The biggest challenge to the people of the Floodplains is the constant struggle for sustenance. Schools of fish are quickly hunted, patches of aquatic vegetation are harvested as quickly as they can grow, and prey animals are caught between man-kind and beastial predators. Luckily, this is by Chaac’s design. He placed these obstacles within the realm to foster a strong survival instinct in the realms’ native peoples. And he is not merciless. New food sources magically appear as often as they are wiped out. Schools of fish spawn from nowhere and aquatic vegetables grow at incredible rates. The true purpose of this design is to necessitate travel throughout the realm and prevent an ‘easy’ or ‘comfortable’ way of life. Through challenge, his people will grow and become prepared for conflict from neighbouring realms.
All this means one of the most respected, proficient occupations within the Floodplains is Hunter-Gatherer. If you are someone that provides for your community, you are someone with potential for greatness. From Fisherman to Diver, the first signs of a reputable figure come from these heroic backgrounds.
In this blog, I’ll detail 3 new backgrounds available to a native of the Floodplains.
Fisherman
With rod and net in hand, Fishermen travel along the rivers and lakes of the Floodplains in search of fish to satisfy the hunger of their community. This occupation comes with no small number of risks, however. Large, aquatic monsters, deadly carnivorous plants, roving bands of Paddler Goblins, and more, all present very possible hazards for someone travelling along the waterways so to be successful as a fisherman, the first lesson thing they must learn is how to defend themselves.
Upon their return with a fresh haul of fish, many fishermen are celebrated and heralded as heroes. All across the Floodplains, it’s not uncommon to see highly proficient fishermen be treated with the same excitement and respect as a famous adventurer.
As a Fisherman, you are the one that sailed out into the dangerous wilderness for the sake of your people. You risked death with every trip and provided a highly desirable service. As well as meals for people to enjoy and trade opportunities for your home, you are in a unique position to offer exciting stories of your daily adventures and these can be just as meaningful to some people. A great story that many fishermen love sharing is their rarest or strangest catch. The Floodplains is full of weird and wonderful creatures and many undiscovered creatures. Further still, if a fisherman learns how to hunt rare and wonderful aquatic creatures they can become famous for establishing a new delicacy or aiding in the research of this mysterious realm. To help you decide what interesting creature you became an expert in fishing, you may roll a D6 on the below table, or simply choose the option you like the most for your character:
| 1. Exotic eels with rainbow-coloured scales. These became the official dish of your home town. | 4. Dangerous, predatory fresh-water sharks that were responsible for many deaths. |
| 2. Large, dangerous crustaceans covered in unique algae, which became a key ingredient in the production of magical potions. | 5. Mysterious, ethereal fish that when eaten, gave the consumer temporary visions of deceased loved ones. |
| 3. A rare magical fish that secrete a numbing gel used in healing throughout the realm. | 6. Shoals of extremely fast, yet very delicious fish, which evade most fishermen easily. |
Feature: Your status as a fisherman grants you a lot of respect and celebrity in locations home to your own race. You will be granted access to certain locations that would typically require an invitation and servers will go the extra mile to please you.
Skill Proficiencies: Survival, Persuasion
Tool Proficiencies: Fisherman’s tools (info at end of post) and Cook’s utensils
Equipment: A fishing rod, A net, Travellers clothes, A strange trinket you fished up a long time ago, Pouch containing 20gp
Suggested Characteristics:
A fisherman might let their celebrity status go to their head and become arrogant or rude, or they might understand the purpose behind why they need to risk their lives for the sake of others and treat others kindly and humbly. Either way, people are forced to rely on them for survival and a fisherman must find their own way to cope with that weight.
Personality Trait:
| 1. I am slow and methodical with my actions. To much is on the line to risk rushing. | 5. I always keep one eye on the water, well aware of the dangers beneath it surface. |
| 2. I am sure of my skills and will confidently put myself forward for tasks. | 6. I will instinctually teach those around me as I work on a task. |
| 3. I work well under pressure and can focus even in stressful situations. | 7. I will purposefully reveal that I was a fisherman to get respect from others. |
| 4. I will only begin my meal once I’m sure others have been provided to first. | 8. I can sit and wait patiently for hours without getting bored or losing focus. |
Ideal:
| 1. Patience: Fishing is a test of patience, and I have all the time in the world. | 4. Education: Skills can be learned and therefore should be taught. |
| 2. Fame: I care about being known and deserve respect for what I’ve done for others. | 5. Tools: Every job has a right and wrong way to do it. It’s important to know which tools to use. |
| 3. Giving: It’s important that others are looked after, especially when they can’t look after themselves. | 6. Survival: I know when to give up and flee. It’s better to go hungry today than never eat again. |
Bond:
| 1. I always return fish that are too small to eat, knowing not to waste a life. | 4. I used to have a partner but after they were killed on the job I chose to work alone. |
| 2. The rivers may kill but the rivers also provide. I am indebted to them. | 5. I secretly hope to run into the monster that destroyed my village. |
| 3. My work is important as it allows me to feed my family. | 6. I hate fishing but will do anything I can to provide for those waiting for me back home. |
Flaw:
| 1. I get frustrated when people refuse to take their time on a task. | 4. I refuse help, assuming I am the best at whatever I am doing. |
| 2. I am unforgiving of those who refuse to learn. | 5. I get angry if someone doesn’t know me. |
| 3. I can be slow to act, failing to react to a situation in time to respond. | 6. I sometimes lie and embellish stories to get respect and glory. |
Diver
While the fishermen scour the surfaces of the waterways for food, a diver descends below the surface in search of aquatic vegetables. This comes with its own set of threats. Aquatic monsters still present deadly situations but carnivorous plants, tangling river weeds and unexpected magics are a more prevalent cause for concern.
Fishermen may be revered as heroes for the risks they take but divers are treated with caution and unease. After all, anyone that would risk descending below the water’s surface must have something wrong with them, right? Despite this, the people of the Floodplains covet the aquatic vegetables these gatherers return with and eagerly accept the ingredients.
As a diver, you had one of the most dangerous occupations in the Floodplains, willingly entering a hostile environment for the sake of the rarest ingredients. You should think about why you had chosen this lifestyle and how it prepared you for life as an adventurer. While diving you might have made all kinds of discoveries of treasures lost to the river beds. This could be a mystery item or a unique relic. To help you decide what mystery item you discovered, you may roll a D6 on the below table, or simply choose the option you like the most for your character:
| 1. The tarnished golden hilt of an unknown weapon, covered with detailed engravings of tall grass fields and a stunning, shining city. | 4. A greyscale signet ring branded with a family crest which depicts a cracked shield in a bed of fanged flowers. |
| 2. The skull of a mysterious creature. No one you’ve shown it to can identify the creature. | 5. A rare underwater flower that has a calming, stress-relieving effect when sniffed. |
| 3. A miniscule building from an impossibly small underwater city you happened across. | 6. A strange stone that crackles with lightning energy and sounds off rumbling thunder. |
Feature: Your reputation for accepting dangerous tasks makes you a desirable acquaintance to many folks. People will actively seek you out with highly rewarding quests when you are within an urban environment. In addition, your history of supplying desirable goods makes people eager to help you. Most people will happily offer cheap tools and equipment if there is potential for a food-based trade.
Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Forager’s supplies (info at end of post) and Cook’s utensils
Equipment: A net, A trowel, Waterproof clothing, The trinket from the above chart, Pouch containing 20gp
Suggested Characteristics:
Divers might be aware of public perception and keep to themselves or be totally oblivious and happily interact with those around them. They might be fearful of their work but understand the importance or potentially feel very at home in the water and not understand what the big deal is. Whatever they feel towards their role as a diver, they understand they it is them that risks their life to provide rare and desirable ingredients.
Personality Trait:
| 1. I try to act fast and get things done as quickly as possible. I’d rather fail once and live to try again. | 5. I tend to be better at reacting to a situation than planning for one. |
| 2. I love the water and will eagerly interact with it whenever I get the chance. | 6. Most of the time I’d rather not know what could go wrong. |
| 3. I become more reliable in high-pressure situations. | 7. I can’t help but grab something edible if I pass by it. |
| 4. I find a way to remove myself from crowds as soon as I can. | 8. If I do a bigger portion of the work, I feel I deserve a bigger portion of the reward. |
Ideal:
| 1. Exchange: Someone should always receive appropriate trade for the work they do. | 4. Reaction: The ability to react quickly and smartly will save your life more often than a set plan. |
| 2. Haste: It’s better to act fast and risk failure than to go slow and miss your moment. | 5. Foresight: Understanding the risks is crucial for survival. |
| 3. Equality: Everyone deserves to be treated equally and get an equal share. | 6. Evaluation: Not every reward is worth the risk. You should know whether something is worth the danger. |
Bond:
| 1. I risk my life diving because my family deserve nice things. | 4. I’ve been training my child to dive, despite my partner’s protest. |
| 2. After losing my mother at a young age, I understood that there is no ‘safe’ job in the Floodplains. | 5. I don’t think the people of my home town deserve the luxury items I harvest but sell them to prevent further discrimination. |
| 3. I secretly wish I could leave the Floodplains for a less dangerous realm. | 6. My mentor died on the job and I ended up taking his role in the community. |
Flaw:
| 1. I take to many risks and wait until the last second to react. | 4. I get jealous of the fame other get, feeling I deserve such admiration. |
| 2. I’m greedy and prefer to keep the nicest things to myself. | 5. I tend to ignore a plan, preferring to act on my own instinct. |
| 3. I can be arrogant and feel I’m more important than I am. | 6. I assume threats are more dangerous than they are and flee sooner than I should. |
Jungle Hunter
Understandably, most of the realm’s food sources are tied to the innumerable bodies of water within the Floodplains and most people rely solely on these resources for sustenance. Jungle hunters, however, avoid the rivers and lakes and instead delve deep into the flooded jungles in search of beasts to hunt and eat.
It is well known that the jungles hold many dangers and unknown threats and as a jungle hunter, you have seen more than most. Violent beasts, exotic plants, giant undead insects, and more all pose a constant threat to those foolish or desperate enough to traverse the jungles. Yet despite this, the reward of a delicious prey animal was enough to tempt you into this hazardous biome.
Spending extended periods of time in the damp, flooded jungles is enough to give anyone lasting trauma. How has the time you spent affected you? Are you nervous to return to similar locations? Have you developed a fear of something from within? Or are you desperate to return and feed upon its bounties once again? To help you decide what lasting effect this job had on you, you may roll a D6 on the below table, or simply choose the option you like the most for your character:
| 1. I fear the dense jungles of the world, unsure of what terrors lie within. | 4. I dearly miss the taste of a freshly hunted jungle creature. |
| 2. I feel uncomfortable when I spend to long away from the rain. | 5. I am highly suspicious of brightly coloured plants or unknown fruits. |
| 3. I am nervous around new bodies of water and need to know their depth before entering them. | 6. I find it easier to sleep under large leaves, as appose to bed sheets. |
Feature: When travelling through forests or jungles you have a natural instinct for if something is dangerous. You can request your DM inform you whether a creature or plant would trigger this instinct and they must answer with a simple yes or no.
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Cook’s utensils and Leatherworker’s tools
Equipment: A skinning knife, A hunting trap, A trophy from a rare creature you hunted, Traveller’s clothes, Pouch containing 8pg
Suggested Characteristics:
As someone that has spent much of their time alone and frightened, a jungle hunter’s social skills might be somewhat lacking. They might be jumpy and restless or dislike open spaces.
Personality Trait:
| 1. I am jumpy at sudden noises. | 5. I hate open spaces, fearing what might see me. |
| 2. I lack many social skills and keep to the point when speaking. | 6. I remain completely silent and motionless while I sleep. |
| 3. I subconsciously mimic birdsong. | 7. I dislike using cutlery to eat. |
| 4. I will take the long way around puddles instead of stepping in them. | 8. I join in when I hear animal’s warning cries, either mimicking them or making similar calls. |
Ideal:
| 1. Safety: After living in danger for so long, I need the assurance that a plan is safe. | 4. Caution: Taking things slow and understanding your next steps are key in survival. |
| 2. Warnings: It is crucial to respect the warnings that are present in the world, both natural and man-made. | 5. Worth: Understanding your own worth and the worth of others allows you to take calculated risks and prevent wasted opportunities. |
| 3. Respect: You must always respect those that are clearly stronger than you. | 6. Cycle: Everything is part of a cycle. There is no beginning and no end. |
Bond:
| 1. My beloved pet companion was slain by something in the jungle and it was my fault. | 4. I fear yet love the jungle. It is my deadly home and place of work. |
| 2. I would take even more dangerous work if it meant I could provide for my family. | 5. I hate saying goodbye to my community for long trips to the jungle. |
| 3. I look after my father who was broken by a life of being a jungle hunter. | 6. I have a lot of respect for the creatures that have made this inhospitable land their home. |
Flaw:
| 1. I am quick to call for retreat, always assuming the worst. | 4. I will sneak off to be alone, getting overwhelmed by large groups. |
| 2. I get distracted by food and can be bribed with a good meal. | 5. I hate open spaces and will actively look for somewhere to hide. |
| 3. I suffer from PTSD and have a number of dangerous triggers. | 6. I have a deep fear of living plant-type creatures and will avoid them at all cost. |
New Tools!
This blog makes mention of two new Artisan Tools for your players. You can find the details of these tools below.
Fisherman’s tools
These special tools include the items needed to pursue a craft or trade. Proficiency with a set of artisan’s tools lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make using the tools in your craft. Each type of artisan’s tools requires a separate proficiency.
Fisherman’s tools include everything you need to successfully capture fish for food or trade.
Components. Fisherman’s tools include a rod, many smaller nets, a variety of hooks and lures, as well as a small pouch of live bait. Live bait must be replaced once a month.
Nature/Survival. Your skill in surviving in the wild has given you the skills to capture fish.
Medicine/Survival. You can use your understanding of the body to successfully prepare a fish for consumption and create rations.
| Activity | DC |
|---|---|
| Capture a fish | 10 |
| Prepare 2 rations (per fish) | 15 |
Forager’s supplies
These special tools include the items needed to pursue a craft or trade. Proficiency with a set of artisan’s tools lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make using the tools in your craft. Each type of artisan’s tools requires a separate proficiency.
Forager’s supplies allow someone to collect herbs, berries, and other plant matter for both crafting and consumption.
Components. Forager’s supplies include a trowel, pruning sheers, a cooling satchel, and several small pouches and vials.
Survival. You can collect edible fruits and vegetables which count for a day’s worth of rations.
Nature. Your knowledge of plant life allows you to search for materials needed in crafting, provided you are in a location in which those materials can be found.
Arcana. You understand which herbs and plants are used in arcane casting and can locate certain material components.
| Activity | DC |
|---|---|
| Collect a set of rations | 10 |
| Search for crafting materials | 15 |
| Locate magical material components | 20 |
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked these 3 new Floodplains-themed background options. You are of course welcome to take them and modify them for your own setting. It was an interesting challenge trying to differentiate between the 3 hunter/gatherer-focused backgrounds but I think I’ve found a nice distinction between each one, and if you like bits from each one, it wouldn’t be too difficult to mix parts of each one into something new! You can always catch me on Twitch or come hang out in our community Discord if you wanna talk about my Homebrews or Veneon in general. New dates for our September community Oneshots will be live in the Discord soon!
As always, may your next session is filled with glory!
Veneon Reforged 
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