Blue Collar

You are a blue collar worker, skilled in a particular field and closely associated with other working class tradesmen. You are a well-established part of the mercantile world, freed by talent and wealth from the constraints of a social order. You learned your skills as an apprentice to a master tradesmen, under the sponsorship of your guild, until you became a master in your own right.

Features

Variant: Merchant

You don't craft items yourself but earn a living by buying and selling the works of others (or the raw materials crafters need to practice their craft). You may belong to a trade company with interests across the region. Perhaps you transported goods from one place to another, by ship, car, or truck, or bought them from traveling traders and sold them in your own little shop. In some ways, the traveling merchant's life lends itself to adventure far more than the life of an artisan.   Rather than proficiency with artisan's tools, you might be proficient with navigator's tools or an additional language. And instead of artisan's tools, you can start with a small truck.  

Trade Business

Unions are generally found in cities large enough to support several artisans practicing the same trade. However, your guild might instead be a loose network of artisans who each work in a different village within a larger realm. Work with your DM to determine the nature of your guild. You can select your business from the table or roll randomly.  

d20	Business
1	Pharmacists
2	Engineers
3	Brewers and Wine-Makers
4	Publishers and Printers
5	Carpenters, Roofers, and Plasterers
6	Cartographers
7	Shoe-Makers
8	Cooks and Bakers
9	Glassblowers and Glaziers
10	Jewelers and Gemcutters
11	Leatherworkers
12	Masons and Construction Workers
13	Painters and Designers
14	Potters and Tile-Makers
15	Shipwrights
16	Metalworkers
17	Decorators
18	Auto Mechanics
19
20

  As a member of your union, you know the skills needed to create finished items from raw materials (reflected in your proficiency with a certain kind of artisan's tools), as well as the principles of trade and good business practices. The question now is whether you abandon your trade for adventure, or take on the extra effort to weave adventuring and trade together.  

Union Membership

As an established and respected member of a union, you can rely on certain benefits that membership provides. Your fellow members will provide you with lodging and food if necessary, and pay for your funeral if needed. In some cities and towns, a union office offers a central place to meet other members of your profession, which can be a good place to meet potential patrons, allies, or hirelings.   Unions often wield tremendous political power. If you are accused of a crime, your union will support you if a good case can be made for your innocence or the crime is justifiable. You can also gain access to powerful political figures through the union, if you are a member in good standing. Such connections might require the donation of money or magic items to the union's coffers.   You must pay dues of 5 gp per month to the union. If you miss payments, you must make up back dues to remain in the guild's good graces.

Suggested Characteristics

Blue Collar workers are among the most ordinary people in the world until they set down their tools and take up an adventuring career. They understand the value of hard work and the importance of community, but they're vulnerable to sins of greed and covetousness.   Use the Guild Artisan tables from the official material.