Perhaps you bootlegged monastic whiskey down secret mountain paths, spiriting them away to richer markets abroad. Or did you hone your craft duping city watchmen and tariff inspectors, moving shipments of stolen art, antiquities, or even people under their very noses and into their beloved city? Possibly your motivations rose higher and you rowed ashore through storm and darkness to bring weapons and supplies to desperate revolutionaries? Or evaded murderous bounty hunters, while escorting escaped slaves along forgotten caravan tracks in a last-ditch bid for freedom? In any case, you have left in your wake a colorful trail of bribed customs officials, befuddled border patrols, and “missing” tax collectors. All in all, not bad seeing you have only just begun to re-make your name in the world.
- Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Persuasion
- Tool Proficiencies: One vehicle proficiency of your choice (land or water), and choose one from navigator’s tools, disguise kit, or forgery kit
- Languages: You know the thieve's cant.
- Equipment: A set of tools (matching your tool proficiency choice), a hooded signal lantern, dark traveler’s clothes, and a leather belt-pouch containing 5 gp
Often well traveled and worldly, those who take up the smuggler’s life are usually acute observers and mental note-takers, with a knack for numbers and a gift for smooth talk. Their adrenaline-fueled lifestyle of danger, intrigue, and constant vigilance has left more than a few with “colorful”, noteworthy personality traits.
| d6 | Claim to Fame |
|---|---|
| 1 | Spirit of the Whale. You smuggled stolen dwarven spirits in the body of a dead whale being pulled behind a fishing boat. When you delivered the goods, the corpse suddenly exploded, sending whale meat and whiskey bottles for half a mile. |
| 2 | Cart and Sword. You drove a cart filled with stolen art through the middle of a battlefield while singing sea shanties to confuse the combatants. |
| 3 | The Recruit. You enlisted in another nation’s navy for the purpose of smuggling stolen jewels to a distant port. You attained a minor rank before disappearing from the navy and making your way here. |
| 4 | River of Shadows. Your riverboat accidentally slipped through the veil into the Shadowfell for several hours. While you were there, you sold some stolen dragonborn artifacts before returning to this plane and paddling home. |
| 5 | Gold-Hearted. You agreed to transport a family escaping a war. The baby began to cry at a checkpoint, and you gave the guards all your gold to let you pass. The family never found out about this gesture. |
| 6 | Playing Both Sides. You once smuggled crates of crossbow bolts and bundles of arrows, each destined for an opposing side in a regional war, at the same time. The buyers arrived within moments of each other but did not discover your trickery. |
As a master of contraband logistics and camouflage, all Intelligence (Investigation) and Wisdom (Perception) checks made to discover items that you have hidden on a person, vehicle, or pack animal are made at disadvantage. If the characters conducting the search can hear you, you can oppose their checks with a Charisma (Deception) check.
Additionally, you have advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) and Wisdom (Perception) checks made to discover the concealment of goods or items on a person, vehicle, or pack animal.
Suggested Characteristics
In general, smugglers value survival, and then profit, above other things. One could be a part of a larger organization, or might run a small smuggling vessel of their own. Smugglers live the lies they have told, and they have a natural ability to recall all the falsehoods and half-truths they have ever spouted.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I love being on the water but hate fishing. |
| 2 | I think of everything in terms of monetary value. |
| 3 | I never stop smiling. |
| 4 | Nothing rattles me; I have a lie for every occasion. |
| 5 | I love gold but won’t cheat a friend. |
| 6 | I enjoy doing things others believe to be impossible. |
| 7 | I become wistful when I see the sun rise over the ocean. |
| 8 | I am no common criminal; I am a mastermind. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Wealth. Heaps of coins in a secure vault is all I dream of. (Any) |
| 2 | Smuggler’s Code. I uphold the unwritten rules of the smugglers, who do not cheat one another or directly harm innocents. (Lawful) |
| 3 | All for a Coin. I’ll do nearly anything if it means I turn a profit. (Evil) |
| 4 | Peace and Prosperity. I smuggle only to achieve a greater goal that benefits my community. (Good) |
| 5 | People. For all my many lies, I place a high value on friendship. (Any) |
| 6 | Daring. I am most happy when risking everything. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My vessel was stolen from me, and I burn with the desire to recover it. |
| 2 | I intend to become the leader of the network of smugglers that I belong to. |
| 3 | I owe a debt that cannot be repaid in gold. |
| 4 | After one last job, I will retire from the business. |
| 5 | I was tricked by a fellow smuggler who stole something precious from me. I will find that thief. |
| 6 | I give most of my profits to a charitable cause, and I don’t like to brag about it. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lying is reflexive, and I sometimes engage in it without realizing. |
| 2 | I tend to assess my relationships in terms of profit and loss. |
| 3 | I believe everyone has a price and am cynical toward those who present themselves as virtuous. |
| 4 | I struggle to trust the words of others. |
| 5 | Few people know the real me. |
| 6 | Though I act charming, I feel nothing for others and don’t know what friendship is. |
Comments