Gamekeeper

You are at home in natural environments, chasing prey or directing less skilled hunters in the best ways to track game through the brush. You know the requirements for encouraging a herd to grow, and you know what sustainable harvesting from a herd involves. You can train a hunting beast to recognize an owner and perform a half-dozen commands, given the time. You also know the etiquette for engaging nobility or other members of the upper classes, as they regularly seek your services, and you can carry yourself in a professional manner in such social circles.

Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: Leatherworker’s tools

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A set of leatherworker’s tools, a hunting trap, fishing tackle, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Feature: Confirmed Guildmember

As a recognized member of the Gamekeepers’ Guild, you are knowledgeable in the care, training, and habits of animals used for hunting. With 30 days’ of work and at least 2 gp for each day, you can train a raptor, such as a hawk, falcon, or owl, or a hunting dog, such as a hound, terrier, or cur, to become a hunting companion. Use the statistics of an owl for the raptor and the statistics of a jackal for the hunting dog.

A hunting companion is trained to obey and respond to a series of one-word commands or signals, communicating basic concepts such as “attack,” “protect,” “retrieve,” “find,” “hide,” or similar. The companion can know up to six such commands and can be trained to obey a number of creatures, other than you, equal to your proficiency bonus. A hunting companion travels with you wherever you go, unless you enter a particularly dangerous environment (such as a poisonous swamp), or you command the companion to stay elsewhere. A hunting companion doesn’t join you in combat and stays on the edge of any conflict until it is safe to return to your side. When traveling overland with a hunting companion, you can use the companion to find sufficient food to sustain yourself and up to five other people each day. You can have only one hunting companion at a time.

Suggested Characteristics

You are one of the capable people who maintains hunting preserves, trains coursing hounds and circling raptors, and plans the safe outings that allow fair nobles, rich merchants, visiting dignitaries, and their entourages to venture into preserves and forests to seek their quarry. You are as comfortable hunting quarry in the forest as you are conversing with members of the elite who have an interest in hunting.

d8	Personality Trait
1	Nature has lessons to teach us all, and I’m always happy to share them.
2	Once while out on a hunt, something happened which was very relatable to our current situation. Let me tell you about it.
3	My friends are my new charges, and I’ll make sure they thrive.
4	Preparation and knowledge are the key to any success.
5	I’ve dealt with all sorts of wealthy and noble folk, and I’ve seen just how spoiled they can be.
6	I feel like my animals are the only ones who really understand me.
7	You can train yourself to accomplish anything you put your mind to accomplishing.
8	The world shows you everything you need to know to understand a situation. You just have to be paying attention to the details.

d6	Ideal
1	Dedication. Your willingness to get the job done, no matter what the cost, is what is most important. (Evil)
2	Training. You sink to the level of your training more often than you rise to the occasion. (Any)
3	Prestige. Pride in your training, your work, and your results is what is best in life. (Any)
4	Diligent. Hard work and attention to detail bring success more often than failure. (Good)
5	Nature. The glory and majesty of the wild world outshine anything mortals create. (Chaotic)
6	Responsibility. When you take an oath to protect and shepherd something, that oath is for life. (Lawful)

d6	Bond
1	I understand animals better than people, and the way of the hunter just makes sense.
2	I take great pride in providing my services to the wealthy and influential.
3	Natural spaces need to be tended and preserved, and I take joy in doing it when I can.
4	I need to ensure people know how to manage nature rather than live in ignorance.
5	Laws are important to prevent nature’s overexploitation.
6	I can be alone in the wilderness and not feel lonely.

d6	Flaw
1	Individuals can be all right, but civilization is the worst.
2	The wealthy and nobility are a rot in society.
3	Things die, either by predators or nature; get used to it.
4	Everything can be managed if you want it badly enough.
5	When you make exceptions, you allow unworthy or wasteful things to survive.
6	If you don’t work hard for something, is it worth anything?