You were raised among salt-stained warehouses, crowded taverns, corrupt customs houses, and ships carrying cargo that was never entered into any official ledger. Your gang controlled part of the waterfront—not necessarily because it owned the docks, but because nothing moved through them without its knowledge.
Perhaps you collected protection payments from merchants, served as muscle for the local thieves’ guild, bribed harbor officials, or trafficked in illicit magical goods. Your crew may have protected impoverished dockworkers from worse predators, or it may have been the very thing those workers feared.
You might have entered this life willingly, inherited it from your family, or been forced into it to survive. Whatever the reason, the waterfront’s unwritten laws have become second nature. Even after leaving, it is difficult to imagine living without whispered arrangements, concealed weapons, and someone always owing you a favor.
- Feat:
- Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Insight
- Tool Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools
- Languages: Two of your choice
- Equipment: A belaying pin (club), 50 feet of silk rope, a lucky charm such as a rabbit foot or a small stone with a hole in the center, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp
Mariner Training
Years spent climbing rigging, swimming between vessels, fighting on narrow gangplanks, and navigating the upper reaches of urban cities and docksides have made you exceptionally mobile.
As long as you are not wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield, you have a swimming speed and a climbing speed equal to your normal walking speed, and you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
Shake Down
You understand the mixture of charm, implied violence, bribery, and plausible deniability that keeps a criminal waterfront functioning.
You have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks made to coerce, bribe, or shake down guards, civilians, sailors, dockworkers, smugglers, and similar individuals for any of the following:
- Discretion or silence
- Information or rumors
- Access to a restricted location
- The concealment of minor criminal activity
- The surrender of valuables or payment
This advantage applies only when the creature believes you have the means to reward cooperation, punish defiance, or call upon criminal connections. It does not compel a creature to perform an obviously suicidal act, betray a deeply held conviction, or surrender something it would never reasonably relinquish.
A failed check may have consequences. The target might alert the authorities, report you to a rival gang, provide false information, or agree temporarily while planning retaliation.
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Suggested Characteristics
A dockside enforcer learns that respect is more reliable than affection and that fear is often easier to earn than loyalty. Even a well-intentioned enforcer may struggle to distinguish protecting a community from controlling it
| d6 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I automatically examine every room for exits, witnesses, and objects that could be used as weapons. |
| 2 | I stretch the truth for the sake of a good story. |
| 3 | I speak politely when making threats. Raising your voice means you have already lost control. |
| 4 | I never pass up a friendly wager. |
| 5 | I am strangely protective of laborers, street children, sailors, and others who live at the mercy of powerful people. |
| 6 | I like a job well done, especially if I can convince someone else to do it. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Loyalty. The law does not protect people. Their crew does. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Power. If you cannot defend what is yours, someone stronger will take it. (Evil) |
| 3 | Freedom. No crown, guild, or harbor master has the right to control where people go or what they trade. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Community. Someone has to protect the people whom respectable society ignores. (Good) |
| 5 | Profit. Morality changes from port to port, but coin spends everywhere. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Reinvention. A person should not be imprisoned by what they once had to become. (Any) |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I follow orders, even if I think they’re wrong. |
| 2 | I’ll say anything to avoid having to do extra work. |
| 3 | When someone refuses me, my first instinct is to make them afraid. |
| 4 | I assume law-abiding people are either naïve or hypocritical. |
| 5 | I cannot resist taking advantage of an obvious weakness. |
| 6 | I have grown so accustomed to criminal life that ordinary work feels humiliating and unreal. |