Here Are Some Characters

Here are some backgrounds for characters. It's mostly specialists, because that's where I started.

Your specialist . . .

• is a jeweler, seeking gems of great value.
• is an explorer, seeking or returned from exotic lands.
• is an archaeologist, searching for the secrets of lost civilizations.
• is a political exile, waiting to return home.
• is a black priest, charged with keeping the church's secrets secret.
• is a barbarian, skilled in ways that civilization has forgotten.
• is a migrant worker, willing to help out locals for a bed or a meal.
• is a tinker, but will take on other odd jobs.
• is a busker, but with a lost instrument.
• is a common beggar.
• is an organ grinder, whose monkey ran away.
• comes from a nomadic culture.
• is a traveling merchant, freshly cleaned out from a deal gone awry.
• is a fence, but is branching out into "acquisitions".
• is a jester who spoke too much truth to power.
• is an actor, separated from their troupe.
• is an acrobat.
• ran away from a terrible apprenticeship.
• is a sailor on shore leave.
• trained as a domestic servant.
• is a smuggler, on the lookout for new routes.
• is a quack doctor, peddling alcoholic tonics.
• is a professional burglar.
• is a pickpocket street urchin. Singing optional.
• is a con artist, in search of a mark.
• is a con artist, whose parter was recently taken in.
• is a gangster, whose connections have soured recently.
• is a rake, seeking to take his mind off of a doubtless life-threatening liver disorder.
• is a spy, awaiting orders from a foreign nation.
• is a bandit/pirate (depending on feasibility).
• is a poacher.
• is a halfling in search of adventure.
• is a trained assassin.
• was a military scout.
• escaped slavery.

Your fighter . . .

• was a bouncer.
• is a bodyguard.
• is a noble knight on an inscrutable quest.
• is a digraced knight, exiled from the court.
• was an infantryman.
• is a mercenary, between jobs.
• is a bounty hunter.
• is a barbarian, unmatched in the art of combat.
• escaped from a laboratory.
• was a prizefighter, but is getting old.
• apprenticed as a blacksmith.
• was a collier or miner.
• escaped from prison.
• is a lawman.
• is a bandit/pirate (depending on feasibility).
• is a dwarf.
• is from a long line of warriors.
• is a deserter.
• is a berserker.
• is a local hero in their remote hometown.
• was an Olympian athlete.

Your magic user . . .

• is a wild talent with psionic powers.
• made a pact with the devil.
• speaks with elementals.
• is an elf.
• is proud to be self-taught.
• learned Atlantean secrets.
• was abducted by aliens.
• apprenticed with an insane wizard.
• graduated valedictorian at Wizard Academy.
• dropped out of Wizard Academy.
• was taught magic by nature spirits.
• has dragon blood running through their veins.
• has no memory of his life before now.
• happens to have not died in the last century (but is still mortal).
• was an advisor to kings and generals.
• died once. Might even still be dead. Isn't sure.
• is a bard.
• can't return to it's home dimension.

Your cleric . . .

• is an orphan, raised by the church.
• once was blind, but now can see.
• once could see, but now is blind.
• is a pacifist.
• is a reformed death cultist.
• once received a vision.
• is personally an atheist.
• is a millenarian, convinced that the end is nigh.
• is an inquisitor, charged with rooting out heresy.
• acts obsessive about rituals. Practices them like clockwork.
• is a shaman, who calls upon ancestral spirits.
• is a druid, who remembers the old ways.
• is not the child of prophecy, but sees how you could make that mistake.
• was an ascetic monk, living on the fringes of society.
• was recently accused of heretical beliefs.
• is a street preacher, spreading the gospel to all who will listen.
• is a pamphleteer, too shy to preach on the streets.
• almost died once, but was saved by grace alone.