A Kit for Montaron: Bounty Hunter or Assassin ?

Contemplative_Hamster

If you were to make Montaron a single-classed thief, do you envision him (his lines, his personality, his motivation) as an Assassin or a Bounty Hunter - and why?

Zaghoul

That's a hard one for me. After BG NPC Project , where he mentions preferring to keep his skills in tune and not relying on poison I found it harder to switch him to assassin.
As he also mentions loving torture, I could put him down for a BH, just to get them back alive to the special chamber of his superiors. I picture them as wanting to extract plenty of info. I f I had to choose I would go with BH, using the RR version that adds alchemical traps.
I usually feel it fits to leave him a straight up F/T. I switched him to assassin once or twice and it just felt a little off.

ThacoBell

I think in this case, a multiclass suits the character more than a kit. Ooh, you know what? The "Thug" kit from Might and Guile probably fits him pretty well.

Chronicler

He was more of a general mercenary than anything involved in the seedy underworld of assassin work.

Like I picture people hiring Montaron when they need some extra muscle to bring somebody in. Not necessarily when they want somebody to kill a noble and make it look like an accident or anything like that.

Bounty Hunter seems like the closer fit to me.

Raduziel

Neither.

Thug, from Might and Guile.

Chronicler

Raduziel said:

Neither.

Thug, from Might and Guile.

The thug is a multi-class kit. They've expressed a desire to make him a single class thief.

toolarg

Zaghoul said:

That's a hard one for me. After BG NPC Project , where he mentions preferring to keep his skills in tune and not relying on poison I found it harder to switch him to assassin.

In his BG1NPC Project interactions with Eldoth he leaves no room for doubt to the fact that hes an assassin.

mashedtaters

Montaroon is kind of an interesting character.
First off, he’s an evil halfling.
Secondly, he’s sidekick to someone much crazier than he is.
And thirdly, he and his buddy ask a child for help getting to Nashkel for no reason.
Bounty hunter implies more of an independent yet law-abiding streak, whereas assassins are frequently in the employ of a powerful and evil organization.
I’m going with disrespected or incompetent assassin.

deltago

If I had to choose, I'd say Assassin. It was a tough call though.

I see him more in the lust to kill than in the ability to track someone down.

recklessheart

Montaron is associated with the Zhentarim. The Zhentarim don't work with mercenaries, per se, except those loyal to their own cause. In that regard, Montaron is far more likely to be a paid Assassin than a Bounty Hunter. Consider also that he attempts to infiltrate the Harper Headquarters in Athkatla at the Zhentarim's behest - there is no known bounty on the heads of the Harpers. It is more likely he does so in service to the faction. Loyalty to a faction diminishes one's identity as a Bounty Hunter, in my mind.

Several of his voiceover command lines also suggest a willingness to murder the player in their sleep, with no known bounty sitting on the head of the player. On the contrary, many high-paying bounties sit on the head of the protagonist character, none of which he betrays you to try and collect.

Nimran

“Sleep lightly, taskmaster...”

booinyoureyes

I think both are good choices, but I will go with bounty hunter for one reason: he was sent to investigate the Iron Crisis, not to kill a particular target.

That said, assassin and necromancer make sense as a team.

ThacoBell

toolarg said:

Zaghoul said:

That's a hard one for me. After BG NPC Project , where he mentions preferring to keep his skills in tune and not relying on poison I found it harder to switch him to assassin.

In his BG1NPC Project interactions with Eldoth he leaves no room for doubt to the fact that hes an assassin.

If Assassin was JUST the "killer for hire" I would agree. But in an early talk her explicitly states that he refuses to use poison. Which the Assassin's main point in BG.

semiticgoddess

Bounty Hunter doesn't seem right. Montaron is too bloodthirsty to just watch his target wander into a trap and then haul them over to the legal authorities tied up and unharmed. He's the kind of guy who would want to kill his victims up close and get some blood on his hands, then saw off the head, stuff it in a bag, and a few days later throw the rotting head at the feet of whoever hired him to do the deed.

lroumen

Kitless. Neither fit best.

Zaghoul

toolarg said:

Zaghoul said:

That's a hard one for me. After BG NPC Project , where he mentions preferring to keep his skills in tune and not relying on poison I found it harder to switch him to assassin.

In his BG1NPC Project interactions with Eldoth he leaves no room for doubt to the fact that hes an assassin.

Heh, I do like that conversation.

booinyoureyes

toolarg said:

Zaghoul said:

That's a hard one for me. After BG NPC Project , where he mentions preferring to keep his skills in tune and not relying on poison I found it harder to switch him to assassin.

In his BG1NPC Project interactions with Eldoth he leaves no room for doubt to the fact that hes an assassin.

BG1NPC Project is canon in my book, so I'll have to change my opinion if this is true. I'm actually doing an evil run through next with both Eldoth and Monty, so I should see it for myself

brunardo

tough but say bounty hunter that doesnt mind killing if needs too...

Zaghoul

For no particular reason, here is an interesting little excerpt from one of the first Bounty Hunter 'NPC only' (yeah right, like that ever stopped us back then) classes from one of my old Dragon Magazine annuals. I reckon it changed my views on a BH for playing BG, esp. with the addition of the RR mod's version that uses alchemical traps.

by Scott Bennie
The wizard Herek sat in the corner, drinking his ale. He tapped
on his staff of the magi nervously while he sipped the brew, as if
he sensed some unseen menace lurking nearby. His companion,
Pallar, scoffed at this nervousness; magicians were perpetually
uneasy, and besides, he was becoming apprehensive as well.

Suddenly the pungent odor of acid stabbed into nostrils. Pallar rose
and drew his blade in one motion, but it was already too
late. Herek let out a short scream, then slumped in a heap, dead,
with an arrow of slaying lodged in his back. There was a hole
burned through the wall behind them — the acid had done that
— and through it Pallar glimpsed a figure escaping on a flying
carpet. He mouthed some curses in the direction of the killer and
then turned to the body of his friend.
A note was tied to the shaft of the arrow buried in the mage’s
back: “Revenge now belongs to the Lords of the Dragon,
through the courtesy and efforts of the Master of the Bountiful
Hunt.” There were a few other words, but they were already
unreadable, smeared by wizard’s blood...

A Bounty Hunter is a character who specializes in the killing of
other characters or creatures for profit. A Bounty Hunter who
fights only non-humanoid creatures must be neutral in alignment,
while those who fight and slay humanoids must be neutral evil.
Humans and half-orc characters may be Bounty Hunters, as
long as they possess the following minimum ability scores:
strength 15, intelligence 13, dexterity 14 and constitution 14.
A Bounty Hunter is in some ways a combination of ranger and
assassin.
In some circumstances, a bounty may be more profitable if the
quarry is captured rather than killed. In this case, a successful
assassination by the Bounty Hunter can mean that the victim
was knocked unconscious for 2-16 turns. This will be enough
time to bind and gag the prisoner, and perhaps enough time to
allow delivery to the one who will pay the bounty.

Mantis37

That's what you get for modding out the invisibility power in exchange for free beer at will...

Contemplative_Hamster

Cheers, all, for your contributions. You make many excellent points. I am no closer to a decision, dang.

Aerakar

I voted assassin of the two choices for no real reason other than it seems to be the consensus from BG1 NPC Project, but really I think evil F/T is right for him TBH.

I see him as an evil somewhat demented, grubby, mercenary more than either a straight bounty hunter or straight assassin.