Every character stars the game having been trained in a career. The occupation they chooses may not necessarily be the one they continue to follow as they begin their adventuring life, but it is the career they embarked on as a part of the transition to adulthood, and it further defines their skill development.

The careers available to a character are dependent on their cultural background; in some cultures the range of available occupations is quite narrow because the needs of the community are simple; or social traditions will push young adults along a certain path. In others, the list is more diverse, reflecting a more complex community with wider needs that have diversified over the centuries.

Players are nominally free to choose which career they wish their character to learn, provided the Games Master deems it suitable. The following table gives some guidance as to the common types of vocation available to each cultural type. It is not definitive, and for example some cultures may prohibit the manipulation of the veil as a profession.

Similar to cultural backgrounds, each career offers the chance to improve a range of Standard and Professional Skills commonly utilized by that occupation. Some grant access to Magical Skills or extra Combat Styles. Unlike cultural backgrounds, characters need not invest their points in every available skill, but may tailor which ones are taken as those fitting for their specific role or culture.

Characters develop their career skills in the following ways:

• Select up to three skills from the Professional Skills available to that career.

• Distribute 100 points amongst the career's listed Standard Skills and whatever Professional Skills were chosen, increasing each skill by 1% for every point spent on improving it. Not all of the available skills need to be improved, but no individual skill can receive more than 15%.

Newly chosen Combat Styles and Professional Skills start off at their base characteristic value. Choosing a Style or Professional Skill previously gained via cultural background simply allows the character to further apply some of their career skill points at this stage. Some of these skills such as Craft, Language, or Lore offer choice of specialization. In these cases the specialty selected should be one which suits the character's culture.

Example Careers by Cultural Background

Agent

Agitator, Assassin, Detective, Informer, Spy...
The work of an agent is to report upon, and operate covertly against those his employer wishes to keep an eye on. They watch, discover and act secretively. Anyone might be an agent – servants, beggars, noblemen, even children. Likewise those that employ agents might be anybody from a jilted lover or struggling merchant to the ruler of a nation. Agents mostly deal with passing of information or minor acts of sabotage, although a few sometimes perform assassination if the cause, or payment, is right.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Conceal, Deceit, Evade, Insight, Perception, Stealth; Combat Style (Concealable Weapons Style)

• Professional Skills: Culture (any), Disguise, Language (any), Sleight, Streetwise, Survival, Track

Alchemist

Apothecary, Herbalist, Poisoner, Perfumer...
Alchemists concern themselves with creating, or trading in, a wide range of chemical and herbal substances which are used by the local community. These concoctions can vary in purpose – soaps, polishes, dyes, disinfectants, acids, oils, unguents, perfumes, narcotics, medicines, poisons – the list is almost endless. The larger the society they reside in, the more likely that the alchemist will specialize in making or selling one specific type of compound.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Endurance, First Aid, Insight, Locale, Perception, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Alchemy), Healing, Language (any), Literacy, Lore (Specific Alchemical Specialty: Acids, Narcotics, Poisons, etc), Streetwise

Beast Handler

Animal Breeder, Beast Tamer, Menagerie Keeper...
Beast Handlers make their living by capturing, trading, breeding, caring for, or domesticating creatures for a variety of different roles in the community. An example might include a Hiedt-whisperer. Some raise ostensibly wild animals for domestic use, whilst others tend the beasts on display in private menageries. A few even take captured beasts and turn them into guardians, battlefield weapons, or competitors for pit fights and gladiatorial events.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Drive, Endurance, First Aid, Influence, Locale, Ride, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Animal Husbandry), Healing (Specific Species), Lore (Specific Species), Survival, Teach (Specific Species), Track

Courtesan

Concubine, Companion, Escort, Paramour...
Professional companions, courtesans make their living through providing company, conversation, dance, singing, and sometimes other services to those who can afford it. The attitude towards courtesans can vary dramatically according to their culture, some are little more than tavern girls only there to draw in customers, whilst others are revered by the high ranking wealthy. The most famous and skilled courtesans may literally have princes begging at their feet. Courtesans can be both male and female.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Dance, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Perception, Sing

• Professional Skills: Art (any), Courtesy, Culture (any), Gambling, Language (any), Musicianship, Seduction

Courtier

Advisor, Conspirator, Delegate, Diplomat, Sycophant...
Traditionally members of the gentility or nobility, couriers are those summoned into the service of a ruler or government to act as an advisor, a companion, an aide or simply a lackey. Chosen for their ability to be persuasive, insightful or discreet, they are often the power-brokers behind domestic and foreign policy. Some courtiers are in fact ambassadorial representatives from another, foreign nation. Courtiers see and hear much about the affairs of state, and may learn a great deal about politics and scandal in high places. Whatever their political standing, the machinations of courtiers can save or undermine a nation.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Dance, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Perception

• Professional Skills: Art (any), Bureaucracy, Courtesy, Culture (any), Language (any), Lore (any), Oratory

Crafter

Artificer, Artisan...
Skilled artisans, professional craftsmen cover a huge range of trades: from basket making through to weaving. Most craftsmen specialize in one particular area, but it is not uncommon to find those skilled in a second field related to their primary craft. Some crafters have associated experience in buying materials and selling their own wares, depending on their scale of their business. Primitive crafters may simply be individuals who produce objects for their family or tribe. Civilized crafters on the other hand might be part of a family enterprise or members of an official guild. Some crafts may be unavailable or illogical for particular cultures, such as a smith for primitives.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Brawn, Drive, Influence, Insight, Locale, Perception, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Art (any), Commerce, Craft (Primary), Craft (Secondary), Engineering, Mechanisms, Streetwise

Entertainer

Acrobat, Bard, Dancer, Player, Poet...
Professional entertainers, have a range of skills in which they can specialize. Acrobats perform feats of balance, gymnastics, and hand-eye co-ordination. Actors present plays or ribald pantomimes. Dancers entertain with diverse dances ranging from the erotic to
ceremonial. Musicians use their instruments to perform private concerts or provide background music. Poets recite great works of literature, and lyric poetry, whereas singers perform choral works, often as choirs. Story-tellers recount apocryphal tales, and so on.

Entertainers sometimes learn several complimentary arts to increase their repertoire and create unique acts. For instance, a bard might combine the arts of music, singing and poetry.

Farmer

Gardener, Estate Owner, Forager, Harvester, Ploughman…
Farmers cultivate the land, raising or harvesting crops, but they are often generalists in a range of skills necessary for foraging or maintaining their chattels. Usually their produce is food and other useful flora, such as medicinal herbs or plants which produce fibers for clothing. Not all agriculturalists necessarily tend a farm or plantation. Some wander through wild regions harvesting the naturally occurring vegetation, whilst others are employed to supervise formal gardens for rich patrons. Likewise not all farmers are necessarily yokels tied to a small pasture, orchard or vineyard. Many cultures may place high status on owners of large estates who manage the running of their property.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Athletics, Brawn, Drive, Endurance, Locale, Perception, Ride

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (any), Lore (Agriculture), Lore (Animal Husbandry), Navigation, Survival, Track

Fisher

Beach Comber, Net Tender, Pearl Diver, Whaler…
Fishermen work the waters, braving the elements and dangers to bring back its bounty. Mostly they trawl for edible food, anything from shellfish to whales. A few seek commodities other than food however, particularly valuable items like rare shells, pearls or even medicinal types of water plants. The social rank of fishermen depends on the value of what they recover; a primitive island based culture for example, might grant high status to those who bring back the greatest amount or most dangerous produce. Fishermen do not necessarily need boats, and neither are they tied to the sea. Many live beside lakes or along rivers, using nets, baskets, and weirs to trap their catch.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Athletics, Boating, Endurance, Locale, Perception, Stealth, Swim

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Any), Lore (Primary Catch* ), Lore (Secondary Catch* ), Navigation, Seamanship, Survival
  * These represent different techniques of fishing, such as whaling, lobster potting, trawling, and so on.

Herder

Breeder, Herdsman, Wrangler...
Herders are those who raise and tend flocks of creatures, not necessarily domesticated animals; anything from goats to migrating mammoths. Most herdsmen spend days or even weeks out on the plains or hills, ensuring their beasts have sufficient food and water, whilst
also watching for predators. A herder does not necessarily raise his own livestock; some hire themselves out to escort herds over large distances to far off markets or use their skills to purchase stock for less discerning customers. It can be a solitary profession, but herds-men generally know the land, the seasons, and the habits of their animals.

Skills

• Standard Skills: First Aid, Insight, Locale, Perception, Ride; Combat Style (Specific Herding or Cultural Style)

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Animal Husbandry), Healing (Specific Species), Navigation, Musicianship, Survival, Track

Hunter

Forester, Poacher, Scavenger, Stalker, Trapper…
Responsible for finding, tracking, and killing creatures, the hunter, like the herder, is knowledgeable about the land and the behavior of animals. A hunter may hunt in a variety of ways: simple stalking, trap laying or driving creatures into pens. The purpose of the hunt depends on the culture of the hunter. Most seek out prey for the simple purpose of gathering food, but some hunters specialize in the extermination of deadly predators or the culling of animals for valuable body parts: furs, horns or teeth for instance. Hunters often learn a supplemental craft for preserving or skinning the creatures they kill.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Endurance, Locale, Perception, Ride, Stealth; Combat Style (Specific Hunting or Cultural Style)

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Hunting Related), Lore (Regional or Specific Species), Mechanisms, Navigation, Survival, Track

Mage

Guild member, Enchantress, Magi, Warlock, Wizard…
The dedicated practitioners of magery who seek to control the veil through mastery over the substance and rituals that are not necessarily tied to any gods or spirits, but directly alter the fabric of reality. A mage is often fascinated by all aspects of magic, driven to master its subtleties, and discover lost incantations. Some gain their power from a lifetime of studying dusty tomes, whereas others might offer sacrifices to learn from the diabolic entities of forbidden realms. A few are deceivers with no supernatural powers at all, using legerdemain and prestidigitation to fool others into paying them respect.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Perception, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Folk Magic, Invocation (Cult, School or Grimoire), Language (any), Literacy, Lore (any), Shaping, Sleight

Merchant

Broker, Hawker, Money Lender, Smuggler, Trader…
Merchants come in many forms: the street vendor, small shopkeeper, wily caravanserai, intrepid merchant-venturer, and many more. Although their methods or merchandise are different, all have one thing in common: to trade commodities (be it goods, food, livestock, people, property or even money) for the highest profit. Merchants know a bargain, and how to drive a good one; and not all trade in legal merchandise. Due to their dealings as middle men, many merchants pick up some knowledge of foreign cultures and languages.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Boating, Drive, Deceit, Insight, Influence, Locale, Ride

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Courtesy, Culture (any), Language (any), Navigation, Seamanship, Streetwise

Miner

Prospector, Quarryman, Sapper, Well Digger…
Miners are those who excavate the ground, for a number of reasons. Some dig for ore and precious metals, a few seek out special types of stone for building or statuary, whilst others dig to create catacombs or sewers, or to penetrate the defenses of towns. Whatever the purpose, miners are prepared to go deep into the ground, risking life and limb. As a result, miners tend to be both physically and mentally strong; used to working in hot, cramped conditions for hours on end.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Athletics, Brawn, Endurance, Locale, Perception, Sing, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Mining), Engineering, Lore (Minerals), Mechanisms, Navigation (Underground), Survival

Official

Minister, Overseer, Steward, Tax Collector...
Officials are those appointed or elected to an office, charged with performing certain administrative duties and granted a degree of authority to ensure their commands are followed. Examples include slave managers of large estates, guild masters, bureaucratic scribes, legal advocates or tax collectors. Depending on the size and complexity of the organization or government, most officials control a body of men to help perform their duties.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Perception, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Bureaucracy, Commerce, Courtesy, Language (any), Literacy, Lore (any), Oratory

Physician

Doctor, Healer, Medicine Man, Torturer, Vivisectionist…
Physicians have detailed knowledge of how the body works, although they do not necessarily use that learning to heal. Some instead offer their skills to extract information by coercion, or further the depth of their education by questionable practices. A physician can take many guises, some examples being the medicine man of a tribe with his totems and fetishes; a local hermit or wise woman with their knowledge of herbs and poultices; or a court physician who can cure fevers and agues with complex chemical remedies. Depending on the sophistication of the culture, many doctors embellish their treatments with ceremonial theatrics, bogus medications, and manipulative psychology.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Dance, First Aid, Influence, Insight, Locale, Sing, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Prosthetics, Scrimshaw, Torture, Vivisection, etc.), Healing, Language (any), Literacy, Lore (Herbs, Medicines, Poisons etc.), Streetwise

Priest

Arbiter, Cultist, Druid, Mendicant, Prophet…
Priests can take a variety of different roles in society; an official leading worship of the gods, an illuminated seer leading followers on an exodus to find their god, an administrator in a theocracy, and so on. Priests do not necessarily need to be religious or even believe in the faith they serve, whilst others might be granted miracles from their deity to reward suitable propitiation.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Dance, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Bureaucracy, Devotion (Pantheon, Cult or God), Exhort, Folk Magic, Literacy, Lore (any), Oratory

Sailor

Captain, Galley Slave, Marine, Pirate, Raft man…
Sailors and boatmen have a myriad of roles upon the lakes, rivers, and seas, from the simple crew of a trading ship to hardened convict rowers. Those sailors employed as professional raiders or marines are often given shipboard combat training. Wise to the ways of the waves, but superstitious with it, sailors are used to long dangerous travels, and the hardships that go with it.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Athletics, Boating, Brawn, Endurance, Locale, Swim; Combat Style (Specific Shipboard or Cultural Style)

• Professional Skills: Craft (Carpentry, Sail Making, Rope Making, etc.), Culture (any), Language (any), Lore (any), Navigate, Seamanship, Survival

Scholar

Annalist, Librarian, Philosopher, Skald, Scribe…
The keepers and seekers of knowledge and learning, scholars and scribes are people who are fascinated by knowledge and the powers contained within it. Scholars are not necessarily confined to dusty libraries or suffocating scriptoriums; they may be active explorers and archivists, intent on advancing their learning or collections of tomes. Neither are they dependent on literacy to learn; some scholars memorize and hand down their knowledge orally. Some scholars are specialists in particular areas of knowledge, such as a law-speaker who is employed to memorize and quote legal codes during law cases.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Influence, Insight, Locale, Native Tongue, Perception, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Culture (any), Language (any), Literacy, Lore (Primary), Lore (Secondary), Oratory, Teach

Scout

Bounty Hunter, Explorer, Pioneer, Ranger, Wayfarer…
Scouts are those who thrive beyond the reach of their native civilization. They may be pioneers seeking out new territory or rangers employed by the military to keep an eye on the borders. Some are employed to seek out natural commodities which they sell to merchants of more settled lands, whilst others are hired to hunt down fugitives. A few are scholarly explorers, high ranked men seeking to document new cultures or simply folks cursed with chronic wanderlust. Hardened by their life, scouts often live from what the land provides, understanding the plants, animals and seasons of the wilderness they inhabit.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Athletics, Endurance, First Aid, Perception, Stealth, Swim; Combat Style (Specific Hunting or Cultural Style)

• Professional Skills: Culture (any), Healing, Language (any), Lore (any), Navigation, Survival, Track

Thief

Burglar, Conman, Fence, Mugger, Tomb Robber…
Thieves are those who delight in stealing, or are forced to steal from others to support themselves. They range from petty criminals who mug or pickpocket folk on the streets, to gang leaders and golden-tongued swindlers. Whilst thieves thrive in urban environments they also exist in less civilized cultures too, operating as outlawed brigands, and raiders of neighboring tribes. Some thieves specialize in tomb robbing, stealing the grave goods of the dead. A few independently wealthy cutpurses and burglars are simply bored individuals who thieve for adventurous excitement.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Athletics, Deceit, Evade, Insight, Perception, Stealth; Combat Style (Concealable Weapons Style)

• Professional Skills: Acting, Commerce, Disguise, Lockpicking, Mechanisms, Sleight, Streetwise

Warrior

Bodyguard, Champion, Mercenary, Pit Fighter, Soldier…
Professional soldiers are the warrior class of a community; this is the career of the fighting man. Most of their time is spent patrolling, guarding and training – focusing on the use of weapons, close-quarter tactics, and the study of enemy styles to make the most of any future opportunities. The warrior may or may not follow a particular martial code, and similarly he might focus on finesse or simple brute-force.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Athletics, Brawn, Endurance, Evade, Unarmed; Combat Style (Cultural Style*), Combat Style (Specialty Style** )

• Professional Skills: Acting, Commerce, Disguise, Lockpicking, Mechanisms, Sleight, Streetwise
  * This is the warrior’s default starting cultural style.
  ** Specialty styles are those catering to particular troop types, martial school or career (see Combat ➞ Combat STyles)

Witch

Diabolist, Exorcist, Madman, Witch Doctor…
The medicine-man, the witch-doctor, the wise-woman: all can commune with the spirits and the ancestors; understanding the secrets of the spirit plane which lies over, under, and around the world we live in. The shaman has great insight and power, or so they would
have you believe. Not all have magical powers, some merely follow the rituals and traditions handed down to them. Others are outright charlatans using trickery to fool the gullible members of their community. Despite the primitive associations, many civilized cultures also believe in the powers of the spirit world, propitiating dead ancestors for instance.

Skills

• Standard Skills: Customs, Dance, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Willpower

• Professional Skills: Witchery, Fortune-Telling, Healing, Literacy, Lore (any), Oratory, Sleight

Age

How old is your character? An Adventurer may start as young or old as the player desires, subject to the agreement of the Games Master. It is recommended that beginning characters start as youths or young adults, but much depends on the setting, and whether
the game will be but a short one-off adventure or a long running campaign.

A table is provided, breaking age into Age Categories. Note that this table can be used for non-human characters by simply substituting the actual number of years for longer or shorter lived races. A character’s age has a direct effect on their skill competence; as
older characters naturally have more life experience than younger compatriots.

To determine how old a character is, a player may either choose an age within the Age Category permitted, or simply roll the value randomly.

Age Table

* Ageing: If a character is Senior or older they are subject to Ageing rules Ageing

Bonus Skill Points

At this stage every character gains an additional pool of ‘free’ skill points based on age, which can be distributed amongst his existing skills. These are provided so that the character can be rounded out, and given particular interests or areas of expertise. The default for adult characters is a pool of 150 points, with a limit of assigning no more than 15 points per skill. If characters are younger or older, then the number of Skill Points and restrictions will differ, as previously indicated on the Age Table.

The number of Bonus Skill Points does not necessarily need to be tied to age. If the characters are to be seasoned veterans, cultural heroes or even the sons of gods, the Games Master is free to grant
additional points or modify the maximum number which can be applied to a specific skill.

Bonus Skill Points are used in the following way:

• Allow the character the option of choosing one final new Combat Style or Professional Skill, reflecting a personal hobby or interest.

• Distribute points amongst whatever skills the character currently has; increasing each skill by 1% for every point spent on improving it. No individual skill can receive more points than indicated by their Age Category

• Save for the optional hobby skill, no points may be assigned to those Combat Styles or Professional Skills not learned as part of their Culture or Career.

Starting Equipment

Every character begins with some starting money and starting equipment, determined by their culture and social class. In addition they may augment their belongings by buying additional items (or upgrading ones they already have) from the Equipment section of
this book.

The table below gives some examples of personal possessions available to a character of that social class. These are merely guidelines, and are open to change according to the campaign or setting.

Background Equipment Table

Clothing

Finery and decorations are dependent on the culture and its climate. The higher the class the more exclusive the fabric used in its manufacture. An example would be rough spun wool for the poor, followed by linens, brocades, and silks as social class or wealth increases. In a land full of silk worms and no sheep, these relative values may be reversed. Decorations are also culturally dependent. Feathers may be the height of décor for a primitive tribe, whilst embroidery using gold threads may be de rigueur for a barbarian king. Example decorations are fabrics of bright or rare colors, the attachment of precious substances, pelts or fur trims, detailed embroidery and pattern woven fabrics.

Weapons

Not everyone in a society is expected to be armed; in fact some cultures expressly forbid weapons to those of a particular class or caste. The most common weapons are usually simple and inexpensive; spears and axes for example which can be mass produced or improvised. Only the higher classes tend to have ‘prestige’ weapons such as swords which require significant amounts of time to manufacture.

Armor

Perhaps even more restricted than weaponry, few members of the lower classes possess armor, and what they own is usually hand crafted from fabrics or leather by their own family. Culture and environment plays a big part in who is expected to own armor, for example it would be rare to see common folk of a city storing armor at home, whereas it might be ubiquitous amongst a tribe of horse nomads. Metallic armors tend to be restricted to the wealthy or those of noble class, and are often passed down as heirlooms.

However, culture and setting might restrict the type of armor available to upper classes; for example the sons of a primitive tribal chieftain might not have access to iron mail hauberks, but could conceivably possess a type of hoplite plate carved from the bones or scales of monsters instead.

Transport

Choose a vessel or mount suited to the culture or environment the character comes from. Examples are given based upon the primary mode of travel: foot, vessel, wheeled or mount. Some interpretation or leeway may be required, for instance a freeman from a nomadic society might be expected to at least own a mount, or perhaps it is something loaned to him by the patron or patriarch of his family.

Magic

In Kerethad, characters may begin play with access to certain magical arts depending on their cultural background, starting career, and the accessibility of magic to them. More information of the kids of magic, how they differ, how they work, and the spells or abilities they begin with is given later in the respective Magic chapters.

Guild Membership

Characters may have a membership to a guild, cult, or brotherhood. Many cultures of all types initiate young adults into a cult or other form of social organization as a rite of passage. If the character joins a cult it is likely one that either reflects the faith and beliefs of their family. In cities, guilds are often where many find themselves once they begin their careers. Guilds, Cults, and Brotherhoods offer access to training, and perhaps magic as well as providing a social, cultural, and professional network that characters will find useful.

Guilds, Cults, and Brotherhoods are covered in their own Companies & Cults chapter. If a player decides to have their character join of these, they should have no higher rank than a Common Member.