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After talking about how pre-adventuring jobs can add useful skills to an adventurer, I should probably give some examples. The challenge is that I haven’t held these jobs, so I can easily miss a few things. In fact, I’m working off the fictional version of a lot of these careers since that’s what tends to show up. Feel free to add other careers and their uses in the comments. Here we go.
- Farmer– The most common of adventurer origins. From this life, a person can develop a good amount of strength and endurance. They get used to waking up early and getting right to work. A farmer can also tell of the quality of certain wares when shopping for supplies. They can also have skills in bartering, tending to animals, and food prep.
- Chef– This one is fairly obvious. They can cook and identify viable food sources when in the wild. Less chance of food poisoning and some knowledge of food preservation can come from this career too. If one wants to get flashy, they can note some level of skill with knives and frying pans.
- Blacksmith– Many authors assume that a blacksmith knows how to use all of the weapons that they create. Possibly on a very basic level, but they won’t hold a candle to even a mildly trained warrior. Not unless they have gone through the same training, so what solid skills can come from this? A blacksmith can help to maintain their gear while on the road with more success than others. Similar to the farmer, they would be able to discern quality of weapons and armors that they come across. Finally, they will have a higher level of physical strength and maybe some heat resistance.
- Carpenter– Now we’re getting into the thinner careers where not as much will carry over. Carpenters will be able to make repairs to wagons and note if a structure is sturdy before going across or inside. They can craft small wooden objects such as bowls, whistles, figurines, and other sellable items. Mentally, a carpenter may be fairly cautious and analytical since they would be trained to wait until they are sure before acting. ‘Measure twice, cut once’ here.
- Mason– Similar to the carpenter, the mason would be able to analyze the sturdiness of a stone structure. This is very helpful in ruins where they may be able to see weakened floors and supports. Another use for this skillset could be when an adventurer finds themselves dealing with fortifications. Either they need to build some quickly as an army approaches or they need to get through to the holed up enemy. Masons would be aware of weaknesses in a variety of structures and come up with a plan.
- Tailor– Repairing clothes and other objects that get worn down over time. A tailor may possess a high level of fine-motor control since they have to work with needles. This can help with delicate skills such as lockpicking or fighting styles that put reflexes and grace over power. One can add an attention to detail as well since that would be needed to create durable and beautiful clothes.
- Fisherman– This one is pretty easy to understand. Fishing can provide food as long as there is a body of water nearby. This career requires tons of patience and very good aim if you’re casting out. Both of those skills can be transferred to a variety of situations, including a sniping archer.
- Artist– I can only think of one advantageous skill to come from this career. An artist is more likely to come up with a strange and unexpected plan. Their imagination and creativity can make them a fairly unpredictable adventurer.
Legends of Windemere 
Now I want to write a DND adventure. I hadn’t even thought about using a specific origin as part of a character’s abilities moving forward.
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It’s fairly common in the games. At least when we played in college.
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Sure, I just hadn’t spelled it out like you did. 🙂
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My first series, The Wolves of Vimar, is based on a D&D scenario I wrote for my D&D club in the school where I worked. It changed mightily in the writing, though, and I wonder if any of the players would recognise it.
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The books I’ve seen on Amazon feature janitors and baristas. I haven’t read these series, so I can only guess the advantages. When I read the synopsis of the barista one (and I dare not include a link; my comment yesterday landed in moderation because of the links), the person who was the character was “battle weary” and seemed to take the barista job as a relief from war. Some former soldier characters become innkeepers for that reason.
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Interesting concept. Is the barista and janitor thing a new trend? Also have no idea why links set the system off.
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The barista series is new. The janitors series (the author is Tyler Whitesides) debuted in 2011. So fairly recent too. I have to wonder if the Percy Jackson series was the inspiration since so many people working at the school in the first Percy Jackson book were really Furies and other creatures.
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Maybe. Although, I’ve seen a lot of stories where the adults of a school are secretly creatures. They’re usually bad guys and the kids have to escape.
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Janitors must be having a pop-culture moment, because Jim Hines also has a series involving janitors on a space station getting involved with an interstellar conflict.
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Why do I think there was an old BBC show with a janitor on a space station?
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I think most of these jobs would come in handy on an adventure as you pointed out. I wonder if the artist could do come camouflage work. (Maybe even paint a tunnel entrance like in roadrunner cartoons)
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It’s entirely possible. Though, I think it would take more time than people expect.
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True
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The tailor could come up with disguises, perhaps.
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There you go
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I haven’t given this much thought. I like including jobs as a kind of history, and created the Cartomancers for the Lanternfish series, but they were more setting than anything else. Fishermen often work with cast-nets and even much larger nets. They might be good at concocting traps.
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True. They might be pretty good at working with knots and untangling stuff too.
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Good thought. They often weave their own nets with a special shuttle (needle).
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If the artist is a performer, they would naturally move into being a bard, or perhaps a cleric where they have to give sermons.
A farmer with livestock and a fisherman would be less squeamish about blood and guts, perhaps.
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I would think artists becoming bards would be an obvious lateral move. Good point on the farmer.
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An interesting list, Charles. I have a character who was a shoe maker before running away from home because he hated the job.
I suppose that could come in useful on long treks when shoes begin to wear out.
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True. Maybe basic repairs on anything made of the same material. They could also be able to gather info from footprints.
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