PC 'occupations'

1. PC 'occupations'

   #1

   What ideas does anyone have for actual occupations (as oppose to classes) that PC's might have - which might lead to adventure of themselves, but also provide some interesting oppurtunities for role-play?

2. PC 'occupations'

   #2

   Body Guard
   Courier
   Minstrel
   Spy
   Mercenary
   Guardsman
   Aristocrat (most likely an adventurous one)
   Trusted servant to aristocrat
   Scholar compiling some sort of book
   "Aquisitions Services" - anything from the man who could get ANYTHING for the right price, to the forger, to the perfectly legal person who imports/finds exotic things (animals, foods, spell ingredients, etc)

3. PC 'occupations'

   #3

   I had a girl in one of my campaigns decide she wanted to play a prostitute...

4. PC 'occupations'

   #4

   We had a whole adventure run around the house of prostitution where the owner also worked the blackmarket.
   
   Prostitutes are a great source of rumors which carry weight because of their clientele.

5. PC 'occupations'

   #5

   Yojimbo (Like a bodyguard, but more stylish)
   Priest
   Former Farmer
   Noble Lookalike (Nobles had lookalikes for defense)
   Slave

6. PC 'occupations'

   #6

   Personal assassin
   Assassin
   Duelist (what? You thought noblemen fought their own duels?)

7. PC 'occupations'

   #7

   Some good suggestions - thank you. I'm not sure the PC will go for prostitute - but that aside... :lol:

8. PC 'occupations'

   #8

   The PC's could fill any number of positions in a caravan.
   
   Gaurd
   Teamster
   Merchant
   Cook
   
   Prostitute :twisted:
   
   Plus they get to travel, see new lands, new people. A good way to show your lands to your players.

9. PC 'occupations'

   #9

   Now that you speak of it...
   
   ...a player of mine can game only every other week, due to his job. So, what does his character do, when he is absent? A strong warrior, with a relatively high charisma ended up as a ... gigolo. :shock:

10. PC 'occupations'

    #10

    I decided to use the 'not so reliable' player as a plot hook in one of my games. Sort of played it off when he didn't show up and allowed the group to decide a valid excuse for the person to dissappear for a certain amount of time.
    
    Using that excuse, I then decided to give the dissappearing player some powers of movement and instead of him doing what the players decided he would do I would have him go to different places and interact with the world. This interaction would get back to the players as rumors of a great warrior saving a small village and such and built up a legend around this guy. It was mostly just small stuff that I had the peasants blow out of proportion but it was enough to get to the point were the players wanted to know who he was.
    
    Finally he showed up to a game session so I had him play and had a peasant finger him and the jig was up. It was pretty funny. The player stopped showing up ever so we let him drift off into oblivion but the players wanted his magic item that allowed him to travel. I told them to not show up to the game and they would get it :)

11. PC 'occupations'

    #11

    I have a fisherman, a shop-owner with long fingers, a reclusive sorcerer with no back-ground, a priest who left home to spread his faith, a Paladin who took to travel, to rid the world of Orc raiders (he is a half-orc, gues how come and how liked he is on his island). Last but not least I am going to introduce a sailor and a .... ehhhr no idea....
    
    The last character I played, was a roque who left town, because all of a sudden there where so many dept-notices of "the prolific coin" that it went bank-rupt..... Needless to say that I did do some writing along the line.....
    
    Yours, Ylorea

12. PC 'occupations'

    #12

    Rogue.
    
    You let one of your players make a character without a background?

13. PC 'occupations'

    #13

    It all depends on the player.
    
    I would never let a player who is a "senior" or experienced player make a character without a back-ground.
    I am even introducing a player shortly that did not even make a character.... I wonder if he nows what a D20 is..... ;+))
    
    This character does have some background, as I did provide it.
    
    Yours,
    
    Ylorea

14. PC 'occupations'

    #14

    Do I let them play without a background? That's not as simple a question to answer as it might seem.
    
    I tend to role-play significant background individually before a group session begins. This rarely begins with birth - but I roleplay with them what life is like in their current situation before they meet up with the group.
    
    But that applies to more standard situations - where a cleric might leave their temple, or an able-bodied character might take up the sword and leave home.
    
    What I'm really thinking of here is occupations that are not left behind or tied to the class itself. Things that might extend deep into the campaign.
    
    For example a PC who is a merchant and never stops being a merchant - they just have adventures along the way. The (non-core) occupation being the PC's motivation for the things they do.

15. PC 'occupations'

    #15

    A good occupation that can have adventures in it is sailor. The character can work on a trading ship and have to deal with strange cities, pirates etc. He/she could be either a guard of a ship or somebody who actually sails it. Or maybe he/she is resposible for doing the trading of goods and meeting a variety of strange people that way. It could be their ship and they could be hired to perform tasks or sail different places. More ideas for sailors are strange passengers, drunken shoreleaves, cities with a lot of law and the ship contains sensive cargo.

16. PC 'occupations'

    #16

    :twisted: And prostitutes. (I couldn't resist.)
    
    Pirates and privateers to continue the nautical theme.
    Bounty hunter

17. PC 'occupations'

    #17

    One can hook an entire campaign around the troupe being in a band, merchant's guild, or mercenaries. If everyone has the same employer--even if not the same exact job description--then they automatically have a reason to be together, have a (hopefully steady) source of income, and ready-made plot hooks. Also, bands, merchants, and mercenaries all have an excuse to travel constantly.
    
    "Prostitute" is one job description that never occurs to me to even mention, until a player suggests it for him- or herself (almost always the latter). If a campaign is mostly contained to one city, especially for the more political, mercantile, or other "established characters" story arcs, this can work. The larger the troupe, the better it seems to work to have at least one pc in a house of ill repute.
    
    Another interesting occupation is art dealer. At least in the campaign where the pc was such, that job covered everything from historian to thief. It placed the pc's in with both the very high and very low parts of society, gave them an excuse to travel (either at their leisure or on a fixed course & time), and provided the impetus for the storylines for that entire campaign.
    
    One thing to consider for pc occupations, is whether they will all have the same job (or employer). If they don't have the same job, then they will need different reasons to be together, and multiple schedules to coordinate when not at work. It is certainly possible for the pc's to have different occupations that are still compatible. For example, one can be an ambassador, another his bodyguard, and another an observer from a third nation assigned to watch over them. In the "band" example above, some of the troupe need not even be able to sing, play an instrument, or write music/lyrics. Road crew, managers, reporters, promoters, even groupies, can all be part of the same pc troupe and all travel with the band.

18. PC 'occupations'

    #18

    What about less glamorous vocations like being a sewage cleaner or night soil collector? :wink:
    
    Would be excellent for allowing the players to explore the usually 'off limits'' part of the city.

19. PC 'occupations'

    #19

    In many cultures, there is a division between "good people" and "strange people". China for example makes this division clear. Most African and Asian cultures have these divisions, but they are played down. So there are many nice, stable jobs that good people can have. These have stable incomes, allow you a position inside the local social structure, and so on. You can gain rank and wealth over time. Strange people have jobs outside the norm. These people are free from most of the social restrictions, so there is no gender restrictions, no class restrictions, and you are free from much of the the everyday social niceties required from most people. However these jobs require you to be involved with the strange and the dangerous: ghost hunter, magistrate aid, wizard (as opposed to magician which does divination, charm, and such... wizards do "real spells" rather than just formulatic static magic), and some such. Now these people may or may not become rich, but they have no place in polite society, except as a politely treated extension of society. They can not have lower status people do things for them, just because they are hightly ranked. Even if they have wealth, they do not have the power and prestige that comes with it (after all their money is somewhat tainted). Just a consideration to have when making the world.

20. Supplementary income

    #20

    Supplementary income (money while travelling):
    singing for supper,
    make/sell maps,
    pick-up herbs,
    fur (from dinner),
    trade goods,
    package courier (you're going there anyway, why not take...),
    gambling,
    guard for others going the same way (however there are usually many applicants & few positions),
    utilise specialist skills,
    deliver messages (note that news is expected to be shared freely in many cultures),
    manual labour (digging ditches, cutting wood, toting water, hauling bricks, etc.),
    tithes for blessings for religious types (or as a scam),
    loremaster/sage,

21. Re: PC 'occupations'

    #21

    Librarian
    Archaeologist
    Teacher
    Gravedigger
    Carpenter
    Construction foreman
    Blacksmith
    Gladiator
    Mercenary
    Musician
    Artisan (potter, instrument maker, weaver, etc.)
    Waiter/Waitress
    Street performer
    Actor/Actress
    Poet
    Smuggler
    Tailor
    Lawyer
    Law enforcer

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