NPC Generation

Actor

In some societies, actors forge a link to the gods by dressing as supernatural beings and acting out religious scenes or rituals; in others, they’re simply entertainers. Though they’re often disdained by those who work “normal” jobs, audiences flock to performances, thus proving the actors’ cultural importance.

Alchemist

Proto-chemist, philosopher, mystic . . . the alchemist is all these. He seeks perfection of mind, body and spirit through laboratory work, spiritual pursuits and meditation on symbology. Goals vary by culture and range from transforming lead into gold, creating medicines or obtaining immortality.

Animal Handler

Animal handlers range from the common (e.g., drovers, groomsmen and mahouts) to the unusual (e.g., bear baiters, bird trainers and flea circus proprietors). All these jobs require the absolute understanding – and controlling – of animal behavior; this, in turn, require sensitivity, patience and experience.

Apothecary

As the creator of drugs, potions, antidotes and poultices, the apothecary is the ancient equivalent of the pharmacist. He may be found in different guises in wide-ranging societies, but his primary role is always as a purveyor of medicines for his customers’ ailments.

Apprentice

When schools teaching actual job skills are rare (historical primary and secondary schooling consists of literacy, basic mathematics, and little else), a child hoping to become a tradesman has to start off as an apprentice. Apprenticeship typically begins in the very early teens, though anywhere from seven to fifteen is possible (or even younger if the child is apprenticed to a family member). Money may change hands; the parents may pay the craftsman to train their child, or the craftsman may pay the parents to compensate them for the loss of the child. The apprentice is a fulltime worker. He does menial work at first: sweeping, washing and running errands. At the same time, he learns his craft by observing his master and doing increasingly important small tasks related to the main work. He ceases to be an apprentice when he’s ready to work on his own, a determination left up to his master or a committee of working craftsmen, and usually the occasion of ceremony and celebration. However, the determination can be a point of contention, with a hot-headed young man yearning to be free of the rule of an old codger.

Architect

For most of history, architects, or as they are usually known, master builders, are working craftsmen in the building trade, usually masons (but occasionally carpenters) who have worked their way to a position of respect. They are also administrators who hire and coordinate crews of masons, carpenters and other craftsmen. The master builder works out the overall building design in cooperation with the sponsors of the building, although precise details of decoration and construction are left to subordinates and the work crew itself.

Armorer

Armorers make weapons, shields and armor and range from Neolithic flint knappers, slave laborers in Roman arms factories to revered Japanese swordsmiths. By late TL3, wellknown armorers supervise huge factories and supply arms to kings.

Artisan

The professional craftsman is first and foremost a city-dweller; few villages or small towns can supply him with enough customers to support himself. Unlike peasants and poorer city-dwellers, artisans often have significant political rights as a consequence of guild membership. For most artisans, this means something like a preferred legal position and the right to vote. Artisans also have responsibilities. Specifically, they face disciplinary action from their guild if they sell substandard merchandise, must pay dues and special taxes, and must bring up the next generation of craftsmen. An artisan usually supports not just his family, but also a handful of apprentices.

Artist

Artists create religious works, propaganda and portraiture. Rulers pay masters of popular styles to tutor their craftsmen, and conquerors and missionaries bring art and artists with them. Most all cultures place strict rules on artistic representation from which few deviate.

Astronomer

Astronomers are an important part of many ancient societies, for they are able to determine religious calendars and predict the seasonal rising of rivers. From at least Babylonian times, the sister art of astrology has also been used to predict more nebulous events and determine auspicious days for various undertakings. Therefore, both astronomers and astrologers often find themselves employed in royal courts or temples. ground and some skills useful in the manufacture of pretelescopic astronomical instruments.

Athlete

Virtually every culture plays sports for ceremony, recreation, exercise or spectacle. Even the lowliest peasant enjoys a ball game, and the king himself might be an avid archer. When competitions are common or rewards substantial, professional athletes can thrive.

Banker

Bankers and money changers make the life of a traveling merchant possible by exchanging foreign money or holding on to currency for safekeeping and for investment. They might also loan money. Of course, all of these actions are only done at a substantial interest rate. By the Middle Ages, a thin line separated the banker from the usurer, who charges higher rates and might belong to an ethnic or religious minority. The banker’s activity can fuel economic growth, and even kings might be indebted to him.

Barbarian

Although fantasy barbarian tribes often include elite warriors most tribesmen are of less heroic stature. This template describes a more “typical” fantasy barbarian, albeit one from a tribe that possesses a strong warrior ethos.

Barber

Barbers, naturally, cut hair, but they do much more by providing a place for their customers to discuss news, philosophy or gossip. In some cultures, barbers perform a number of medical duties in addition to cutting hair, acting as herbalists or surgeons.

Barkeep

In most every society, people go to taverns to see familiar faces, have fun and exchange rumors; the barkeep provides all three. He keeps the customers happy, keeps them buying drinks and makes sure things don’t get out of hand. Sometimes he prepares food, as well, though larger pubs usually keep a cook on staff.

Barmaid

Where there are people to buy drinks, there are also people to serve them. Taverns, teahouses, inns and other establishments often employ women to take care of the customers. At times, a tavern girl is almost synonymous with a prostitute (under Roman law, a barmaid couldn’t be charged with adultery; sex with customers was considered part of the job), but elsewhere she might be just as chaste as anybody else. Often there is little else that she can do for a living; barren fields, a poor household or familial obligations might keep her in unglamorous work, or she might simply have no skills to offer a potential employer. The barmaid mingles with the rougher elements of society, or at least respectable elements in less guarded, restrained moments, so she might know more than their humble position implies. .

Beekeeper

Even prehistoric humans collect wild honey, but it takes permanent settlements to support professional apiculturalists. Beekeepers in most cultures must endure countless stings, but Mayan beekeepers enjoy stingless bees! No matter what his culture, the beekeeper’s honey finds its way into everything from food and drink to medicine and make-up, and his wax in everything from sealant to lost-wax sculpture. In fact, the great utility of wax and honey make the beekeeper a respected citizen in any society.

Beggar

Beggars are a consistent feature of urban life, and in low-tech societies with limited “safety nets,” falling to this state is all too easy. Many religions encourage charity, but this is unreliable and often begrudged, while laws against vagrancy can be harsh. This template represents a character who has lasted a while on the streets and picked up some basic survival skills.

Boatman

Because crossing a river on a boat or line ferry is simpler and cheaper than building a bridge, and anchoring in a harbor is safer and cheaper than mooring at a wharf, the boatman makes his living carrying passengers and goods, especially at port and island cities. Boatmen often own their vessel and propel it by rowing, poling, pulling on a line or, less often, sailing.

Brewer/Distiller/Vintner

Brewers, distillers and vintners have created alcoholic beverages since before recorded history. By providing beer, wine and hard liquor, distillers have served the needs of religions, communities without ready access to clean water and carousers the world over.

Brothel Keeper

The brothel keeper owns and manages a house of prostitution. He usually lives in the brothel and collects a portion of his employees’ earnings (sometimes a large portion); in turn, the prostitutes gain protection and a place to work and sleep. This job doesn’t discriminate by sex, and the keeper could be from virtually any strata of society: clergyman, noble, freeman, ex-slave or ex-prostitute.

Builder

From pyramids to cathedrals, no great building can exist without somebody to put it together. Masons and carpenters are similar in a number of ways. They both build things, and unlike most tradesmen, they both are mobile. You can only build so many churches and keeps in one town before you have to move on, so the builder lives in one place for a while, then moves on as his projects finish. On the other hand, a large project like a cathedral or mausoleum can employ a builder and a generation or two of descendants. Members of the lower classes usually build their own homes, so professional builders are largely employed by the upper and middle classes to build urban homes, country estates, fortifications and public buildings such as churches and guild halls.

Bureaucrat

Bureaucrats, though often vilified as inefficient time servers, run the state machine. Both autocratic and elected rulers need managers to write reports, count coins and take care of tiresome details. Often bureaucrats have something that sets them apart as a caste: they might be freed slaves in imperial Rome, clerics (p. 92) in Medieval Europe or eunuchs (p. 82) in Asia. Unless his superior chooses a hands-on approach, a bureaucrat can unofficially wield considerable power.

Butcher

Butchers slaughter animals and prepare the meat for human consumption. This is difficult work because many religions place strict guidelines on meat preparation. Handled incorrectly, meat may be considered inedible, negating the efforts of hunters, trappers and butchers alike.

Caravan Leader

Caravan leaders guide convoys from settlement to settlement. Much like ship captains, caravan leaders are respected figures whose expertise is relied upon to bring their caravans safely to their destinations.

Cartographer

Cartographers produce maps based on observation, calculation and the accounts of others. Professionals find employment under a wide range of powerful patrons, since detailed maps help decide borders, taxation and other important matters. Others set up shop independently, supplying travelers and adventurers with maps of faraway places.

Charioteer

Charioteers drive light horse-drawn carriages. Because chariots are a safer and more stately way of exploiting horse power than early saddles, some charioteers serve royalty for war, hunting and ceremonial processions. Other charioteers are athletes in popular races – so popular that they give star status to charioteers and even spark riots.

Clock-maker

Low-tech clock-making requires an unusual combination of talents. First, it calls for considerable practical skills; a clock is likely the most complex gadget in the clock-maker’s society. However, it is also bleeding-edge science, embodying physics and applied mathematics. However, many low-tech scholars disdain practical skills, and few craftsmen receive an academic education. A scholar might find other people to work from his designs, but this template assumes that the clock-maker does at least some of the building himself. Clocks are often built for ritual purposes (plotting horoscopes, scheduling religious services), so the template includes optional features appropriate to a priest, monk or astrologer.

Clothworker

Turning raw materials into fabric involves many steps: spinners create yarn, weavers turn yarn into cloth (alternatively, felters boil and beat fibers together), fullers soak and beat cloth to thicken it and remove grease, and embroiderers add finishing touches. Dyers color fabric at various stages of production.

Commander

Commanders lead soldiers and plan and coordinate operations. They are often the only ones capable of maintaining unity in ragtag bands of followers.

Concubine

Wealthy men often keep concubines, women with whom they might have sex but to whom they aren’t necessarily married. Though primarily intended as a companion or sexual partner, a concubine is often (overromanticized pictures of harems aside) a more-or-less productive member of the household; she cares for children, cooks, sews clothing, tends gardens and small animals and practices “womanly” arts. She might be young and pretty, but she is functionally equivalent to any full-fledged wife in a sexist society – only with much lower status. Large harems, particularly those belonging to important rulers, can breed fierce internal politics as senior concubines ruthlessly work to keep their prestige and the favor of their consort. However, with isolation and a daily routine of housework, harem inmates are often mostly motivated by boredom.

Cook

Since dining is the high point of the day in many cultures, cooks are often highly skilled and sought-after professionals. A good cook on staff can win prestige for his employer, since a professionally prepared and presented meal might seal deals and win friends. Bakers are specialized cooks, dealing primarily with bread-based products, pastries and pies. Where the cook forms the heart of an inn or private residence, the baker frequently works out of his own shop.

Courtesan

Not all paid “companions” are harlots; affluent societies give rise to more sophisticated professionals, too. Such women primarily offer entertainment and companionship in addition to (or instead of) sex. The ladies are often cultured and might be rich and influential, or they may simply be women with expensive tastes who can pass as ladies and entertain high-class guests. They often accept costly gifts from their “customers” rather than cash payments.

Courtier

Where there’s wealth and power, there’s inevitably hangers-on. Such courtiers may be nobility who don’t stand to inherit, poor nobles with no power or position, career functionaries, socialites, mistresses, wealthy merchants who can afford to hobnob with aristocrats or anybody who manages to engage the interest of the powerful. They act as a sort of “celebrity entourage,” providing support and companionship in return for reflected glory and access to powerful friends. They may deliver sensitive letters, back their patron up in a fight, make arrangements for parties or make sure rooms and carriages are ready by ordering the servants around. They do the work of flunkies, but they do it with grace and style.

Diplomat

Diplomats are rare in early times and might only be courtiers or merchants familiar with a foreign culture. The wartime diplomat’s job isn’t coveted; enemies occasionally signal rejection of terms by killing the emissaries!

Diver

Diving is dangerous but rewarding, as it affords access to the treasures of the sea – seafood, sponges, shells, pearls and more. Nevertheless, many divers work only part-time, since waters are often too cold or barren during most of the year.

Diviner

Diviners foretell the future or interpret the gods’ will. They take many forms, from oracles to wise women to priests, but if real divination is impossible, their rituals are empty and they are either charlatans exploiting gullibility and superstition or deluded mystics victimized by their own misperceptions.

Domestic Servant

Household servants perform simple but unglamorous tasks their masters deem too tedious or objectionable: sweeping, laundry, emptying chamber pots, setting tables, making beds, dressing the family, etc. They enjoy little job security; some might travel with their masters, but many are simply dismissed until the lord returns home. Wealthy families often employ dozens of servants, but even the most elaborate manors cram them into small (often communal) quarters. The job isn’t coveted and offers little leisure time, but it is often the only choice for those seeking to escape a peasant’s life.

Explorer

Low-tech explorers journey across unknown terrain to seek out new resources or territories, to increase the glory of their patrons, or, most often, for sheer personal gain. Foreign cultures are often little more than obstacles, and most can only be seen as completely alien.

Feudal Nobleman

Rulers who lack bureaucratic machinery to administer an entire kingdom often transfer some authority to feudal noblemen, typically in return for tax revenues and military service. In turn, these noblemen may delegate power to lesser noblemen, and so on. The nobleman becomes a government in miniature. Feudal lords emphasize their martial functions, but they are administrators and judges, too, assessing taxes and hearing court cases. As the owners of vast farmlands, they are ultimately important farmers whose decisions strongly influence how peasants till their own fields. Balancing their martial, agricultural and judicial duties is not an easy task.

Firefighter

In wooden cities, fires are a constant hazard. Most cultures let fires run their course or fight them with volunteer bucket brigades, but some, like Ancient Rome, employ true firefighters, publicly or privately run gangs who often extort money from unlucky blaze victims before rendering services. The Roman vigiles, a highly efficient corps of firefighter/watchmen, represent the epitome of ancient firefighting potential. Fantasy cities might use professional firefighters as well.

Fisherman

Any culture that knows the sea knows it can be a source of food. While commercial fishing often involves ships, in some places and times, people live by fishing off a small boat, seashore or riverbank using lines or nets, alone or in small groups.

Gardener

Gardens in the broadest sense date to the beginning of small-scale agriculture, and decorative gardening is as old as royal palaces and great houses, going back millennia in Egypt and China. However, little is known about gardening as a profession before the explosion of literacy at TL4. This template represents a plausible working low-tech gardener with some knowledge of technical details, not an upper-class hobbyist (and not the artistic landscape gardeners who appear at TL4 or TL5).

Gatherer

Food gathering has been the greater part of subsistence for most of human history. While hunting returns high-quality protein, it’s often hit-or-miss. Gatherers – women, in most societies – keep the group alive when hunters return empty-handed.

Government Inspector

When empires are large and communications bad, rulers often appoint investigators to remote provinces to insure that local governors aren’t trying to usurp their sovereign. Such “king’s eyes” may have bureaucratic, military or clerical backgrounds and travel in small groups. They are often auditors, royal representatives or spies – and often all of the above.

Guildmaster

Guildmasters, managers of guilds, typically rise from the ranks of the guild itself. Important qualifications include being a master (see the Artisan, p. 15) and demonstrating a high level of skill. Ultimately, however, the other masters of the guild select their leader (after payment of appropriate fees, of course). Sometimes, this results in generational conflicts as older masters refuse to elevate junior guildsmen in order to preserve their own power. The masters typically act as a committee when performing guild business, though they might elect chairmen or treasurers to handle administrative tasks. Within the guild, the power of the masters is nearly absolute. The masters have sole authority to induct new members, discipline troublemakers and collect taxes levied on the guild by civic and regional rulers. The power and status of guildmasters outside the guild depends on the power of the guild itself. In some societies, guilds are organized largely to make tradesmen easier to tax, the guilds themselves holding little power. In others, guilds are powerful players in civic politics. Like modern unions, they can and do inconvenience rulers by striking, and guildmasters are often guaranteed seats on advisory councils.

Herald

Heralds are tournament referees and pageant organizers hired to proclaim the praises of their employers. They wear tabards embroidered with their lords’ coats of arms, or if freelance, with the arms of past patrons.

Herder

Herders have tended flocks since the dawn of animal domestication. Most herders are nomadic, roaming as the seasons dictate, but permanent settlements also support beasts and their keepers. Herders are usually respected members of their communities, and in some societies, they may be members of the upper classes.

Hermit

Hermits are solitary ascetics who spend their time fasting, praying, meditating, performing penitence or sacrifice and receiving those who seek blessings or advice. Unlike ascetic monks, hermits isolate themselves from virtually all contact, even from fellow devotees.

Hunter

The wilderness is a punishing environment, and those who rely on it for sustenance must be tough, resourceful and alert. By venturing out, the hunter faces not only elusive prey but also unpredictable weather, difficult terrain and even tribal enemies should he stray too far.

Innkeeper

Innkeepers provide safe lodging to travelers – in theory. In reality, inns are usually quite spartan and may be dens of cut-throats; sensible travelers likely lodge elsewhere. Innkeepers often employ a small staff or servers, cooks, grooms and bouncers.

Interpreter

Interpreters are often retainers (or even slaves) of those who need them: noblemen, governors, merchants and generals traveling among, ruling over, doing business with, or fighting against foreigners. Negotiations often require immediate verbal interpreting, a task requiring intense language training; correspondence means written translations. Interpreters also serve as language teachers or secretaries.

Jailer

In many ancient cultures prisons are few – dismemberment, exile and death are preferred methods of dealing with criminals. Jails are frequently small and run-down with the jailer as the sole employee. In turn, most jailers and dungeon guards are bitter men who enjoy the discomfort of their prisoners and the power their position affords them; the jailer who shows any compassion is a rare gem (at least where the criminals are concerned). Often despised by local criminals, a jailer’s job can be a dangerous one.

Jester

In virtually every society, jesters, or fools, make others laugh. Because they may speak their mind without fear of retribution, some voluntarily become jesters. Many fools, however, are mentally of physically handicapped individuals given into the care of the nobility by their poor parents.

Jeweler

Jewelers are metalsmiths who work primarily with gold and silver or who work as lapidaries and cut gemstones. In addition to actually making jewelry, they may find employment as assayers determining the purity of metals and as supervisors of national mints. They are generally only found in larger cities.

Judge

Judges administer justice and decide court cases. Those dealing with civil cases might be arbitrators who use their authority or rely on laws, precedents or a sense of equity to induce settlements. Criminal proceedings are often inquisitorial; judge and prosecutor can be the same person. Judges might be appointed, elected, drawn at random, chosen for their moral standing, learning, social status, or even old age! In many cultures, the ruler himself is a judge; medieval noblemen had judicial powers.

Laborer

The laborer is the engine of the pre-industrial world, an unskilled common man or slave who performs any task that requires a strong back or no particular skill. Depending on his exact duties, he may go by any of several names: dockworker, wood hauler, litter bearer and quarryman are a few, but there are countless others. One thing remains constant, however: his tasks require little more than the strength to perform them.

Lawyer

Lawyers offer legal counsel and represent their clients in civil and penal cases or in other dealings. Most importantly, they speak for their clients, a critical task when lawsuits can be decided by jurors who favor a convincing, entertaining speech over laws and precedents. In lands where political trials aren’t uncommon, the state’s fortunes can depend on the eloquence of an attorney. Good lawyers are worthwhile investments wherever the judicial system is formalized or complex.

Leatherworker

Man has used leather as a material since the Stone Age to make such wide-ranging items as saddles, shoes and boots, bags and flasks, bagpipes, bookbinding, raincoats, armor and wall hangings. Leatherworkers can vary from humble cordwainers to skilled artisans working with decorative stamps and gilding.

Locksmith

Lockmakers find work in even bronze-age societies, and their wares can be quite sophisticated by TL3 (combination locks appear as early as medieval China). Locksmiths might also design cunning traps, secret doors and other security measures, especially in fantasy campaigns.

Majordomo

The majordomos is his master’s chief servant who runs the household, manages the estates, provisions the court and offers advice.

Masseur

Most human cultures practice some form of massage. This systematic manipulation of the body has proven healthful and pleasurable in many places and times. The social role of the masseur, however, varies widely, from doctor to prostitute.

Merchant

Between those who make things and those who use them are the merchants. Such middlemen are relatively rare; most people sell directly to consumers. Merchants usually aren’t well-liked; they produce nothing material themselves and are at least potentially dishonest (they are sometimes even prohibited from holding public offices restricted to “honest” men!). However, merchants are unparalleled in their ability to make money, associating them with the rich and powerful. A wealthy man might employ or finance a merchant to the mutual advantage of both; each makes money, and the financier avoids the dirty business of commerce. Although they might maintain a presence at home, merchants travel more than most, as their function is to go where goods are and take them where they aren’t. Most travel between a handful of cities, but a few travel vast distances.

Messenger

Every culture employs messengers to bear news, orders, and mail across country. Depending on the culture, messengers might travel day and night (using the sun and the stars to navigate), or they might stick to day travel (covering roughly 35 miles per day if on horseback). The messages they carry vary from simple news carried from town to town to personal letters or official decrees. Even when carrying messages between enemies, messengers are specially protected from attack by law. Nevertheless, their job can be hazardous, and they are usually armed – some even possess powers of arrest.

Midwife

Childbirth is especially dangerous for women in pre-industrial societies, so midwives have always been important. Midwives are usually women, and the traditional archetype presents them as wise and generous crones, often possessed of semi-magical skills.

Miller

While others may grind their own grain, millers do it professionally in a mill and run their own operation.

Miner

Mines are obviously vital as a source of metal, but they can also provide coal, salt and vermilion, and even the most primitive cultures benefit from flint quarries. Mining is a hazardous and laborious profession, and miners may be anything from skilled artificers to lowly slaves and prison gangs.

Minstrel

Minstrels provide musical entertainment and often compose their own music and lyrics. They help keep their civilization’s culture alive when few people can read. Traveling minstrels also spread news and new ideas. Ballads often portray minstrels as romantic, wandering, likeable rogues – of course, they write the ballads themselves!

Monk

Monks are part of many religious traditions, and many people retire to or spend part of life in a monastery. Monks can be warrior knights, martial artists, mendicant preachers or cloistered healers sworn to silence.

Mortician

Morticians treat dead bodies to prevent decay, for religious reasons or for sanitation. By performing necessary funeral rituals and arrangements, they free the family of the deceased to mourn. Morticians often hold positions of respect within their communities, because they provide an invaluable service to both the living and the deceased.

Mourner

Families and communities pay professional mourners to take part in funeral rites and corteges and to express the grief of their patrons. The mourners do so in traditional and forceful forms, such as chanting funeral hymns or crying aloud; in ancient Greece they sometimes even pluck their hair or inflict token wounds on themselves to express their grief. Elsewhere they may improvise or declaim poetry about the deceased and his ancestors. The fact that their sorrow isn’t as sincere as the relatives’ isn’t relevant. Rather, they are viewed as unappealing but necessary features of any funeral.

Noblewoman

In societies with limited women’s rights, the daughters of nobles may have very different skills from their brothers. The noblewoman may play many roles: the scheming power behind the throne, the perfect queen serving as the object of platonic love, the spunky nobleman’s daughter, and, of course, the ever-popular “damsel in distress!”

Nurse

Nurses tend children, and wet nurses breast-feed and take care of babies. Wet nurses are usually hired only when a mother cannot provide milk herself, though wealthy women sometimes hire them for social reasons.

Page

The sons of noblemen wishing to become knights must begin their training as pages. The training typically begins at age seven and continues for six years, during which the boys learn the ways of the court, serve noblewomen and begin their academic education, all necessary skills before they can begin combat training as squires.

Palace Eunuch

Palace servants are often castrated to ensure the paternity of the ruler’s children. Procedures are gruesome, and mortality rates are high. Nevertheless, some volunteer for it; eunuchs enjoy a secure income and the opportunity for influence.

Pariah

Every society has outcasts. Whether they’re rejected for disease or accident of birth, powerful social forces such as strict taboos and rigid laws keep these pariahs from “contaminating” society. Outcasts (like the untouchables in India) often serve useful, if menial, roles, while others (like medieval lepers) are segregated or hounded from place to place.

Peasant

From the dawn of agriculture to well into modern times, peasants have outnumbered everybody else by as much as 20 to one. Peasants are farmers who feed themselves and provide excess crops to someone else, typically as tax, rent or tribute to a temple or nobleman. They may sell leftovers for cash or useful goods. Despite poverty and low status, peasants endure as specialists in taking care of themselves. While not so skilled as full-time professionals, they can build their own houses, make their own clothes, supplement their crops with foraged and hunted food and take care of most other needs.

Perfumer

When bathing is rare and spoiled food common, perfumers keep things smelling good. Their clients use fragrances for purposes as far ranging as religious rituals to patrician banquets, and since a pleasant smell is associated with high status, perfumers are valued craftsmen and natural inhabitant of the world of aristocracy.

Philosopher

While most early thinkers who study the universe are priests (p. 92), some low-tech cultures have a class of secular scholars. In such societies, “philosophy” encompasses mathematics and theoretical science as well as ethics, linguistic analysis or metaphysics.

Physician

In settings where magical healing is not widely available, those able to treat sickness and heal injuries are always in great demand. Such healers vary from village herbalists to royal physicians, and practices from bloodletting to acupuncture. Nonetheless, doctors have held high status or wealth in most societies, and they were often among the most educated and skilled people in their communities.

Pilgrim

Pilgrims set forth, often poorly equipped, for dangerous journeys spurred by their faith, vows, penance or a hope in the healing powers of the destination. Their journeys can last years, supported only by alms from fellow believers. Sometimes, religious leaders call for special pilgrimages, but routes to famous shrines are always well-trodden paths. Often, a pilgrimage might be the only chance someone has to leave his home.

Policeman

Policemen keep the peace and enforce the laws of their employers (usually a particular church, government, military or community). Most patrol a specific area (often the city gates), and call in the aid of fellow officers, local citizens or even professional soldiers once a problem is spotted. Other duties may include calling out the time and watching for fires.

Politician

From the Boules of Classical Greece to the senates and councils of Rome, a council of legislators, rather than a single ruler, might govern a city or town (and even autocrats might be advised by a council of popular representatives). Whether chosen by election, lot or inheritance, their day-to-day work is often much like that of a modern, democratically elected representative – theoretically, anyway. In practice, ancient politicians often maintain a grand public front, work for the good of their constituency (their families, members of their social class, etc.) and squabble amongst themselves while producing little actual legislation. However, some politicians are selfless champions of their country.

Potter

Pottery originated in the Neolithic (mid-TL0), and has been used through most of history to make containers, statuary, friezes and ritual objects. Most early potters are women, though more men become involved after the introduction of the potter’s wheel.

Priest

Priests vary from state officials to sequestered mystics, but all represent believers to the divine and interpret the divine for believers. This requires demands on both: priests ask gods to bless believers and believers to follow moral codes.

Professor

In many societies, teachers are tradesmen like any other. Highly skilled teachers can have their own guilds (“university” is originally another name for “guild;” only later does it apply specifically to schools). Professors are distinct from other teachers in that they teach near-adults who have already gained a basic grounding in literacy and perhaps mathematics, rhetoric and theology. GURPS skills of self-expression. Physical and social sciences and humanities do not exist as separate disciplines, but a scholar may end up with any academic skill as a result of his studies.

Ranger

Rangers guard hunting grounds from poachers and protect the wildlife. They sometimes organize their masters’ hunts, prevent other unauthorized exploitation (e.g., wood-cutting, gathering, fishing), and tend the land.

Royal Advisor

Monarchs may believe in their divine appointment, but only crazy monarchs think they can rule without advice. While some advisors are nobility, others come to court via the priesthood, or even as slaves. Sometimes, they are members of minority or oppressed groups; such groups may have unique traditions of education, or rulers may feel safer with advisors who can’t hope to grab the throne for themselves. In fantasy games, advisors may be wizards.

Ruler

“Ruler” is a peculiar occupation that incorporates vast advantages but may be acquired by sheer accident. This template assumes an adult ruler who has achieved the position by birth, conquest, politics, or usurpation.

Sailor

As explorers and merchants brave the high seas in search of new opportunities, sailors do the hard work of getting them there. Seamen raise and lowers sails, row galleys, repair equipment, maintain vessels, load and unload goods and perhaps help steer ships. If the ship is attacked, they usually are expected to defend it. However, sailors often have ample free time. They are generally common men with common tastes, but unlike most, their lives are nothing but travel. Since they are usually far from home, and therefore not in danger of hurting anyone’s reputation, they are often seen as unruly. They can also make a considerable amount of money on the side by engaging in trade on their own. In fact, sailors often carry a small bag of goods which they sell and trade at each new port.

Scavenger

The scavenger lives by his wits and providence. While the job can be viewed as the urban counterpart to the gatherer, it also covers truly primitive groups who neither hunt nor gather. A scavenger has to work hard to keep his belly full by taking what has been left behind – either by his more prosperous brethren or by animals higher on the food chain.

Scholar

Scholars are scientists and philosophers, and often both, since early scholarly careers require less specialization than today. They might be clerics, researchers or original thinkers and experimenters. Most rely on patronage and teaching, and some scholars establish their own schools. These academies might also serve as secret lodges, holding arcane mysteries and hidden lore.

Scrivener

When illiteracy is the norm, the scrivener makes his living off the sheer fact that he can read and write. He works in a market square, writing letters and agreements for those who can’t (and, being more cultured than his clients, offering stylistic advice!). In late medieval times, the scrivener may be authorized as a notary public and can officially authenticate deeds, testaments and affidavits.

Shaman

Shamans act as intermediaries between the mortal and spirit worlds and fill roles of healer, lore-keeper and counselor. Shamanism may be hereditary or a unique calling; often, those with some remarkable feature or disability find themselves in the role by default.

Smith

Many villages host a blacksmith to repair old tools and make a few new ones. The job is part-time for the smith, with most work done during the winter when the heat of the forge is more welcome and his own fields don’t need tending. Because smithing appears somewhat mystical to most societies (the skills take surprisingly long to acquire and the process looks arcane to outsiders), the smith and his shop may be regarded with a touch of superstitious awe. Though rarely great artists or full-time professionals, blacksmiths are vital craftsmen.

Soldier

Tribal warriors, citizen infantrymen and levied peasants do their share of fighting, but professional soldiers’ only job is war. They might be mercenaries, but even patriots and faithful men-at-arms need pay (often loot or rewards in conquered lands). In peacetime, soldiers’ tasks include marching, garrisoning and training; in wartime, marching, killing and dying. Common soldiers are often expendable, but generals can’t make history without them.

Squire

Squires serve as assistants to medieval knights while training to enter knighthood themselves. Typically, this lasts about three years prior to adulthood, but the precise details vary. Indeed, some squires are actually life-long professionals, content never to be knighted.

Storyteller

Storytellers play an important role in pre-literate societies by pre- which a storyteller might delve in his search for new stories. serving history and legends through their tales. Even after the advent of writing, they remain one of the most popular forms of entertainment in both noble and peasant circles. They constantly build their repertoire and might travel far and wide to learn new stories and spread their favorite tales.

Street Kid

The life of the street kid has not changed much over the past two thousand years. Often an orphan, the child of a prostitute or a runaway from an abusive home, the street kid fights in the streets for his mere survival. An unfortunate number of street kids are doomed to an early grave, but those who do survive often become beggars, thieves, musicians or artists.

Sycophant

Powerful people like to be praised, and sycophants do so on a regular basis. Sycophants are parasites who flatter the rich in hopes of personal gain. Their position depends not only on the credibility of their flattery but also on their patrons’ whims; it can be a dangerous job. Some toadies don’t fool their lords but are kept around so the lord can have fun at their expense. Anybody can pay lip-service, obtain a reward and move on, but sycophants live off boot-licking.

Tax Collector

Tax collectors gather revenue by visiting cities, towns, estates or homes. Taxes, which are often paid in kind rather than coin, range from head-count tax (making the collectors essentially census takers as well), land and building tax (tax liability might be determined by anything from the number of rooms to the number of windows) and all sorts of other levies. Collectors might also sit at provincial or city borders to collect customs duties on goods passing through the region. Tax collectors are universally unpopular, and there is often little regulation to keep them from skimming funds or engaging in other sketchy practices.

Teamster

Teamsters drive carts and wagons pulled by horses, mules or oxen. They live on the road while co-ordinating the efforts of several animals, tending them and the carriage, loading the freight and finding their way. Jams of food-carrying wagons aren’t unheard of in the streets of large cities. Civilian teamsters often carry important supplies to armies; they may also carry important passengers.

Thatcher

Thatching, the use straw or grass as building material, is as old as the first permanent settlements. Using whatever material is common to their area, thatchers create walls and roofs that are weather- and verminproof, long lasting, efficient and lightweight. Thatchers complement other builders and create everything from wattle-anddaub huts to the elegant reed roofs of manor houses.

Tinker

Tinkers are traveling repairmen who work with pots, pans, and other common items. They usually come from poorer classes or stigmatized backgrounds, and because they are not welcomed into large organizations like guilds, they must be self-reliant and free to journey to find work or evade the law. Despite this, tinkers have the enviable advantage of free movement, unlike their sedentary customers.

Torturer

Torturers extract confessions, solicit secrets, punish criminals, deter law-breakers, and sometimes torture for “fun,” though they typically work for others such as monks or policemen. Punishment is often a prelude to execution, another torturer duty. Torturers take pains to keep their occupation secret – there’s a reason for that trademark hood.

Tour Guide

Tour guides make their living by showing foreigners local sites. Guides rely on wealthy individuals living fairly nearby, since even relatively small voyages take copious amounts of time under ancient conditions. Most tour guides loiter at busy ports or near city entrances searching for anyone who looks foreign or rich (preferably both) – then they pounce. In many ways guides are like beggars, only they offer some service (albeit often of dubious value) for the money they request.

Town Crier

In times before newspapers, town criers perform the service of informing the public of news and government proclamations. The earliest criers are messengers who run from town to town announcing news. In medieval times, criers perform as spokesmen for the king and enjoy legal protection such that harming them is an act of treason. Criers are often court officials, sometimes elected, and perform other duties related to their position. After reading proclamations, they nail copies to posts or the walls of public buildings.

Vendor

Any town or city has at least a few vendors, and larger cities have a great many. Such peddlers are mobile retailers, selling water, snacks, trinkets or other small, cheap goods to passers-by. The street vendor’s trade is similar to the merchant’s, but on a much smaller scale. For obvious economic reasons, street vendors are found where the crowds are: market squares, main streets, near palaces and court buildings where they circulate through the crowd or set up shop in a comfortable corner; they may also travel door to door. Vendors provide convenience. That is, they sell a drink of water or a skewer of grilled fish here and now so that the customer doesn’t have to run home and back. Cities are small and money scarce, so profit margins are thin in a very competitive environment. Nevertheless, the work is ultimately easy and can be done by children, the infirm and the very old, often part-time to supplement other household incomes. All one needs is a small store of goods (often bought from a supplier each morning), a little equipment (say, a large waterskin and a few cups, a brazier and a little wood, or just a tray or blanket on which to display wares) and a willingness to sell aggressively.

Vermin Catcher

Towns and cities are havens for mice and rats, and fields for moles and other burrowers. Vermin catchers make a career out of ridding clients of these pests. Many use ferrets, cats, or even weasels to find vermin and dogs to kill them, while some employ poisons or traps. Despite the menial nature of the work, vermin catchers are held in high regard and often make good money, since their services are vital. GURPS Merchant to hawk their services, and Cyphering to count their wages. Carpentry allows the building of traps, and First Aid comes in handy in the field.

Woodcutter

The brave and heroic woodcutter, isolated in his forest cottage, is a staple of fantasy and fairy tale, but this depiction does have some basis in truth. In the real world, woodcutters and timberwrights are essential professionals, since they provide the raw materials for ships and buildings, and they clear the land for agricultural development.

Writer

When writing for purposes other than religion and administration is common, writers create transcriptions of oral myths, poetry to be declaimed or dramas to be enacted. Other authors write treatises to inform and train, while others pen fiction strictly for entertainment. Writers often rely on patrons or other unrelated income, because, as the Romans said, “poems don’t give you bread.”