You have somehow escaped a life of servitude to your Master where you have spent the better part of your life. As an indentured servant, slave, or thrall, you may have been a manservant or handmaiden in a royal household, the captured slave of an evil warlord, or a laborer born into bondage. Perhaps you were a prostitute under the thumb of an unscrupulous pimp, a scullion toiling under the watch of a wrathful chef, or the lowly assistant of a cruel and powerful wizard. Whether you were treated with cruelty or relative kindness, you were still expected to "know your place" and were punished when you stepped out of line. Toiling for another, obeying orders, and debasing yourself have been your way of life. You have since escaped servitude, having somehow won your freedom. Perhaps, it was against your will, such as, you were dismissed after having disgraced your master, or your master died leaving you adrift in the world with no one to serve. Regardless, freedom is new to you. Your background as a slave has given you the patience to suffer the vagaries of powerful people and also insight into the dynamics of power, its uses and abuses.
- Skill Proficiencies: Having to endure and escaped your bondage of slavery life you are proficient in Performance and Stealth.
- Tool Proficiencies: One toolset that you are familiar with as you have been used to do in order complete your slave job or the very tools that helped you escape your slave life.
- Languages: You can speak the Language your masters or oppressors used to command you with.
- Equipment: A sack, a set of common clothes, a manacle, a pouch with 1 gp, a shovel, a tattered blanket, and a pick
Slave Job Specialty
As a slave, you had some kind of job. Roll a d8 on the table to determine that job.
| d6 |
Slave Job Specialty |
|
1
|
Maid/Butler
|
|
2
|
Field Worker
|
|
3
|
Concubine
|
|
4
|
Combat
|
|
5
|
Cook
|
|
6
|
Forced Laborer
|
Feature: The Hard Road
Slaves face great difficulty everywhere they go. Escaped slaves are often on the run if not from their former owners, then certainly from the law. Few are educated or have any practical experience to make a way for themselves. Most have limited social skills which give away their social status. Slavers may notice freemen as "unclaimed property" and try to "claim" them as slaves. People sense a sort of "inferiority" about slaves and freemen, and they will likely either ignore you or boss you around. Many freemen turn to crime to make ends meet and so anyone who doesn't assume you a slave immediately, will likely assume that you are a criminal. If you can ever really leave the slavery mindset knowing what it's like to be a slave, then you can pose as a slave with little difficulty and without raising much suspicion. You are .
Suggested Characteristics
Former slaves are driven by their desire for freedom. Slaves will be shaped by the way they were treated, and what kind of work they did. Their treatment and their relationships to both other slaves as well as their masters/mistresses affect their mannerisms and ideals. Their flaws might be a side effect of the trauma of their slavery.
| d8 |
Personality Trait |
|
1
|
I still prefer to sleep on the floor, even when a soft bed is available.
|
|
2
|
I sometimes misinterpret requests as an order.
|
|
3
|
I am incredibly obedient (or disobedient) of authority figures, a legacy from when failure to comply would be met with the whip, or worse.
|
|
4
|
I have poor social skills from barely being allowed to talk for so long.
|
|
5
|
I still wear the broken shackles from my time as a slave. I feel strange without them.
|
|
6
|
No matter how bad things get, I never complain– I've seen worse.
|
|
7
|
I do all kinds of basic chores and errands for those around me out of habit.
|
|
8
|
I am haunted by confusing memories and dreams about my life before slavery.
|
| d6 |
Ideal |
|
1
|
Subservient. Just follow the rules and do what you’re told, and everything will be alright. (Lawful)
|
|
2
|
Indifferent. People are just people– who they are matters more than what they are. (Neutral)
|
|
3
|
Freedom Fighter. All slaves must be freed- by law, by coin, by shadow, or by blade. (Chaotic)
|
|
4
|
Release. No one should suffer slavery as I have. (Good)
|
|
5
|
Apathy. I only think about what is within my power. Anything else is just circumstance. (Any)
|
|
6
|
Power. If I can attain more power, no one will tell me what to do. (Evil)
|
| d6 |
Bond |
|
1
|
I dream of returning to my homeland or family.
|
|
2
|
My identity as a slave is marked on my body permanently as scars or tattoos.
|
|
3
|
I owe my life to the person who saved me from my cruel fate of slavery.
|
|
4
|
I heard a story about some grand place, and deeply want to go there.
|
|
5
|
I ran away from my old master; they’re still looking for me.
|
|
6
|
Someone I love is still a slave; I want to free them.
|
| d6 |
Flaw |
|
1
|
I'm distrustful of any kind of authority figure, it was authority that kept me in chains.
|
|
2
|
As a defense mechanism, I lie and misdirect everyone around me, and steal and hide anything I can.
|
|
3
|
My scars, both mental and physical, still cause me great pain.
|
|
4
|
If I can guarantee my own safety, the consequences of that doesn't matter to me.
|
|
5
|
I am extremely sadistic, and will torture anyone just for fun.
|
|
6
|
I am scared to speak out against evil and will let horrific things happen.
|
