{"id":"mage/creature/npc/professional-badass","type":"creature","system":"npc","line":"mage","name":"Professional Badass","sources":[{"source":"M20","page":622}],"entries":["Organized crime and military armed forces are powerful and pervasive groups… but they’re also mortal subcultures in which even the most accomplished members","can easily become the pawns of mages, vampires, spirits, and other supernatural creatures. As a result, many criminals are fairly superstitious (maybe even cowardly!), and all of them know that when something looks too weird, it’s time to get the hell outta Dodge.","Even so, professional badasses – security specialists, mob enforcers, SWAT team members, assassins, gangbangers, military personnel, martial artists, and so on – regard themselves as very dangerous people. And by average-citizen standards, they’re right. Such folks can’t afford to seem cowardly or weak. As a result, you’ll often find these badasses working for vampires, werecritters, dangerous organizations, rival mages, and perhaps even you! (The Allies, Backup, and Spies Backgrounds generally employ these types of characters.)","Suggested Attributes: {@attribute Strength|V20} 4, {@attribute Dexterity|V20} 3, {@attribute Stamina|V20} 3, {@attribute Charisma|V20} 3, {@attribute Manipulation|V20} 4, {@attribute Appearance|V20} 1-3, {@attribute Perception|V20} 2-4, {@attribute Intelligence|V20} 2-4, {@attribute Wits|V20} 3-4","Suggested Abilities: {@ability Alertness|V20} 2, {@ability Athletics|V20} 2-4, {@ability Brawl|V20} 3-4, {@ability Drive|V20} 2, {@ability Firearms|V20} 3-5, {@ability Intimidation|V20} 3, {@ability Martial Arts|M20} 0-4, {@ability Melee|V20} 1-3, {@ability Stealth|V20} 2, {@ability Streetwise|V20} 3-5, {@ability Subterfuge|V20} 2, {@ability Technology|M20} 1-3","Willpower: 6","Health Levels: OK, -1, -1 -2, - 2, -5, Incapacitated","Equipment: Kevlar vest (perhaps heavy body armor in combat situations), knife and/ or club, shotgun or submachine gun, car, and various appropriate goodies.","Image: Regardless of individual appearance or fashion, a professional badass has the predatory look of someone who’s survived many violent encounters and plans to survive many more.","Roleplaying Notes: Violence is your business, and business is good."],"_qa":{"flags":["no_attributes"],"parser":"stat_block","confidence":0.9,"extracted":"2026-10-12","job":"m20-bestiary"},"_links":{"self":"/api/v1/records/mage/creature/npc/professional-badass","html":"/records/mage/creature/npc/professional-badass","parent":null,"children":"/api/v1/records/mage/creature/npc/professional-badass/children","sources":[{"abbr":"M20","page":622,"folio":622,"title":"Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition"}]},"_db":{"title":"Professional Badass","props":[],"parent_id":null,"level":null,"category":null,"summary":"Organized crime and military armed forces are powerful and pervasive groups… but they’re also mortal subcultures in which even the most accomplished members can easily become the pawns of mages, vampires, spirits, and","tags":[],"children":[]}}