Professional Assassin (5e Background)

Professional Assassin

You are, or were, a professional assassin or hit-man. Your job, possibly even your purpose in life, was to kill people without getting caught. By luck or talent, you must have been fairly successful- a famous assassin is a dead assassin after all. Were you born into the profession, or were you otherwise forced into it, or did you intentionally take up the dagger? Were you a solo act, or did you work for an agency/guild, organized crime group, or private individual? Did you work for money, personal beliefs, to avoid some threat from your employer or your own freedom? Were you brainwashed or tortured to do this type of work? Did you receive professional training as an assassin, or did you learn it by yourself? Did you hang up the hat, or are you still available for hire? Did you enjoy your work? How do you feel about your marks? What do you think of other assassins? Were there any really important people you were tasked to kill or were there any missions that were especially difficult or memorable?

Skill Proficiencies: Stealth, Deception, Sleight of Hand

Language Proficiencies: Thieves' Cant

Tool Proficiencies: Disguise Kit or Poisoner's Kit

Equipment: A set of common clothes, traveler's clothes, and fine clothes, and a dark robe, each having a hidden pouch sewn into it. You also have several sheets of paper, an ink pen, and flacons of black, red, and invisible ink. 30 gp is hidden somewhere on you as well as a coin pouch containing 10 gp.

Feature: Guild Membership

Like an artisan, you belong to a guild but instead of merchants you consort with killers. You live a comfortable lifestyle without charge, and your guild will grant you protection from any crimes you are charged with, up to a finable value equal to 10 × your level in gp. To remain part of the guild you must pay them 10 gp every month. In addition, your guild provides for the cost of the maintenance of your weapons and your living costs (food and shelter) while away from the guild. If you are ever convicted of a charge for assassination, roll a d4. On a 1, your guild will sever all ties with you. On a 2-4, your guild will provide you with a cover story (choose from the other backgrounds) as an assassin works best when not known as an assassin. If all of your connections with the guild are severed, you may rejoin at the cost of 20 × your level in gp.

Alternate Feature: Alibi

Should you choose the path of a solo assassin, you may choose this alternative feature instead. Instead of belonging to a guild, you have acquired acquaintances that will provide a suitable alibi should you fall under suspicion after you have completed a job. You must pay 100 gp to the person who covers for you to use this feature, or they will turn a blind eye. You may use this feature again after 1d4 weeks of not committing murder. If you want to use this feature again before then, the cost doubles for each consecutive use and you must add an additional 1d2 weeks to your original wait period after each use. At your DM's discretion, excessive use of this feature before the waiting period is over will accrue suspicion of yourself and your acquaintance, and you may be investigated, kept under surveillance, or abandoned by your acquaintance as they break ties with you. also, choose a cover (choose from the other backgrounds) as an assassin works best when not known as an assassin.

Suggested Characteristics

d8	Personality Trait
1	I enjoy gold a lot, but mostly that of other people.
2	I do not mind stabbing an ally in the back if it will benefit me in the long run.
3	I don't like killing at all, so I regularly question my work.
4	I don't react to death at all unless it's someone I care about.
5	I never take anything seriously and I'm always willing to joke around.
6	I'm a bit of a show-off.
7	I have killed so many that I have lost count.
8	I hunt people like animals.

D6	Ideal
1	Greed: You are only in it for the money. (Evil)
2	Self-Knowledge: If you know yourself, there is nothing left to know. (Neutral)
3	Aspiration: I work hard to be the best there is at my craft. (Any)
4	People: I help people who help me--that's what keeps us alive. (Good)
5	Master: I'm a predator, and everyone else is my prey. (Evil)
6	Death: Some people deserve to die. (Chaotic)

d6	Bond
1	I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today.
2	A powerful person killed someone I love. Someday soon, I'll have my revenge.
3	I'm trying to pay off an old debt I owe to my teacher.
4	Someone I loved died because of a mistake I made. That will never happen again.
5	One day I will return to my guild and prove that I am the greatest assassin of them all.
6	My tools are symbols of my past life, and I carry them so that I will never forget my roots.

d6	Flaw
1	I love to own other people's gold- usually taken from their unsuspecting pocket or grave.
2	Secretly, I don't enjoy what I do, so I look at the world as if it's not real.
3	There's no room for caution in a life lived to the fullest.
4	Violence is my answer to almost any challenge.
5	Once someone questions my courage, I never back down no matter how dangerous the situation.
6	I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely.

5.00

(one vote)

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