World Builder Blog

Oh happy day! If you’ve got a local friendly game store or other book store near you, you’ve probably already got the Player’s Handbook, as I do (or you’re grabbing it today). If you’re waiting for your Amazon order, then check out this article from Mike Mearls previewing the list of backgrounds in the Player’s Handbook. It’s not a bad list at all! There are a lot of great choices there. However, there are a few options I want to add for Exploration Age.

In the article referenced above, Mike gives some great advice about creating your own backgrounds. Proficiencies can easily be swapped out for others. He says the most difficult part is creating your own background benefit, which doesn’t even sound that hard. Check it out.

So with those points in mind, I present to you two backgrounds (and a variant) from the Exploration Age Campaign Guide.

Variant Sailor: Sky Sailor

You live the life of the sailor, but the skies are your seas. Ornithopters and airships are the places where you feel most at home, soaring above the hubbub of the world, isolated in the freedom of flight. You might have served in the military as a scout or in some sort of sky navy, you might have worked for a merchant captain or passenger vessel, or perhaps you were a sky pirate who raided the ships of others.

If you decide to take the Sky Sailor background, you have proficiency in vehicles (air) instead of vehicles (water). In addition your Ship’s Passage feature applies to airships instead of seafaring vessels.

Demolitions Expert

You assemble, dismantle, and use explosives and weapons of destruction, including siege weapons. Maybe were in the military, and you built bombs that you threw into the throngs of invading hordes, launched boulders from catapults into enemy towers, or drove a mech through the front line of an enemy army. Or perhaps you belonged to an organization of criminals or rebels, and you were the one who blew up the safe or caused the buildings of oppressors crumble. Whatever the case, you know the power of weapons of destruction and harnessed them to make structures and enemies fall.

Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Investigation

Tool Proficiencies: Siege Weapons or Mechs, Bomb-Makers Kit

Equipment: A bomb-makers kit, a collapsible 10-foot pole, a piece of shrapnel from unique explosive you haven’t been able to identify, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Feature: Bomb Sniffer

Because of your experience with weapons of destruction, you know the best place to find explosives, siege weapons, and ingredients for making bombs. These items are not always readily available for free, but if an orc raid happens, you know right where to go, be it a secret underground black market, the roof of an aberrant ruin, or the local barracks. Your DM can rule their may be no such weapons around. The team you worked with, military or criminal, may be able to sometimes provide you with rare bomb ingredients you need at the DM’s discretion.

Suggested Characteristics

As a demolitions expert, you really know your way around explosives and siege weapons. As such, you have seen more destruction and death in one moment than some may ever seen in a lifetime. This experience has shaped the way you view the world and you know better than most how fragile life really is.

d8	Personality Trait
1	The act of destruction is an art form to me, and I enjoy watching structures topple and break.
2	I am a weapon content to take orders from others.
3	I talk nonstop about the various ingredients in bombs and I constantly make metaphors using explosions.
4	I’m a stickler for safety and make sure at all times no one is doing something to unnecessarily jeopardize the well-being of themselves or others.
5	I love to experiment with different types of flammable materials to see if I can make a better bomb.
6	Life’s too short to worry about what others think of me, so I speak my mind at all times.
7	I could be dead tomorrow, so I party hard today.
8	I love to tell others the stories of my demolitions, but only when they ask.

d6	Ideal
1	Fun. I love a good explosion – they’re hilarious. (Chaotic)
2	Power. I blow things up so people know I could end them at any moment. (Evil)
3	Protection. In a world of enemies and monsters, I believe the best defense is a better offense. (Neutral)
4	Freedom. Sometimes those in power can only be removed if you have the better weapon. (Chaotic)
5	Hierarchy. People get hurt when the wrong person is giving the order to light the fuse. (Lawful)
6	Greater Good. I only use explosives when there is no other option left to save innocent lives. (Good)

d6	Bond
1	There’s one type of explosive I fear more than any other because it has literally scarred me.
2	I am haunted by the memories of innocent people one of my explosions accidentally killed. I will make it up to their families.
3	I will be better at my craft than my mentor ever was.
4	I built an enormous explosive and lost it. I’m searching for it before it gets used by the wrong people.
5	I would do anything for the people I worked with long ago.
6	There is a settlement that was unkind to me and my family. I will return there and burn it to the ground.

d6	Flaws
1	I am too quick to anger and use weapons of destruction as the solution to a problem.
2	I am obnoxious and have a difficult time doing anything quietly.
3	I believe I am only good at one thing and all other tasks are beyond me.
4	I really like fiddling with explosives – too much.
5	I enjoy practical jokes which result in the physical harm of others and their property.
6	I am so nervous and cautious it often prevents me from taking action when I should.

Harvester

You were a lumberjack, miner, oil driller, or had another profession which gathers resources nature created. Nature has a lot to offer, and you saw taking those resources as a way to make a living. This kind of labor is hard work, which shaped the person you became today. Decide the nature of your profession (or roll on the table below), the specific resource you harvested, and decide why you left this life to make a career as an adventurer.

d6	Profession
1	Metal Miner
2	Gem Miner
3	Lumberjack
4	Oil Driller
5	Fungus and Herb Collector
6	Fur Trapper

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Nature

Tool Proficiencies: Mechs, vehicles (land)

Equipment:  A work knife, 50 feet of hemp rope, an ancient copper coin found in the wilderness, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp.

Feature: Appraisal

Other harvesters respect your life of hard labor, and are willing to consult on the value of non-magical gems and art objects for free. In addition, when you find an object of value which relates to your profession (for instance a chest of adamantine found by a metal miner), you are able to know the value of the object yourself and where to find an interested buyer.

Suggested Characteristics

Whether you value a hard day’s work or not, you know what that kind of life is like. While some harvesters can be lazy and do what they can to get out of work, many are the first to step up and perform a task that needs to be done, even if it requires a few hours of backbreaking labor. Often a harvester is proud of the work that they do, but some have changes of heart and believe people are taking too much and that soon nature will revolt against them.

d8	Personality Traits
1	I am always telling people that I work harder than anyone else I know and I believe it.
2	I am usually worried about money.
3	I prefer to listen to everyone else’s opinion before I give my own.
4	I enjoy learning about new technologies in my field.
5	I believe every good job deserves a good reward.
6	When I am in large crowds of people I am fidgety and uncomfortable.
7	I am always using sayings my parents told me.
8	I love a good dirty joke.

d6	Ideal
1	People. My friends and family come before everyone else. (Neutral)
2	Power. I take from the land as I would take anything from anyone too weak to resist. (Evil)
3	Community. When I work with a team I am stronger and collect more rewards than I would alone. (Good)
4	Survival. I earn everything I get and others need to do the same. (Neutral)
5	Generosity. The rewards I get from the land are for all to share. (Good)
6	Creativity. I don’t care how I approach a job, as long as it gets done. (Chaos)

d6	Bond
1	I plan to be married to another as soon as I have enough money.
2	My prize harvest was stolen by a rival and I am still tracking it down.
3	My best friend is in prison for a crime he did not commit.
4	I will restore the lands from which I harvested too much.
5	I always have a job waiting for me back home.
6	My work gloves were given to me by a family member who was also in the business and has now passed away.

d6	Flaws
1	I often drink too much when I feel I’ve worked hard.
2	I do not give in, even when I know I am wrong.
3	I secretly worry about the effect my harvests have on the land.
4	I borrow money with no intention of paying it back.
5	I do not ask for help when I need it.
6	I make fun of people for not knowing the things I know.

If you like what you’re reading, please check out my podcast on The Tome Show, follow me on Twitter, tell your friends and share this blog post, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!