Thoughts on the alignment of Assassins

[sckeener]

I'd recommend reading Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy

Several assassins in the series and I wouldn't call them evil.

Basically the job of a royal assassin is to achieve the goals of the royal family. Killing is one way, but all the options are open just like it is to adventurers. A royal assassin is like a diplomat with a license to kill.

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

I covered assassin alignments pretty heavily in Crimson Contracts. I think it's on sale right now, but it pretty much covers alignments and assassins, as well as the different types of assassins out there.

The biggest point however, is the fact that assassins can be considered good, depending on the definition of good for the society they come from.

 

[Shemeska]

Like unintelligent undead being evil in 3.5, the 'must be evil' assassin PrC in 3.0 and 3.5 is a nonsensical and frankly shallow concept.

I could see an argument for it being exclusively 'non-good', though such arguments would typically be very context based and subjective, but excluding neutral characters? *shake* I would argue that the largest number of assassins would be some flavor of neutral, viewing the job as exactly that, a job. They're killing because they're following orders, doing a job, aiding an organization, a religion, a patron, a state... the killing isn't enjoyed, it's rationalized by it being a necessity to the wellbeing of that patron person/organization, which in most cases won't be evil.

Is a SWAT team sharpshooter who takes out a guy with bomb, or a psycho holding a knife to a child's neck an evil person because it's his job to disable or kill? I would say no.

 

[Kormydigar]

The way I see the issue is that if assassins must be evil then paladins cannot be good. If killing is an evil act in and of itself, the how come the LG paladin has the Holy Smite ability? This is a divine power granted by a good aligned deity with a purpose of dealing lethal damage to evil beings. If this type of power is acceptable in the pursuit of goodness then why not a spell, poison, sneak attack, ect. IF used against evil foes. It seems that the D&D universe and alignment system is weighted more toward the target than the means. Except for the silly requirement of having to kill just to join, I see no reason not to have assassins of any alignment. Abilities and skills are just that, its what they are used for and against whom that determines the good or evil of the act.

 

[diaglo]

in OD&D terms they are neutral. but in OD&D there is no Good nor Evil.

 

[Umbran]

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 think you're leaving out a major point - motive matters. It isn't just they killing, or the method, but the who and why they kill matters. The assassin, as depicted in the DMG, does not care who the target is, or why you want 'em dead. The typical adventurer does care. And therein lies the difference.

Seems to me there's two basic approaches. One is to question if the DMG is correct - but how can art be "correct"? The other is to assume what the DMG presents as a given, and see what that implies.

Can you imagine a killer-for-hire with scruples? Sure. But that's not the point. The Assassin is shown as a sort of iconic example of an evil killer for hire. If you take that as a given, then you can start considering how that should differ from the not-so-evil killer for hire.

Really, if you aren't all dark and evil, should you have the exact same powers as the Assassin? If you hold yourself to a different code of conduct, shouldn't your modus operadi, and thus your powers, be different?

 

[Kormydigar]

Really, if you aren't all dark and evil, should you have the exact same powers as the Assassin? If you hold yourself to a different code of conduct, shouldn't your modus operadi, and thus your powers, be different?

I don't think so. There are classic examples of good guy vs bad guy where the two share an identical skill set. In the movie " Enter the Ninja" you have a light ninja and a dark ninja, who were trained at the same school by the same master. One used his abilities for good, the other became an assassin for hire. You were spot on about intent and reasons for killing earlier in your post.

 

[lukelightning]

I fully support the existance of neutral assassins IMC, on the pretext that many assassins are LN-types who work for the governments, churches, and so on.

People who kill people just because they were told to kill people are evil, not neutral.

 

[jollyninja]

as I recall, the assassin prc in the dmg is based on the guild that operates out of the city of greyhawk, a decidedly evil organisation. hence the requirement to kill to get in and the assassin needing to be evil. as for the class in a different context, it's a skill set, having a skill set does not make a character or anyone else evil.

 

[Sammael]

People who kill people just because they were told to kill people are evil, not neutral.

So, all soldiers are evil?