I think it's possible for a D&D fantasy campaign to include assassins of basically good alignment. I am one of the three or four people who ran the 2nd edition Al-Qadim campaign, and there was an assassins' guild called the "Friendly Word" who were essentially character assassins, some of whom were of good alignment (ie, they destroyed the image of public persons, not PCs). Much further than that, and I suppose the character would be more of a vigilante and less of an actual assassin.

The assassin prestige class in the 3.5 DMG has an Evil requirement. So according to 3.5 rules, no, you can't be an Assassin and be evil.

Now come the semantics.

All rules in the DMG can be switched in and out by the DM at will. So if you want an assassin in your campaign that serves the interests of the public by dispensing death to evildoers (ala the Punisher or the Boondock Saints), then that's your perogative.

Also, you can be a highly skilled member of any class who says he kills people for a living, and call yourself an assassin. Would you get the skills for it? No. Would a good guy profess to kill people? Probably not.

We could argue all day whether or not killing in the name of "good" makes one good or evil, but the published rules simplify it that saying that murder is evil. That withstanding, assassins are the tools of the forces of evil.


Hope this helps!
Chris

I played a character who everyone thought was a Chaotic Neutral Rogue...well, turns out he, and this was my secret twist with the DM, he was actually the king's private assassin who was hired to be a secondary, secret, bodyguard for the princess...Now, its debatable about whether he was "good" or not...but he did his job, protected the princess...that is until I had to kill her to save the multiverse from demon hordes...outside of battle, the only people he ever killed were drug dealers and pimps...before the demon invasion, he killed whoever the king told him too....

But he really did love that princess..... That probably doesn't help answer the question well.... But, then again, I've always been a player who lets my actions define my alignment..and if people agree that the alignment is shifting to something else....well...the alignment shifts...

Prestige Class Royal assassin. D20 rules, ver 3.5 compatible

One Prerequisite is any not evil alignment.

Well, any class can kill for money. This is inherently evil. The assassin from AD&D I always thought had the tradition of hanging with lower levels. Like at level 5, an assassin could menace level ones. A lot of fear molecules helps for hide.

>>Is it possible to have an Assassin that is of good alignment? This character only targets the evil in the world, like a sniper in a war zone. Yes he gets paid, but his jobs are a service, <<

A sniper in a war zone is a soldier, not an assassin. He doesn't get paid per kill. He doesn't shake hands with his targets.

An assassin pretends to be someone they are not through disguise, *gain your trust*, and then slay you in very unpleasant ways, most expediently through poison, and they get paid for killing a specific person, who has usually not wronged the assassin in any personal way.

I've highlighted *gain your trust* because this is the most evil thing that the assassin does. S/He has to gain the trust of the target because the power of the assassin is in that first attack. You want your target to be unarmored, have their back to you, and hopefully a bit inebriated or exhausted.