Captain Howdy
Explorer
So the DMG says that to take the Assassin prestige class, the character must be evil. The argument to back that up would probably be that getting paid to kill people is an evil act, and that assassins use dishonorable methods such as poison.
The next page in the DMG lists the Blackguard prestige class, and when I looked at their requirement, it also said you need an evil alignment. I looked at the Blackguard and Assassin next to each other, and the Assassin just didn't seem as evil. So that made me wonder why all Assassins need to be evil in the first place.
If someone says that Assassins are evil because they kill for money, then wouldn't any adventurer who ever got rewarded for a quest that involved killing be just as evil? Is it because they take contracts from evil employers? If so, then wouldn't the reason be because good aligned people usually don't hire killers?
I would definitely say that there are evil assassins, just as there are evil fighters, rogues, etc. But isn't saying that ALL assassins must be evil a little restrictive? Could there be a neutral assassin that would just as soon kill an evil target? Or even a GOOD (gasp) assassin that will only kill evil targets?
What are your thoughts? Has anyone ever used non-evil assassins in their game? Has anyone ever let a player take the assassin prestige class without being evil? If so did they do well in keeping their non-evil alignment, or did they slip and do some evil deeds?
Any other thoughts are welcome, and sorry if this topic has been discussed before. It just came to mind, and I would like to hear some opinions.
The next page in the DMG lists the Blackguard prestige class, and when I looked at their requirement, it also said you need an evil alignment. I looked at the Blackguard and Assassin next to each other, and the Assassin just didn't seem as evil. So that made me wonder why all Assassins need to be evil in the first place.
If someone says that Assassins are evil because they kill for money, then wouldn't any adventurer who ever got rewarded for a quest that involved killing be just as evil? Is it because they take contracts from evil employers? If so, then wouldn't the reason be because good aligned people usually don't hire killers?
I would definitely say that there are evil assassins, just as there are evil fighters, rogues, etc. But isn't saying that ALL assassins must be evil a little restrictive? Could there be a neutral assassin that would just as soon kill an evil target? Or even a GOOD (gasp) assassin that will only kill evil targets?
What are your thoughts? Has anyone ever used non-evil assassins in their game? Has anyone ever let a player take the assassin prestige class without being evil? If so did they do well in keeping their non-evil alignment, or did they slip and do some evil deeds?
Any other thoughts are welcome, and sorry if this topic has been discussed before. It just came to mind, and I would like to hear some opinions.