What Is Your Profession? (Character Creation From A Different Direction)

It's all too easy to get lost when it comes to the various aspects of our character sheet, and how it reflects on our characters' identities. Do we focus on their race and heritage? Is it all about their class? Their skills? The particular background or background traits we picked? The spells they know, the weapons they wield, or do we define them primarily by their alignment?

There is something we often miss, though, and it can provide us a lot of clarity when it comes to finding a cornerstone of a character's identity. And for inspiration, we turn to one of the most memorable quotes in the film 300.

"What is your profession?"

This one question cuts quickly to the core of who a character is. If a person is defined by their actions, then one of the bedrock aspects is that person's profession. That, and how their skills, abilities, and even beliefs are tied into, and support, that profession.

You Are What You Do

As I said back in Any Class Can Be A Knight (More Thoughts on Out-of-The-Box Character Presentation), it's entirely possible to start from a social position or profession, and then spiral out into asking how different classes and builds would fill that role, and perform those functions.

So many choices...

As a prime example, take the basic profession of the soldier. Your job is to fight for the kingdom, and to safeguard the realm. Even if we just confine our options to the infantry, making you a foot soldier, there are so many different ways that profession could interact with, and be bolstered by, your class decisions to make a unique character.

The most obvious options (though by no means the wrong ones) are the fighters, the barbarians, and the rangers. Characters with physical prowess and skill who can march all day, and still show up ready to fight. But what about the non-standard foot soldiers who bring something else to the game? Like the long-faced half-orc Gariel Branch, whose leather-lunged bellows fill his squad's sword arms with strength, and whose bawdy tales make even long marches rest more lightly on their shoulders? Or Lessa Lightfoot, who fights as hard as anyone else, while also healing wounds and speaking prayers that invoke the very forest around her squad? Or Dane Drakhar, a brooding figure who has a bit of a problem with authority, but whose destructive magic makes his squad mates more than glad he was assigned to their unit.

While a bard, cleric, or sorcerer might not be the first classes that come to mind when you think of a foot soldier, they're still options. By the same token you might not think of a wizard as a diplomat, a druid as a town's mayor, or a paladin as a ship's doctor, but you can totally play any of those character concepts. More to the point, by assigning a profession you now have a lens to view the character's other attributes, skills, and abilities through. And that can often lead to more interesting stories when people ask how someone like that wound up in this particular line of work.

Be As Specific As You Can

Another tip I'd suggest, for those who want to put this particular tip into practice, is to be as specific with your profession as possible. I mentioned this back in Stop Using The Word "Adventurer" And See How It Changes Your Game, but it's worth repeating here. Don't just toss out some general profession and leave it at that; once you know what your job is, ask who you've worked for specifically, where you've worked, who taught you the trade, and what sort of title you use to describe yourself. Even if you're not employed by a particular person anymore, that work history (and all the details surrounding it) can say a lot about your character.

You ran rooftops for Red Eyes Falcone? I suppose we could find a spot for you.

As a for-instance, don't just say your character is a mercenary. That's a good start, but what else is there? Do you have any unique tattoos or weapons that mark your place of origin as a veteran, or a member of an elite organization? Do you have a specialty (monster hunter, bodyguard, bounty hunter, etc.)? Are you now, or were you in the past, a member of a particularly free company (you can find a slew of them in 100 Random Mercenary Companies, by the by)? If you were, what is the reputation of that outfit, and how does it reflect on you now? Were you allowed to leave, or are you on the run from your former sword brothers? Did you ever perform a great deed for an important employer, such as saving the duke's life, making you famous throughout his lands?

You should ask these questions about whoever you used to work for, or what you've done up until now. If you were (or are) a thief, for example, were you a pickpocket? A burglar? A confidence artist? A grave robber? Did you work with a gang, or did you operate solo? Did you fall afoul of the bigger, more organized outfits, or were you ever caught and punished? If so, do you have a brand, are you missing fingers, do you have a rope scar, or something else people might notice? Or do you just have a network of people you know (such as some of the folks in 100 Pirates to Encounter as well as 100 Random Bandits to Meet), and access to unusual skills that folks on the right side of the law don't typically possess?

The more specific you can get with your profession, your work history, and the people it has put you in contact with (former employers, former co-workers, noted achievements or failures, etc.) the more that can add to your character. Even if it's as simple as the party's wizard showing up in a hard-worn red robe, a clear sign of the commanding officers on the losing side of the Cadasian War, who refuses to back down or apologize for fighting for the losing side.

After all, just because they lost, that doesn't mean they were in the wrong.

That's all for this week's Fluff post. If you've used this strategy in your games, leave a comment below and let us know how it went for you!

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