Whether you enjoy offering your talent to a variety of people knowing you're on the road, or you can't seem to find a steady gig and have to keep finding more and more, you don't necessarily have a consistent job and instead work freelance, offering your skills wherever you go. Whether you travel the world as a culinary wonder, or stop by the local blacksmith to help out.
This is a variant of the Entertainer background with adjusted background feature, proficiencies amd starting equipment.
- Skill Proficiencies: Persuasion, and choice between Athletics, Acrobatics, Arcana, History, Investigation, Insight, Medicine, Perception, or Performance
- Tool Proficiencies: one type of artisan's tools.
- Languages: one language
- Equipment: A set of artisan's tools (one of your choice), a resume or portfolio of your work experience, a common, and a pouch containing 15 gp
Being a Freelancer doesn't have to mean you don't do more than one thing, but it's nice to specialize and get excellent at a particular job. Consider the following options in this table. Perhaps your preferred job is one of them.
| d10 | Profession |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chef |
| 2 | Blacksmith |
| 3 | Mail Carrier |
| 4 | Bartender |
| 5 | Mason |
| 6 | Carpenter |
| 7 | Accountant |
| 8 | Janitor |
| 9 | Ship Packer |
| 10 | Librarian |
Though maybe you might not always get paid in money for the work you do, you've got another form of payment up your sleeve. When you work for someone or someplace, you can receive free lodging for you and your adventuring party so long as you keep working for the days you stay and do not make employers or patrons of the establishment hostile. The quality of the accomodations are typically Modest, but your DM might offer higher or lower quality living standards; rarely are they ever Wretched or Aristocratic living standards.
Suggested Characteristics
Freelancers have a more unique approach to work. Since they don't have to be so committal to a place, they can't rely on forming close relationships with the team they are hired to work with. That doesn't mean they aren't social; in fact, learning who they're working with is still an important part of the job. Thus, they have to be quick about learning who's who and where's where. Of course, what's gonna put food on the table is how well the job is done, how quick the job is done, and a list of extra complications to account for that may or may not be completely or partially different wherever you go.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I take my jobs pretty seriously. |
| 2 | I enjoy listening to the banter my team communicates with. |
| 3 | Strongly worded critiques, wheter positive or negative, are my weapon of choice. |
| 4 | I either do a good job or a better job. |
| 5 | Let me take the lead, since I know my stuff. |
| 6 | The boss may not like my plan, but I'm positive this will work well. |
| 7 | I'm very aware of how I manage my money, considering my supply is contingent on how well I do. |
| 8 | I want to ensure everyone knows me for my good work. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Altruism. Someone's got to lend a hand to a stranger every now and then. (Good) |
| 2 | Teamwork. Just because I come and go doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't work well with others. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Independence. I don't have to answer to anyone just to make a living. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Greed. There's just money to worry about when I do this job, nothing else. (Evil) |
| 5 | Fun. There's only one thing that matters when it's working, and that's having a blast doing it. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Survival. Maybe I did choose an insecure way of living, but I've got to eat somehow. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | Inspite of the little time I knew them, I know someone or a group of people I want to work with again. |
| 2 | I have a precious set of tools I'd never part with for anything. |
| 3 | I love my job dearly, I never want to stop working. |
| 4 | I want nothing but the best for the person who taught me how to do what I do now. |
| 5 | Someone I worked with or worked for got on my bad side, and I want to knock them down a peg. |
| 6 | Who knew I'd find someone I'd like to commit to a relationship with in a pretty non-committal profession? |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Maybe it's my work-ethic that's why I can't land a stable job. |
| 2 | I tend to get cheated out of pay after a job that, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have taken. |
| 3 | I'm pretty rigid in how I do my job; it goes my way or it doesn't go at all. |
| 4 | Who cares if I hurt your feelings? You're probably never going to see me again anyway. |
| 5 | I'm pretty flippant about my employer's things. They'll replace them if I break them. |
| 6 | I frequently accrue debts, whether for living expenses or luxury expenses. |
Being Self-Employed is much like being a Freelancer, thiugh the name typically is associated with other sorts of jobs. For instance, rather than being hired for a freelancing gig at the tavern to help the short staff get through the lunch rush, you might instead be hired to paint a portrait for the tavern keeper to decorate; you're hired on the on-and-off basis like a Freelancer, but you aren't necessarily hired for the same job as the full-time workers.
While money's nice, you can work for something that might be a little more valuable for you than a spare silver piece. When you work for someone, you can receive some useful information the person you worked for might know. The information might be related to another person they or you know, the location of something or someone, something you have, or a mix of these.
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