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ok the story goes that I'm making a character for a kingmaker game who is a bandit who has just brought a lot of hell on his shoulders and thinks it would be safer for him building an encampment in a place where you have a better chance of being eaten by wandering monsters then being found by his old marks and in keeping with his story and past i wanted to give him profession (bandit/highwaymen[same thing but am still trying to decide which one sounds better]) anyways i told my GM this and he says that he wouldn't think that would qualify as a profession but rather a series of encounters and attack rolls but anyways said that if I could get some support and find others who could back me up he would be down for it. so anyone care to help me out?
Starglim has it about right; I don't see any special knowledge required for a highwayman beyond the ability to swing a weapon. However, since gambler is a listed proffession in the core rulebook you might be able to talk your DM into letting you have profession (grifter). Using a variety of confidence tricks, a grifter is basically a con man. I see this being a viable option since the rulebook suggests gambler. Most games on which money is wagered are predominantly ruled by chance, but a good gambler knows when to keep going and when to stop (and possibly when to cheat too). A grifter is going to have to know a variety of specific scenarios to gain the confidence of their mark and then dupe them (the television show Leverage has used a few classic ones). Knowing these tactics and how to pull them off would, IMHO, constitute a proffession. Calling your past victims "marks" would suggest to me that this path might even be more strongly suited for the concept you had in mind.
yes, I think you could. just don`t expect to be able to max the skill and make one roll to stage a successful ambush, etc. all those relevent skills and stats still exist.
profession skills exist for making background money in PFS,
and for situations that might fall outside of the skills per se but are appropriate to have a DC... or giving you an alternate way for situations that might require multiple checks.
besides killing people, bandits have to sell their stolen goods.
roll profession banditry when you need to get rid of loot.
bandits also need to find good sites to stage ambushes on merchants.
why not use profession banditry to make a `tactics` check to find an optimal spot, and depending on how high you roll the GM will let you find a tactically better locale, or giver you more insight into the local features which might prove useful mid-ambush.
you would also be aware of how other bandits are operating in general (and how they`ve been caught), which perhaps overlaps with gather knowledge, but you should know the types of locales that other bandits tend to use as ambush sites. you also might use it to hear news of old acquantainces who`ve come looking for you in the area. etc.
profession soldier or bodyguard is also legit IMHO.
there`s just no reason in the books why some professions should have a skill and others shouldn`t. just be creative in thinking of `background` uses for the skill which would help a bandit be more successful. yes, they need the regular combat abilities and perception and bluff skills, but you can smooth over many situations and allow the character to `change the terrain` via profession checks so to allow them to use their combat ability and other skills from the most advantageous position.
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I tend to agree that most things an experienced highwayman should be good at (not necessarily combat, if he can avoid it) are already separate skills. I can easily see it as a trait, granting two or three situational skill or initiative bonuses.
but see that could be said about many of the professions really like profession sailor would be things like knowledge geography, use rope, swim, and probably acrobatics (or jump/tumble from 3.5 I'm usually more of a 3.5 player then pathfinder though have been wanting to play for a while so if my terms sound a bit outdated that's probably why)or teamster would be things like handle animal, and some knowledge nature. the thing that makes it a skill are the things that you couldn't really quantify in another skill like knowledge of how to run a ship and crew, where the best trade roads are at and who has the lowest tariffs, and superstitions involving their trade. With highwaymen it would be the same thing, knowledge of bandit organizations, tactics, and battle strategies, what roads are the least defended and well traveled, what countries patrol men would take a bribe,and superstitions and symbols that would be important in bandit culture (like roads thought to be haunted, legends of bandits, tattoos and symbols used by bandits like the chicken and pig tattoos used for safety by sailors and s!$+ [they were the only things that floated and so it was supposed to be a good luck charm to have them tattooed on you if you were a sailor])