Professional Backgrounds

[MidnightPoet]

Professional backgrounds best represent what your character does between adventures, whether it’s a job to make money, or a title or responsibility they must uphold. Each background has multiple professions, and describes that profession’s place in the world. For example, your character may be a Seafarer, but what do they do at sea? They may be a pauper, scavenging whatever they can find of value from the ocean shores. In this case, you may choose the Seagatherer. There are no wrong choices.

Profession Abilities Once you have selected your profession, you gain access to its Profession Ability. This is an activity that you have practiced time and time again, becoming an expert in this field. Each profession ability requires an hour spent completing the task, and a DC 15 skill check. Once you have attempted a profession ability, you cannot attempt it again until the next day. Profession DiceProfession Dice are the in-game advantages provided to characters by their background profession. Characters can add their Profession Die to skill or ability checks according to any Talents they have selected. In addition, a character always adds their Profession Die when rolling for Profession Abilities.A character’s Profession Die is determined by their rank, and shown in the table to the right:

Profession Rank Dice Roll 1 1d4 2  1d6 3 1d8 4 1d10

Talents

Talents are unique dispositions, experiences, or characteristics your character has picked up due to their time working in their profession. This is represented by allowing characters to add their Profession Die in unique situations that highlight the skills gained through their profession. A character may select a Talent from their corresponding Talent list when they select their profession, and select an additional Talent whenever they rank up within a profession.

Changing Profession

Plans never play out as expected, and sometimes professions don’t either. A character may change professions by achieving the progression requirements of the profession rank they wish to change to. When they achieve these requirements they may rank up into the new rank of that profession, choosing a Talent from their new profession list. A character that has ranked up into another profession retains all equipment, Talents, proficiencies, and abilities from their original profession. After all, you can change your future, but not your past.

Customizing Professional Backgrounds

Proficiencies & Equipment

When creating your own background, Professional Backgrounds add skill proficiencies and starting equipment in a similar way to backgrounds. You may customize the list of background skills and equipment in the same way as a normal background. You may work with the GM to determine suitable holdings and missions needed for your character to progress in rank.

Rankings, Holdings, and Progressions

Rankings represent a character’s standing within the world of their profession. Each profession has four ranks, with characters starting at the first rank. Whenever a character meets the progression milestones of a rank within their profession (as discussed with the GM), they may progress to the next rank of that profession.

A Captain and his daring crew or a Duke and his extravagant estate are both examples of a profession’s holdings. Within Professional Backgrounds, holdings are the assets, resources, or advantages a character gains through their position. Holdings vary between professions, from finding free lodging to acquiring a grand fortress and legions of soldiers, or anything in between. Within each profession are examples of the sorts of holdings a character might achieve as they progress through the professional ranks. Whenever a character advances in rank, they retain their holdings from previous ranks.

Progressions are examples of what may be required for you to advance in rank within your profession. From making a medical breakthrough to being appointed by a monarch, progressions vary depending on the rank and profession they belong to. Progressions make great character goals and can be tied into existing character or party goals. For example, a scribe looking to disprove falsehoods could do so by pursuing the mystery at the heart of the campaign’s overall story.

[MidnightPoet]

Academic Profession Examples

Academics use their education and knowledge from extensive studies to make a living and achieve their life’s ambitions. Academics are generally held in higher regard than most other backgrounds, as their skills are sought after by the wealthy and powerful. Academics make great researchers, investigators, and versatile problem-solvers.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose one from Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Religion.

Languages: Choose one standard and one exotic.

Equipment: A bottle of black ink, a quill, a letter opener, parchment, and 10 gp.

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Antiquarian

Antiquarians are fascinated with history and identifying ancient artifacts and texts. They gather rare and lost items to add to their collections. Antiquarians’ skill with identifying the properties of artifacts makes them adept problem solvers, especially when ancient artifacts and languages are involved.

Skill Proficiency: History.

Additional Equipment: A fine brush, a magnifying lens, and a small wooden crate to store relics.

Insightful Discovery

Upon spending an hour observing or examining a subject, and succeeding on a DC 15 Intelligence (History) check, you can uncover the purpose and uses of any object, language, cultural practice, or similar subject. The features of magic items you investigate in this manner are revealed to you without you needing to attune to them.

Rank 1 - Museum Scholar

You work in a museum and have spent your time learning about the intricacies of every cultural artifact there. Under the guidance of the head scholar at the museum, you grew into a respectable scholar in your own right.

Holdings:

• A desk within a library, college or museum, with access to common resources.
• A map or letter detailing the location of a hidden treasure or relic.

Progression:

• Acquire a small collection of antiquities, which fellow antiquarians acknowledge.

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Archivist

Archivists are dedicated to the recording and preservation of knowledge. Archivists are often tasked with scouring tomes for errors and falsehoods, because to an archivist there is no greater sin than the recording of lies. Great Archivists often become well respected scholars, holding great power over the future of a kingdom. Regardless, Archivists are often sought out by other Academics, who collaborate with them to complete their own work in related fields.

Skill Proficiency: Investigation.

Additional Equipment: An ink pen, a bottle of ink, a tin of pounce powder.

Academic References

Upon spending an hour, and succeeding on a DC Intelligence 15 (Investigation) check, you can find a contact within a library, academy, or place of knowledge. This contact begins as friendly to you and will answer questions you have regarding research.

Rank 1 - Scribe’s Assistant

You have become a valued member of a library after learning about the art of collecting and storing written materials. Your years of completing bureaucratic tasks have made you an expert in locating information on specific and obscure subjects.

Holdings:

• A desk within a library, college, or museum, with access to common resources.
• A well-regarded text which is suspected to contain falsehoods, with made-up accounts and references.

Progression:

• To progress in this profession, you must fact-check and document your discovery of errors in a fraudulent, plagiarized, or mistaken tome.

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Physician

Your skills in healing the sick and injured have given you a vast knowledge of illnesses and remedies based on the latest science. Your calm bedside manner and natural aptitude for concocting medicines make you an effective healer.

Skill Proficiency: Medicine.

Additional Equipment: A bag filled with medicinal herbs, pestle and mortar, bandages, needle and thread, jar of leeches.

Medical Diagnosis

Upon spending an hour examining a creature, and succeeding on a DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check, you can find the exact cause of the creature’s illness, injury, or death. Additionally, you become aware of how to cure the ailment, if a non-magical cure exists. This does not include magical diseases such as the contagion spell or the Weeping Pox.

Rank 1 - Surgeon’s Apprentice

Whether your fascination is for the humanoid body, or the conditions that afflict it, your tireless dedication to medicine has earned you the position of Surgeon's Apprentice. As an apprentice, you are expected to attend to the patients of your appointed superior with efficiency and effectiveness.

Holdings

• Lodging near the medical clinic, hospital, or infirmary where you work. 
• A copy of the medical codex Cause and Cures.

Progression

• Complete a variety of surgeries successfully, and be considered proficient by a mentor who has attained the rank of Barber Surgeon.

[MidnightPoet]

Aristocratic Profession Examples

Aristocrats are the rulers and wielders of law, and use their position at the top of the social hierarchy to compel others to further their interests. Whether feared or respected, aristocrats make excellent negotiators, diplomats, and schemers.

Skill Proficiency: Choose one from Deception, History, Insight, Performance, Persuasion, or Religion.

Languages: Choose one standard language.

Equipment: A quill and ink, a letter opener, parchment, a piece of fine jewelry that displays your status, and 25 gp.

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Courtier

From notable socialites to distant noble family members and trusted servants, Courtiers represent the members of the aristocracy who are employed or invited by a ruler to make up their court. Courtiers live in close proximity to the ruling class to assist them and be part of their world. However, Courtiers are more often seen as schemers and manipulators than helpful assistants. The life of a Courtier is one of dangerous plots, uneasy political alliances, and the occasional act of betrayal – when it benefits them.

Skill Proficiency: Deception.

Additional Equipment: A medallion or pin displaying the house of your patron, court clothing.

Political Maneuvering

Upon spending an hour speaking to various people at court, and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Deception) check, you can conjure and spread a rumour or piece of gossip within a court or political structure. A subject of your choice, whether it be true or false, becomes a topic of hot conversation within the court or political structure where you planted the rumour.

Rank 1 - Chamber Keeper

You have secured a title as a minor Courtier attending to the needs of the court through menial duties such as fetching wine, or more demanding tasks such as hosting foreign visitors of lesser influence. As a Chamber Keeper you are the unnoticed eyes of the court, making you a valuable informant for court plots.

Holdings:

• A room or lodging provided by your patron within their estate.
• A scandalous secret relating to a member of your court.

Progression:

• Obtain a minor title from your patron that reflects your station.

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Envoy

Envoys are the representatives of their governments or monarchs to others abroad. Often sent into faraway parts of the world, their responsibility is to forge new alliances, and maintain existing ones. However, much of an Envoy’s tasks are reactive – responding to a noble’s threats, securing defensive pacts in times of conflict, or bolstering border defences. Envoys go where there is conflict.

Skill Proficiency: Insight.

Additional Equipment: A Royal Seal allowing you to pass through borders with ease, diplomatic garb.

Diplomatic Connections

Upon spending an hour, and succeeding on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check, you can find an ally within the aristocracy, guilds, or professional services. This contact begins as friendly to you and will answer questions you have regarding local nobility, politics, and other high society matters.

Rank 1 - Secretary

You have been appointed secretary for a consulate, responsible for the organisation and assistance of the diplomats within. You work in a thankless and stressful position, but your proximity to influential members of society provides you with many connections. You understand the fundamentals of networking and are talented at finding allies in distant lands.

Holdings:

• Free lodging within any consulate you represent or work for.
• A secret encrypted political message you cannot decipher.

Progression:

• Assist in completing a dangerous or urgent diplomatic mission.

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Noble

Nobles are the blue-blooded rulers of any society, granted authority by birthright. Some are traditional feudal nobles, while others belong to ascendant merchant families. Regardless, nobles represent the highest level of authority within a social structure.

Skill Proficiency: Persuasion.

Additional Equipment: A signet ring engraved with your family crest, fine clothes.

Position of Privilege

Upon spending an hour speaking in your defense, and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, you can exert your noble privilege to avoid the consequences of lawbreaking such as trespassing, theft, possession of contraband, unarmed assault, and other misdemeanors. You can also use this ability to reduce the consequences of more serious crimes that can’t be ignored entirely.

Rank 1 - Dishevelled Noble

After some decline, your family name is barely spoken anymore. Perhaps the family lost everything in a war, or gambling debts claimed your once-proud noble estate. Despite your noble blood, you are a poor noble with little power or influence in the world. The only thing left is your title, which has gotten you out of trouble on more than one occasion. However, with hard work and some political dealings, you may climb back into prominence.

Holdings:

• A ruined estate.
• A noble title that carries little influence.

Progression:

• To be granted a barony, or holdings worthy of the title, by a Count or higher-ranking noble.
• Additionally, you must restore your family household to a reputable state.

Edited February 4 by MidnightPoet (see edit history)

[MidnightPoet]

Clergy Profession Examples

The Clergy represents those who devote their lives to working within religious institutions. The Clergy are respected members within the social hierarchy in regions where their religion is prominent. Clergymen make effective orators, acolytes, and religious crusaders.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose one from History, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, Religion.

Languages: Choose one standard and one of: Abyssal, Celestial, or Infernal.

Equipment: A holy symbol, a prayer book or divine text, vestments, and 15 gp.

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Inquisitor

You are a servant of an organised branch of religious enforcers who hunt down heretics and blasphemers within your own faith, and cultists of sinister powers. Divine justice does not discriminate, and you have mercilessly punished crimes both mundane and supernatural – a task that comes with little glory. You are deadly efficient in bringing the sinful to heel. However, corruption is rife within the Inquisition itself due to the Order’s power and authority, and those found guilty are likewise treated without mercy.

Skill Proficiency: Intimidation.

Additional Equipment: A set of manacles, a copy of the text Sins of the Heretic, a leather strap.

Eradicate Heresy

Upon spending an hour, and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check, you can find an informant and extract information. The informant will divulge information regarding the location of local cults, witch covens, and other enemies of the Divine.

Rank 1 - Initiate

You were taken in by the church, and after showing attributes befitting of an Inquisitor you, were trained in their ways. Gruelling mental and physical training took up your time from dawn to dusk whenever you were not completing chores.

Holdings:

• Free lodging at the inquisitorial chapter house, temple, or any other religious institutions that you currently serve.
• You have knowledge of someone from your childhood who has since become affiliated with a witch coven, religious cult, or other enemy of the faith.

Progression:

• Be promoted to the rank of Inquisitor by a Chapter Master.

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Preacher

Religions need devout orators to bring new members into the fold, or reinforce the faith of the faltering. Preachers can inspire the righteous, protect the weak, or incite dread in the unfaithful by speaking clearly and passionately about the faith they serve. These rhetoricians of the divine are not dissuaded by material wealth or hidden lore; instead, they seek good repute and new converts to their deity. Preachers recruit adherents to their religion through personal devotion and overt exhibitions of piety, charity, and charisma.

Skill Proficiency: Persuasion.

Additional Equipment: Flyers displaying propaganda, a box to stand on.

Propagate Agenda

Upon spending an hour speaking publicly, and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, you can influence the thoughts and opinions of locals. This could be used to heighten the common people’s fear of magic, or bring comfort and peace of mind to those who share the same faith.

Rank 1 - Crier

You have always had a natural aptitude for the spoken word, compelling others to listen and partake in your views by speaking loudly and clearly about the deity you serve. You are often seen on busy street corners and in town squares, preaching to passers-by.

Holdings:

• Free lodging at your local temple of the faith or religious institution.
• Knowledge of a member of the ranked clergy using unlicensed magic to perform a miracle, or committing some other transgression.

Progression:

• You have a small congregation of followers who come to hear your sermons each day.

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Priest

Priests lead the common people in the teachings of their deities. They are the figureheads and leaders in the temples and shrines where they preach, providing guidance, atonement, and hope for the downtrodden. Priests often hold positions of considerable influence within their communities, and are treated with reverence among common folk and nobility alike.

Skill Proficiency: Religion.

Additional Equipment: 5 sticks of incense and an alms box, religious medallion stamped with the divine word.

Religious Hierarchy

Upon spending an hour proving your knowledge of the divine, and succeeding on a DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check, you can find a contact within the local clergy. This contact begins as friendly to you and will answer questions you have regarding religion, the clergy’s agenda, and local religious matters.

Rank 1 - Acolyte

You were taken in by a modest parish, where you assist in religious services and ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles and distributing prayer books to the congregation. The priest also educates you in religious scripture and doctrine.

Holdings:

• You have knowledge of a senior clergy member whose teachings undermine the faith, preying on the wayward for personal gain.
• Free lodging at your local temple of the faith.

Progression:

• You are recommended for priesthood by a senior clergy member who has overseen your study of divine texts. You will be given a religious task that you must complete.

[MidnightPoet]

Common Professional Examples

Common Folk are, unsurprisingly, the most common station in life. These are the masses of people who are not distinguished by noble blood, inherited wealth, or a special calling that sets them apart.

Varying as much as the professions with which they occupy themselves, common folk are typically identified by the work they do. Often finding themselves pawns in the machinations of those who consider themselves their betters, commoners generally look after one another in tight circles of trust. Commoners are a great background for most professions and character concepts that do not fall within another background.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose one from Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Nature, Perception.

Languages: Choose one standard language.

Tool Proficiencies: One tool or instrument proficiency.

Equipment: Common clothes, a tool kit or instrument of your choice, a small drawstring pouch, and 10 gp.

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Villager

You hail from a small settlement like many others, populated mainly by subsistence farmers and local craftsmen. Common villagers look out for their own, typically because few would be willing to represent them. While lesser nobility regard you with disdain, fellow commoners recognise you as one of their own, and are generous with their hospitality, provided there is enough to go around. They may request a few hours of light labor in exchange for short stays, if the host is a landholder. Commoners are also willing to share information with their peers that they would withhold from people of higher stations.

Skill Proficiency: Insight.

Additional Equipment: An iron pot, a shovel, a tinderbox.

Local Gossip

Upon spending an hour speaking to other commoners, and completing a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check, you can learn of rumours, political intrigue, or other gossip related to a subject of your choice. This includes jobs and information people tend to hide from the authorities.

Rank 1 - Peasant

Born to a landless farmer and his wife, you found work as a laborer on the estate of a local lord tilling fields, tending to animals, or milling grain for a meagre salary. While the work was punishing, it made you physically strong, capable of working for extended hours without fatigue.

Holdings:

• A shack or hovel which you call home.
• A deed to a heavily indebted farmstead which has been seized until its debts are cleared. You may have acquired this deed through inheritance, gambling winnings, or some other means.

Progression:

• Clear the debt on your deed and restore your farmstead to operating condition.

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Entertainer

Entertainers thrive in the spotlight, relishing applause and delighting in the fanciful. Entertainers are expert performers able to enthrall, inspire, and delight their audiences with a range of artistic displays. Their poetry captivates, speaking to the depth of human emotion in portraying sadness, love, or joy. Their music likewise enlivens or stirs sorrow. Their dance steps are nimble and cheering, and their humor is often tailored to their audience, whether low-born or noble.

Skill Proficiency: Performance.

Additional Equipment: An instrument of your choice, colourful performer's clothes, and a tuning fork.

Find Fandom

Upon spending an hour performing and speaking to locals, and completing a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check, you can find a contact among the local community leaders, such as village elders, tavern owners, and other well-respected common folk. This contact begins as friendly to you and will answer questions you have regarding life within the town, local news, and public opinion.

Rank 1 - Stage Hand

Whether you have grown up surrounded by musicians or ran off to join a band of traveling performers, you have become invaluable to a more experienced performer. You pitch in wherever needed, whether as a page turner for musicians, mopping the cages of exotic animals, or helping set up camp for the night.

Occasionally, they even allow you to join the performance.

Holdings:

• Lodging with an entertainers’ troupe, which includes food in exchange for regular performances or carrying out menial tasks.
• An anonymous letter from a loyal admirer and fan who is desperate to meet you.

Progression:

• The troupe leader asks you to fill in for an unreliable performer, and offers you a permanent position in the troupe, owing to your musical or other talents.

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Merchant

Merchants are the lifeblood of trade, and can be found anywhere from hawking goods in local marketplaces, to having established their own stores selling artisan wares. Merchants typically belong to a Merchant’s Guild, and pay a yearly sum to register for protection by local law enforcement, though this varies by province.

Merchants buy, sell, and trade wares of all sorts, knowing not just the price of everything but how to haggle that price up or down at will.

Skill Proficiency: Investigation.

Additional Equipment: An abacus, a quill and ink pot, an empty inventory record, fine clothes.

Appraisal

Upon spending an hour examining a subject, and succeeding on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check, you can accurately appraise the value of a particular item or good such as art, or a natural resource. If you do so within a settlement, you can also find the most profitable location to sell the item or goods.

Rank 1 - Clerk

You work as a bookkeeper for a local merchant. You keep records of sales and the purchase of new inventory, balance the merchant’s ledger, and make sure they are maintaining a modest profit margin. You aspire to become the proprietor of your own store selling rare and desirable items.

Holdings:

• A small back room in a shop, which serves as an office and doubles as your sleeping quarters.
• A leather-bound ledger book containing the accounting methods of your mentor and teacher.

Progression:

• Acquire a loan, or save up funds, and find a suitable shop or storefront to start your own business.

Edited February 4 by MidnightPoet (see edit history)

[MidnightPoet]

Criminal Professional Examples

Criminals serve and thrive off the seedy underbelly of society. While many people run afoul of the law, this background is for people who make their livelihoods entirely outside the law. Rarely respected or honoured within society, Criminals often hide their true profession from others.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose one from Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, Sleight of Hand, Stealth.

Languages: Thieves' Cant.

Tool Proficiencies: Thieves’ tools.

Equipment: Thieves’ tools, fake currency in a drawstring pouch to deter pickpockets, a set of dark common clothes including a hood, and 15 gp.

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Charlatan

Charlatans can be seen in most markets separating fools from their hard-earned coin, and there is no shortage of fools. Some choose instead to exploit the upper class, claiming that the ignorance of spoilt children is far more lucrative, if a little riskier.

Ranging from the lowliest of hustlers selling miracle cure-alls to the most audacious con artists, all charlatans have a knack for fooling those unfortunate enough to cross their paths.

Skill Proficiency: Deception.

Additional Equipment: a lockbox with a secret compartment, a forged Merchant’s Guild membership certificate, imitation fine clothes.

False Identity

Upon spending an hour writing and talking to the right people, and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Deception) check, you can create yourself a new identity with fake identification.

Rank 1 - Peddler

You are used to lying through your teeth, telling people whatever they want to hear in order to separate them from their money. It keeps you fed and one step ahead of the law, but you’ll need a way to run bigger scams if you want to make real money.

Holdings:

• A stash of counterfeit items that you sell and scam people with.
• A secluded stoop that you use as a shelter against the elements near your place of “business”.

Progression:

• You are recruited by a gang of Hustlers, or create your own group, to participate in more organized and larger-scale scams.

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Cutthroat

Some crooks lie to get what they want. Some steal it when its owner isn’t looking. Then there are those who walk up to a target and explain the deal: give me what I want or bad things will happen to you. Call it “protection” or call it extortion, it is perhaps the most straightforward form of crime, favoured by the violent and the ruthless.

Most Cutthroats start out working in a pre-established gang, collecting fees and extracting payments on behalf of a boss. A small gang might be responsible for shaking down a handful of businesses, while the most powerful of crime lords may influence prominent cities or regions.

Skill Proficiency: Intimidation.

Additional Equipment: A kidskin bag of loaded dice, a snuff box, a pocket watch that runs five minutes fast.

Underground Connections

Upon spending an hour asking around, and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check, you can prove your credibility and find a contact in a local gang, Thieves’ Guild, or underground network. This contact begins as friendly to you and will assist you with matters related to their criminal endeavours.

Rank 1 - Tough

Working the impoverished regions of town, you’re a criminal who will mug those who walk down the wrong alley at night, or extort unwary travelers for safe passage along a road.

Holdings:

• A hideout where you can seek shelter from the elements, and from local law enforcement.

Progression:

• Acquire a building to use as a centre of operations for your illicit activities, and a handful of other criminals willing to follow your lead.

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Burglar

Burglars break into and steal from houses, storefronts, and warehouses, primarily operating out of major cities and ports. While thieving is a risky pursuit, the hardest part can be finding a buyer for rare and valuable items. The more unique the good, the more likely its original owner will want it returned, cutting your profit margin considerably. Goods and valuables generally need to be sold through a fence: someone who will purchase your stolen goods, sell them to unknowing customers, and take a cut of your profits.

Skill Proficiency: Perception.

Additional Equipment: a grappling hook and rope, kidskin gloves, glass cutter, a vial of flour.

Surveillance

Upon spending an hour observing it, and successfully completing a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, you can map the general layout of a building. This includes the guard routes and rotation times, building entrances and exits, and the potential locations of valuables.

Rank 1 - Snatcher

Breaking into homes in the lower end of town is generally your trade. Authorities only worry about civilians with the power to cause a stir; everyone else is on their own. Locks in this end of town are easy to pick, if there is a lock at all. For the same reason, though, there is less to steal.

Holdings:

• A safehouse in the poor district, used to store stolen goods and serving as emergency lodgings.
• You have blueprints of a grand estate including secret entrances and passageways.

Progression:

• You rob a well-to-do store in a reputable district, gaining notoriety and a big payday.

Edited February 4 by MidnightPoet (see edit history)

[MidnightPoet]

Military Professional Examples

Militarists either work within a formal military structure, or fight for pay on an individual basis. Militarists are often respected or feared, depending on the nature of their organisation. High-ranking Militarists are often paid handsomely, as their skills can decide battles or even wars. Lower-level Militarists make great warriors, mercenaries, and guards. 

It is not unheard of for militaristic individuals to accompany adventurers on dangerous missions. These tasks are said to keep the mind sharp and skills honed, especially in times of relative peace.

Skill Proficiency: Choose one from Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Survival.

Tool Proficiency: One type of gaming set.

Equipment: A gaming set you are proficient with, an insignia detailing your rank within a military organization, and 10 gp.

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Free Sword

Free Swords are commonly referred to as mercenaries, taking jobs that the local forces can’t handle. Mercenaries may be the only hope of villages looking for defenders against raiders, overextended sheriffs chasing powerful fugitives, and small merchants traveling Etharis’ dangerous byroads. Larger mercenary companies win wars on behalf of cities and kings. They fight for coin above all else, exacting little honor from the contracts they accept.

Skill Proficiency: Intimidation.

Additional Equipment: Moleskin gloves, grappling net, a hip flask of hard liquor.

Independent Contractor

Upon spending an hour loitering within a town, and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (intimidation) check, your intimidating presence draws offers of employment to you. As long as you are not trying to conceal your presence, jobs befitting a Free Sword Mercenary will find you. You can find mercenary and adventuring jobs only available to Free Sword licence-holders. These jobs typically pay more than a standard contract of their type. Free Sword guilds take a 5% cut as a guild fee.

Rank 1 - Hireling

You have been trained in combat by a group of mercenaries with a Free Sword licence. After many tedious years of combat drills and shooting at straw targets, you are close to receiving your very own license.

Holdings:

• Lodging at any Free Sword’s guild house and use of Free Sword’s training grounds and facilities.
• The contract for a dangerous bounty that your mentor died trying to complete.

Progression:

• Complete a contract with a guild member who has a Free Sword licence.

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Guard

Public officers of the law in cities and large settlements, Guards protect the populace from the dangers both inside and outside the walls. If it looks like guards spend their time loitering and playing cards, it's because most of the time the mere presence of a guard is enough to make petty criminals move along. Guards occupy a variety of stations, ranging from lowly bar bouncers to royal men-at-arms who protect the royal family and their most prized possessions.

Skill Proficiency: Perception.

Additional Equipment: Manacles, pipe and tobacco box, a badge of office.

Informant

Upon spending an hour asking around, and succeeding on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, you can find a contact within the local constabulary or guard hierarchy. This contact begins as friendly to you and will answer questions you have regarding local wanted criminals, law enforcement, and ongoing or previous investigations.

Rank 1 - Town Militia

You have joined the local town militia out of necessity or desire. Either way, your duties have included many sleepless nights on watch, and many tedious days spent idly standing guard.

Holdings:

• A bunk bed to sleep in at your stationed guardhouse.
• Sensitive information relating to an unsolved murder that you have not told anyone about.

Progression:

• Solve a crime or uncover a major smuggling route.

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Soldier

Getting into the army isn’t the hard part, staying alive is. Every nation and culture has their own notions about what makes a good soldier, and who they look to to fill their ranks. As a soldier, you don’t just know fighting – you know war. Being a soldier involves much more than individual combat prowess. Winning a battle depends on discipline, teamwork, tactics, and a great deal of marching and logistical work that the epics rarely mention.

Skill Proficiency: Athletics.

Additional Equipment: A trophy from your first battle, a letter from your family or a loved one, standard issue soldier’s garb, service medallion signifying rank.

Combat Drills

Upon spending an hour, and succeeding on a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check, you can run training drills and gain an accurate estimate of the drilled humanoids' combat capabilities, as well as any equipment or fortifications they use. You determine the most suitable strategy to improve their capabilities in the short term as well as the best way to train them for the long term.

Rank 1 - Foot Soldier

Many Foot Soldiers are conscripts. Others fight for the honour of their king and country, and still others for the steady paycheck. Regardless of your reason for joining the military, the food was usually warm and the tents kept you dry during the long nights. Your time in the military has taught you the value of the regimented early mornings and working yourself to exhaustion.

Holdings:

• A tent to sleep in and free food when in an encampment of your military.
• A letter from a fallen enemy messenger that you either killed or found.

Progression:

• Distinguish yourself. Bring vital information about an enemy encampment or movement that will help win a battle or prevent a defeat. 
• Perform exceptionally well in battle, turning the tide or capturing an enemy banner.

[MidnightPoet]

Outlander

Outlanders are people who live their lives away from civilization. Some have chosen a life of isolation, while others have been exiled from society. Outlanders are renowned for hardiness and self-sufficiency, but distrusted by most civilized people.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose one from Animal Handling, Athletics, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival.

Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism Kit

Languages: Choose one standard.

Equipment: Common clothes, tinder box, several torches, waterskin, a hatchet, a herbalism kit, and 5 gp.

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Beast Hunter

Hunters make their living by trapping, hunting, and killing vicious beasts. Some provide meat and furs for settlements, or for trade. The strongest may become a community’s best defense against wandering monsters.. They are often as brutish as the creatures they hunt, heavily scarred from close encounters with their prey. They are proficient in setting many different traps, from simple snares to spring-loaded traps and cages. The beast hunter typically favors ranged weapons when taking down larger prey, avoiding close range where possible. Some favor stealth, lying patiently in ambush, while others revel in the thrill of the chase. Beast hunters have a natural aptitude for tracking all manner of beasts, quickly noticing signs that an animal has passed by, down to an exact time and direction of travel.

Skill Proficiency: Survival.

Additional Equipment: a net, a hunting trap, 30 feet of rope, one vial of pheromones or a pouch of bait.

Track Quarry

Upon spending an hour examining your surroundings, and succeeding on a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check, you can track the movements of creatures that have passed through the area. You can ascertain the exact time and direction a creature went, if you are familiar with the type of creature.

Rank 1 - Tracker

You have shadowed an accomplished hunter to learn their methods of setting traps, stalking prey, and following tracks. When you aren’t out hunting with your mentor, you busy yourself setting snares, practicing with a bow and arrow, and learning about the creatures you hunt.

Holdings:

• You know where to find a Beast Hunters’ Lodge that you can use in the wilderness to rest and escape danger.
• You have a lead as to the location of the lair of a powerful and dangerous creature.

Progression:

• Prove to your mentor that you are competent to hunt on your own and teach the new and inexperienced.

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Pioneer

There is still land in Etharis where no humanoid has lived before, and Pioneers are the hardy folk who set out to tame that land for the first time. You’ve learned to hunt the forest game, cultivate crops of wild flora and collect water from natural streams where fish swim abundant. You have weathered punishing storms, migrations, and harsh winters. You and yours have adapted to the environment. Everything you own is built with your own two hands, and your aptitude in working with natural materials has provided you with shelter, tools, and clothing.

Skill Proficiency: Nature.

Additional Equipment: A shovel, a hammer and nails, a saw, spare leather, a needle and thread.

Handyman by Necessity

Upon spending an hour in the outdoors, and succeeding on a DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check, find the necessary materials (provided there are any nearby) to mend any mundane item.

Rank 1 - Hermit

You have had to rely on your aptitude for working with natural resources to fend for yourself in the wilds of Etharis. You have a crude shelter and a basic knowledge of foraging wild flora, but you have yet to truly make your way on the frontier.

Holdings:

• Knowledge of a rare animal or plant that, if domesticated, could be farmed for great gain.

Progression:

• Build a house, or similar building, and the beginnings of a farm .

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Explorer

Explorers pursue an isolated lifestyle traversing the wilds, driven by wonderlust or the orders of a distant patron. For an Explorer, there is no greater pursuit than to discover the lost, forgotten, and unseen reaches of the world. They may travel unaccompanied or with companions, establishing large encampments in remote areas that others would deem uninhabitable. Explorers are often employed by rulers who wish to know more about the world.

Skill Proficiency: Survival.

Additional Equipment: a compass, mapmaking tools including a quill, ink, parchment, calipers, and a ruler.

Known Shelters

Upon spending an hour searching, and succeeding on a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check, you can determine the direction and approximate location of the nearest humanoid settlement. This includes people who might not be accommodating such as bandits, druids, and hostile cultures. The inhabitants of the location are initially friendly to you and your allies, and they will let you seek shelter and trade among them.

Rank 1 - Wanderer

As a child, you were gripped by an insatiable wanderlust that caused you to range further from home in pursuit of new adventures, exploring the wilds of neighboring forests and setting rudimentary traps to catch small game. Now you know more about the region than perhaps anyone else.

Holdings:

• A hidden stash within the wilds of your choice, containing rations, medical supplies, fresh water, and weapons.
• A letter from an old friend describing an anomaly within the wilds of your choice.

Progression:

• Discover an anomaly and document its location.

[MidnightPoet]

Pauper Professional Examples

Any structured society has those who fall through the cracks. Misfortune is no stranger to Etharis, and those who suffer under its hand have to make do any way they can. Some attempt to survive by begging or turning their hands to whatever jobs they can find, while others are cast out to wander from place to place through the unforgiving wilds.

This background is a good fit for characters who want to use adventuring as a way to escape their unfortunate circumstances or for those who possess character flaws relating to debt or misfortune. Their views on wealth and material goods are undoubtedly a primary feature of their adventuring career. 

Skill Proficiency: Choose one from Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth, or Survival. 

Languages: Choose one standard language.
Tool Proficiency: Choose one gaming set. 

Equipment: A worn blanket, a set of ragged clothing, a sack, and 10 copper pieces.

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Beggar

Many who fall on hard times have no other option than begging for coppers. Considered the lowest rung of society, beggars are looked down upon in either pity or contempt by other members of society, when they deign to notice them at all. For their part, beggars see people at their best and at their worst, a more honest representation than they show their peers or superiors.

Skill Proficiency: Persuasion
Additional Equipment: A begging bowl or tin cup for collecting coins, a crutch, spare scraps of cloth, and a small stick of grease paint.

Friends in Low Places

Upon spending an hour speaking to other beggars and making a DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion) check, you can manipulate the underground currents of information that flow throughout the city. This allows you to manipulate the mood of the lower classes for or against a specific individual, group, or decision. The unrest caused may manifest itself in a number of ways, at the GM’s discretion. 

 

Rank 1 - Street Beggar

Driven by desperation, you are forced to the streets to earn what you need to survive. Poor decisions or bad luck drained away whatever funds you managed to scrape together, and you have no real home to return to. As an ad- venturer you have certain alternatives not available to most, but between forays into the wilds the fact remains that you have no steady occupation and no place to call home.

Holdings

• A spot in an alley that you have managed to stake out and must defend against newcomers.
• The name of a sympathetic merchant with space in a high-traffic area of the city.

Progression

• Gain the friendship of a local business owner by performing odd jobs or doing some other service.

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Vagabond

Those paupers who choose to leave their past behind and take to the open road are known as vagabonds. Some do so in an attempt to flee whatever painful memories caused their descent into poverty, while others hold out hope of starting a new life in another city. Most don’t survive outside the protective walls of a guarded settlement, but those that do often find little welcome in the cities they visit. Vagabonds must therefore work hard to gain trust and forge what connections they may have in each place they visit, and invariably they must move on before they wear out their welcome.
Skill Proficiency: Insight
Additional Equipment: A walking stick, an old wool cloak, and an iron pot.

Friendly Face

Upon spending an hour in a town or other settlement and making a DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check, you can track down an ally that you made on a previous visit during your wandering. This ally begins as friendly to you and will answer questions you have regarding the town, its services, and its inhabitants.

Rank 1 - Outcast

For whatever reason, you can’t go home again. Bereft of family, property, and support, you are now cut loose to wander and survive as best you can. You stand out more as a stranger in smaller settlements, where people shun you as if you have the plague, but even in larger cities you are viewed with suspicion by the local authorities.

Holdings

• A tarnished compass.
• A posting from a town seeking able-bodied workers to deal with a recent disaster.

Progression

• Survive a major storm on the road or participate meaningfully in a town’s internal disputes.

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Pit Fighter

Unterland was the first of the provinces to host blood sport arenas, back in the days before the formation of the Bürach Empire. Since then the practice has been driven underground, but, like poison spreading silently throughout a healthy body, it has infiltrated nearly every major city.

Ostensibly illegal, you can almost always find small groups of desperate individuals putting their lives on the line for the amusement and enrichment of others. This hidden network of arenas has recently organized into the self-proclaimed Fighter’s Guild and developed a series of coded phrases and symbols to identify its members. Following the unspoken rule of Etharis, it is a place where only the strong survive.

Skill Proficiency: Intimidation
Additional Equipment: A pair of tough leather gloves, one gaming set of your choice, and a mess kit. 

Street Tough

While you are in a large town or city, you may spend an hour and make a DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) check. If you do, your tough demeanor and familiarity with the Fighter’s Guild attracts attention from the local members. You learn the location of any underground prize-fighting rings, guild friendly businesses, and the names of upper-class arena patrons. You also learn of any minor jobs being offered to street toughs, such as bodyguard positions or debt collection.

Rank 1 - Scrapper

Life on the streets has toughened you, and now you have started down the path of an illegal underground fighter. You have yet to make a name for yourself, but your training is starting to pay off. All you need is a chance to prove yourself.

Holdings

• Room and board at a guildhouse near an underground arena.
• An invitation to an exhibition match that will be attended by promoters and scouts for the Fighter’s Guild.

Progression

• Attract the notice of a patron among the various underground fight handlers of the Guild. 

[MidnightPoet]

Talents

Talents are unique dispositions, experiences, or characteristics your character has picked up due to their time working in their profession. This is represented by allowing characters to add their Profession Die in unique situations that highlight the skills gained through their profession. A character may select a Talent from their corresponding Talent list when they select their profession, and select an additional Talent whenever they rank up within a profession.
 

Applied Leverage. When you make a Strength (Athletics) check to force open a door or container, you may add your profession die to the roll.

Astute Intuition. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Insight) check while trying to detect a lie from Aristocrats, Criminals, or Common Folk, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Beast Whisperer. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check to train or direct orders to a beast, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Biologist. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Nature) check to determine the properties of animals, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Born In the Saddle. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check while riding an animal or interacting with your mount, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Botanist. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Nature) check to determine the properties of plants, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Bounty Hunter. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Survival) to track Criminals, you can add your Profession Die.

Cabal Lorekeeper. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Religion) check to recall information about Celestials, Fiends, Fey, or Undead, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Calloused Hands. Whenever you make a Strength (Athletics) check to lift, drag, or shove a heavy object, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Camper. When you make a Wisdom (Survival) check to construct a temporary shelter, you may add your profession die to the roll. 

Charity Case. When you make a Charisma (Performance) check to fake an illness, injury, or other condition, you may add your profession die to the roll. 

Confessor. Whenever you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check to reveal a secret or ask a favor of anyone who follows the same religion or deity as you, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Contortionist. Whenever you make a Dexterity or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to squeeze through a small space or escape bonds, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Copycat. Whenever you make an Intelligence or Intelligence (Forgery Kit) check to forge or create a document, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Court Schemer. Whenever you make a Charisma (Deception) check when conversing with Aristocrats, you can add your Profession Die.

Diligent Researcher. Whenever you make an Intelligence check to research a subject, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Disciplinarian. Whenever you make a Charisma (Intimidation) check while issuing a command to an individual of lower rank within your background, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Drunkard. Whenever you make a Constitution check to determine if you will throw up, pass out, or how severe a hangover is, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Elusive. Whenever you make a Dexterity (Stealth) check to hide or blend into a crowd of humanoids that share your background, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Figure of Authority. Whenever you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check while interacting with Common Folk, you may add your Profession Die to the roll.

Flamboyant Presentation. Whenever you make a Charisma (Performance) check to entertain Aristocrats, Common Folk, or Seafarers, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Forecaster. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Survival) check to determine the weather for the next 48 hours, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Gambler. Whenever you make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) or Wisdom (Perception) check to cheat at a game or catch someone else cheating, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Grifter. Whenever you make a Charisma (Deception) check, and are attempting to pass off a fake object as authentic, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Gut Feeling. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Insight) check to detect if an Aristocrat or Criminal is lying, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Hard-Working. Whenever you make a Constitution check for a repetitive task such as marching or labouring for hours without rest, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Heister. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Perception) check to spot traps, sentries, and other security measures, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Idolist. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Religion) check to recall information on religious or cult-related symbols, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Impressionist. Whenever you make a Charisma (Performance) or Charisma (Deception) check to mimic the mannerisms, voice, or appearance of another humanoid, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Interrogator. Whenever you make a Charisma (Intimidation) check to extract information from an enemy who is restrained, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Local Historian. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check to determine the history of an item, location, or cultural phenomenon from the same region as you, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Looter. When you make an Intelligence (Investigation) roll to find hidden valuables, you may add your profession die to the roll. 

Menacing Presence. Whenever you make a Charisma (Intimidation) check, and are interacting with Academics, Common Folk, or Seafarers, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Mystical Scholar. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Arcana) check to recall information on Aberrations, Constructs, or Elementals, you can add your Profession Die to the result.

Navigator. Whenever you make a vehicle check, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Nimble Fingers. Whenever you make a Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check to pick a lock, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Passionate Orator. Whenever you make a Charisma (Performance) check to influence an Academic, Military, or Clergy member, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Pathologist. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Medicine) check to diagnose or treat a disease, add your Profession Die to the roll.

Pitiable. When you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check to convince an Aristocrat, Criminal, Militarist, or Clergy that you are not a threat or beneath their notice, you may add your profession die to the roll. 

Problem Solver. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Investigation) check to decipher a coded message or puzzle, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Quick Fingers. Whenever you make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to place a small object on a humanoid or sneak something into their food or beverage, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Recruiter. Whenever you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check to recruit people into a role, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Renowned. Whenever you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check, and are interacting with Military, Outlanders, or Criminals, you may add your Profession Die.

Ropesman. Whenever you make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to climb, move along, or jump onto ropes, you can add your Profession Die.

Runekeeper. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Arcana) check to uncover the properties and uses of magical runes, glyphs, or other symbols, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Sawbones. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Medicine) check dealing with Grievous Wounds, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Sea Dog. Whenever you make a Strength (Athletics) check to swim in water, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Sentry. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Perception) check while on watch duty or defending a fortification, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Shrewd Deduction. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Investigation) check to investigate a crime scene, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Solidarity. When you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check and you are interacting with members of your background, you may add your profession die to the roll.

Sticky Fingers. When you make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to snatch something quickly, you may add your profession die to the roll.

Temperature Tolerance. When you make a Constitution saving throw to avoid exhaustion due to extreme temperatures, you may add your profession die to the roll. 

Translator. Whenever you make an Intelligence check to communicate with a creature who doesn’t share a language with you, you can add your Profession Die to the result.

Tree Springer. When you make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to ascend, descend, or travel between trees, you may add your profession die to the roll.

Urban Sprinter. Whenever you make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check while running away from a pursuer, or pursuing someone else, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Vacant Expression. When you make a Charisma (Deception) check to feign ignorance and you are interacting with an Academic, Aristocrat, Clergy, or Militarist, you may add your profession die to the roll.

Wayfarer. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Survival) check to find a path or avoid getting lost, you can add your Profession Die to the roll.

Edited February 4 by MidnightPoet (see edit history)