You were raised by a group of assassins, either picked off the streets as a child or taken as a baby, with them intending you to join their ranks as a hired killer once you were fully trained. However, through some twist of fate, or your own ability, that never came to pass. You escaped the organisation before your training was complete, leaving for distant lands to make your own future. Whether you become a law abiding citizen or are lured back to the wrong side of the law, you are forever linked to the underworld, and the people who raised you may not take too kindly to your betrayal…

Skill Proficiencies: Stealth, Perception

Tool Proficiencies: Thieves’ Tools, Poisoner’s Kit

Equipment: A dagger, a set of dark coloured traveller’s clothes with a hood, a single keepsake you took with you when you left (roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook), and a pouch containing 15 gp

Suggested Characteristics

By definition, runaway assassins experience a very unconventional upbringing, even if the group they were raised by bothered to give them an education beyond their future profession- and many don’t. Their strict training and the unusual society of sorts that they spend their childhoods shapes their outlook on the world and may warp their ideals.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I can’t help but to analyse how to kill every new person that I meet.
2	The guild only taught me formal manners, so I come off as stiff and stuffy to commoners.
3	I am shy and withdrawn, since being over-friendly used to get me punished.
4	I was taught to be a social chameleon, and so I easily fit in but rarely make real connections.
5	I’m extremely eager to make friends now that I have the chance to.
6	I’m often surprised and intrigued by realities of daily life that didn’t exist in the guild, like haggling.
7	I have an impressively detailed knowledge of nobility and court relations, but it’s slightly out of date.
8	I’m always calm in the face of danger.

d6	Ideal
1	Survival. As long as I was forced to learn these skills, I might as well use them to protect myself. (Neutral)
2	Freedom. I’ve already been a pawn once- I’ll never let my life be controlled like that again. (Chaotic)
3	Responsibility. The best way to avoid being dragged back into the underworld is to toe the line and live as a law-abiding citizen. (Lawful)
4	Greater Good. The people who trained me wanted me to kill for profit with these skills. I’ll use them to protect the weak instead. (Good)
5	Profit. My issue was never with being an assassin- it was with someone else taking a cut of my earnings. (Evil)
6	Second Chance. What I want most is a to have a chance at a life not overshadowed by my past. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	I made friends when a younger trainee when I was at the guild, and I want to go back someday and save them before their training is complete.
2	One of the instructors always hated me, and now that I’ve left, they’re sure to be hunting me down to kill me.
3	I was kidnapped as a baby, and want to find out who my real parents were, and if they’re still out there somewhere.
4	I escaped because I was afraid, but sometimes I wonder if I really disagree with the organisation’s goal.
5	I’m in love with one of the other trainees, but they weren’t able to escape with me.
6	During my escape, I had to defeat of the guards, and they were always the kind to hold grudges.

d6	Flaw
1	I was taught that empathy is a weakness.
2	My fear of retribution from the organisation makes me paranoid.
3	I never really was able to bring myself to really internalize that other people’s lives have value.
4	I make enemies easily, but struggle to make friends.
5	I’m afraid that if I kill anyone, even for good reasons, I’ll start to become the killer I was supposed to be.
6	I only ran from the guild because I’m a coward.