Folk Hero

Overview

You come from a humble social rank, but you are destined for so much more. Already the people of your home village regard you as their champion, and your destiny calls you to stand against the tyrants and monsters that threaten the common folk everywhere.

Features

Skill Proficiencies

You have proficiency in the Animal Handling and Survival skills.

Tool Proficiencies

You gain proficiency with a type of tool of your choice and land vehicles.

Equipment

You start with a set of tools of your choice, a shovel, an iron pot, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp.

Defining Event

You previously pursued a simple profession among the peasantry, perhaps as a farmer, miner, servant, shepherd, woodcutter, or gravedigger. But something happened that set you on a different path and marked you for greater things. Choose or roll on the table below to determine a defining event that marked you as a hero of the people.

d10 Defining Event

1. I stood up to a tyrant’s agents.
2. I saved people during a natural disaster.
3. I stood alone against a terrible monster.
4. I stole from a corrupt merchant to help the poor.
5. I led a militia to fight off an invading army.
6. I broke into a tyrant’s castle and stole weapons to arm the people.
7. I trained the peasantry to use farm implements as weapons against a tyrant’s soldiers.
8. A lord rescinded an unpopular decree after I led a symbolic act of protest against it.
9. A celestial, fey, or similar creature gave me a blessing or revealed my secret origin.
10. Recruited into a lord’s army, I rose to leadership and was commended for my heroism.

Rustic Hospitality

Since you come from the ranks of the common folk, you fit in among them with ease. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among other commoners, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.

Suggested Characteristics

A folk hero is one of the common people, for better or for worse. Most folk heroes look on their humble origins as a virtue, not a shortcoming, and their home communities remain very important to them.