You have spent your life tending to the natural world, and the plants and animals that live within it. You act as an intermediary between civilization and nature, tending to the world outside of the city walls to maintain the balance between progress and conservation. You are not necessarily a druid—caring for nature is not the same thing as channeling divine power.
Choose a toil–farmhand, zookeeper, gardener, or some other natural position, and work with your DM to detail the nature of your experiences. Were you a refuge from civilization, taking up work at a farm, or were you an urban resident caring for the city's many gardens and natural feathers? Perhaps a zookeeper who left in protest of the treatment of the animals in your care.
- Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Animal Handling
- Languages: Sylvan and one other of your choice.
- Equipment: A field guide to interesting and are flora and fauna, a notebook or sketchbook of plants and animals you started when you were young, working clothes, including protective gloves and boots, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 15 gp.
As a lover of the natural world, you are welcomed by those others who care of and for nature, and you know how to care for the plants and animals in the region where you spent your time. You and your adventuring companions can expect to be welcomed and sheltered by anyone who similarly shares your interest in nature, or depends upon it for their livelihood.
You may also have ties to druidic or shamanistic groups, and you will find welcome with them and their kind. You can expect to receive magical aid from these types, though you will need to provide any material components for any spells they offer to you, and they will not risk themselves to protect you against those who might do them harm.
Suggested Characteristics
Naturalists are shaped by their experiences with nature, and their study of plants and animals and the interactions of the natural world, and their experiences bridging the gap between civilization and nature affect their mannerisms and ideals. Their flaws might be cynicism about the merits of civilization, a zealotry that infects their behaviour towards the rest of society, or just a general inability to understand how and why people behave as they do.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I idolize a particular champion of nature, and constantly refer to that person’s deeds and example. |
| 2 | I can find common ground between the most disparate goals, empathizing with them and always working toward reconciliation. |
| 3 | I see omens in every event and action. The natural world guides us, if we just stop to listen. |
| 4 | Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude. |
| 5 | I quote (or misquote) rural proverbs in almost every situation. |
| 6 | I am tolerant (or intolerant) of other viewpoints and respect (or condemn) the progress of civilization. |
| 7 | I’ve enjoyed the pleasures of civilization and the connections I've made through my work. Rough living grates on me. |
| 8 | I’ve spent so much time around animals that I have little practical experience dealing with people in the outside world. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tradition. We must care for and protect the land, as our ancestors did. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Charity. People are part of nature, and we must help them when we can as well. (Good) |
| 3 | Change. We cannot deny that the world is constantly changing, and we must strive for the changes that we wish to see. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Power. I hope one day to gain the ability to ensure the protection of the natural world I care for. (Lawful) |
| 5 | Faith. The natural world has come a long way without our interference, so we must trust that it can take care of itself. (Lawful) |
| 6 | Aspiration. I seek to learn all there is to know about the natural world and everything that dwells within it. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I must find the source of a sickness that is plaguing the land, at all costs. |
| 2 | I will someday get revenge on someone who abused my closest animal companion. |
| 3 | I owe my life to the farmers who took me in when my parents died. |
| 4 | Everything I do is for the good of the natural world. |
| 5 | I will do anything to protect the woodlands where I spent my childhood. |
| 6 | I have discovered the entrance to a secret Sylvan grove, and I will do anything to protect it. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely. |
| 2 | I put too much trust in those who wield power within my temple’s hierarchy. |
| 3 | My piety sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess faith in my god. |
| 4 | I am inflexible in my thinking. |
| 5 | I am suspicious of strangers and expect the worst of them. |
| 6 | Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life. |
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