"Every creak in the floorboards, every shadow in the corner—it all tells a story. The city is alive, even in its forgotten corners."
— Ryn Vex, scavenger of the Whispered District
Description
You are drawn to the forgotten places of cities—the abandoned buildings, crumbling ruins, and hidden passages that most people avoid. To you, these places hold secrets and stories waiting to be uncovered. Whether you seek treasure, knowledge, or simply the thrill of discovery, you’ve developed the skills to navigate these decayed urban landscapes and survive their many dangers.
Exploring these forgotten corners has made you resourceful and wary. You know how to read the signs of disrepair, recognize the dangers of unstable structures, and locate hidden caches. You’ve encountered things that others might only hear about in rumors: remnants of ancient magic, lost technology, or shadows of lives long past. Your expertise makes you a guide to the unseen parts of the urban world, where few dare to tread.
- Skill Proficiencies:
- Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, Stealth
- Tool Proficiencies:
- Tool Proficiencies: Thieves' tools or Mason’s tools
- Languages:
- Languages: Common, and one language of your choice, often a secretive or regional dialect
- Equipment:
- Equipment: A crowbar, a small notebook for sketches and notes, a candle lantern with three flasks of oil, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gold pieces.
As an Urban Explorer, your time in forgotten places has shaped you. Roll a d8 or choose an option to further define your background.
| d8 | Urban Exploration Experiences |
|---|---|
| 1 | You found a forgotten cache. A hidden stash of coins, tools, or relics helped you survive your early explorations. |
| 2 | You saw something strange. An unexplainable event or entity in an abandoned building has stayed with you ever since. |
| 3 | You mapped the forgotten. You created a detailed map of a district’s abandoned underground or rooftops. |
| 4 | You escaped a trap. An encounter with a collapsing building or a cunning ambush taught you to tread carefully. |
| 5 | You uncovered a secret society. While exploring, you stumbled upon a hidden group or guild, and they may still watch you. |
| 6 | You witnessed a crime. In the silence of an abandoned place, you saw something you weren’t meant to. |
| 7 | You found an unusual artifact. A strange relic, like a key or an old diary, has remained with you since. |
| 8 | You earned the nickname ‘Ghost.’ Rumors circulate that you know every shortcut and shadow in the city. |
Your time in abandoned places has taught you to find value in the overlooked. You can locate useful materials, such as wood, stone, or scraps of metal, in ruins and abandoned buildings. You can also identify structurally unstable areas, hidden compartments, or signs of recent activity within such locations. Additionally, when interacting with urban outcasts, vagrants, or scavengers, you are more likely to gain their trust and assistance.
Suggested Characteristics
| d4 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | “I see beauty in the decay and stories in the dust.” |
| 2 | “No door stays closed for long when I’m around.” |
| 3 | "I’m always cautious—abandoned doesn’t mean safe.” |
| 4 | “I catalog every detail of what I find, even the mundane. You never know what’s important.” |
| d4 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Curiosity: “Every abandoned building holds a mystery, and I live to uncover them.” (Neutral) |
| 2 | Preservation: “The forgotten must be remembered; I restore what others discard.” (Good) |
| 3 | Opportunity: “If someone left it behind, it’s mine to claim.” (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Control: “The shadows of the city are as much mine as the streets above.” (Lawful) |
| d4 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | “An old ruin is the closest thing I’ve had to a home, and I’ll protect it fiercely.” |
| 2 | “I owe my life to someone who taught me how to survive in the urban wilds.” |
| 3 | “I discovered a secret too dangerous to share but too important to forget.” |
| 4 | “A hidden path I found once saved me; I keep it to myself as a last resort.” |
| d4 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | “I can’t resist exploring a derelict building, no matter the risks.” |
| 2 | “I hoard items that might have value, even if I never use them.” |
| 3 | “I’m more comfortable among ruins than with people, and it shows.” |
| 4 | “I sometimes assume the worst in others, as trust is dangerous in the places I go.” |
Contacts
Urban Explorer Contacts
- As an Urban Explorer, your ventures into forgotten places have connected you with individuals who share your fascination with the hidden and abandoned corners of the city—or who depend on your skills to navigate them. Your contact could be a fellow explorer, a scavenger, or someone who values your knowledge of the city’s unseen layers, such as a historian, smuggler, or investigator.
- Your contact might be a shadowy informant who trades in rumors and secrets gleaned from the abandoned districts, relying on you to verify or retrieve critical information. Alternatively, they could be a streetwise guide who first showed you how to navigate the city’s labyrinthine sewers or derelict buildings. Perhaps it’s a collector of rare artifacts or an eccentric urban archaeologist who funds your expeditions in exchange for the treasures you uncover. This relationship may have started as transactional, but over time, it’s likely grown into a bond of mutual respect and reliance.
- This contact can serve as a source of insight into the city's underbelly, providing leads on uncharted ruins, warnings about new dangers, or assistance in avoiding local authorities. In return, they may ask for your help in retrieving a lost item, uncovering a mystery, or guiding them safely through a particularly treacherous part of the city. The bond you share is one forged in trust—earned through shared danger and the understanding that in the city’s forgotten places, no one survives alone.
"Every cracked wall and broken window hides a story. You just need the courage—and maybe a crowbar—to uncover it."
— Lirian Shade, Urban Explorer of the Forgotten Wards
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