Wanderer Image

You are a member of a nomadic trader's caravan, skilled in trade, entertainment, and closely associated with other caravans. You are a well-established part of the mercantile world, free to roam in family groups across all parts of the known world as you please. You learned your skills from your craftsmen parents, as an apprentice to a Caravan Elder, or through long years of trial and error, until you became a master trader, artisan, or performer in your own right.

Whether you have been a Wanderer your whole life, sought the trade on your own, or left the nomadic clans behind, you have managed to develop a number of skills and talents through your work.

 
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Performance
Tool Proficiencies: One type of Artisans tools, or a musical instrument. 
Languages: One language of your choice.
Equipment: A set of artisan’s tools (one of your choice), a musical instument (one of your choice), a token from your Caravan, a set of traveler's clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp.
 
Caravan Specialty

Many Wanderer clans specialise in a certain type of trade product, skill, or craft. Whether they be passed down and honed to perfection through the generations, or simply due to their trade routes, choose up to three aspects that your Caravan is particularly known for.

While the listed specialties are suggestions, work with your DM to determine the exact nature of your clan's specialty. A Caravan consisting of many families would boast a number of specialists, and those specialities would be further influenced by their location or demand.

Carpenters are highly sought after to maintain wagons and offer their services to isolted settlements, but they may also be skilled shipwrights or rare Doorwrights - a severely secretive family known for creating doors to permanent pocket dimensions, whose services are used by Wanderers to create portable workshops, storage units, or safe bedchambers. A caravan of Hunters might be traders of meat, or they might be famous hunters of rare beasts, or sellswords who take care of monsters. Clocksmiths might make timepieces or shambling Warforged Constructs of mass destruction.

d20 Caravan Specialty
1 Weavers/Spellweavers
2 Enchanters/Spellwrights
3 Engineers/Arcanics
4 General goods/Supply Trains
5 Shepherds/Apiarists
6 Entertainers/Performers
7 Cobblers/Tailors
8 Pilgrims/Acolytes
9 Fine artisans/Specialist Crafters
10 Exotic goods/Collectors
11 Healers/Surgeons
12 Hunters/Herbalists
13 Cartographers/Explorers
14 Carpenters/Doorwrights
15 Brewers/Cooks
16 Crystalwrights/Jewelsmiths
17 Blacksmiths/Armorers
18 Weaponsmiths/Fletchers
19 Alchemists/Transmuters
20 Artificers/Clocksmiths
 
Feature: Part of the Family

Wherever they travel, the Wanderers enjoy the perks of being welcomed by most inhabitants. You can easily find work or a place to stay in a settlement you have visited before or are known in (Up to the DM's discretion). You can ply your trade or services in return for free lodging or some extra coin, and people generally take a liking to you based on your association with your Caravan. 

You also operate under a strict Wanderer's Law when interacting with other caravans. Though your relations may not be friendly, you will be treated with hospitality by any other Caravan you encounter in the wild. They will provide you with food, trade, lodgings, and medical care if necessary, and will pay for your funeral if needed. You may take this Law as an opportunity to mend relations between your Caravans, or you might use it as an excuse to take advantage of your mortal enemies' generosity - but keep in mind that the Wanderer's Law can only protect you for so long. 

 
Suggested Characteristics

Wanderers, despite their exotic travels and adventures, are often the most ordinary people in the world—until they roll into town and open shop. Their constant travel allows them experiences many normal citizens would only dream of, but will never be more than outsiders that walk on a knife's-edge. Strange customs, a language barrier, or natural disasters could prove their undoing as easily as it attracts business.

d8 Personality Trait
1 My favourite place is sitting around the fire with my Caravan, listening to the conversation of the ones I love most in the world.
2 I love meeting new people - I gather friends like flowers.
3 I often pepper in exotic facts or stories about my travels in conversation, even if it's completely unrelated.
4 The strange mannerisms and customs I picked up from my Caravan often make me the centre of attention.
5 I'm still driven by the wanderlust of my people. I can never bear to stay in one place for too long.
6 I am endlessly suspicious of strangers. The only people I trust are me, myself, and I.
7 I constantly dream about the perfect place to finally settle down.
8 I've seen storms that would destroy cities, met creatures forgotten by time, and been the only thing alive for miles - but nothing scares me more than a city.
d6 Ideal
1 Community. A family's strength is in its bonds and connections. Through compassion, we can weather anything. (Good)
2 Freedom. An open road holds infinite possibilities. All I need are the clothes on my back and a direction to head. (Chaotic)
3 People. I'm committed to the people I care about, not to ideals. (Neutral)
4 Respect. The Wanderers have made a name for themselves. They earn their respect through determination and integrity. I honour that in everything I do. (Lawful)
5 Pride. My Caravan are masters at their craft, and I am the best of all. The sooner everyone realises this, the better. (Evil)
6 Aspiration. Someday, I'll form my own Caravan and find my own way in the world. (Any)
d6 Bond
1 I once strayed into the territory of a rival Caravan, despite my better judgement. I will never forget what I went through that day.
2 I owe everything to the Wanderers who took me in and gave me a home. I wish to pay that kindness forward.
3 I once met the love of my life during my travels, but chose my Caravan over a life with them.
4 A rival Caravan continues to make my life hell.
5 I will get revenge on the monsters that destroyed my family and almost killed me.
6 My mentor gave me a way of life and a future. I hope to make them proud one day.
d6 Flaw
1 I will do anything to be the best at my trade.
2 I became a Wanderer to escape my problems. It's a habit I still haven't broken.
3 I crave the adoration my craft allows me - it's a drug I cannot, and will not quit.
4 It is against my nature to make a decision. I follow until there is no one left.
5 A rival Caravan believes that I stole their closely-guarded secrets. They aren't wrong.
6 My last Caravan Elder was a fool. So, I destroyed their legacy, their art, and their livelihood. I still laugh about it to this day.
 
Variant Wanderer: Lost One

Lost Ones are the outcasts and unwanted of the Wanderer clans. Breaking a law, offending an Elder, selling your trade secrets to outsiders or even leaving of their own accord can cause a Wanderer to become a Lost One. Their relations with their clan or Caravan are forever broken, and are branded as an outsider to all Wanderers, never to be dealt with or acknowledged by a Wanderer for the rest of their days. 

Some who are Lost seek to atone for their crimes through quiet, outside support; others leave the clans and never return, disappearing into settlements or turning instead to adventuring or mercenary work. You are one of these Lost Ones. Work with your DM to decide how you became shunned by the clans, and what kind of punishment you received. 

 
Variant Feature: Quiet Connections

 If your character has the Wanderer background, you may select this background feature instead of Part of the Family.
Some Wanderers do not adher to the Wanderer's Law as strictly as others; allowing you a meager, if not conditional, connection to the clans. You know how to get messages, goods, or services on behalf of your party, though often at a price. 

As well as enjoying the benefits granted due to your past connection with your Caravan, you also know the common routes of Caravans, and can recognise the signs of a Wanderer clan's passage in the wilderness or a settlement. 

 

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