Backgrounds, Occupations, and Professions

While you are an adventurer, there is much more to your life than just battling beasts, hoarding treasure, and going on quests. When you’re not actively adventuring, you enjoy indulging in your personal interests and hobbies. Maybe you’re an avid reader and love nothing more than curling up with a good book in the local library or university. Or perhaps you’re 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 busiess.

In this chapter, you choose a background and a profession. Note that each profession has one or more occupation tags; if these match with your background, they grant you additional Skill Points. Skills are organized by both attribute and tag.

Backgrounds

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 list below. Seven of the nine backgrounds grant you additional skills if you take a profession with the corresponding occupation tag. Note that your background also determines your starting wealth. All backgrounds grant you the “Starting Gear” found on p. 303 in Chapter 6.

Background	Occupation Tag	Description
Born Warrior	MIilitant	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.