Variant Mercenary Veteran (Sellsword)
War is hell...and also expensive. When lords need good men, they look to their trusted knights and retainers. When lords need results with little to no questions asked, they go to you. Sellswords, like yourself, are lovers of gold and unscrupulous in their tactics and dealings. You may have a code of honor, but you also have debts to pay and fortunes to acquire. So long as men will resort to violence to achieve their ends, you're willing to offer your services for the right price.
Skill Proficiencies. Athletics, Deception.
Tool Proficiencies. One type of gaming set, and one type of vehicle.
Equipment. A badge of your mercenary company, a gaming set of your choice, an old contract of yours, a set of traveler's clothes, and a waterskin.
Specialty
As a Sellsword, you have a specialized form of warfare you employ in the field to get noticed by your superiors and make yourself known to your enemies. Choose a warfare speciality or roll on the table below.
| d8 | Specialty |
|---|---|
| 1 | I lead an insurgency within enemy territory. |
| 2 | I kidnap nobles and high-ranking officers of the enemy and hold them hostage for a high price. |
| 3 | I lead a band of enforcers in occupied territory to make sure the people know who's in charge now. |
| 4 | I make sure the enemy's holdings and their fields burn. |
| 5 | My men and I are irregulars that undertake suicide missions the nobles don't have the guts to do themselves. |
| 6 | I set up ambushes along major roads to make sure certain people never reach their destination. |
| 7 | I seek out persons-of-interest on the battlefield and make sure they don't leave it. |
| 8 | While the armies are fighting, i'm raiding the camps and looting what I find. |
Feature: Haggling Soldier
You're accustomed to mercenary life and can easily find work offered by nobles and merchants while within cities. You know from experience the value of your work and how much a contract should be worth based on the details of the job. You can also easily locate areas within cities where other mercenaries congregate and socialize.
Suggested Characteristics
Sellswords are usually as loyal as their paycheck and very rarely commit to a cause for the sake of the cause. They enter into agreements based on economic self-interest and temper their commitment based on the risk versus reward factor of the job. They can be deceptively charming or gruff when interacting with others.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | When a job is done, the drinks and entertainment is always on me. |
| 2 | I have a reputation to maintain, so I make sure I dress the part whether elegant or rough. |
| 3 | When we're looting the enemy's keep, I always call dibs on a very oddly specific item. |
| 4 | If a job goes south and we're in way over our heads, I won't hesitate to renegotiate the contract. |
| 5 | Collateral damage is a non-issue to me. |
| 6 | I've grown used to having nothing in life and feel a sense of guilt when I spend gold. |
| 7 | My sense of humor hides the horrors of war i've personally witnessed. |
| 8 | As long as you aren't trying to kill me, we're friends. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Greed. Gold is power, gold is king. I'll get as much of it as I can (Evil). |
| 2 | Violence. Mercenary life is an escape for me, I don't want it to end (Evil). |
| 3 | Anarchy. The gods don't care who's high-born or low-born in war, its all about the self (Chaotic). |
| 4 | Survival. I do what I have to in order to feed myself and stay out of trouble (Neutral). |
| 5 | Friends. If this line of work keeps a roof over the heads of the people I care about, i'll do it (Any). |
| 6 | Authority. I am obligated to obey the orders of my commanders and employers (Lawful). |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My band of misfits is the only crew or family i'll ever need. |
| 2 | Someone of importance took pity on me and helped me out of a bad spot, i'll never forget their act of kindness. |
| 3 | I have a lot of scars and dead friends thanks to a certain traitor. I'll repay them in kind one day. |
| 4 | The love of my life can never be with me since they're highborn and i'm not. One day though, my position will change. |
| 5 | I was part of an army once that was respected and feared throughout the land. I will revive it one day. |
| 6 | I let a target go when I had the chance to strike them down. To this day, I wonder if I made the right choice. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I can't go a day without a drink, it makes the bad memories go away. |
| 2 | If I see someone I can take, gods above know i'm gonna pick a fight. |
| 3 | Despite my line of work, I get overly attached to my comrades to the point of detriment. |
| 4 | I keep telling myself "one last job," but keep committing to more and more risky work. |
| 5 | I am mistrusting and grim, even when I do not want to be. |
| 6 | I am addicted to gold and can't resist spending it. |
Variant Mercenary Veteran (Sellsword)
Author: /u/Valerion
Art Credits: "Mercenary" by Thomas Ducheck. DeviantArt.
"Landsknecht 2" by ShumElkin. DeviantArt.