Looking for some roleplay ideas for my operative

[Ecliptic12]

Basically, creating an operative assassin character who grew up in a gang of thugs that had no morals and used him to quietly take out targets for them. These targets were often innocents who crossed the gang in some way or hindered the gang's plans (i.e. politicians fighting for improved conditions in slums or for increased policing presence, scientists looking to improve environmental conditions, etc.)

Eventually, our hero figures out that the gang used him and even killed his family (he was "adopted" by the gang leader and was given some false story about being abandoned and saved by the gang). He leaves the gang after trapping the leader's bed, and sets out on his own.

However, due to the way that things went down, our hero has grown a conscience. He has decided that he will not be used again, and so he has come up with a code of conduct. Maybe 4 or 5 tenets that he will NOT break under any circumstance.

I'm looking for help coming up with said tenets. He will be a Lawful Neutral character and follow his code to the letter (and said code will supersede any laws or rules in the places that he travels).

ex:

1. I will only take the lives of the evil and the corrupt. I shall never kill an innocent, except in the case that more innocent lives can be saved through the loss of fewer. I will always research my targets before carrying out a kill in order to ensure that they deserve to meet justice

2. I will put the lives of my companions first, and the mission second, but I shall always do everything in my power to accomplish the mission, so long as the mission targets marks that deserve death

3. ???

These are ideas... but looking for more. Want to play a character that is fun to RP and has rules to follow that restrict his actions to some degree - an assassin with a conscience, if you will. Overdone trope? Maybe.

Thanks !

[Tarik Blackhands]

3: I am not the contracts I take. Whether by negligence, deception, or insufficient information, I will not be bound by contract should it be revealed I will be doing the work of the corrupt. (OOC Notes: Incomplete information exists, research fails, and sometimes your Mr Johnson will pull a fast one on you. Regardless, you have a conscience, you won't go against it just because you signed a datapad beforehand.)

4: I will not be crossed. Anyone knowingly and maliciously deceiving or coercing me or my comrades into doing the work of the corrupt will be punished. This may not be immediate but blood will eventually beget blood. (OOC Notes: History wise it makes sense to have something against people pulling the wool over his eyes to do their dirty work. People who try that nonsense either deserve a laser to the head or a systematic ruining of their life depending on how hardline you want to take it. Wording also prevents you from burning bridges with people who simply botched on the legwork for target acquisition)

My ideas anyway

[Ecliptic12]

Perfect, thanks :)

[McAllister]

First, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreTools?from=Main.TropesA reNotBad

Second, some ideas.

- Killing evil is its own reward, and I shall put no other reward before it. I will not allow offers of payment to sway my determination of who lives and who dies. If I happen to accrue payment in the course of my work, I will invest firstly in my own effectiveness and lastly in my own comfort. (this character sounds kinda ascetic to me)

- Evil people can reproduce like any others. In the event that my work leaves a child or other vulnerable person with no caretakers, I will personally take care of them until a suitable replacement can be found.

- The perfect is the enemy of the good. I will not allow my zeal for a perfect world to impede my work. If I need to give an immoral person payment to gain access to a truly wicked one, the price will be worthwhile.

Also, for your first tenet, may I suggest splitting it? Because "I will only kill people who deserve it" and "I will kill whoever is necessary to prevent the most loss of life" are different ideas, and frankly, there are situations where they'll conflict. Which is good! Leads to nice drama. But it might be worth articulating them separately.

[Ecliptic12]

Thanks everyone. Here is what I have so far:

Code:
1. I will only take the lives of the evil and the corrupt. I will always research my targets before carrying out a kill in order to ensure that they deserve to meet justice, and I will not carry out even contracts that I’ve agreed to, if new information reveals that my targets are innocent.
2. I shall never kill an innocent, except in the case that more innocent lives can be saved through the loss of fewer. I will always try to minimize loss of innocent or good lives. No children, period. If an assassination results in a child being orphaned, I will ensure that the child is cared for (taken to an orphanage or Steward station)
3. I will put the lives of my companions first, and the mission second, but I shall always do everything in my power to accomplish the mission, so long as the mission targets marks that deserve death
4. I will not be crossed. Anyone knowingly and/or maliciously deceiving or coercing me or my comrades into doing the work of the corrupt will be punished. Though it may not happen immediately, justice will be had and blood will eventually beget blood.
5. I will never break my word, save in a case in which keeping it violates one of the other codes.

[EC Gamer Guy]

Idea from Blade of the Immortal, Kill 100 evildoers for every innocent you killed.

Also, use your contract money for charity. Don't tell anyone. Keep the bada** exterior.

I can see a GM having a lot of fun with differing levels of Evil and Corrupt. Is the banker who follows the letter of a contract evil or corrupt for evicting homeowners who are behind in their payments? Does he deserve death for doing so?

For ideas you might also want to look into modern religions/philosophy. Drag a few prohibitions from Buddhism to "have a cleaner body lead to a cleaner spirit" or the like. Give up meat and alcohol.