D&D General What Are Adventurers In Your World?

[Tales and Chronicles]

Its those that wander, without being lost.

Its those seeking to shine without being gold.

Its those who decided to do something with the time imparted to them.

 

[Starfox]

From my provincial background here in Sweden, adventurer (äventyrare) is basically anyone who goes out of their place and class of origin and out into the wide wild world. I guess this idea of what an adventurer is comes from the 19C, a time of colonialist opportunity for Europeans.

Further back, i think adventurer basically translates to mercenary. In times of peace, such an adventurer would not be part of a large company, instead going in small bands and looking for work from the honest tasks of guide, escort, and bodyguard to more nefarious jobs and on to brigandage of their own invention. Many would be the younger sons of nobles.

In my Greyhawk setting, adventurer follows this old pattern above, but it is recognized that there are places of power, and this makes adventurers more socially acceptable. There are many orders open to adventurers who look for status, and with enough wealth and power even an unaffiliated adventurer earns respect and status.

Adventurers are still rare, less than 1% of the population.

 

[Ondath]

The in-game conception of adventurers in my world is something like Salvage companies: They delve into places outside the fringes of society, and recover stuff for people from those areas. Forgotten treasures. Difficult to find ingredients. They usually aim to help people, but they get a cut of the profits in the process.