Courier

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

As a courier, your life is devoted to the timely delivery of packages and parcels, messages and letters. You might be based within a single, large metropolitan city. Or maybe you travel between countryside villages, handing folk their mail. Perhaps you're in the employ of a powerful organization that needs expedited service to very specific, and very dangerous, locales. Sure, a lot can happen out there, but that won't stop you from making sure the post gets where it needs to go, right?

Skill Proficiencies: Two of your choice

Tool Proficiencies: Two of your choice

Equipment: An official courier card, a messenger bag, one set of artisan’s tools, an unopened letter with only a single name on it and no return address, a set of traveler's clothes (includes your uniform and courier cap), a merchant’s scale, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp.

Spell List

For you, the spells on the Courier Spells table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting class. (If you are a multiclass character with multiple spell lists, these spells are added to all of them.)

Spell Level	Spells
Cantrip	guidance, message
1st	expeditious retreat, sanctuary
2nd	aid, animal messenger, find steed
3rd	beacon of hope, phantom steed
4th	death ward, find greater steed
5th	teleportation circle

Your magic focuses on reaching your destination more quickly — and in one piece. When you cast your spells, they often feature gusts and swirls of air.

Suggested Characteristics

Couriers tend to be organized, timely, and quick, with a singular focus. Of course, many are just there to deliver the mail, get paid, and go home, but the toughest — and thus most lucrative — jobs tend to involve either distant and/or dangerous travel, which attracts the more adventurous types.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can’t help it—I’m a perfectionist.
2	My previous employer didn’t respect me, and now I’ll do whatever I can to gain respect.
3	The job is important, but the relationships I forge with my coworkers are even more so.
4	The job is everything to me. Who needs relaxation, hobbies, and a social life?
5	I know I’m not the best and brightest, but if I put my best self forward, I can overcome anything.
6	Dangerous work is best accomplished by an orderly group working with common purpose.
7	I treat my gear, uniform, and official courier card with the utmost reverence, for I have immense pride in what I do.
8	I like to talk at length about my profession.

d6	Ideal
1	Pleasure. What’s the use of working hard and making money if you can’t enjoy the finer things in life? (Any)
2	Justice. Achieving justice requires establishing fair, equitable, and compassionate relationships within a community. (Good)
3	Advancement. Money and power can be gained more easily within an organization. I plan to gain as much as possible. (Evil)
4	Structure. Life goes much more smoothly when you follow the rules and work within a system. (Lawful)
5	Freedom. Everyone should be free to pursue his or her own livelihood. (Chaotic)
6	Conviction. Anything worth doing is worth doing with your whole heart. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	I pursue wealth to pay off a debt.
2	I owe my life to the person who took me in when I was living on the streets.
3	My fellow couriers are like my family. We try to catch up at Way Stations when we can.
4	I carry on the family tradition, delivering the post like my parent before me, and their parent before them.
5	I ran with a group of delinquents in my youth, and I’m striving to atone for my past misdeeds.
6	I value an oath of loyalty I took to a group of friends over everything else in my life.

d6	Flaw
1	I am inclined to tell long-winded stories at inopportune times.
2	There’s right and there’s wrong, and there’s no gray area in between.
3	Flaw? I have no flaws. I’m perfect.
4	If anything goes wrong, it must be someone else’s fault. Let me explain that in detail.
5	I am judgmental, especially of those I deem homebodies or otherwise lazy.
6	I work hard, but I play harder.

Contacts

The ordered structure of the postal system offers abundant opportunities to make friends — and rivals — in many places. You may develop connections across all social strata, thanks to mail-delivery being an important part of civilized society.

Roll twice on the Courier Contacts table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Courier Contacts table.

d8	Contact
1	A former fellow courier started a less-than-legal operation of ...redirecting highly sought-after items to special buyers.
2	One of my family members oversees operations at an important Way Station.
3	A close friend serves aboard one of the largest courier transports.
4	I had a tangled affair with a regular customer or someone on my usual route.
5	I have maintained a relationship with my mentor from my first Way Station assignment.
6	I competed with a fellow courier for the attention of a manager who assigns routes.
7	The person who recruited me into the courier service changed the course of my life.
8	I know a professional scrounger who can locate just about anything, for the right price.

d10	Non-contact
1	One of my siblings is a decorated soldier.
2	Roll an additional Courier contact; you can decide if the contact is an ally or a rival.
3	I showed mercy to an injured, now-grateful mafioso.
4	I suspect someone I know is a spy of a rival nation, but I can’t prove it.
5	An adolescent relative ran off to "become a pirate" and has not yet returned.
6	I once befriended an elderly mage, and I still occasionally find funny comics or images of adorable animals that have been magically transported into my messenger bag from them.
7	I owe a monetary debt to a bookie.
8	A hedge witch seems to enjoy harassing me.
9	I tried to recruit a friend, but they ended up becoming a smuggler.
10	I seem to keep running into a particular member of the nobility, and I've come to enjoy the silly squabbles that inevitably result.