct of fiction. There have been very few of them in reality. And most of those started as part of an organization and then left it, and still used those ties (or ties gained from the connection) to handle their work. Without going into much detail (because of the politics rule), look up Ilich Ramirez Sanchez (AKA Carlos The Jackal), who is not at all how he is usually portrayed in film.

Richard Kuklinski (The "Iceman") was a contract killer for the mob. When he went independent he actually started making mistakes, which resulted in his eventual arrest.

Contacts, contacts, contacts.
What you need is networking, find some more easily accessible criminals and then figure out who they know and who they work with. This can easily lead to stepping on some very sensitive and dangerous toes, so be careful. People who make a killing by killing generally don't want competition.

Start off with "low life scum", like drug dealers, traffickers, burglars etc. You might find some in jail.

Come to think of it, if you help a career criminal who's stuck in jail to escape he might be convinced to introduce you to his friends and vouch for you.

This is much more likely. Most people who can afford a large sum of money for independents can also afford their own staff to do it for them. The networking leads to connections who will allow you to work for them. You may eventually rise to a level where they let you work independently on your own projects, but they'd still want to keep an eye on you to make sure nothing you do leads back to them.

But any advertising for a true independent (especially one who is just starting out) would also provide a nice way to be tracked.

Perhaps you should watch a movie or two about hitmen or assassins?

Watching genre fiction always helps to prepare for RPG. Draw inspiration, don't copy. Unless some detail is so awesome that you have to copy.

Try John Wick. And incidentally, there's obviously an organization behind them, and you can tell who he worked for before the organization.