Pathfinder

While there are plenty of individuals that make their living in the woodland and wilderness, few tend to pick up the benevolent lifestyle of the pathfinder. For every group of bandits, vagabonds, and miscreants that would waylay a traveler on the open road, there is a single pathfinder that acts as rescue and guide. Many of these guides find a home in the ranks of the elves. Others choose to find their own way and make their own rules. The life of a pathfinder is seldom a pleasant one, as every day is spent dealing with suspicious travelers, vindictive bandits, and vicious wild beasts. Even with the hardships, every soul that makes it to their destination with your guidance is a small victory to celebrate and reason to continue on your path.

Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: Cartographer’s Tools

Languages: Elven or Sylvan (choose one) Equipment: Cartographer’s Tools, a hooded lantern, a set of traveler’s clothes, 6 gp, and either a pet frog, lizard, raven, or weasel.

Familiar Terrain

Each pathfinder has a specific area that they call home. While traveling in this environment, your group can’t become lost except by magical means. Depending on your personality and quirks, you may use maps, journals, or it could be that the area’s layout is all safely tucked inside your mind. Roll on the table below to determine your familiar terrain or simply choose the one that best fits your backstory.

d6	Familiar Terrain
1	Coastal
2	Forest
3	Mountain
4	Swamp

Feature: Expert Trailsman

You have traveled hundreds of trails made by thousands of different creatures. You can recognize the differences between a well-used path, a seldom used one, and one that is freshly made. If you follow a trail for at least an hour, you can determine a rough approximation of how many creatures frequent it, along with their size without having to make a Wisdom (survival) check.

Suggested Quirks

Keeping to yourself for days on end tends to make you appear starkly different than those that spend their lives surrounded by the hustle and bustle of society. As a pathfinder, you know more about the pathways of beasts and the tastes of each season better than who might be sitting on what throne. Choose a quirk from the table below or feel free to create your own.

d6	Quirks
1	You prefer the trails of beasts that wander through the wilderness to well-beaten, man-made paths.
2	You find the sound of words grating and often choose instead to communicate using the same clicks and whistles as animals.
3	You love maps and spend much of your time and coin making highly detailed iterations of each region you explore.
4	It’s been ten years since you’ve slept in a fashioned bed and, if you have it your way, it’ll be ten more before you do.
5	You find shoes troublesome and restrictive. You have opted out of ever using such bindings.
6	You believe each path has a story to tell, and you won’t rest until you know what it is.