Executioner

There are many ways of taking a life, but you specialized in just one. Decide how you dispatched the condemned, or roll on the following table to determine your execution method.

 In your hometown and the places you performed your duty, you are a figure of some infamy. Your name is used to scare children into obedience, and prisoners in local jails shiver when they hear you are coming. You pay less for goods and services in town, and you can gain an audience with the local leaders. Your credentials may also give you some leeway when you fall on the wrong side of the law.

The cliché of the hulking brute of a headsman exists for a reason, but not all executioners fit this mold. Poisoners work at the highest levels of society, in the employ of royalty, the nobility, or those with a deep purse. Civilized societies may not practice something as barbaric as public beheadings, but there is still a need to remove undesirables. Poisoners are intelligent and sly. They may preside over formal executions in dungeons deep beneath the city, binding their victims and administering toxins directly into the blood. Alternatively, they may be the dirty secret of the court, brewing noxious concoctions that can be slipped into a drink or a meal without anyone suspecting a thing.

Rather than proficiency in Athletics, you have spent time studying Medicine. Replace carpenter’s or smith’s tools with poisoner’s tools, and start with a poisoner’s kit rather than the hood or mask. Your credentials and documentation may not explicitly state your role, though they should make it clear that you are a person of status.

You have poisoned hundreds of people in hundreds of different ways. You know the tricks of the trade— distraction techniques, foods and drinks that are particularly good at masking unusual scents, and the like. It is impossible for somebody to slip poison into your meal or drink without you noticing it, assuming you are conscious and able to observe your immediate environment.