Drifter

You're a wanderer without a home. Maybe you simply didn't fit in where you come from, or you belong to a persecuted minority, or you left your home in search of a livelihood—only to find opportunities just as scarce in the places you've gone as they were in the place you left. Or maybe you've run afoul of the law—in more places than one—and have to keep moving to stay ahead of what it's got in store for you. Regardless of your reasons for wandering, you tend not to stay in one place for long, moving on whenever your fortunes begin to ebb. Your needs are few—some food, a place to rest your head—and you meet them by taking whatever work you can get, wherever you can get it.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose any two: Animal Handling, Insight, Sleight of Hand

Tool Proficiencies: Choose any two: carpenter's tools, cobbler's tools, cook's utensils, leatherworker's tools, mason's tools, painter's supplies, potter's tools, smith's tools, tinker's tools, woodcarver's tools, a musical instrument, a gaming set

Equipment: A piece of chalk, a mess kit, a flask or waterskin, a tinderbox, a lucky charm or trinket, a set of traveler's clothes, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

Suggested Characteristics

The drifter lifestyle is precarious and breeds a degree of isolation and suspicion. Most drifters live for the present day and dislike discussing their pasts, particularly whatever circumstances drove them to life on the road. Depending on what they've experienced on their journeys, they may or may not still possess a spark of hope for the future.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I'm cheerful and polite to everyone I meet. The more hostile they are toward me, the more cheerful and polite I am.
2	I just know that the next opportunity is going to be the one that changes my fortunes for the better.
3	I'll work for you, but I won't pretend I like it. Or you.
4	I sprinkle my speech with phrases I've picked up from other places I've been.
5	I always leave inconspicuous marks on walls to let other wanderers know what they'll find there—good or bad.
6	I get restless whenever my hands aren't busy with something.
7	I'm not interested in answering questions about myself. What you see is what you get.
8	I'll never turn down a drink, a wager—or a challenge to a fight.

d6	Ideal
1	Fellowship. Each of us has to look out for one another, and I try to do that wherever I go. (Good)
2	Compliance. I keep my head down and my nose clean. I don't want any trouble. (Lawful)
3	Freedom. No one can fence me in or tie me down. (Chaotic)
4	Rapacity. Whatever you can hold onto is yours. Whatever you can't hold onto is mine. (Evil)
5	Tolerance. I won't stick my nose in your business as long as you don't stick your nose in mine. (Neutral)
6	Journey. I was born a wanderer, and I'll die a wanderer. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	It wasn't my choice to leave home. There's someone back there I'd like to see again someday.
2	My traveling companion and I are inseparable.
3	Every other wanderer I meet on the road is my kindred.
4	There's a bounty on my head.
5	I lived a comfortable life once—until I lost everything I had.
6	I've never had a reason before to depend on anyone but myself.

d6	Flaw
1	Sometimes I'd just rather drink than take care of my responsibilities.
2	I have a hair-trigger temper.
3	When I start to get too close to someone, it's time to move on.
4	I don't take the best care of my appearance.
5	I'll work when I have to, but I'll steal when I can.
6	There's nothing you can offer or threaten me with that will get me to talk to an officer of the law.