CC Background2

## **Job Listings**

Before we go into a character's worldly possessions, we need to visit their means of accumulation. What they get correlates with what they do, even if "what they do" is a very passive "to be." Such is the case with entitled characters (i.e.; *aristocracy*). Everybody else is working for a living and the 1389 world is no different.

What are the in-demand jobs? *Farmers*. Food is good, you should have some every day, but after the ***Rise of the Orks***, the agriculture community through the Eastern Hemisphere was wiped out. While that was way back in 1381, it still hasn't fully recovered. The agro-culture that's there now is very different from the one that was wiped out when the pigs literally stood up, conscious of what was happening out on the farm.

Labor is in demand. Despite the growing use of automatons, and despite periods and places of recovery, the average human population has taken hit after hit.

Any craftsperson or artisan is in demand, though through the Commonwealth, more those with at least a touch of mechanical and magical experience. This is an interesting crossroads as magic-enhanced engineering is at a state of the art that is surprisingly advanced, but with such a diminished population, there isn't a clear need for the economies of scale that would push production into manufactories. Rather, right now, individual shops and smithies are diversifying with specialists.

These are all points that led the characters to take up what they were doing in that backstory. Perhaps it is needing that touch of magic in their shop that's going to drive them to learn basic magic. Perhaps that career was turned upside down when orks burned that shop down.

### **Household Inventory**

After the massive wars, disasters and plagues that depopulated the countryside, there is plenty of land available to the commons. In fact, the thought of migrating anywhere else is terrifying. While it's bad *here*, God only knows how bad it is *over there*.

Naturally, houses within major walled, protected cities are difficult to come by, but outside the walls, empty houses are plentiful – and definitely still valued. A character is likely to have at least their own home somewhere, be that a hovel, cottage or even manor (for the gentry). These can be boarded up, tended to by a caretaker, or sublet while the character is venturing off. In the age feudalism, leaving the manor behind wasn't just a passing occurrence, it was a job requirement.

On page two of the Character Sheet, players will find this block ->

...They don't need a numeric address, but this is the place to fill in their origin, from *location* to *type*. *Marital status*, *political affiliation* and *religion* are all background questions that will shape the tone and timbre of the character, summing up the "Character Background" column just to the right of this.

Leaving that manor behind? The villa? House? Cottage? Hovel? The family (a.k.a.; Next-of-Kin) are likely the first-choice caretakers for the house while the character is away. It's also quite possible that the character is setting out because the address and family are "Shropshire/burned down" and "Deceased," respectively.

### **Economic Outlook**

The economy of England in the middle ages is a rough approximation of all Europe at this point. Characters who are average artisans might earn a few gold a week, and perhaps even have built up a savings upward of 10-15 gold. This would normally be enough to buy a small horse. Hold that thought when moving on to "Expedition Outfitting."

The savings account may be more or less depending on a character's personal circumstances, but if it deviates, there should be a reason listed of why that category has become noteworthy.

Characters whose heritage crosses paths with the socioeconomic elite may be aspiring nobles, falling nobles, *actual* nobles, or part of the rising merchant gentry that has traditionally been at odds with the traditional nobility. Pending a nod from the Ref, players may create a background that has (or had) an estate, including lands, titles and so on.

Of course, this makes shopping a little easier, but can also work for the Ref (and the whole party) if one character is taking the initiative to organize and outfit a party.

### **Expedition Outfitting**

So, remember that 10-15 gold? If the character is a commoner, and especially if they're middle-to-lower rungs, there's a good chance they don't own their own horse. A solid professional artisan may have their own house (or did until recently), as well as a horse, but if they do... what's driving them to adventure?

More rural characters have likely cobbled together a full suit of light-medium armor simply from those unfortunate enough to drop nearby after battle. An ensemble like this might include not-so-gently loved chain, scale or padded armor. Maybe that's not their style and just set out on their venture with a doublet and cloak. While a sword in the original 1389 would've been a premium item from the amount of steel in it alone, this version of 1389 has found an average-quality long sword can be had cheap, if not free if they're willing to do a little elbow-grease restoration on it.

### **A Touch of Magic**

Make no mistake, *magic is power*. As the character assembles their kit, whether that's for travel to train at the big city or to strike into the hills to hunt down that *thing*, the true measure of preparedness isn't the steel, or even even the pouch of coins, it's *the magic*.

One of the most famous bits of magic is too precious to be bought, but the Order of Merlin was literally giving it away in France and around the world: *love*. Kidding; it's a smooth, glass-like bauble called a *Glowstone*. This little gem gives no heat, but glows at the brightness of one candle. It's incredibly resilient, glows under water, and doesn't start fires. From those qualities alone, the advantages helped England reclaim Aquitaine from France. It can be shielded, amplified, or even made into jewelry.

Glowstones can be purchased, but they're often given away as minor awards or tokens of appreciation. Chances are, the character might be in possession of one. How did they get it...? How hard has the chandler worked at trying to collect them and stamp them out?

The characters might even be in possession of another minor magical item or two – *just enough to spark their imagination and resolve*.

## **Take the next step in creating a character**

So far, you've worked out the character's origin. Maybe you even did a search through the timeline for notes on what that area is like. It'll stand you in good stead as you work out how the background has physically and mentally shaped the character.

* **Hold up. What was that whole thing on tiers of characters again?**
* **Now that I think about [my inventory], I need to revise a few things in my backstory...**
* **I think I'm ready for numbers.** **Let's attach attributes**and **figure out skills****.**