Hidden under the rocks, concealed corners, and hidden nooks of the world exist the things of nature: obscured minerals, flora, and fauna by the thousand, and where there are things, there will always be someone to find them. Many people avoid the deepest depths of the wilds for fear of beasts or the odd carnivorous plant, but a select few of very brave - or incredibly foolish - individuals imperil everything to gain the riches, knowledge, or reputation offered to those who are willing to risk it all to seek out the lesser-known wealth of the earth. Whether an artisan culinarian, seeking to enrich your dishes with the rarest edibles the world has to offer, to a cave-diving adventurer, satisfied scavenging the soil walls of subterranean lands for the brightest of gems - or a rather cleverly-polished stone - to swindle away to the highest bidder, you are most at-home getting your hands dirty (quite literally) to find what others are not willing or able to. While those less naturally-adept may write such world-hardened individuals off as antisocial, hermitic, or even criminal - depending on how you wangle your hard-earned wares - your work is more precarious than most, risking accident, disease, or being attacked by wild predators.
Why did you engage in this risky line of work? What part of nature was it that drew you away from the comforts of your village or city, if you existed within the realm of civilization to begin with? Are you searching for a legendary item throughout the world? Or are you just seeking to get rich by amassing a mountain of collected clutter? Did you ever "hit it big", or have you been running a dry streak? Regardless of why you decided to turn to a life of searching for the as-yet undisturbed, your skills and knowledge in tracking and identifying rare - and potential magical - objects will prove vital to any adventuring party.
- Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, and your choice of Nature, Survival, or Perception.
- Tool Proficiencies: any two artisan's tool sets of your choice.
- Equipment: A fond trinket found during one of your first visits to the wild (i.e. a dug-up old ring, a small gem that glows in the dark, a metal crest of a long-forgotten family, part of an old sword hilt, etc), a lamp, a flask of oil, a miner's pick or a hunting trap, a sack, a set of traveler's clothes, and a pouch holding 10gp.
Becoming a skilled forager of the wilds (who survives long enough to be considered one) takes skill, practice, and often a past grounded in practices surrounding seeking rare findings throughout the caves, crags, and creeks of the world. Your Wild Forager may have had experience as a:
| d10 | Forager Origins |
|---|---|
| 1 | Herbalist |
| 2 | Culinary-Curio |
| 3 | Druidic Ritualist |
| 4 | Miner |
| 5 | Geologist |
| 6 | Merchant Collector |
| 7 | Feral Child |
| 8 | Tribal Nomad |
| 9 | Trapper |
| 10 | Trophy Hunter |
Your years of traveling have granted you great knowledge of the world and it's inhabitants. When encountering any plant, mineral deposit, or beast* - as long as they are deceased, asleep, or otherwise unaware of your presence - you may expend 2 minutes to examine it, allowing you to determine its species within a reasonable boundary of accuracy, whether it is likely to have any beneficial or harmful properties, or if it is generally benign and mundane. Additionally, if successful when hunting for food or searching for water, you reap twice what you would have otherwise found.
*Rules concerning lightly/heavily obscured areas, as well as dim and dark lighting (see page 183 of PHB), are still adhered to.
Suggested Characteristics
Foragers may appear aloof and quiet on the surface, but many are simply so caught up in their awareness and contact with the natural environment that others around them can simply feel like background noise. They have an understanding that the diversity of life hinges upon their location in the world, so many take to adventuring to expand their knowledge and collections to better serve their goals. However, there are those who might want to provide their services in new places to new people, and perhaps claim a little bit more renown than they would have staying in one place.
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