I just got the system and am working through building a character with my roommate (in order to get the system down before presenting it to my other players). My player is playing the second son of a duke, and wants to have been trained as a noble spymaster/assassin type, sent in to gather intelligence on other noble families and sometimes kill key targets. The only problem is we are having a difficult time figuring out what lifepaths would work for that.
So far we have Noble Born -> NobleCourt -> Courtier. However at this point the only lifepaths that seem reasonable for the character type he wants are in Criminal -> Confidence-man, in the city dweller setting. (Also preferably poisons but he can use general points for that). The problem with these are that it takes him out of the noble court setting which is really where his character wants to end up.
My issue is thus, I feel like there should be a position in the noble court that caters to this type of character, but I can’t seem to find it in the lifepaths section. Have I missed something? If I haven’t is there a way to fudge it to allow him to build his character concept?
I think I’d go with: Desperate Killer and Poisoner from Outcast. Maybe even Blackmailer or Kidnapper?
We had almost that exact spymaster-assassin character in a very short lived game!
EDIT: perhaps I should also say that I don’t think taking the Outcast LPs means the character would be outcast from court. Just that the character hangs out with unsavory types. I’d let the player decide the exact relationship to the Outcast Setting.
Ah yes, also looking at it poisoner has a lead in to the court, so he could change it to nobleborn->desperate killer -> poisoner -> courtier and it should work correctly right? (blackmailer wouldn’t be bad but we’re using 4 lifepaths and he wants the ettiquette abilities from courtier for functioning in polite society)
Don’t forget about Jester, too–a little unconventional, but it has access to Sleight of Hand (great for slipping poison into a nobleman’s drink; who needs Poisons when you’re official? Your job is to deliver the poison, not make it!). Aura of Innocence is awfully handy when assassinating people in the circles of power.
It’s worth looking at the Jihad setting book and the Assassin and Ambassador lifepaths there. They have a few too many SP for my liking, but could adapt well to your purpose.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I have a question about another of the characters (not sure if I should ask it here or make a new thread for it). The player is interested in playing a great spider, and he has a copy of the rules for it. However looking through the rules I realized it was definitely not for gold. I was curious if there were rules for them in gold.
Alright, after some jiggering and a long discussion in which he finally found a character he loves. The path is Noble Born -> Court Jester -> Courtier -> Courtier. Spending general points on Knives, falsehoods, and inconspicuous. He’s going to buy a reputation with a forger/poisoner/general ne’erdowell. I have to say, the fact that he is going to become a “too obvious to be a” spy/assassin is part of the reason this is rapidly becoming my favorite system.
No Spider rules in Gold. The conversion is not too onerous, though it helps to be familiar with Revised and Gold rules. I’m sure any number of people here could help you convert a spider character if you post a new thread about it here.