may revel in your role as a member of the upper crust, or

carter commoner, lower

you may be the black sheep of your family. Ultimately what
You support yourself by moving things from here to there, matters is that you’re never bored.
either by hand or with a horse and cart. It may not be an
exciting life, but it’s steady work and you meet a lot of people, druid religious, lower
from sailors from every corner of the world to local shop-
You belong to an ancient religion that worships nature, spirits
keepers. Usually you move food, drink, supplies and raw
of the natural world, or other powerful natural forces. Your
materials of one kind or another, but sometimes you’re hired
order existed before the current crop of gods grew in popularity,
to move things you’re sure aren’t on the up and up...
and despite the spread of these new gods, there are still many
followers of your religion. You gather in groves or other sacred
cavalry military, upper
locations in the wilderness to perform rites and ceremonies. In
You have been trained to fight as part of a mounted military unit. addition to being tied to other members of your order, you are
Like any soldier, you have learned discipline and how to work dedicated to maintaining the health and balance of the wild.
with your fellow soldiers to achieve your objective. You’ve also
trained to take advantage of your speed, mobility, height and enforcer criminal, lower
weight advantage, and the fear mounted units put into infantry.
When someone stands up to your criminal organization,
The cost of owning and keeping a horse is expensive, so your
you’re the one they send in to beat sense into the offending
wealth and high birth makes your profession possible.
party. You get your name because you enforce the rules of
your group. Sometimes you need to collect money, other
charlatan criminal, middle
times you may have to deliver a beating, or maybe you have
You are a fraud, a faker, a mountebank, a con man or woman, to make someone disappear. It’s nothing personal, and it’s not
and you’re good at it. You use your cunning and charisma to your fault the person you’ve been sent after did something to
trick people into believing your deceptions in order to bilk them incur the wrath of the guild.
of valuables. Whether you’re a street hustler performing tricks
to take money from the unsuspecting or working a longer con, exile outlander, lower
once you think you’ve gotten away with as much as you can,
You are a true outcast. Wherever you’re from, you or your
you’re likely to move to a new locale and start all over again.
family did something that resulted in you being exiled.
Perhaps you were on the wrong side of a war, had the wrong
church officer religious, upper
friends at the wrong time, made some business dealings that
You work for a church or other religious order, to handle didn’t end well, or you simply broke some very taboo laws.
secular responsibilities. You take care of practical and business Whatever it was, you’ve lived on the road for a while, perhaps
matters, such as making sure church valuables and artifacts years, and know how to make your way in the world.
are kept safe, caring for the grounds, and so on. Because you
handle those things, the clergy can spend their time working explorer outlander, middle
with the congregation, visit shut-ins, deliver rites, and so on.
The unmapped, unknown parts of the world call to you and
You are likely a member of the church, but not necessarily.
you have answered the call! If you’re from the area your game
is set in, then you’ve spent your time away from civilization,
courtier noble, upper
exploring the surroundings for caves, tombs, or cyclopean sites
You spend your time at court, nominally because you hope from a previous age. If you’re not from the area, then you’re out
to be noticed by the rulers and called on to advise or serve exploring the world for undiscovered places. Perhaps you’re
them in some way. Until that happens, you spend your time drawn to wild, unknown, or mystical places, or perhaps you
playing political games with the other courtiers, digging up simply have wanderlust and have decided to hit the road.
dirt to weaken or threaten others, while building yourself up
in order to make yourself more valuable and secure. farmer commoner, lower
You’re a member of a family of farmers. You live off the land
crafter guild, middle
and your family has done so for generations. It’s likely you
You work with your hands to perform services or create don’t own the land you live and work on, instead you are
goods that you sell, either from a vendor or shop of your own. one of the workers who are part of the base of society. You
Perhaps you’re a baker, cobbler, carpenter, painter, apoth- produce the food and raise the livestock that allows everyone
ecary, chandler, glazier, or something similar. Your skills are from the lowliest to the noblest to survive and thrive. For you,
specialized enough that you are kept busy and able to support however, things have changed for some reason. Now, you’re
yourself, especially if you are uniquely talented. on a new path, one you never expected to be on.

dilettante noble, upper friar religious, lower

Being wealthy has afforded you opportunities to indulge in You are a holy man who has sworn to bring word of your
the best of life. You study what interests you, you wear what- god to the common people. Instead of being ensconced in a
ever’s in fashion, you drink fine wines and eat refined foods, temple, church, or cathedral, you wander the lands to bring
you have the most interesting friends, and you’re always on the message of your god to those who work the land, travel the
the lookout for the next bit of gossip. Life is fine, indeed. You roads, and live in villages and towns across the nation. You are

16 chapter 1 - races & backgrounds