Step 2. Choose a Background
Backgrounds offer context to equipment and a character's lifetime of abilities. Your past shows where you have been and what you learned from it, even if wholly disavowed and detached from the present. When selecting a background, if you receive a redundant ability, increase the rank of that ability from Apprentice to Journeyman. You may not begin the game with an ability higher than the Journeyman Rank.
Choose two Professions for your character from the list below and record both of them in the Backgrounds section of your character sheet.
Note: Elven characters do not receive backgrounds.
- Academy Researcher - Formal understanding of the Ström and all research therein falls on the shoulders of the Academy of Sorcerous Arts. There, enlisted sorcerers conduct experiments under accordance of the Concordat.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Magisteria Study, Apprentice - Exfluentia
- Academics, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Spellbook with the following Spell Formulae:
- Magipath
- Energy Dispersal
- Glow
- Magii Robes
- Scrivener’s Set
- Connections: The Nafgallan Academy of Sorcerous Arts (Sorcery)
- Class Bonus: Scholar class abilities cost one less.
- Archaeologist - Many dark and ancient secrets were lost during the Dammerüng. Archaeologists uncover these hidden truths in the ruins of our ancient past, sometimes braving terrible danger in the quest for lost knowledge.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Mobility, Apprentice
- Academics, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Pathfinder Backsword
- Traveler’s Clothes
- Explorer's Harness
- Survival Backpack
- Connections: The Royal Academy of Sorcerous Arts (Sorcery)
- Class Bonus: Scholar class abilities cost one less.
- Academy Apprentice - A student of the sorcerous arts, apprentices are young adopters of magical study, with a firm understanding of basics.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Magisteria Study, Apprentice - Hermeneutics
- Mnemonic Spell, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Spellbook with the following Spell Formulae:
- Glow
- Touch
- Summon Lump
- Magipath
- Scrivener’s Set
- Magii Robes
- Connections: The Nafgallan Academy of Sorcerous Arts (Sorcery)
- Class Bonus: Scholar class abilities cost one less.
- Airship Engineer - Airships need skilled engineers to maintain engines and repair any damage from the many dangers in the skies outside city airspace.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Mechanics, Apprentice
- Jury Rigger
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Work Leathers
- Boiler-Wrench
- Mechanic’s Kit
- Connections: Hekad Shipwrights Guild (Industry)
- Class Bonus: Engineer class abilities cost one less.
- Architekt - Specialized sorcerers that use magic to build and repair city defenses and infrastructure.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Mechanics, Apprentice
- Transduction Study, Apprentice - Transmateria
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Work Leathers
- Mechanic’s Kit
- Spellbook with the following Spell Formulae:
- Fortify
- Scrivener’s Set
- Connections: The Iron-Mason’s Cooperative (Industry)
- Class Bonus: Engineer class abilities cost one less.
- Licensed Alchemist - Alchemy is the method of using latent magic from our own world to create stable sorcery in matter. Licensed Alchemists are permitted the transport, ownership and sale of these dangerous reagents by the various city-states.
- Gain the Following Abilities:
- Alchemy, Apprentice
- Transduction Study, Apprentice - Pharmakaustiks
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Work Leathers
- Boiler-Wrench
- Alchemy Glassware
- 3 Common Reagents.
- Reagent 1
- Reagent 2
- Reagent 3
- Connections: Alchemist's Guild (Industry)
- Class Bonus: Engineer class abilities cost one less.
- Ouroboros Renegade - When the Academy caved to political pressure and agreed to the Concordat, many Sorcerers left to continue their research outside the reaches of the law. The informal organization refers to itself as the Ouroboros, where mages that refused the Concordat work together in small cells.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Effusion Study, Apprentice - Flux
- Forbidden Lore, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Spellbook with the following Spell Formulae:
- Scorch
- Glow
- Magii Robes
- Connections: The Ouroboros (Sorcery and Criminal)
- Class Bonus: Warlock class abilities cost one less.
- Hedge Mage - The idea of the Village Mage is an archaic one, but still true on the frontier, where a skilled sorcerer is always in high demand. Hedge Mages usually have informal training but tend to make up for it in field experience.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Effusion Study, Apprentice - Kinematik
- Survival, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Spellbook with the following Spell Formulae:
- Third Hand
- Sledge
- Survival Backpack
- Traveler's Clothes
- Connections: Create or choose a frontier village you have a relationship with (Commoner)
- Class Bonus: Warlock class abilities cost one less.
- Artillery Mage - Demolitions and Sapping is a common application of sorcerers that find work in the military or private sector as fire support and artillery. Your contract of service is over, but you have retained many of the skills that make you exceptionally dangerous.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Effusion Study, Apprentice - Kinematik
- Blast Form
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Spellbook with the following Spell Formulae:
- Scattershot
- Searing Dart
- Magii Robes
- Connections: Create a mercenary company of current or former employ (Military)
- Class Bonus: Warlock class abilities cost one less.
- Nafgallan High-Born - You are a direct descendant of the last of the Nafgallan noble houses and bear many of the privileges of your birth.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Persuasion, Apprentice
- Academics, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Noble Finery
- Gain the following Special Abilities:
- Noble Blood: All crimes against you can be treated as Major Crimes. All minor crimes you commit are not enforced once you reveal your identity. All Major Crimes you commit are treated as minor crimes.
- This ability does not work if the victims involved in a crime also have Noble Blood.
- Old Money - Starting wealth is rolled for Crowns instead of Pence. Re-roll any ones or twos.
- Connections: Create a noble house of your birth (Aristocracy)
- Class Bonus: Grifter class abilities cost one less.
- Note: Not available to non-humans.
- Street Entertainer - Traveling shows went out of fashion with the dangers of frontier travel, with very few traveling shows still making any circuits. Modern troubadours and other entertainers make live acts on the city streets, performing ballads or tumbling acts until city watch throws them out.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Performance, Apprentice
- Persuasion, Apprentice
- Deception, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Performance Steamer Trunk
- Musical Instrument of your choice
- Traveler’s Clothes
- Connections: Create an acting troupe of current or former employ (Commoner)
- Class Bonus: Grifter class abilities cost one less.
- Caravan Trader - Travelling merchants are a plucky sort that brave long roads and unknown dangers to make a profit.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Persuasion, Apprentice
- Mercantile, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Scrivener’s Set
- Merchant's Robes
- Connections: Create a Caravan or Trading Co. of current or former employ (Merchants)
- Class Bonus: Grifter class abilities cost one less.
- Boilerworker - The underworkings of any modern city have various water and piping solutions criss-crossing a grid beneath the roads and building. Maintenance crews manage the "boilerworks" that wind through the city's infrastructure.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Trade Skill, Apprentice - Ironworking
- Mobility, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Explorer’s Harness
- Boiler-Wrench
- Leather Jack
- Worker Leathers
- Connections: Boilercrew Union (Industry, Commoner)
- Class Bonus: Expert class abilities cost one less.
- Gunsmith - With the advent of Casting Irons, the main equalizer in any engagement is having quality guns. Gunsmiths, repair, modify, and assemble Casting Irons of all sorts from Mechanisms and Chassis.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Mechanics, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Worker Leathers
- Mechanic’s Tool Roll
- 2 common Mechanisms and 1 Chassis of your choice.
- Connections: Weaponer’s Guild (Industry)
- Class Bonus: Expert class abilities cost one less.
- Courier Pilot - The vast majority of pilots don’t own their own ships; they are paid by the route to transfer cargo in quick order on a company vessel. Usually hired by trading companies, the ship they are on is an asset that is contracted separately from the crew.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Operation, Apprentice - Airship
- Mechanics, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Pilot’s Windbreak
- Airbrake Harness
- Connections: Create a trading company you were commissioned by (Merchants)
- Class Bonus: Expert class abilities cost one less.
- Cat Burglar - Thief, cutpurse, robber, pilferer. You're a common lowlife that takes what's not yours.
- Gain the Following Abilities:
- Thievery, Apprentice
- Lockpicking, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Burglar's Kit
- Dagger
- Commoner’s Rags
- Connections: Create a crime syndicate/gang that you’ve developed a relationship with (Criminal)
- Class Bonus: Expert class abilities cost one less.
- Hitman - A contract killer, hitmen are professional assassins. With or without principles on the matter, hitmen are hired out through various contacts and connections to do the unrespectable and the unthinkable.
- Gain the Following Abilities:
- Range Combat, Apprentice
- Stealth, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Casting Iron
- Bolt Cylinder
- Traveller’s Clothes
- Connections: Create a crime syndicate/gang that you’ve developed a relationship with (Criminal)
- Class Bonus: Rogue class abilities cost one less.
- Smuggler - Illegal goods fetch for high prices in the black market. Smugglers sneak contraband in and out of the city-states by cover of night, taking extreme risk of life to sell unobtainable goods.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Black Market Connections
- Operation, Apprentice - Airship
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Casting Iron
- Bolt Cylinder
- Traveller’s Clothes
- Connections: Create a crime syndicate/gang that you’ve developed a relationship with (Criminal)
- Class Bonus: Rogue class abilities cost one less.
- Frontier Lawman - You’ve done work on the frontier, enforcing what civilization remains against the Wälder and the lawless alike.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Investigation, Apprentice
- Ranged Combat, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Casting Iron
- Bolt Cylinder
- Traveller’s Clothes
- Connections: Create or choose a frontier town you have a relationship with (Law)
- Class Bonus: Outrider class abilities cost one less.
- Bounty Hunter - A finder of sorts. Bounty Hunters hunt down wanted men and bring them to justice, or at least return what's left to the law.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Ranged Combat, Apprentice
- Gossip Hound
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Casting Iron
- Arcsnap Cylinder
- Leather Jack - Light Armor
- Manacles
- Connections: Hunter's Guild (Law)
- Class Bonus: Outrider class abilities cost one less.
- Huntsman - The Wälder is a dangerous place. Tough folk can make a living out there if they are willing to risk it and respect the danger it represents. Trappers, hunters, and other kinds of woodsmen usually make their living selling pelts and meat.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Ranged Combat, Apprentice
- Survival, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Farcaster
- Scattershot Cylinder
- Survival backpack
- Connections: Hunter's Guild (Law)
- Class Bonus: Outrider class abilities cost one less.
- Ex-Dragoon Infantry - You are a former member of the Nafgallan military police force called the Dragoons. Although there are many arms and positions, you were trained as field infantry.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Ranged Weapons, Apprentice
- Armor Training, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Casting Iron
- Bolt Cylinder
- Conscript's Coat - Light Armor
- Traveler's Clothes
- Connections: Dragoons (Military)
- Class Bonus: Infantry class abilities cost one less.
- Bodyguard - Nobility, and other high society sorts need personal protection on a daily basis.
- Gain the Following Abilities:
- Perception, Apprentice
- Intercept
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Casting Iron
- Bolt Cylinder
- Traveller’s Clothes
- Class Bonus: Infantry class abilities cost one less.
- Griffin Order Knight Errant - The ancient Order of the Griffin is the patron knight order presiding over Duma. As a knight errant, you are tasked with upholding your codes of protecting the weak and enforcing the rule of law till such a time you are ready to return and achieve the rank of Knight Protector.
- Gain the Following Abilities:
- Melee Weapons, Apprentice
- Armor Training, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Half-Pike
- Leather Jack - Light Armor
- Traveler's Clothes
- Connections: The Fraternal Order of the Griffin (Clergy, Military)
- Class Bonus: Infantry class abilities cost one less.
- Hekadian Street Duelist - In Hekad, discharge of casting irons is a minor crime and is punishable by severe action. However, the culture of fencing is still alive and many people still settle their differences via duels to first blood. The mere act of carrying a blade is an implicit invitation to be challenged in the city proper.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Melee, Apprentice
- Parry, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Traveller’s Clothes
- Hekadian Rapier
- Buckler
- Class Bonus: Muscle class abilities cost one less.
- Thug - The Muscle of any organized and unorganized criminal operation. Muggers, enforcers, and other ruffians fall in this category.
- Gain the following Abilities:
- Intimidate, Apprentice
- Melee, Apprentice
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Truncheon
- Dagger
- Commoner’s Rags
- Connections: Create a crime syndicate/gang that you’ve developed a relationship with (Criminal)
- Class Bonus: Muscle class abilities cost one less.
- Farmhand
- Gain the Following Abilities:
- Labor, Apprentice
- Trade Skill, Apprentice - Animal Care
- Hammer Grip
- Gain the following Inventory:
- Quarterstaff
- Commoner’s Rags
- Connections: Create or choose a frontier village you have a relationship with (Commoner)
- Class Bonus: Muscle class abilities cost one less.
Next, Choose Your Tenets.