As a mercenary, your services were for hire to anyone who could afford them. What drove you to be a soldier of fortune? Was it to escape poverty? Was it the thrill of battle? Or was it simply that fighting was all you knew growing up? Who was your mercenary company, or did you work alone? What made you give it up, or are you still for hire? Did you make any allies or enemies along the way? What wars or battles were involved in? What were the consequences? Lost allies? War crime charges?
- Skill Proficiencies: Skill Proficiencies: 2 from Intimidation, Perception, Survival, and Nature
- Tool Proficiencies: Tool Proficiencies: Gaming Set
- Equipment: Equipment: 100,000 Berries; Small Medkits x3; Rations x10; Gaming Set
Throughout your many battles, you have developed a certain fighting style that you excel in. You gain your choice of the Martial Adept Feat, or the Fighting Initiate Feat.
Martial Adept
You have martial training that allows you to perform special combat maneuvers. You gain the following benefits.
- You learn two maneuvers of your choice from among those available to the Battle Master archetype in the fighter class. If a maneuver you use requires your target to make a saving throw to resist the maneuver's effects, the saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice).
- You gain two superiority dice, which are d8s (these dice are added to any superiority dice you have from another source, so for example if you are a Battle Master Fighter with d10s, these dice become d10s as well). These dice are used to fuel your maneuvers. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest.
Fighting Initiate
Prerequisite: Proficiency with a martial weapon
Your martial training has helped you develop a particular style of fighting. As a result, you gain the following benefits:
- Increase your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- You learn one Fighting Style option of your choice from any class. If you already have a style, the one you choose must be different. Whenever you reach a level that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, you can replace this feat's fighting style with another one that you don't have.
You can select this feat multiple times. Each time you do so, you must choose a different Fighting Style Option.
.
Suggested Characteristics
You are a mercenary who hunted down your employer's enemies for coin. Were you happy in this life? What made you leave it behind to become an adventurer? Did you leave it at all, or is adventuring just another way of putting food on the table?
Personality Traits
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I like to show off, particularly if there's a chance to get a job offer in it. |
| 2 | I am always gregarious and cheerful, no matter the situation, as long as I am paid well. |
| 3 | To me, the whisper of steel and the clash of weapons is just as pleasing as any amount of gold. |
| 4 | I always train because training leaves the person ready even in a moment of respite or weakness. |
| 5 | I hold myself to a strict code of ideals. |
| 6 | I keep my personal possessions in secret places which are known only to me. |
| 7 | I would do anything to protect my weapons of arm, for I know they will protect me in return. |
| 8 | I do nothing, move no finger or a blade unless I hear the jingling sound of coins. |
Ideals
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Soul. I fight for money, and nothing else. (Neutral) |
| 2 | Great Publicity. I will be known for my deeds, sooner rather than later. (Any) |
| 3 | Power or Death. In my line of profession, the strong live and the weak starve. (Evil) |
| 4 | Non-Sold Honor. I never break my promises. Never. (Lawful) |
| 5 | War and Crime. Whenever chaos flourishes, so too does my work. (Chaotic) |
| 6 | Good for Sale. I am a sellsword who swings his weapon only in the name of good. (Good) |
Bonds
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I became a mercenary to support my family, who would have probably starved in a slum somewhere if not for me. |
| 2 | I fight for a lover that knows little if not nothing of me. |
| 3 | I was inspired by a great hero to become a mercenary. |
| 4 | I treat my valued comrades like brothers, and I will let no insult or injury fall upon them. |
| 5 | I seek to protect something of great importance to me by keeping it a secret, so you better forget what you just heard. |
| 6 | I never disrespect an employer, if they never disrespect me or stop giving me money. |
Flaws
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I never fail at my tasks, even if I have to resort to less honorable means to complete them. |
| 2 | I have crippling debts that my work barely pays off. |
| 3 | As much as I pretend to love fighting, I secretly hate hurting others. |
| 4 | Someone powerful would do anything to have my head, so I seek to gain their head first. |
| 5 | I'll do anything for coin, damn the consequences. |
| 6 | I would send an innocent to face his death if it means I will win the fight. |
Comments