Code of Honor (Private Investigator)

A hallmark of the hardboiled detective is a personal Code of Honor that sets him apart. Most hardboiled investigators also have a Sense of Duty (Client). The Code of Honor and Sense of Duty can conflict if the client lies to the investigator. The code is as follows:

• Don’t back down, don’t give in, don’t be intimidated.
• Find the truth, no matter who wants to stop you or why.
• Do what’s right, not what’s legal.
• Treat honorable people with respect.
• Avenge any attack on you or on those whom you’re protecting.
• Keep your word.
• Keep only retainers you have earned.
• See to it that the morally guilty (who are not necessarily the legally guilty) are punished.

This is generally a -10 point disadvantage as it will, at times, involve illegal conduct and occasional fights to prove one isn’t intimidated.)

This originally appeared in GURPS Mysteries, p. 109