Scavenger

Waste not, want not, that’s your motto. It never sat well with you how many perfectly useful things are cast off every day in your home town, and you are determined to set that right. From broken tools and weapons to ramshackle structures just waiting for the elements to knock them over, there’s always a way to breathe more life into the things that others forget. You have a talent for sniffing out whatever odds and ends people need.

Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, Perception

Tool Proficiencies: Thieves’ tools

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: One piece of equipment worth 10 gp or less, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Feature: Finders Keepers

You have an extraordinary knack for locating castoff but still useful material. When in a settlement, you can spend 1d3 hours searching junk piles, dumps, alleys, and abandoned buildings. After this time you discover some piece of useful equipment (generally nothing more valuable than 2 gp), enough food to feed yourself for a day, or a small quantity of raw materials. These materials are obviously used, old, or flawed in some way, but they are sturdy enough for use in crafting or building. Depending on the complexity or size of your project, you might have to spend multiple attempts to gather enough material.

The resulting product using these materials always shows some sign of the material’s secondhand origin, even though it may be fully functional. You can use the items located with this feature, you can’t sell them due to their heavily worn nature.

You also know who to ask to locate rare or exotic items. Given enough time, you can locate a place to purchase or sell strange objects or materials.

Suggested Characteristics

An eccentric inventor in a bustling metropolis looking for just the right size gears. A stranger swathed in oil‑stained robes gathering scrap metal to trade for food. The nervous fellow who always seems to know where to find the perfect glass bottle. Scavengers arise from all walks of life, but no matter how different they are, they share an insatiable curiosity.

Personality Traits
d8 Trait
1 Why spend perfectly good money on something that someone else gave away?
2 I’m a packrat who fills every pocket with bits and baubles.
3 I keep a close eye on anyone who gets close. They might want my stuff.
4 Everybody else calls it junk, but I know it’s treasure.
5 I’m very particular about organizing my collection.
6 I’m always on the lookout for a new source of material.
7 Bartering is better than buying, and finding is better than bartering.
8 I sometimes forget I’m talking to others and end up talking to myself.
Ideals
d6 Ideal
1 Novelty. New things are the best things! Always look for new things. (Chaotic)
2 Sincerity. I’m straightforward in my dealings and work to clear up misunderstandings. (Any)
3 Desire. Someone has to have all the stuff—might as well be me. (Evil)
4 Meticulous. I’m deliberate and ordered in everything I do. (Lawful)
5 Service. I like to make myself useful, and I’m always looking for a chance to do so. (Good)
6 Bargaining. I like to bargain for a better deal, though sometimes I’ll trade away a treasure to the right person or for the right gossip. It’s not always about money. (Neutral)
Bonds
d6 Bond
1 I lost something precious, so now I collect everything I can to try to fill that void.
2 The places I go to collect are holy ground to me.
3 Someone stole something from my collection, and I’m tracking them down to get it back.
4 Crafters who can make new things out of the stuff I collect fascinate me.
5 My collection is more important to me than my family.
6 Someday I’d like to have something from every major city in my collection.
Flaws
d6 Flaw
1 If someone holds my collection hostage, I’ll do just about anything to get it back.
2 I’m oblivious when others don’t want to hear about my collection and tend to drive people away with my chatter.
3 I don’t trust new things that haven’t been broken in. I must put them through their paces before I’m comfortable with using them.
4 I view anything left sitting as fair game, whether individual objects or something I can break down for parts.
5 I borrowed the wrong thing, and now bad people are looking for me.
6 My temper is volatile if anyone messes with my collection.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

Unlikely Heroes for 5th Edition © 2016 Open Design; Author: Dan Dillon.

scroll to top