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Mastikator
2013-05-19, 09:25 PM
When you are making your adventuring characters do you make their occupation (and reason for adventuring) to be adventurer?
I usually set it to something more specific, like explorer or trader or sellsword or whatever.

Waker
2013-05-19, 10:37 PM
It really depends on the characters. I often describe their occupation as Diplomat, Scholar, Mercenary or whatever fits them. I don't think I've ever actually used the term adventurer for any of my characters before.

Kane0
2013-05-19, 11:18 PM
I usually take on the title adventurer at a certain level, usually just above average NPC level for the campaign. Up until that point I have a craft/profession, hobby or backstory aspect that I draw an occupation from.

Unless i'm a barbarian or somesuch, then my profession and class is synonymous.

Fiery Diamond
2013-05-20, 12:17 AM
Well, I usually DM, so I can't speak for my own characters, but...

When the primary source of income is non-specific adventuring, and the character has other occupation to be referred to from a social standpoint, then I consider their occupation to be adventurer.

Basically, if what you do as a lifestyle is 1) explore new places, 2) perform fetch quests, 3) sell your talents on wildly different areas of practice (sellsword, courier, researcher, spy, diplomat, assassin, and more), 4) follow your dreams rather than achieve permanent residence and establish yourself in the social order, then your occupation is adventurer.

Alleran
2013-05-20, 01:07 AM
I prefer "murderhobo" myself. If I'm asked to give an actual occupation, then it's usually something along the lines of what my character spent most of his lifetime up until that point doing. If he was a blacksmith-turned-fighter, then he's a blacksmith. If he was a scribe-turned-wizard, then he's a wizard.

And so on.

Ravens_cry
2013-05-20, 01:24 AM
Generally no, though it depends on character and universe, and even then they are more likely to be a sell-sword, scout, mage-for-hire or mercenary than an 'adventurer' per sae.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-20, 01:45 AM
"We're adventurers. Technically, anything we EVER DO (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0206.html) officially counts as an adventure."


My characters are usually wear the title of "mercenary" or "soldier" as a thin veil over the murderhobo life. That's typically what adventuring amounts to anyway; getting paid to risk your life and kill stuff. It's just a question of how much bravado it takes to obscure your true motive.

Sylthia
2013-05-20, 01:57 AM
I usually say they are mercenaries, since it usually boils down to the them killing stuff for money.

soveliss24
2013-05-20, 02:15 AM
I use 'adventurer' for skillmonkey-type characters. For Barbarians, Knights or casters I use the class name. Other martial types are usually 'ex-soldier' or 'mercenary' until they enter a PrC with a cooler name.

Salbazier
2013-05-20, 03:26 AM
I prefer "murderhobo" myself. If I'm asked to give an actual occupation, then it's usually something along the lines of what my character spent most of his lifetime up until that point doing. If he was a blacksmith-turned-fighter, then he's a blacksmith. If he was a scribe-turned-wizard, then he's a wizard.

And so on.

Now I want to make a character who describe him/herself as 'murderhobo'.

BWR
2013-05-20, 04:09 AM
Really depends on the setting and purpose of the PCs. In some places, like Mystara, there are countries that have 'Adventuring' as a legitimate, official occupation, often taxed. Ierendi, kingdom of Adventure, is not just a slogan.
The King and Queen are chosen yearly on the basis of tournaments of adventurers fighting for the prize, and runners-up get free membership in the Adventurer's Club, there are mock-dungeons and mock-adventures that resemble Disney rides, safaris for big game watching or hunting on the Island of Safari. The law enforcement of the nation is useless to the point of the Keystone Cops, probably intentionally, to allow up and coming adventurers the chance to shine.

Most games I've come across just ignore the 'adventurer' aspect and just refer to people as travellers or heroes or mercenaries.

Malimar
2013-05-20, 04:14 AM
I like the idea of "adventurer" being a legit (if disreputable) profession in and of itself. To the extent that there are characters, children and grandchildren of career adventurers, running around my campaign world with the surname "Adventurer".

Ravens_cry
2013-05-20, 04:45 AM
I like the idea of "adventurer" being a legit (if disreputable) profession in and of itself. To the extent that there are characters, children and grandchildren of career adventurers, running around my campaign world with the surname "Adventurer".
I had that as part of the central theme for a campaign setting. Basically, it was like the Klondike, only with ancient tombs and temples rather than goldmines. Particularly large complexes would have tent cities form up around them.

Guran
2013-05-20, 05:20 AM
To be honest, none of my characters were adventurers before some event prior to or during the first session forced them to go on an adventure. My first character was a ritual caster for her nomadic tribe who was sucked trough a dimensional rift and arrived in a place completly unknown to her. My current character was simply living her dailly life in a city (where the rest of the soon to be party was also hanging out) when suddenly a big ass army laid siege to the city and a strange twist of fate had us escort the princess out of the city. Another character from a secondary campaign was just a noble enjoying his drink when this invoker of a new god invited him to become a herald for said god with a couple of other chosen.

I'm not a fan of the "we are a group of mindless sociopaths" cliché.

Mr Beer
2013-05-20, 06:17 AM
I like the idea of "adventurer" being a legit (if disreputable) profession in and of itself. To the extent that there are characters, children and grandchildren of career adventurers, running around my campaign world with the surname "Adventurer".

Yep, agree with this. It's pretty well established in standard D&D settings that if you need an absurdly dangerous job done, you can simply hire a group of adventurers (read: variously talented killers) to get it done. Hell, a lot of the time you don't even have to pay them, just tell there's treasure and experience waiting for them.

MukkTB
2013-05-20, 06:57 AM
The character I've been running considers himself a professional adventurer. He's not a mercenary because mostly he works for himself. He's not exactly a thief because killing the evil wizard and taking his stuff or finding loot in the ruins doesn't quite fit. He's not a scavenger because he often has to fight for the stuff he loots. He's not just a thug, bully or bandit because he's filling a vital social role when he cuts the head off the Necromancer of Gax. Civilization needs him or someone like him to be out beating up baddies because otherwise it would be overrun by abominations. Its a well paying job with some associated status and respect depending on the specific details. It includes a number of sub-professions but a serious adventurer may switch from thief to grave robber to scavenger to hero as the situation dictates. The core bit is venturing into danger and standing up to it. The pay can easily be thousands of gold pieces for a few days work.

Not only that, but the exp gained sets a character up to be much better at whatever he decides to do after he retires. Its ridiculous, but the best way to become, say a great baker, is to go adventuring and use the skillpoints on level up to pump that profession and/or the relevant craft skills. Grab a skill focus feat at some point and retire when you've had enough of the danger.

Even the danger is questionable. If I had the choice between being a low level peasant on a farm somewhere, and being an adventurer, I'd want the later. A peasant can also get run over by a handful of goblins or a monster of the week. At least as an adventurer there's a fighting chance.

DigoDragon
2013-05-20, 07:12 AM
In fantasy campaigns I usually go with "explorer", "mercenary", or "troubleshooter" for my occupation.

Jay R
2013-05-20, 08:33 AM
First of all, the idea that a person identifies himself with a set occupation, as if he were filling out a resume, is a more-or-less modern view. A medieval person is more likely to self-identify as a class -- serf, yeoman, townsman, noble, etc.

Having said that, my current 2E elven mage/thief started out as a colonist, hunting for food. Was he a hunter, or a colonist? Then he became a seneschal briefly, followed by an explorer, and was called back to the New World to be part of a team of undead hunters, which really turned out to be a cross between city guards and detectives. The group hired onto a caravan as guardsmen, which led to them attacking the evil priests running an orphanage as a source of slaves. This led us to be brought before the king's court, where we were universally considered peasants carrying swords illegally. We then became couriers, found the lost heir back at the colony, we were de facto officers for the colonial forces when goblins attacked, brought the heir back, and now my PC is an Earl.

He has never been an "adventurer". And he has always hidden the fact that he is a Thief, and until recently, he had to hide that he is a wizard.

BWR
2013-05-20, 08:52 AM
First of all, the idea that a person identifies himself with a set occupation, as if he were filling out a resume, is a more-or-less modern view. A medieval person is more likely to self-identify as a class -- serf, yeoman, townsman, noble, etc.

I'm not so sure. Look at the immense number of surnames that are based on profession: Smith, Baker, x-wright, Carpenter, Cooper, Miller, etc. etc.
Most people were identified by their profession. Only rich people like high nobility could get away with being known by themselves rather than their profession, because they rarely had a true job.
Jobs were often a greater part of identity back then because unlike Western civilization today where you can pick and choose what you want to learn and have great flexibility in getting new jobs, back then you learned one job and stuck with it because that was all you knew. Your entire livelyhood and much of your life in general revolved around doing that one thing.

So people identifying themselves with whatever Craft or Profession skill they have the highest modifier in is far from unlikely.

Salbazier
2013-05-20, 10:04 AM
AFAIK, people identify - name themselves - themselves most often with either their job, their origin, their father, or their nickname/epithet. I never heard people name themselves with their social status/class.

Job-based surname probably has something to do with the rules that obliged sons to take up the same job with their father.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-20, 11:30 AM
Now I want to make a character who describe him/herself as 'murderhobo'.

You could probably pull it off with a warrior priest of Flahahaharlarlargn. Or as an Antipaladin, or worshiper of some chaotic deity who loves travel.

LibraryOgre
2013-05-20, 12:01 PM
I tend to view "adventurers" like cowboys in 50s westerns... have gun, will travel. Some may have a stated occupation, but most sort of drift and solve problems. It's one of the conceits of the sword and sorcery genre that I prefer... most adventurer's professions are adequately described by "murderhobo", "tomb raider" or "sacker-of-temples."

Edge of Dreams
2013-05-20, 12:35 PM
One of the best campaigns I ever ran was a game of Runequest where most of the player characters had jobs and obligations in their home town. We used downtime between adventures, when characters needed to rest up for a week or a month to recover hit points or learn new spells to do little roleplay segments of dealing with their jobs, social life, etc., which added a ton of depth to their characters.

The characters were:

A retired town guardsman who had become a bartender. He was a huge, strong guy who just wanted to settle down and make his own beer, but his sense of duty to the city wouldn't let him ignore the various dangers that led to adventure hooks.
A monk from an order of adventuring librarians (think Indiana Jones) - they were dedicated to collecting old, forgotten knowledge and preserving it.
A down-on-his luck sailor who happened to be drunk at the first player's bar when the hordes of undead attacked the town. Turns out, he was the ship's doctor on a less-than-reputable ship, so he had certain valuable skills to offer the party.
A sorcerer from a community of magical Amish folk (they hate technology and use magic for every conceivable task). He left home to see what the rest of the world was like, and to seek answers about his parents who disappeared from his community when he was a tiny child.


Over the course of the campaign, the players discovered a necromancer's plot to sacrifice several other necromancer's phylacteries on alters to an ancient creature named Kaladrax that sleeps beneath the city, awakening it to destroy everything. Of course, they succeeded in preventing disaster, but along the way, they also had various personal experiences:


The bartender had to compete with a wine maker for the love of the beautiful barmaid. By the end of the campaign, he'd romanced her well AND saved up enough loot to buy the actual bar from the business owner and make it his own.
The monk brought useful secrets back to his order, and went through a series of tests to be promoted from Initiate to Scribe of the order, gaining both prestige and new responsibilities.
The sailor, who used minor healing magic and a fire-sword spell, met the Church of Ignatia, the Phoenix Queen, whose priests wield much more powerful healing and fire spells. By the end of the game, he had convinced one of the priests to sponser him as an initiate, and he is on the road to becoming a powerful cleric himself.
The Sorcerer returned to his hometown halfway through the campaign to visit his old mentor and ask to be taught new spells, so that he could better face the challenges of his adventures. This led to him crafting his own magical staff with a powerful blasting spell imbued into it. Staff in hand, he proceeded to kick all kinds of ass, and eventually discovered his parents true history and their nefarious connections to the necromantic activity plaguing the city.


So, yeah. If you want an interesting roleplay experience, make your PCs have jobs and social connections, give them adventures that don't take them too far from their hometown, and give them enough time and space to do roleplay events in town between adventures. It turned out awesome for us.

The Fury
2013-05-20, 06:25 PM
For me it depends a lot on the tone of the campaign. If it's a wacky dungeon crawl where you should have a a backup character in mind or rolled up, I usually won't bother with any sort of backstory at all because it will never come up.
Though for more character-driven campaigns I've played characters that have been royal emissaries, town guards or stable-hands. Though considering that an average D&D world has quest-givers and adventuring typically has a good payout "Adventurer" could be considered an occupation in of itself.

Zahhak
2013-05-20, 08:42 PM
I think that depends on the class. Based on the theory that the closest real world version of an adventurer are mercenaries, big game hunters, guides, bounty hunters, and treasure hunters, I say:
Barbarian: Any of the above. Possibly minus treasure hunter
Bard: About the only in-world reason I can think of is the reason for bards given in AdventureQuest
Cleric: medic mercenary
Monk: Pfff.... I got nothing
Fighter: Mercenary
Paladin: I guess leading crusades?
Ranger: Big game hunter, guide, bounty hunter, and treasure hunter
Rogue: Throw in bounty and treasure hunter to the usual and you're golden
Sorcerer: Fun and games?
Wizard: Fun and games?

QuintonBeck
2013-05-20, 09:07 PM
One of my characters, a rogue, considered himself a legitimate businessman of the underworld who made himself available to non criminal types and offered his illicit and life-risking services for coin. In his mind he was a businessman, criminal for hire.

Another character of mine played the archetypal Barbarian and as such his class described his "job" title. He liked to smash things in the skulls.

Whenever I DM I usually refer to my parties as travelers or adventurers however so I do think there ought to be some recognition in game of this being a clear job descriptor. Now obviously my players can make their characters whatever they'd like but I think should adventurer be a recognized title in the lands they're more likely to be seen as that.

You can only crawl so many dungeons before you're an adventurer.

Jay R
2013-05-20, 10:24 PM
Frodo, Merry and Pippin were gentlemen; Sam was a gardener; Legolas was a Prince; Aragorn was a Ranger; Gandalf was a wizard. None of them were adventurers.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were students.

Indiana Jones was an archeologist.

Nobody is primarily an adventurer.

Fiery Diamond
2013-05-20, 10:35 PM
Frodo, Merry and Pippin were gentlemen; Sam was a gardener; Legolas was a Prince; Aragorn was a Ranger; Gandalf was a wizard. None of them were adventurers.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were students.

Indiana Jones was an archeologist.

Nobody is primarily an adventurer.

None of them were "murderhobos" either. The people you named don't fit into the social niche that D&D adventurers do (with the possible exception of Indianan Jones), so they're not really a good comparison point.

DisasterArea42
2013-05-21, 12:27 AM
My first character was a fighter class, but was a gnomish scientist obsessed with building an planeshifting airship. also, waffles. It basically involved playing loyal dog of murderhobos until someone said something relating to airships. Then it basically became the gnome grabbing the rest of the party and yelling "WE GO. THERE. NOW!" and walking off (possibly in the wrong direction) and hoping that the rest of the party felt loyal enough to the party nutcase to follow.

Mastikator
2013-05-21, 01:10 AM
None of them were "murderhobos" either. The people you named don't fit into the social niche that D&D adventurers do (with the possible exception of Indianan Jones), so they're not really a good comparison point.

Not everyone plays murderhobos :/

CRtwenty
2013-05-21, 04:29 AM
My characters prefer the term "Mercenary" over "Adventurer" since they usually find themselves doing odd and dangerous jobs for other people rather then seeking things out themselves. It's not like they do this stuff for fun ya'know? It's a job, and those wenches won't pay for themselves.

SiuiS
2013-05-21, 07:24 AM
It really depends on the characters. I often describe their occupation as Diplomat, Scholar, Mercenary or whatever fits them. I don't think I've ever actually used the term adventurer for any of my characters before.

Yeeeaaah. I've had a doctor, an accountant, a banker, a hunsbander(?), and an experimental scientist all have valid job related reasons to go adventturing. Only one notable guy who decided to actually explore and adventure; retirement is always a thing for the others. Not that guy.

Rhynn
2013-05-21, 07:56 AM
Depends on the game. Both the style and the game mechanics inform this.

In RuneQuest, the PCs are, say, farmers/carls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churl) or (eventually) thanes; or legionnaires/soldiers, etc.; they're tied to their cults and their communities. This is mostly style: the mechanics don't really push you either way, but within the world, community and cult support is important, and your religion and community usually provide you your reasons for adventuring.

In HârnMaster, the most natural way to play, for me, is to make the PCs nobility: one may be a manor lord, the others may be knights and squires; they might include the village priest(s), a manor chaplain, or local crafters and yeomen. It's not really a game/setting where you find treasure lying around, and you need somewhere to live and some way to make a living. With the dangerous mechanics, it's also very advantageous to have power and authority to command others to fight with or for you.

Aces & Eights is all about having a job, from apothecary to whore. The advancement system encourages going from job to job and gives goals that reflect progression on the career path. I love this, because it really facilitates a completely player-driven sandbox where you're just someone trying to make a living on the Western Frontier. Of course, your occupation might be very adventurous in itself: bank robber, bounty hunter, buffalo hunter, lawman, mountain man, etc.

In our Artesia campaign, the PCs started out as a knight no longer welcome at home and his retinue, travelling from tournament to tournament to make a living. (You only have to win two jousts before losing in order to make a profit, wagering your horse and armor.) The game doesn't really push in either direction - adventuring or reguar jobs - and can accommodate both (including full-on old-school professional dungeon/ruin-crawling).

In Call of Cthulhu, the PCs usually have a "day job" that ties into their Mythos hobby - antiquarian, librarian, professor, detective, etc. They need a home to come back to - it's very hard to live on the road, with no source of income, in this game!

In Dungeons & Dragons, though, the PCs are usually professional adventurers, preferrably with a company and a charter. Especially in old editions and retroclones, they make their living off pillaging dungeons and ruins. In AD&D 1E and prior, 80% of your XP is supposed to come from treasure you find! That's a full-time job.

LibraryOgre
2013-05-21, 11:16 AM
Monk: Pfff.... I got nothing


Really? Can't think of ANYTHING (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series))?



Indiana Jones was an archeologist.



None of them were "murderhobos" either. The people you named don't fit into the social niche that D&D adventurers do (with the possible exception of Indianan Jones), so they're not really a good comparison point.

Quite frankly, the 1st/2nd edition Thief is a perfect template for Indiana Jones.

Climb Walls. He picks a few pockets (think of the beginning of Lost Ark, and the "carefully swap out two identical weights"). He finds traps all the time, though he tends to think around them rather than wrench-twiddle. He is even familiar with the written forms of many languages, able to read a bit of context even without formally knowing them. Sure, he carries a gun and a whip, but he's not really a fighter... when he is faced with a real fighter (like a shirtless, bald, German), he tends to lose until he thinks his way around the problem. Toss in a History or Archaeology secondary skill or proficiency, and you've got Indiana Jones.

Raimun
2013-05-21, 02:12 PM
I never describe my characters as adventurers. It just sounds a bit... generic? A first level/starting character who calls himself an adventurer would sound a bit naive and look like he's having daydreams of grandeur after reading too much fairytales... which would be a good personality in itself but I've actually never made such a character.

Instead, here are some "professions" my characters have identified themselves with... and that I remember of the top of my head. Some have had more than one:

Mercenary
Bountyhunter
Soldier
Ex-soldier
Tribesman
Private detective
Wizard
Professor
Priest/Cleric
Brewer
Drifter
Runaway peasant
Healer
Mage
Wet works-agent
Criminal
Thief
Bandit
Lawyer
Swordsman
Diplomat
Warrior

Even if you are on an adventure, you don't need to call yourself an adventurer... even if you technically are one. I try to come up with a reason to adventure, other than: "It's an adventure! Loot and Xp for everyone!" All of the following are things that would motivate people in stories we all read or watch.

Sometimes it's a moral obligation, a la protagonists of LotR. Evil threatens the lands and if me and my companions don't stand up to it, who else would?

Sometimes, I'm just a man on a mission. My country is at war and I'm a soldier. Or I'm a private detective and I have a case.

Sometimes I just stumble on an adventure. There are no clean getaways, so I have to fight my way out of the adventure. Or I'm just too interested to find out more of the supernatural elements that suddenly pop up.

Sometimes I'm interested of the riches I can gather. Sometimes I like to test myself against the warriors and the monsters of the world. However, these are most often of instrumental value and once they are filthy rich and/or great warriors, they want achieve some other goal, using these assets. It's not about the journey, it's about the destination. :smallamused:
... unless I'm playing a "wandering swordsman" kind of character. Then honing the skill with a sword is of intrinsic value.

Sometimes it's a mix of the above and perhaps more.

Anyway, I just don't find "adventuring" to be a good motivation in itself. You need to have a clear cut objective(s) to make things interesting and to provide some context.

Besides, can you think of any high profile fictional characters that would actually introduce themselves as adventurers? RPG-characters and RPG inspired book characters don't count. For example, I'm sure R.A. Salvatore's books are full of people like that but they draw heavily on RPGs.

Malimar
2013-05-21, 05:46 PM
I've had perhaps two PCs who adventured, but had a specific primary profession that wasn't "adventurer":

Jack Jackson, Attorney at Law, Specializing in Interspecies Law, Also an Adventurer. (That's what it says on his business cards.) You can perhaps see how an attorney specializing in legal conflicts between species might find himself in many of the same situations a dedicated adventurer might.

His brother: Ben Jackson, Seer. (We jokingly call him "Ben Jackson, Seer, Specializing in Boobies, Also a Cyborg", but unlike his brother, he doesn't even have business cards, and if he did, they'd just say "Ben Jackson, Seer".)


Most of my other characters either haven't had real occupations (e.g. Ludgeblatt Curdlegut began adventuring as a sort of coming-of-age quest); had occupations that were secondary to or abandoned in favor of their adventuring career (e.g. Xolodno Kaldur with his ranks in Profession(goatherd)); or never particularly adventured much at all (because they were in roleplaying-heavy, adventuring-lite games).

Jay R
2013-05-22, 09:40 AM
Looking back over my characters for the past thirty years, I realize that the backstory always gives them some sort of profession.

Of course, Warrior, Thief, Ranger, Paladin, Bard, and Cleric are professions.

I can't imagine starting a character without knowing what he's been doing to support himself before the start of the game. Ornrandir was an acrobat, a traveling performer. Gwydion was a young bard, in service to a traveling bard. Jean-Louis was a thief. All my superheroes have secret identities. Cornelius was a squire. Cal Young was a federal marshal.

The only character I've run since the 1970s who didn't have a profession was for TOON - Ragnar Rabbit, the Hanna-Barbarian.

zlefin
2013-05-22, 04:04 PM
It seems to me that one of the basics of adventuring in d&d is often a mix of two things: bounty hunter, and privateer.
Like a bounty hunter, you go around killing bad guys wherever they're found; but whether you get any pay out of it is variable, sometimes you do, sometimes you don't, and that's rarely where the bulk of the money comes from.
Like a privateer, you're fighting is accepted and endorsed by society or parts thereof; and you make a lot of your wealth by capturing it from the "enemy" whoever they are, rather than off direct payment.
Privateers of course usually worked against nations rather than bad guys in general.

But it really does seem like a bounty hunter/privateer mix; you're given an endorsement to go fight bad guys wherever they are (and howsoever classified), and your reward is to legally take their stuff.

The more I think, the more I like this idea, I may try to write up a more thorough code for this by looking up privateer law again.

Rhynn
2013-05-22, 04:44 PM
The more I think, the more I like this idea, I may try to write up a more thorough code for this by looking up privateer law again.

This sort of thing is even explicit in some settings: in Cormyr in the Forgotten Realms, adventuring companies must be registered with the Crown, at which point they are legally empowered to go around adventuring. This makes perfect sense in a fairly stable, small, heavily-inhabited, and strictly-controlled monarchy: you do not want bands of powerful armed people wandering around unchecked.

Geddoe
2013-05-22, 06:18 PM
I could definitely see it as a legit declaration for your occupation. There could be a lot of crossover with mercenary, explorer and investigator. But people have adventurer identified as their occupation in the real world, so I don't see it being too much of an issue in a fantasy world with undiscovered ancient ruins all over the place.

Edge of Dreams
2013-05-23, 04:06 AM
This sort of thing is even explicit in some settings: in Cormyr in the Forgotten Realms, adventuring companies must be registered with the Crown, at which point they are legally empowered to go around adventuring. This makes perfect sense in a fairly stable, small, heavily-inhabited, and strictly-controlled monarchy: you do not want bands of powerful armed people wandering around unchecked.

I, and several other GMs I know, make this an explicit part of our campaigns on a regular basis. Obtaining a "writ of adventuring" or whatever the document is called for your party can be a big deal, as it gives substantial legal protections against such things as being tried for murder when you slay a werewolf.

prufock
2013-05-23, 06:46 AM
I try to create characters with some overall motivation beyond "get loot, level up." Adventuring arises from those motivations, not on its own as an occupation. While they may have a regular job as well, I think I've only ever played one character for whom the motivation was simply "go on adventures" and one who was part of the military, so adventuring was just doing his job.

Need_A_Life
2013-05-23, 06:55 AM
Let's see, I've used...
General
Pilgrim
Dangerously Unstable
Researcher (archivist)
Highly trained killer (non-class specific)
Semi-trained quasi-professional (What? An OotS crack on giantitp? Who'd have thunk it?)
Diplomat (psion)
Mage (many a sorcerer, wizard or archivist)
Artificer/Nobleman (Eberron, playing an artificer of House Cannith)

Badgerish
2013-05-23, 07:24 AM
"Adventurer" isn't an occupation, it's an Obsession.

Normal people will fight for what they believe in or to defend themselves, they will work/steal for resources they need, they will do great or terrible things when they need to be done... but adventurers? They do all these things because they are adventurers, because they are bored, because it's a challenge.

Normal people work within society, with it's protections and limitations.
Adventurers step outside of society and either follow their own path or try to change the world so it follows theirs.

You can go on adventures without being an adventurer, but you are always looking for an end-state/win-condition to stop adventuring.
Adventurers go on adventure for the adventure!

BWR
2013-05-23, 09:00 AM
Is everyone who is a bit of a thrill-seeker obsessive? Are there no adventurers who hang up their sword and open a tavern after a few years?
Are there no adventurers who settle down?
*hint* there are */hint*

Considering the state of most D&D settings, I don't have a problem with adventurers being a legitimate profession without needing an obsesive quality in the picture. Physics is grossly and constantly violated in every way imaginable, yet people have problems accepting the idea that some people just think of it as a job. Some people join the army, do a tour or two then muster out and get another job. Some people spend a couple of years hitchhiking all around the world, go on the Interrail, go parachuting or hanggliding or hunting; in D&D worlds you can risk life, limb and soul in a variety of interesting and imaginative ways. Soem do it out of necessity, some do it for fun.
People don't need to be obsessive about it.

Mr Beer
2013-05-25, 04:25 AM
Considering the state of most D&D settings, I don't have a problem with adventurers being a legitimate profession without needing an obsesive quality in the picture. Physics is grossly and constantly violated in every way imaginable, yet people have problems accepting the idea that some people just think of it as a job.

LOL, this. 25' tall giants? No problem. Job = adventurer? No way that's silly!

Within the D&D multiverse, it makes complete sense that professional adventurers exist, since you explicitly get drastically powerful and wealthy by going on adventures and the opportunity to adventure is ubiquitous.

Talyn
2013-05-25, 10:27 AM
Adventuring is a (semi)respectable, full-time profession. There are Adventuring Guilds, chartered Adventuring Companies, and even, in more established-but-still-dangerous area, Adventuring Academies where would-be treasure seekers learn the basics.

People who need dangerous jobs done talk to the local Adventurer's Guild, who in turn post the work at the Guildhall. In some places, Guild work is a free-for-all, in others, adventuring companies will bid on the job.

Oh, and since the people who work at the guild are almost all retired adventurers themselves, all the gods help you if you try to adventure WITHOUT being a dues-paying member of the guild.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-25, 10:28 AM
Adventurer = Monster exterminator.

Alejandro
2013-05-25, 10:59 AM
Really? Can't think of ANYTHING (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series))?





Quite frankly, the 1st/2nd edition Thief is a perfect template for Indiana Jones.

Climb Walls. He picks a few pockets (think of the beginning of Lost Ark, and the "carefully swap out two identical weights"). He finds traps all the time, though he tends to think around them rather than wrench-twiddle. He is even familiar with the written forms of many languages, able to read a bit of context even without formally knowing them. Sure, he carries a gun and a whip, but he's not really a fighter... when he is faced with a real fighter (like a shirtless, bald, German), he tends to lose until he thinks his way around the problem. Toss in a History or Archaeology secondary skill or proficiency, and you've got Indiana Jones.

Well said. Also, don't forget that Indy is also a college professor, and is, well, mostly awful at it. :)

tbok1992
2013-05-25, 01:22 PM
It's interesting how much D&D created a lot of our idea of what we think of as the "standard" fantasy setting by taking ideas, tropes and creatures from many, sometimes very different, sources and putting them all in one place, and how a lot of Dark/Weird Fantasy since D&D's inception has been, in many ways, a backlash against it. Which is funny, given D&D's variety of weirder settings (See Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Spelljammer, Planescape).

But, one of these ideas I think D&D has cemented into the popular consciousness is the "Adventurer as Profession" one, and personally I enjoy it and see it as plausible. It's sort of a trade profession in my mind. Like, plumbers fix pipes, bakers bake bread, adventurers stab monsters terrorizing yon tiny village.

Hell, I even have them in my modern, Dr. McNinja-y setting, albeit with laws surrounding them, most notably "The Batman Rule" (IE. You can wound and incapacitate the guys you fight, but you can't kill 'em).