I started my criminal career as a thief, then a master thief, and now I’m looking to move on. So what do you guys think is the most Machiavellian Profession?
Oh, that’s easy. Campaigner -> Mystic -> Glassman. Schemes and plots from behind the mirrors!
Isn’t that more church related than criminal?
It can also be started using the Revolutionaries’ card. Glassmen don’t seem to have anything to do with either group, however, apart from the beginning of their career.
The Crooked Cross is the most closely connected with the Church, although admittedly adversarially. While the Campaigner profession can be entered through association with the Church there’s also a Revolutionary route, and when you become a Glassman you abandon your followers and acolytes for a snazzy pair of glasses regardless.
The Midnighter profession, and possibly the Licentiate, might also appeal to you however. The Midnight is closely tied to the Great Game and their clandestine activities, ripe with Machiavellian possibilities. The Licentiate is a bit more direct, as your work is essentially a particular form of murder, but that lends it quite a few criminal trappings if that’s what you’re interested in.
Finally, while not a profession, the Affair of the Box storyline can earn you the Empire’s Kingmaker and Fist of the Bazaar story qualities and pursuing the storyline is a good next step if you’ve recently finished with the Flit.
The Midnighter sounds great, thanks
Crooked Cross or Midnighter are certainly manipulative. And personally, I think Glassman might take the prize. If you haven’t become Embroiled in the War of Illusions, you might not see the full extent of that, however.
Nope, not really. As the professions advance, ah, you begin to discover that they’re not quite as they seemed…[li]
(For instance, I advanced from Journalist to Author to…Scholar of the Correspondence. The next tier of professions purport to be even more sinister and strange.)
So, yes–it starts as being Church-associated…but it develops into something far deeper and more conspiratorial.
I’ve been looking at it, and I think I might go for Crooked Cross
Nope, not really. As the professions advance, ah, you begin to discover that they’re not quite as they seemed…[li][/quote]
Hm… well I’m now at the Stalker stage and it seems that the Rat-catcher route is pretty straightforward. you just get to stab or shoot bigger creatures. Unless of course there’s something waiting at Tier 3?[/li][li]
I don’t think so, I think it’s just Monster Hunter after that
So far, yeah; the Monster Hunter tree seems to be the most straightforward. Whether the Laocoonian is anything more than “kaiju-killer” (as has been theorized) remains to be seen. (Perhaps the Laocoonian aspires to hunt serpents…)
Renaissance Political Thought: The Concept of Virtue in Machiavelli's The Prince .
well that really depends on what your opinion of Machiavelli’s opinion on virtuous behavior or Italian "virtù"
i would say do anything where "the end justifies the means". categorised as consequentialism?
of course that is also depedent on your character’s personal motivations, no?
I think “Machiavellian” is being used in the colloquial sense here, as in “scheming, crafty, manipulative”.
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Then probably the Trickster Route fits the bill. It is the combination of cunning (Shadowy) and charm (Persuasive).
It might be a semantic difference between the vernacular and historical qualities of Machiavelli, but I’d be cautious of overemphasizing the emphasis on Shadowy deeds in relation to him. Consider rather the virtues of Watchfulness, and of laying Plans-within-Plans. Machiavelli’s ideal Prince might have been Ruthless, but he needn’t be Heartless as well, and he understood when to be Subtle and when to be Forceful… and the value, at times, of being Magnanimous. For there is often value in appearing Respectable, for all that it is always safest to be Dreaded (and the two are hardly mutually exclusive, if you catch my meaning).
I just read a bit about Laocoön. it seems that he wants to defy the Greek gods (especially Athena no less!) no matter what they throw at him. If I may dare to speculate, does that mean that we will try to defy and hunt the Neathy gods? That would be awesome.
[li]
I just read a bit about Laocoön. it seems that he wants to defy the Greek gods (especially Athena no less!) no matter what they throw at him. If I may dare to speculate, does that mean that we will try to defy and hunt the Neathy gods? That would be awesome.
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Dear god (ha), that would be the awesomest profession ever. Would that mean they’d try to take down the Masters too? They’re hardly gods, but this seems like the kind of profession that would make them nervous.[/li][li]