Herbalist
One of the most common arts among the populace is the lore of herbs and natural remedies, invaluable to heal injuries and illnesses, get by, and brew a good rotgut spirit in your own stable, far from the prying eyes of tax collectors.

As Extravagant creatures and phenomena grow more and more frequent in the countryside and in the natural world, herbalists are specializing in low-ranking rural magic as well: They study as arcane initiates and trade with many fey and wild spirits of the realms. Sometimes these herbalists become sorcerers or hexers, other times they become alchemists and apothecaries. A few of them even specialize in rustic cuisine, high gastronomy, or curdlemancy.

Still, most herbalists remain just simple healers who produce natural essences and perfumes by themselves: perfumers, greengrocers, and gardeners, men and women with green thumbs and brown pinkies who know how to work with earth, plants, and grafts.

In recent times, especially in the Free Towns in the North, herbalists have gathered to establish guilds and minor arts, founding two main corporations that have a presence both in towns and in smaller settlements.

Practicalists are herbalists closer to traditional lore and methods. They may look less organized and sophisticated, but they can rely on a good dose of common sense, traditional recipes, and useful remedies to take care of the commoners.

Herbailiffs, or “bailiffs of herbs”, are a modern and experimental branch. They research new methods to mix worthless weeds to obtain scents and essences, in order to create more expensive and alluring remedies, often devoid of any special quality. They are therefore more appreciated by officials, merchants, and fashion lovers with too many coins in their purses.

Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, Nature
Tool Proficiencies: Alchemist’s supplies, healer’s kit
Equipment: Worn gloves, healer’s kit, pouch with 10 sp.

Feature: Practicalist or Herbailiff
An herbalist chooses one of the two following features when they select this background, representing two different herbalist corporations.

Practicalist Lore: As a practicalist herbalist you can produce poultices that increase the uses of a healer’s kit to a total number of uses equal to your proficiency bonus. Until you finish a long rest, you can’t use this feature again.

Herbailiff Lore: As an herbailiff herbalist, you can use pellitory, leaves, cabbage, and other weeds to brew a special concoction for a maximum of 5 doses. When a creature drinks a dose of your concoction, it gains a number of temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier. Until you finish a long rest, you can’t use this feature again.

Suggested Characteristics
Herbalists are usually experts on plants and herbs. They use their resources to practical purposes, and sometimes study the arcane side of nature, although they might not be able to master its most arcane, divine, or extravagant facets. At a closer look, once you consider their goals and activities, practicalists and herbailiffs are very different figures, juxtaposed in many ways. The former care about sharing, tradition, and taking care of the people, while the latter aim to gain riches and social renown through clever tricks.