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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Agback" data-source="post: 2896621" data-attributes="member: 5328">Not perhaps my favorite character, but the one I played for longest and with whom I am most associated by my gaming buddies, was a chap called Pausanias of Lacedaemon. Pausanias was the eldest son of a lesser noble from a duchy with an austere military tradition. During the last war between the domains, Pausanias had served with the Special Cavalry Service, an elite unit tasked to long-range cavalry patrolling and operations in the enemy's rear. Pausanias was also a bit of a of a Scarlet Pimpernel: good-looking and charming, he affected foppish frivolity, and hung about mostly in a friendly domain that was much more luxurious and comfortable than his homeland, but where his exploits with the SCS were unknown.Pausanias was a much less potent fighter than the rest of his party (except on the occasions when we had a magician among us). But he was very stealthy, a good climber, able to fit in to any social occasion, able to get about in the wilderness, make camp, and was the best archer in the group. I think in D&D you would do him as an aristocrat-ranger. But in non-game terms he was an assassin. His military speciality had been sneaking about and whacking enemy officers at unawares. And his distinctive approach was this: faced with any problem, his first thought was to wonder what was the smallest and easiest-to-accomplish set of killings that would solve it. If the necessary hits were numerous, outrageous, or difficult he would then try to think of something else, and often enough one of his comrades would come up with a plan that didn't involve assassinations. But Pausanias' first thought was always to solve his problems by killing people. Secretly and by surprise, for a preference. As a result partly of this, Pausanias ended up killing hundreds of people over the four years I played him. More than all the other characters in the party put together, I think, though perhaps Danger Spite might have rivalled him by setting fire to inhabited buildings, cities, etc.Pausanias never killed for money: he was rich, and wasn't out for loot. He never tortured anybody, and he didn't kill out of hatred or for revenge. He killed people because it was his duty to his duchy or to his Empire, or as part of his political intrigues in favour of meritocratic aristocracy against the forces of despotism, or because they were bad guys who obviously needed killing. But he did kill an awful lot of people in his time, and as few as he could manage did he kill in fair fights.He was on the right side. But I really can't say that his heart was in the right place. He was a cold-blooded and habitual killer, an assassin in all but game terms. Was Pausanias evil?</blockquote>

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