While you are an adventurer, there is much more to your life than just battling beasts, hoarding treasure, and going on quests. When you are not actively adventuring, you enjoy indulging in your personal interests and hobbies. Maybe you are an avid reader and love nothing more than curling up with a good book in the local library or university. Or perhaps you are a skilled blacksmith and spend your downtime creating intricate pieces of armor or weapons. Maybe you have a talent for playing music, and can often be found entertaining your fellow adventurers with songs on your lute. Whatever it may be, you find that having a hobby or interest outside of adventuring helps you to relax, unwind, and forget about the dangers and hardships of the road. Downtime between adventures also provides you with an opportunity to cultivate your reputation and manage a business.

Backgrounds and Occupations

Every background allows you to gain a profession, except for the urchin background. Backgrounds also specify that if you pick a profession with a certain occupation tag, then you gain additional Skill Points. Skills can be found organized by both attributes and tags on Skills.

Your background provides narrative and mechanical information about who you are, what walk of life you come from, and where you might be headed. When you create a character at level 1, you choose your background from the following list. Seven of the nine backgrounds grant you additional skills if you take a profession with the corresponding occupation tag.

Starting Equipment

Each background specifies how much wealth you start with. In addition to any equipment you gain from your profession and background, all adventurers get the following:

1. A) 2 one-handed melee weapons, or B) 1 two-handed or hand-and-a-half melee weapon, or C) 1 one-handed melee weapon and a buckler

2. A) 1 shortbow and 20 arrows, or B) 1 crossbow and 20 bolts, or C) 3 javelins

3. or you can forego equipment in both 1. and 2. for an amethyst wand

4. A) 1 quarterstaff, or B) 1 hatchet, or C) 2 daggers, or D) 2 knives, or E) 1 cestus, or F) 1 brass knuckles

5. 2 trinkets

6. Your profession and background may specify that you gain additional equipment.

Check out Weapons here.

Check out Armor and Shields here.

Check out other Gear here.

Occupation Tags

Occupation tags are listed in italics directly below the title of any given profession. There are seven occupation tags: academic, aristocratic, mercantile, militant, religious, underworld, and wandering.

Seven of the nine backgrounds specify that you gain an added bonus if you choose a profession with a particular occupation tag. For example, the Born Warrior states that you gain +2 Forced March if you take a profession with the militant occupation tag.

Background Description and Occupation Tags

If you choose a Profession with the same tag as your Background, you gain additional skill as noted in the Background.

You can find full descriptions on the Backgrounds Page or click the individual background below.

Background	Occupation Tag	Description
Born Warrior	Militant	Blood, toil, and sweat have marked you a proven soldier.
Criminal	Underworld	You deal in activities not endorsed by the law.
Entrepreneur	Mercantile	You own, supply, or represent a successful business.
Knave	None	Having tried multiple professions, nothing is quite a fit.
Noble Title	Aristocratic	By birth or deed, you are a minor noble in a nation.
Outlander	Wanderer	You live on the fringes of society, perhaps in the wilds.
Student	Academic	You endlessly toil to deepen a field of academic study.
True Believer	Religious	You are a devotee of a specific religion or faith system.
Urchin	None	You've grown up on the streets, always fending for yourself.
Additional Backgrounds
Haunted *Harker's Guide to Vampire Hunting	All	Once upon a time, your eyes fell upon the visage of a ghost, and it hasn’t left you alone ever since.

Professions

When creating a character, in addition to your background, you gain one profession of your choice. There are two exceptions: If you are a Knave, you gain two professions (you cannot pick the same profession twice). If you are an Urchin, you do not gain any profession.

Each profession has one or more occupation tags, so be sure to check and see if this gives you any additional bonuses based on your background. When you gain a professional rank, you may choose to gain a rank in the same profession or get the 1st rank of a new profession.

This decision should reflect your character’s advancement in the campaign world. For example, if you began the game as a Nomad, but became involved in a particular community and took care of a lot of problems for them, you might choose to gain a rank in Knight or Guard instead of ranking up in Nomad when you gain a second professional rank.

Professional ranks range from 1 to 5. The profession that you choose will grant you access to specific narrative benefits throughout the game. The higher your rank in a given profession, the more power and influence you have within that profession. For example, if you have 1 rank in Soldier, you are able to secure lodging and free meals from other members of your military institution. If you have 5 ranks in Soldier, then you can levy other soldiers into your service when they are in your vicinity.

Note to MCs: Professional Advancement Over the course of the game, a hero should gradually gain ranks in their profession, representing their slow increase in power and influence over time. A hero should gain one new rank in their profession for every 6 character levels that they have, on average. Note, however, that professions are specifically intended to reflect a character’s roleplaying and narrative-based decisions, so you should give out profession ranks more frequently when it makes sense to do so as a narrative reward. They also make excellent quest rewards. Heroes might also get ranks in multiple professions, such as a rank 2 Soldier being awarded an honorable title (rank 1 Honorable) after completing a quest for a viscount. Such a character would then have 3 professional ranks: Soldier rank 2, and Honorable rank 1.

Goodwill

In addition to fighting monsters and exploring wondrous locales, adventurers will need to maintain and cultivate their reputation in the various towns and cities that they frequent.

Goodwill is a mechanic that represents how well liked an adventurer is in a given settlement. Goodwill can range from -20 to +20, and the higher a hero’s goodwill, the better the community receives them.

If your MC wants to streamline this process, they can simply track Goodwill per town or city, instead of tracking Goodwill for individual community spheres in each urban area. If they do this, then any feature that gives you +1 Goodwill in a particular sphere gives you +1 Goodwill overall.

Goodwill is tracked privately by your MC, but the player should know how they are perceived by the public.

Goodwill	Effect
-20 to -15	Villain. You are intensely hated and feared. If your presence is known, all community resources will be levied towards your arrest or destruction.
-14 to -10	Hated. The community is openly hostile to you and will refuse you trade and lodging. Every day spent in this community could result in an angry mob with the intent of driving you out.
-9 to -4	Disliked. Your reputation is such that any service offered to you comes at double the standard cost.
-3 to 3	Neutral. You are unknown to the community.
4 to 9	Liked. Your reputation is such that citizens always try their best to accommodate you and you receive the most favorable trades possible.
10 to 14	Beloved. The community rejoices at your presence and you are always able to find friends and allies to your cause. You receive a discount at every inn and tavern.
15 to 20	Hero. You are idolized by the community and your very presence inspires hope and cheer. Citizens will seek you out with gifts and offerings and local authorities will overlook small slights and offenses.

Core Profession List


Profession	Description	Background Needed for Bonus	Tags
Archivist	You are passionate about preserving the past and uncovering the secrets of the ages. Through weeks upon weeks of research sifting through dusty tomes, you are always seeking to expand your understanding of the world and to bring new knowledge to light.	Student	Academic
Barrister	Your studies of law and debate have made you an expert in mediation and you sell your services as a lawyer, judge, or orator. Whether it be in the courts of the grandest cities or in the humblest village square, you ensure just and proper resolution of any dispute through consideration of historical precedent and careful deliberation.	Student or Noble Title	Academic, Aristocratic
Charlatan	You use your silver tongue and quick wit to deceive and manipulate others. You move from town to town, using your skills of deception to sell false remedies, perform illusions, or simply con unsuspecting marks out of their hard-earned coin. Whether you are a traveling swindler or a confidence trickster, you always have a new scam up your sleeve, and you revel in the thrill of fooling others and getting away with it.	Entrepreneur or Criminal	Mercantile, Underworld
Clergy	You are a member of the clergy in a religious order of your choosing. While you do not yet preach directly to congregants, you handle many other spiritual aspects of your religion along with the mundane tasks of day to day life. You might spend time transcribing or preserving the sacred texts of your faith, or handling the business of keeping a temple funded and maintained. As immersed in this environment as you are, you are deeply interested in gathering a deeper understanding of your faith practices.	Student or True Believer	Academic, Religious
Entertainer	You are a master of creating beauty and inspiring emotion through your art. You bring your imagination to life through paintings, sculptures, music, or any other medium that suits your fancy, captivating your audience with your unique vision and style. Whether you are creating grand masterpieces for kings and queens, or intimate works that speak to the hearts of the common folk, you are driven by a passion for art and a desire to leave a lasting legacy of beauty and inspiration in the world.	Noble Title or Entrepreneur	Aristocratic, Mercantile
Guard	You are the first line of defense against danger and threats to the people and places you are sworn to protect. You might be stationed at a castle gate, patrolling the streets of a city, or guarding a convoy on a dangerous road. You are always alert and ready, armed with your weapons and your training, to keep those in your charge safe from harm. With your unwavering vigilance and your keen eye, you are a reassuring presence, providing peace of mind and security to all who depend on you for protection.	Entrepreneur or Born Warrior	Mercantile, Militant
Honorable	You are a member of the upper echelons of society, held in high esteem by those around you. Having been born into privilege, with access to the best education, training, and resources, and are expected to use your influence and power for the betterment of the realm. A leader among leaders, with the respect and admiration of your peers, you are looked upon as a symbol of the ideals and values of your noble heritage.	Noble Title	Aristocratic
Inquisitor	Even the gods have enemies and they entrust their most devoted and zealous followers to protecting their interests in the mortal realm. Twisted fiends, undead abominations, and heretical cults are just a few of the enemies you root out and destroy, wherever they might hide. Your faith guides you in the endless battle against evil where you struggle to make the world just a little bit safer.	True Believer or Born Warrior	Religious, Militant
Knight	You are a defender of the innocent and a champion of justice. Armed with your shining armor and deadly weapons, you roam the lands, righting wrongs and vanquishing evil wherever you find it. With each victory, you earn the loyalty and respect of the people, who look upon you as a shining symbol of hope and valor in a dark and uncertain world.	Noble Title or Born Warrior	Aristocratic, Militant
Nomad	Traveling from place to place with your tribe, you follow seasonal patterns and seek fertile grounds for your livestock. You are self-sufficient and have a deep connection to the land and the creatures that roam it, honed from a life of constant movement and adaptation to changing environments. Highly skilled in tracking, survival, and animal husbandry, you are highly valued by other groups, and your knowledge of the wildlands is unmatched.	Outlander	Wanderer
Physician	You are dedicated to healing the sick and alleviating the suffering of those around you. You have honed your skills through years of study and practice, mastering the use of medicine and scientific methods to diagnose and treat a wide range of ailments. Your compassion and your unwavering commitment to your patients have earned you a reputation as one of the best in the land, and you are often called upon to tend to the sick and injured.	Student or True Believer	Academic, Religious
Pioneer	You are always pushing the boundaries and charting new territories. With a thirst for adventure and discovery, you are not afraid to venture into the unknown. A builder, farmer, and protector, you create new settlements and carve out a place for yourself and those who follow in your wake. Your determination, resilience, and resourcefulness are what sets you apart, and your name is known and respected by those who live in the frontier lands.	Noble Title or Outlander	Aristocratic, Wanderer
Sailor	You have spent considerable time as an explorer, freebooter, pirate or mariner and define your life by the sea. From skiffs to frigates, you know your way around a ship and are as comfortable in a raging storm as you are in a pleasant breeze. You embrace the freedom, adventure, and danger of life as you traverse the trading lanes or explore parts unknown, never knowing what might be waiting over the next wave.	Entrepreneur, Criminal, or Outlander	Mercantile, Underworld, Wanderer
Soldier	You are a proud and dedicated warrior, serving your country and your people with honor and distinction. From defending your homeland against invaders to marching on a foreign land for just war, you are always ready to put your life on the line in the name of duty and honor. With your training, your discipline, and your courage, you are a force to be reckoned with, feared by your enemies and respected by your allies, and you are proud to serve as a symbol of strength and protection for those you hold dear.	Born Warrior	Militant
Thief	You use your agility and cunning to steal from the wealthy and powerful. You might be a pickpocket, an opportunist, or a brute that holds people up. Regardless, you always have an eye out for the next big score, and you are not above using violence if it means getting what you want. You thrive in the shadows, slipping in and out of buildings and alleyways undetected, and relish the excitement of pitting your skills against those of your marks.	Criminal	Underworld
Thug	You are no stranger to the brutal struggle of urban life, outside the eyes of the law where the strong take from the weak and the sharpness of a blade says more than a written decree. Perhaps your actions come from necessity or maybe they come from a desire for power, but either way you are not afraid to use your cunning, strength, and wits to take what you want when you want it. You claim your territory through brute force or intimidation and do not let anything stand in your way.	Criminal or Born Warrior	Underworld, Militant
Trader	You are no stranger to the brutal struggle of urban life, outside the eyes of the law where the strong take from the weak and the sharpness of a blade says more than a written decree. Perhaps your actions come from necessity or maybe they come from a desire for power, but either way you are not afraid to use your cunning, strength, and wits to take what you want when you want it. You claim your territory through brute force or intimidation and do not let anything stand in your way.	Entrepreneur	Mercantile

Additional Professions

Profession	Description	Background Needed for Bonus	Tags	Source
Archivist: Librarian	You are passionate about preserving the past and uncovering the secrets of the ages. Through weeks upon weeks of research sifting through dusty tomes, you are always seeking to expand your understanding of the world and to bring new knowledge to light.	Student	Academic	Harker's
Bartender	You’ve always had your finger on the pulse of gossip and events in your local haunts, so much so that people make it a habit to seek you out for your knowledge. Your constant dealings with folk of every sort has left you a unique ability to read people and seek information, not to mention you can serve up the occasional party favor. You make for a fine conversationalist, so long as no one is stirring up trouble.	Entrepreneur	Mercantile	Harker's
Blacksmith	Your crafts experience makes you an invaluable member to any community, forging everything from horseshoes to blades. Whether it be maintaining metalworks, creating items of utility and use, or arming soldiers from local militias to state-funded militaries, you can always find work with your your skills. You are a centerpoint for adventurers, ensuring their arms are ready for the challenges that await them.	Entrepreneur	Mercantile	Harker's
Courtesan	You hail from what is often cited as the oldest of all professions. While the term “creature of the night” might make some think of vampires and their ilk, your profession is something quite different. As a prostitute, you are no stranger to the difficulties and hardships of life. You are also far more resilient than many may realize, as your daily life constitutes countless struggles as you service difficult clientele. You survive by your wits, your charms, and your gut instinct, and you have a knack for turning risky situations to your advantage.	Noble Title, Entrepreneur, or Criminal	Aristocratic, Mercantile, Underworld	Harker's

*Updated to v1.2

Backgrounds, Occupations, and Professions

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