You previously worked or studied alongside fellow troubadours, entertainers and members of creative guilds whom together were looking to make the world a more colorful place with your own talents - be it with words, music, art, food to name a few mediums. You may have been enrolled to a school or other educational institution that focused on cultivating the arts, or previously a part of a guild or union but sought to find out your own path of expression.
Whatever your medium or circumstances, you work independently from a guild on a freelance basis, keeping on pleasant terms with both former clients and peers still continuing your pursuit of the arts and whatever fame, fortune, or definition of sucesss that compells you to keep on creating.
- Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in two of the following skills: Performance (Charisma), Persuasion (Charisma), Insight (Wisdom), Sleight of Hand (Dexterity).
- Tool Proficiencies: You gain proficiency with one of the following sets of Artisans Tools: Painter's Supplies, Cook's Utensils, Weaver's Tools, Glassblower's Tools, Potter's Tools, Calligrapher's Tools, or a single musical instrument. The selected tool or instrument is added to your starting equipment.
- Equipment: In addition to the starting equipment from your class, you gain the set of Artisans Tools or musical instrument you have proficency in from this background, a pouch of 15 gold pieces (gp) and a Sealed Letter of Recommendation from your last client or collaborator.
You may be granted access to important events or figures of nobility for work, through one of your contacts - former peers or clients. During your downtime, as part of looking for work or socializing, you may present yourself for hire in your chosen medium - portraits of nobles, songs to accompany a military parade, cooking for a celebratory eating contest, or assistance in writing jokes for a court's jester are examples.
If someone should be interested in commissioning you, you will be paid based on a set of skill-based challenges set by your DM, success leading to a higher payment bonus and favourable reccommendation. Regardless of your success or failure, your basic lodgings and materials required will be paid for the time it takes for you to complete the work in question, some commissions and mediums may take longer than others or require less materials. When completed you will also get a Letter of Recommendation from the client based on your conduct, this note can be presented to potential clients for further opportunities.
Suggested Characteristics
Recommended characteristics depend on the medium in which you work and your history of clients and peers. The archetypal Freelancer draws on aspects from Entertainer and Guild Artisan backgrounds, harkening back to how you may have acted with your former peers and how you managed to pick up a wide range of skills. For a more devious personality, pick traits from Criminal or Charlatan, using your perceived skill in the arts to infiltrate noble courts to pilfer their wealth. For a more wholesome underdog-style story, an Urchin looking to turn their luck around would also fit. All the backgrounds mentioned, and thier associated traits, can be found in the 5th Edition Player's Handbook.
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