Friday 4 November 2016

40 Ex-Professions for Guild Dogs (and murderhobos, adventurers and other assorted miscreants)


The reasons for this table are two fold. Firstly, To give players a hook or insight into the history of their new Guild Dog character and, secondly, to imply some of my setting that is "The City". I tried to avoid too many mechanic heavy results and keep things open for interpretation. I am hoping these give players something to work with in terms of working out bizarre solutions to the problems The City presents them with and also make their character feel unique. I feel these jobs aren't overly The City specific and can be used in other grimy fantasy games (The City is the bubbling, mutating, gooey amalgamation of  a myriad of fantasy cities anyways, so I think these will be broad enough to be used in other places). 

The listings are in the following format: Title - possessions  - know-how. 

A seasoned guild hog, what was her old job? 




1
2
3
4
1
Knight of Degenerate Lineage – Rotten tabard and gaudy decorative shield – Patchy knowledge of ancient bloodlines.
Church Thug – Thick brown robe (light armour) and ornate club – Memorized code of conduct of a minor religious guild.
Tome Thief – Cloak with hidden book holding harness – In depth knowledge on an obscure topic.
Monk’s Meditation Guard – Silk robes and slippers – The ability to stand silently still, alert and awake in the same position for around 12 hours.
2
Mountebank Chemist – Portable alchemy case and d20 vials – Can discern a community’s biggest concern with a successful WIS test rolled at Disadvantage.
Street Corner Prophet – A booming, dread inducing voice – Can instill doubt, depression and malaise on any conscious target after speaking to them for ten minutes and passing a CHA test.
Rooftop Burglar – Grappling hooked rope and sturdy silencing slippers – A comprehensive map of the rooftop passages of d6 suburbs.
Dust Peddler – Garish silk robes with 10 hidden vial compartments – The effects of any Dust on your system is halved.
3
Lookout – Fuligan cloak, tight fitting tunic and mask – Ability to notice nigh hidden man-sized cracks in walls.
Beyond the Wall Raider – Horrific scars, suit of armour of choice, d6 weapons of choice – A vast collection of fantastical tales from beyond The City.
Debt Collector – A menacing gait and intimidating growl – Most crowds of sane beings will give you a wide berth, parting a path for you.
Counterfeiter - An alley shack workshop - The ability to create passable copies of objects with the correct material.
4
Coin Scraper - Double starting Gold Coins - Can scrape d100 Gold Coins worth of Gold from 1000 GP (Coins retain value), takes 1 night.
Cult Sacrifice Recruiter - A mesmerising, soft spoken voice -Rolls with Advantage when testing CHA to convince people in whispered conversations.
Back Alley Nurse - Scalpels, heavy duty needle and thread and d6 metal buckets - Journeyman knowledge of internal anatomy.
Pretend Porter - A false bottom barrel and chest - Can carry double their STR before becoming encumbered.

5
Tattooist - Tattoo kit and ink covered skin, bleeds blue-black blood - Can make lurid dye from colourful corpses.
Reformed Ratcatcher - d6 nets and d6 wooden cages - A pack of d10 trained rats, could train other vermin with effort.
Gizzard Chef - Stained and enormous cleaver, ladle and pot - Can make an edible meal out of nearly any corpse.
Lush Bumper - A believable drunken stagger and slur when sober - Roll with Advantage when attempting anything untoward on a inebriated entity.
6
Whore Muscle - The exaggerated physique of a bodybuilder - Knows Pleasure Cant, language of the brothel.
Misfortuneteller - A gaudily decorated person drawn cart about the shape and size of an outhouse - Able to discern what an individual dreads most after conversation and successful WIS test.
Extortion Beggar - Gruesomely disfigured and the owner of decade aged, tattered stench robes - Unbothered by foul odours and sights, Rolls with Advantage against most miasmas.
Gambler - Quadruple starting Gold - In Debt (d100 x 100 Gold), check d8 usage die each session for visit from debt collectors.
7
Fire Breather - d20 usage die barrel of oil - An impressive knowledge of pyrotechnics.
Sewer Scooper - d6 Long poled metal rakes and scoops -  Always aware of the nearest sewer entrance.

Flesh Golem Crafter Assistant - A nigh useless offcut homunculus (all stats = 1d6) - Can make malformed 1HP flesh golems (requires approximately 2 body loads of flesh).
Feral Dog Trainer - A snarl most beasts will submit to- Aware of the tides of the wild packs

8
Exotic Beast Handler - d6 large metal cages and a trained exotic beast- Minus 2 to Beast reaction rolls (lower is better).
Ruins Tender - A well hidden shack in the closest ruins - Comprehensive knowledge of d12 defunct, destroyed or mythical Guilds.
Arcane Stockpile Worker - A mutation from working in reality strained, high magic areas - Rolls with Advantage when identifying magical items.
Slum Bandit - Flamboyant silken outfit, feathered and faux jeweled and d6 HD1 lackeys - Contacts in d6 nearby slum gangs.
9
Deep Sludge Brewer - d6 dubious magic potions - Knows of d4 secret locations where the lower depths are bleeding into The City.

Deadpan Jester - A face that never shows emotion and a harlequin’s outfit - Ability to show other beings the humour in the most horrific of situations.
Fungus Butcher - An alleyway farm of useful mushrooms and mould - Can vaguely understand the language of spores and knows the physiological effect of most fungi.
Library Guard - A belanterned  spear, compacting ladder and silencing slippers - Can often discern the intellectual poison of most seers, wizards and crones.
10
Pain Mapper- d6 obscure torture implements - On making a critical hit, target is stunned with pain for d10 rounds.

Grave Digger - Ornate metal shovel - knowledge of the resting places of peculiar bodies and persons of interest.
Unlicensed Shadow Broker - A shadow either much larger or much  smaller than it should be - Contacts with d6 professional thieves.
Corpse Grinder - A small hand operated mincing machine - An apprentice level knowledge of complicated machinery.