Find Your Next Adventure

Chapter 17

Backgrounds

BACKGROUND CATALOG

Background Rules Summary

• Each Background grants:

• +2 Skill Points distributed among two related Skills (usually from 1–2 Trees)

• 1 Background Ability (minor but flavorful)

• Departure Question: a narrative prompt: Why did you leave this life behind?

• Standard Backgrounds (20) — available to all Age tiers except Young

• Prestige Backgrounds (6) — reserved for Mature and Elder characters only

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🌍 STANDARD BACKGROUNDS (20)

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1. Militia Guard

• Skills: +1 Combat, +1 Survival

• Ability: Stand Firm — Once per combat, gain +2 Defense while holding position.

• Departure: Why did you desert, retire, or lose faith in your command?

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2. Soldier / Mercenary

• Skills: +2 Combat

• Ability: Weapon Familiarity — Choose one weapon type; you have Advantage on maintenance and repair for it.

• Departure: What war or contract scarred you enough to leave?

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3. Hunter / Trapper

• Skills: +2 Survival

• Ability: Scent of Prey — You can identify animal species from tracks or remains with Advantage.

• Departure: Did your quarry turn out to be something else entirely?

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4. Scout / Ranger

• Skills: +1 Survival, +1 Subterfuge

• Ability: Silent Step — Once per travel day, ignore noise penalties on Stealth.

• Departure: What made you step away from the wilderness?

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5. City Watch / Investigator

• Skills: +1 Social, +1 Subterfuge

• Ability: Questioner’s Eye — Once per scene, detect lies with a Focus save vs DC 12.

• Departure: Were you dismissed, framed, or just tired of the corruption?

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6. Thief / Smuggler

• Skills: +2 Subterfuge

• Ability: Underworld Contact — Once per session, call in a favor for minor info or gear.

• Departure: Did you turn over a new leaf, or just change targets?

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7. Craftsman / Artisan

• Skills: +2 Crafting

• Ability: Master’s Touch — Advantage on one crafting roll per downtime phase.

• Departure: Did your work bring ruin or fame you didn’t want?

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8. Alchemist / Apothecary

• Skills: +1 Crafting, +1 Magic

• Ability: Experimental Mix — Once per day, create a random potion (1d4 effect).

• Departure: Why did your studies become dangerous or forbidden?

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9. Scholar / Historian

• Skills: +1 Crafting, +1 Social

• Ability: Lorekeeper — Gain a small clue once per session on history or artifact origins.

• Departure: What did you uncover that frightened the world?

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10. Priest / Monk

• Skills: +1 Magic, +1 Social

• Ability: Divine Insight — Once per session, reroll a failed Focus save.

• Departure: Did you lose faith, or did your god lose you?

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11. Performer / Bard

• Skills: +2 Social

• Ability: Inspire — Once per combat, one ally gains +1 to next roll.

• Departure: What song or act made you flee or become hunted?

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12. Merchant / Trader

• Skills: +2 Social

• Ability: Appraiser — Instantly identify relative value of trade goods and gems.

• Departure: Did a deal go bad, or did greed hollow you out?

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13. Sailor / Fisherman

• Skills: +1 Survival, +1 Crafting

• Ability: Sea Legs — Ignore penalties from unstable footing or ship motion.

• Departure: Why did you leave the waves for the land?

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14. Farmer / Herder

• Skills: +1 Survival, +1 Crafting

• Ability: Steady Worker — Advantage on fatigue checks after long labor.

• Departure: What disaster drove you from home?

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15. Entertainer / Courtesan

• Skills: +2 Social

• Ability: Graceful Mask — +2 to Deception vs social embarrassment or seduction scenes.

• Departure: Did love, scandal, or ambition push you onward?

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16. Scribe / Clerk

• Skills: +1 Crafting, +1 Social

• Ability: Record-Keeper — Advantage on checks to recall written info or copy documents quickly.

• Departure: Whose secrets did you read that you shouldn’t have?

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17. Street Urchin / Beggar

• Skills: +1 Subterfuge, +1 Survival

• Ability: Scavenger — Find one minor useful item during downtime (GM discretion).

• Departure: How did you crawl out of the gutters?

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18. Beast Handler / Trainer

• Skills: +1 Survival, +1 Social

• Ability: Animal Empathy — Advantage on taming and calming beasts.

• Departure: What bond did you lose that drove you to travel?

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19. Mage’s Apprentice

• Skills: +2 Magic

• Ability: Spell Recall — Once per rest, cast a spell you’ve already used without extra Fatigue.

• Departure: Did your mentor die—or cast you out?

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20. Laborer / Miner

• Skills: +2 Endurance

• Ability: Backbreaker — Once per session, ignore 1 level of Fatigue from heavy exertion.

• Departure: Did you strike something in the deep that should have stayed buried?

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🕰️ PRESTIGE BACKGROUNDS (6)

(For Mature & Elder characters only)

These represent entire chapters of life — the legendary or defining careers before adventuring again.

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1. Retired Adventurer

• Skills: +1 any two

• Ability: Seasoned Reflexes — Once per session, ignore a critical hit on a Reflex save 15+.

• Departure: What pulled you back into danger after so long?

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2. Knight / Commander

• Skills: +1 Combat, +1 Social

• Ability: Commanding Aura — Once per encounter, allies within 10 ft gain +1 to Attack or Resolve.

• Departure: Did politics, love, or guilt break your oath?

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3. Master Craftsman / Guild Founder

• Skills: +2 Crafting

• Ability: Efficiency — Halve crafting time and +2 to repair checks for masterwork tools.

• Departure: What invention or betrayal made you walk away from fortune?

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4. Archmage / Sage

• Skills: +2 Magic

• Ability: Arcane Mastery — Once per session, reduce a spell DC by 5 (minimum 10).

• Departure: What truth did you uncover that your peers feared?

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5. Veteran Explorer / Pathfinder

• Skills: +1 Survival, +1 Subterfuge

• Ability: Trailblazer — Once per expedition, your group ignores one environmental hazard.

• Departure: What frontier still haunts your dreams?

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6. Fallen Noble / Exile

• Skills: +1 Social, +1 Subterfuge

• Ability: Infamous Reputation — Advantage on Intimidation or Deception when invoking your past title.

• Departure: Who stripped you of power, and why?

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