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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herremann the Wise" data-source="post: 1038307" data-attributes="member: 11300">Hi Everyone,I'm sure this debate has raged many times before and will rage many times in the future.For the moment though, a little research and my two cents:Assassin- One who murders by surprise attack, especially one who carries out a plot to kill a prominent person. - A member of a secret order of Muslims who terrorized and killed Christian Crusaders and others.Word History:At first glance, one would be hard-pressed to find a link between pleasure and the acts of assassins. Such was not the case, however, with those who gave us the word assassin. They were members of a secret Islamic order originating in the 11th century who believed it was a religious duty to harass and murder their enemies. The most important members of the order were those who actually did the killing. Having been promised paradise in return for dying in action, the killers, it is said, were made to yearn for paradise by being given a life of pleasure that included the use of hashish. From this came the name for the secret order as a whole, an, “hashish users.” After passing through French or Italian, the word came into English and is recorded in 1603 with reference to the Muslim Assassins.Hashishin one who has drunk of the hashish. Under its influence the Assassins of the East, followers of the Shaikh al-Jabal (Old Man of the Mountain), were said to commit the murders required by their chief.- One who kills, or attempts to kill, by surprise or secret assault; one who treacherously murders any one unprepared for defense.- A hired murderer.Etymology:Medieval Latin assassinus, from Arabic hashshAshIn, plural of hashshAsh one who smokes or chews hashish, from hashIsh hashishDate: circa 1520- capitalized : one of a secret order of Muslims that at the time of the Crusades terrorized Christians and other enemies by secret murder committed under the influence of hashish.- : a person who commits murder; especially : one who murders a politically important person either for hire or from fanatical motives  .My two cents:I know it's pretty lame going to dictionaries and word histories but I thought I'd have a bit of a look anyway. My reasoning is that the word "Assassin" has so many connotations attached to it that the denotative aspect of the word tends to get lost - the beauty of our language (seriously, I think this is a good thing).However, by having a look at the above, our assassin can fall into two categories:1) The Religious Zealot - with or without the bong.2) The Secretive Killer for Hire.1) The Zealot is effectively following the orders of his superiors. His or her mission is simply to kill the target. In terms of the D&D alignment system - which does have flaws - this would indicate an extreme Lawful alignment. The question becomes though: good, neutral or evil?Evil - not a problem.Neutral - most likely not a problem. They kill because they have been ordered to. They most probably don't enjoy the killing aspect of it although a certain level of satisfaction and having done a job well may exist.Good - this is the question. Someone who is good will not want to just kill anyone. They will want to have a clear understanding of the "whys" of the case. If they implicitly trusted the goodness of a superior who has instructed them to do this act, they might be convinced that it is a "good" act. However, it is along this path where the reasoning and thinking have been omitted that the "good" character will slip into a different alignment. Good people will try to exhaust alternatives before arriving at the conclusion to simply "extinguish" the life of someone who may be turned away from evil instead. It is a very grey area and only those of the most lawful nature would do this at the expense of an equal level of goodness. Someone who perfects the killing of others even for a good cause perhaps focuses too much on killing and not enough on alternative solutions. A truly good leader will leave the discretion up to the "Assassin" and more than likely order the offender in alive rather than dead. As such, the "Assassin" is no longer an Assassin; just a marshall for the "Law".2) The Secretive Killer for Hire is making a choice based upon money before other options. For example, let's say a Good assassin of this description existed - which personally I don't think it can. He gets offered two contracts, one for 10,000gp and the other for a good dinner. The first is from a merchant who needs to off an evil competitor. The second is from a village who has been terrorised by a vile murderer and wants the murderer killed. One would assume that an "assassin" would go for the larger contract and then the other one - but maybe not considering risk vs. reward.However, following the initial assumption that the assassin is good, we could most probably assume that they would ignore the money issue and gun for the greater evil - which may be the merchant; who knows? However, the fact remains that the "good assassin" will kill or try to kill the offender. No choice, they've been hired to kill and so they must. A good character will never pre-meditate murder while alternative actions have not been considered. For example, the vile murderer may be arrested and imprisoned and maybe one day as they contemplate their life and the lives of others, they may repent and change from their former ways. The important factor in this for a truly good character is the removal of the threat. The whole point of assassination is to kill. If you are hired to do this, then you are nothing more than the knife of someone else's will. This lack of conscience is certainly more the province of the evil character and possibly the neutral but I would hazard to say never the good!In conclusionI suppose this means that assassins come in a variety of flavours. Lawful Neutral and Lawful Evil for the Zealot and some level of Neutrality, Chaos and Evil for the hired Killer. I don't think an assassin can ever be good but there is room for a neutrally aligned assassin which has not been allowed in the rules - most likley for game balance reasons.Best RegardsHerremann the Wise</blockquote>

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