The Assassin with a Conscience

Not all killers serve darkness. Some move through the shadows not to spread death, but to shape destiny. You walk the fine edge between morality and necessity—an assassin who kills not for coin or cruelty, but for balance, justice, or mercy. You’ve learned the art of silent death, yet carry the weight of every life you’ve taken.

Whether you once belonged to a secret order, acted under royal decree, or became a blade-for-hire who chose a higher path, your hands are stained—but your heart refuses to be. You know the cost of violence, and you wield it sparingly, with purpose and precision.

You are the shadow that guards the light.

Ability Scores:

Requirement ability score for this background

• Str - 12
• Dex - 15
• Con - 12
• Int or Wis - 12

🐍 Dexterity – The Shadow’s Grace

Every movement is measured, silent, and precise. You’ve learned to slip between heartbeats, vanish in a blink, and strike before a whisper escapes your target’s lips. Your body flows like smoke and hits like lightning.
You don’t fight for glory—you fight with purpose, every motion an art form of restraint and control.

“A true blade doesn’t scream—it whispers.”

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💪 Strength – The Quiet Force

Your power lies not in brute rage, but in the steady control of it. You scale walls, disarm foes, and drag the wounded to safety with ease born of discipline.
Your strikes are efficient, your grip unyielding, and your body honed from years of missions that demanded both finesse and raw endurance.

“A blade is nothing without the hand that steadies it.”

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🩸 Constitution – The Unbroken Body

Poison, pain, exhaustion—you’ve known them all and survived each one. Nights without sleep, wounds stitched in silence, and venomous cuts have forged your body into a fortress.
You’ve been beaten, burned, and broken, yet you endure. Because the mission, the promise, or the life you swore to protect is worth more than your comfort.

“Pain is not my enemy. It’s the reminder that I’m still alive—and not done yet.”

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🧠 Intelligence – The Mind Behind the Blade

Before the strike comes the study. You read patterns like poetry—guard rotations, footsteps, weaknesses in armor, or cracks in a lie.
You understand anatomy as well as strategy, knowing exactly where to wound to disable, not kill. You use poisons sparingly, plans cleverly, and knowledge ruthlessly.
Your brilliance lies not in what you destroy, but in what you choose to spare.

“The mind decides what the blade cannot—who deserves to live another dawn.”

Feat:

🕊️ Feat: The Redeemer

Prerequisite: Experience in the ways of assassination or exposure to arcane beings

After years spent hunting mages, witches, and creatures steeped in magic, you’ve become attuned to the very forces you once destroyed. Their final breaths, their whispered curses, and the echo of their spells have etched fragments of arcane knowledge into your soul.

You have learned to wield a trace of the power you once eviscerated—and now, you use that power for the greater good.

🩸 Feat: Survival of the Fittest

Prerequisite: Combat experience or exposure to harsh environments

After countless hunts, ambushes, and near-death battles, you’ve learned that survival isn’t luck—it’s adaptation. You move like a predator, think like prey, and endure like stone. Every scar is a lesson, every breath a victory.

You have become a master of resilience, capable of thriving where others fall.

🗡️ Feat: Assassination

Prerequisite: Extensive combat or stealth experience

After countless silent kills and years of perfecting the art of death, your strikes are no longer mere attacks—they are executions. You read your target’s breath, heart, and hesitation, ending life with precision born from experience, not cruelty.

You are the embodiment of lethal purpose.

Suggested Characteristics

d6	Personality Trait
1	I always give my target one chance to walk away. I speak softly, but my conscience screams louder than any blade.
2	I speak softly, but my conscience screams louder than any blade.
3	I study every life I take and remember every name—I owe them that much.
4	I meditate before every battle to ensure I fight for reason, not rage.
5	I read people as I would a weapon—where they bend, and where they might break.
6	I prefer silence to argument; calm is my greatest weapon.

d6	Ideal
1	Redemption. Even the darkest hands can serve the light. Justice. Some evils can’t be reasoned with—they must be ended.
2	Justice. Some evils can’t be reasoned with—they must be ended.
3	Balance. Every death must have meaning, or it is murder.
4	Peace. My goal is not to end lives, but to end conflict.
5	Discipline. The body obeys the mind, and the mind must obey the soul.
6	Protection. Strength exists for one reason—to shield the innocent.

d6	Bond
1	I protect those who cannot protect themselves, no matter the cost.
2	Someone once saved me from my own darkness—I owe them everything.
3	I carry a charm from the woman I spared and the child she bore. They remind me what mercy costs—and what it saves.
4	The Syndicate that trained me still hunts me. Facing them is the final step toward my redemption.
5	I keep a list of every innocent life I’ve saved. It is shorter than I’d like.
6	A brother I once betrayed still lives. One day, I will seek his forgiveness.

d6	Flaw
1	I see death as a tool, but sometimes I use it too easily. I fear what I might become if I stop caring who dies.
2	I fear what I might become if I stop caring who dies.
3	My guilt drives me harder than any sense of peace ever could.
4	I struggle to accept kindness; I suspect hidden motives in every smile.
5	When anger breaks my calm, I become the assassin I swore to bury.
6	I don’t believe redemption is truly possible—only the illusion of it.