You are someone who knows the value of a properly seasoned stew and can tell the difference between spices by sight, taste, scent, and even their texture. From the soldiers marching in the fields, to the warm haven of an inn, to the bowls of the largest keeps, to the homes of the common folk you know that food and need of food is what brings together everyone of every nation, religion, race, and creed. Food is your passion, it is your mission, it is your religion. Either you were an artisan chef with a fine sense of taste, a master chef who knows dozens on dozens of recipes by heart, or a cook at the mess hall, serving food quickly and on the double. You understand that food has a voice; it can express moods with the right combinations of ingredients, or bring people together with a peaceful meal. What brought you out of the kitchen? A rare ingredient? Maybe your upper chef decided it was time for you to go? Or, maybe, you wanted to go on an adventure to diversify your recipe book? Regardless on why you decided to change pace from your culinary solitude, your cooking and food handling skills will prove vital to an adventuring party. You may even find food where most people don't!
- Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice: History, Medicine, Insight, Performance, Survival, Nature.
- Tool Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in Cook's Utensils.
- Languages: You can read, write, and speak one language of your choice from which you derive your culinary terminology and techniques.
- Equipment: a mess kit, a set of cook's utensils, a bottle of cooking oil, a spice kit, several recipe books, a tinderbox, an iron pot, 5 days worth of rations, and a belt pouch containing 10gp.
Brigade de cuisine, (kitchen brigade in Common) is a system of hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels employing extensive staff, commonly referred to as "kitchen staff" in common-speaking countries. This structured team system delegates responsibilities to different individuals who specialize in certain tasks. You can alter these titles to suit your language choice for this background.
| d6 | Brigade de Cuisine |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chef de Cuisine or Sous Chef: Manages the kitchen and its staff. The Chef de Cuisine is typically authorised to write and alter the menu, while a sous chef is just a manager. |
| 2 | Chef de Partie: Manages a portion of the kitchen staff if the team is very large. Examples include Rôtisseur (roast cook), Entremetier (entrée preparer), and Pâtissier (pastry cook). If they do the work themselves, they are called a demi-chef. |
| 3 | Cuisinier: An cook in an independent position which requires no team or division of oversight, so are generally superior to cuisiniers de parti, but subordinate to all chefs. Examples include, Saucier (saucemaker), Poissonnier (fishcook), Boucher (butcher), and Communard (Kitchen staff meal cook). |
| 4 | Cuisinier de Parti: A subordinate to a chef in a particular area of the kitchen. The Grillardin (grill cook) and Friturier (fry cook) answer to the Rôtisseur. The Potager (soup cook) and Legumier (vegetable cook) answer to the Entremetier. The Confiseur (candy maker), Glacier (frozen desert maker), Décorateur (dessert decorator), and Boulanger (baker) answer to the Pâtissier. |
| 5 | Apprentice or Commis: Generally an assistant, they look after the cooking equipment, not the food. A successful apprentice becomes a commis, who eventually takes on higher responsibilities. |
| 6 | Kitchen Staff: These positions deal with other tasks around the kitchen, and include the Garde Manger (pantry supervisor), Aboyeur (announcer/expediter), Tournant (spare hand/roundsman), Garçon de cuisine (kitchen boy), and Plongeur/Marmiton or Porter (dish/pot washer). All of these positions are known to be enlisted to do basic/menial food preparation. |
You can find the choicest and best ingredients in just about any environment. For any roll relating to finding food or ingredients, add 2d6 to your roll and for any food you make, they heal 1d4 hit points.
Suggested Characteristics
Many things can influence a person's life long love affair with food. Maybe you were starving and lost and rescued by a traveling chef. Perhaps are inheriting your love from your grandparent who showed you tried and true recipes passed down the generations. You might even have been a beggar that dreamed of dining on the choice cuts of meat in decadent sauces that only the rich were privy to and decided to only dine on the best. Whatever the reason is, cooking food is your passion!
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking is like a dance and the kitchen is my dance floor. |
| 2 | My knowledge of flavor combinations can make even the most joyless eater smile. |
| 3 | Food is meant to make you smile. Food is my passion and my life, so I am always smiling. |
| 4 | Recipes are meant to be passed down, so any chance I get to teach another to cook I do it with zeal. |
| 5 | I let others know I expect them to work as hard as I do. |
| 6 | I make noises which indicate my mood when I eat. |
| 7 | I like to take my time and savor each moment. |
| 8 | I am always on the lookout for something novel and exotic. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Adventurous: The only way to know if something tastes good or bad is to taste it. (Chaotic) |
| 2 | Perfection: If I see one small misstep in the cooking process at the hands of a lesser chef or cook, I will berate them for it. (Evil) |
| 3 | Generosity: My food is a gift for all to enjoy! (Good) |
| 4 | Showmanship: I will turn the whole cooking process into a show to create smiles before the meal and serve them good food to make them smile after the meal too. (Lawful) |
| 5 | Community: I am just one contribution which keeps this society together. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Fame: I will be known as the greatest master chef for all time! (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My grandmother had a secret recipe she taught me before she died, and I am still trying to replicate it. |
| 2 | I am putting together a book of recipes from around the world! |
| 3 | While other lands have vibrant cuisine, nothing beats a meal in the home country. |
| 4 | I am the last bastion of hope in a bland world. I will bring flavor. |
| 5 | My tools were inherited so every nick, dent, and scratch is a fond memory for me. |
| 6 | I wish to feed the masses. Starvation is an abomination and I will slay it with tasty treats. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have a tendency to taste all my recipes multiple times, sometimes eating the whole thing before it's even done. |
| 2 | I do not trust food or drink not prepared by me, and must check it for poison or worse too much salt. |
| 3 | Sometimes in an effort to make a perfect dish I throw out perfectly fine dishes and end up wasting food. |
| 4 | I am comedically competitive. |
| 5 | I have little to no tolerance for frivolity. |
| 6 | I have troubles trusting others with their assigned tasks, especially if I assigned them. |
You can use food to communicate more than just good flavor; you can produce intellectually meaningful dishes which can send a message, however simple and abstract. At the DM's discretion, (preferably based on how the player describes what they do to send a message) you can be persuasive, deceptive, and even intimidating attempts by simply feeding a person a meal, or by preparing it in front of them. You may also treat public preparation of food as a performance to entertain.
(For example, in an attempt to persuade a peace between two nations, you may prepare a dish which incorporates both cultures' cuisines in a creative and enjoyable way and then serve it to the negotiation delegates.)
(An example of an intimidating meal would be one designed to appear poisonous; made from the target's fallen allies; or decorated with unpleasant symbolism, like a union jack cake served to a colonial American minuteman.)
(Examples of food preparation as a performance would include juggling/tossing of ingredients, fancy knife work, preparation of flambe, and other visually entertaining techniques)
(To the DM: Generally, this means that they should be allowed to add their tool proficiency to the check, even if they lack the typical skill proficiency, but it's really up to you whether it counts and when. The whole intent of this feature is for you and the player to work together to incorporate their background into play by rewarding its creative application, not to give the player four skill proficiencies for all situations, or to give you a method of wiping out the value of their roleplaying feature. Don't be a pushover OR a jerk about it.)
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