Backgrounds for Early Modern Cairn

Despite being an inveterate collector of TTRPG books, I'm not much of a Kickstarter guy. I've gotten some reprints and second editions and that sort of thing via crowdfunding campaigns, but I've only ever backed one TTRPG book sight unseen: Beyond the Pale. In that case, I had a lot of confidence in Yochai Gal, whose work I greatly admire, but I also just couldn't resist the premise. As a history nerd, and as somebody with a personal connection to the place and people represented, if a somewhat tenuous one—one Ashkenazi grandfather, one Polish Catholic grandmother—it was so right up my alley I had to jump on it immediately. And I'm glad I did! The book is beautiful, it's full of clever and thought-provoking material, and I'm looking forward to running it…one of these days.

Yeah, I still haven't actually played it. And although that's mostly just because of the vicissitudes of game nights (my older group has been big on long-running campaigns; my newer group, turning away from fantasy, has been doing FIST and Mothership one-shots), but it's also because, almost as soon as I had the book, I got attached to the idea of writing my own backgrounds, more suitable to the quasi-historical setting than the fairytale-fantasy lore of Cairn 2e, more detailed than the 1e backgrounds (or the Barebones ones, now). Like the 2e backgrounds, I want 20, each with a couple small tables to make the characters more distinct and provide some story sparks and setting detail, but for the early modern Eastern Europe of the Pale. Or for a slightly broader early modern, quasi-historical Eastern European setting, somewhere in the borderlands where the tsar's and sultan's (and maybe kaiser's) empires abut one another.

It's slow going, obviously. I have like nine other projects I'm working on and my day job etc. etc., excuses excuses. But I'm getting there! I have all 20 backgrounds planned out and at least partly written, and I've got a few complete enough to send out into the world and solicit input about. Specifically, these:

 

Background 1:

Arithmancer

You are a diviner, capable of peering into the mysterious workings of the universe through the magic of letters and numbers. You can read a person's future in their name or in a random verse of scripture. With access to your favored text, some means to write, and a minute to work in a safe place, you can obtain a one-sentence answer to any question about the future (the words, probably very cryptic, come from the Warden; interpretation is up to you). You're also unusually good at math.

Starting Gear

• 3d6 Groschen
• Rations (3 uses)
• Lantern
• Oil Can (6 uses)
• Dagger (d6)
• Favored Text (see table)
• Quill & Ink
• Notebook (halfway filled already)

d6: What did you foresee that got you into trouble?

1. Pressured into giving the local lord good news despite seeing only dire omens, you skipped town before tragedy struck.
2. You predicted the birth of an illegitimate child that would lead to an inheritance dispute and tear a wealthy family apart. Every party involved—the cuckolded man, the pregnant wife, her paramour—is united on one point: You are a liar and a charlatan.
3. You correctly perceived that one business partner was cheating the other. You just didn't see the murder coming.
4. After you warned the townsfolk that the mercenary company passing through was going to pillage their homes, they tried to bar the mercenaries from the village. Which gave the mercenaries a pretext to stab a few people and pillage everybody's homes.
5. You foresaw a love match between the teenage children of two prominent families who've been locked in a bitter feud. The teenagers fell in love, just as you knew they would, but now everybody thinks it was only because you put the idea in their heads.
6. You didn't get in trouble with anybody else—you just determined that you would have to go abroad if you wanted riches. And you do.

d6: What book of scripture or occult wisdom do you most rely on for divination?

1. The Holy Bible, of course.
2. The Noble Quran, of course.
3. The Babylonian Talmud, of course.
4. The Mandaean Book of the Zodiac.
5. Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia.
6. The Sefer Raziel HaMalakh.

 

Background 2:

Armatole

You belong to what one might generously call a militia, although those who've been at the wrong end of your gun would call you a pandour or bashi-bazouk, not a militiaperson; your area of expertise is more thuggery than warfare. In any event, you're an irregular soldier of sorts, raised from the local population at the ragged margins of the empire to keep the tsar's or sultan's law in the absence of the army. Your loyalty to the distant throne and dedication to the law are both extremely suspect.

Starting Gear

• 3d6 Groschen
• Rations (3 uses)
• Torch (3 uses)
• Flintlock Musket (d12, bulky)
• Cartridge Box (with 20 rounds)
• Not-Entirely-Uniform Costume
• Dodgy-Looking “Official” Papers

d6: Why are you not with your militia comrades?

1. Sent alone (or perhaps in a very small group) on a secret mission. Word of honor!
2. Last survivor(s) of a disastrous ambush, despite your valiant efforts. Word of honor!
3. Ordered to muster for a transfer to a different post, far from home. Had a better idea.
4. Called upon to make a suicidal last stand. Decided discretion was the better part of valor.
5. They turned bandit, those treacherous rogues, but you remained loyal.
6. You robbed a few measly travelers, and those treacherous rogues tried to turn you in.

d6: What special weapon are you carrying?

1. Flintlock Pistol (d10): You just can't have too many guns.
2. Karabela (d8): A sabre with an open crossguard and a handle in the form of a bird's head.
3. Yatagan (d8): A forward-curved war knife with no handguard.
4. Hirschfanger (d6): A straight-bladed dagger with an elaborate horn handle.
5. Warhammer (d8): A small but heavy beaked club for puncturing armor.
6. Arnautka (d12, bulky): A lavishly decorated, deadly accurate flintlock rifle. Attacks with this weapon against targets you can see are never impaired. (Replaces your Flintlock Musket.)

Note: All firearms require a full round to reload, unless noted otherwise. 

 

Background 4:

Dervish

You are a mendicant mystic, trying to approach God by virtuous living and ecstatic experience rather than by religious scholarship. Your faith, or your meditative practices, have unlocked marvelous powers—karamat—in you. (These do not take up inventory space, but only one can be performed, and only once, before you must rest; they otherwise function like Spellbooks. The Warden may allow you, or other characters, to learn additional karamat via long, dedicated study.)

Starting Gear

• Rations (3 uses)
• Torch (3 uses)
• Tabarzin (d8)
• Beggar's Bowl
• Tall Felt Hat (petty)

d6: What karamat can you perform?

1. You have learned the power of folding up the earth, crossing distances without moving. As Teleport in the Warden's Guide (but cannot be destroyed).
2. You have uncanny authority over the natural world. As Control Plants and Control Weather in the Warden's Guide.
3. You have faculties of superhuman perception. As Arcane Eye and Hear Whispers in the Warden's Guide.
4. You can perceive and manipulate the thoughts of others. As Charm and Read Mind in the Warden's Guide.
5. You can cure the sick and heal the injured. As Cure Wounds in the Warden's Guide.
6. You are capable of extraordinary physical feats. As Haste and Leap in the Warden's Guide.

d6: How do you achieve ecstatic communion with the divine? (Spend a few minutes doing this while resting in a safe place to restore your ability to use karamat. This does not reduce your Fatigue.)

1. Dancing. Take a Wide-Skirted Robe (petty).
2. Singing. Take a Small Drum.
3. Composing poetry. Take a Quill & Ink and a Sheaf of Paper.
4. Painting. Take a Paint Pot & Brush and a Sheaf of Paper.
5. Chanting. Take a string of Prayer Beads (petty).
6. Meditating in silence. Take a Stone of Contentment (petty).

 

Background 8:

Exile

Not so long ago, all was right in your world; the fall has been precipitous, and sometimes it's hard to believe what a low condition you've been reduced to. Still, you're safe at the moment, if far from home, and you've been resourceful enough to get through worse scrapes than the one you're in now. Maybe you're at the start of a long, hard climb back to the position of privilege you were once accustomed to. Or maybe you'll make a new life in this wild new land.

Starting Gear

• 3d6 Groschen
• Rations (3 uses)
• Lantern 
• Oil Can (6 uses)
• Dagger (d6)
• Stylish Cape (petty)

d6: What manner of exile are you?

1. Censored Philosophe: Your radical politics or libertinous ideas scandalized your native society. Take a Cane Sword (d6; passes for a walking stick upon cursory inspection).
2. Dekabrist in Hiding: You took part in a doomed attempt to overthrow the tsar—or you're plotting one even now. Take a Bomb (d12, blast, 1 use).
3. Renegade Janissary: When the sultan disbanded your unit, most of your comrades were massacred. You escaped. You had to leave your musket behind, but you still have your blade. Take a beautifully ornamented Yatagan (d8) and a Cloak (petty) to conceal your distinctive tattoos.
4. Jewish Excommunicant: Your heretical theology or philosophy saw you driven from your community. You are truly alone in the world; take an easily concealed Overcoat Pistol (d8) for protection. Also take a Bullet Pouch (with 6 rounds).
5. Outrageous Poet: Once honored at court, you had to flee after insulting the sultan—or perhaps after seducing the tsarina. Take a Kamancheh (or roll on the Muzikant's table of instruments).
6. Disgraced Noble: Some affair of the heart or of honor back home left ruined lives in its wake, and your reputation in tatters. Take a Brace of Dueling Pistols (d8+d8, bulky) and a Bullet Pouch (with 12 rounds).

d6: What potentially dangerous documents are you carrying?

1. A Notebook full of material that would shock the court, whether back home or here in the empire.
2. Indecent Correspondence (petty) from somebody who would surely faint if they knew you had it.
3. State Secrets (petty) from back home, or which might win you a pardon there if you could smuggle them across the border.
4. Plans (petty) for a novel invention that might revolutionize an industry or shift the military balance of power.
5. A Letter of Introduction (petty) to an individual in your new environs sympathetic to your plight or cause.
6. Bearer Bonds (petty) that you cannot redeem here but that could make somebody fabulously rich back home.

 

Background 13:

Muzikant

You might be known as an ashik, a kobzar, a klezmer, or by any of dozens of other names. Whatever people call you, and whatever you call yourself, you are an itinerant musician, an important carrier of news to remote rural areas as well as a beloved entertainer. People will pay generously to hear you perform, and you've learned a few non-musical tricks and talents during your years on the road.

Starting Gear

• 3d6 Groschen
• Rations (3 uses)
• Lantern
• Oil Can (6 uses)
• Quarterstaff (d8, bulky)
• Musical Instrument (see table)
• Letter Case

d6: What sort of music-making do you favor?

1. You like to lay down a foundational rhythm. Take a Plucked String Instrument like the saz, kobza, or bandura.
2. You always want to be the center of attention. Take a Bowed String Instrument like the violin, gadulka, or suka.
3. You love the haunting wail of pipes. Take a Set of Bagpipes (bulky) like the dudy, gaida, or parkapzuk.
4. You enjoy delivering a blast of fanfare. Take a Brass Instrument like the trumpet, sackbut, or serpent.
5. You prefer the mellow expressiveness of reeds. Take a Woodwind Instrument like the clarinet, kaval, or balaban. 
6. What instrument is more beautiful than the human voice? Take a Sachet of Herbs (petty) with which to make a throat-soothing brew.

d6: What useful skills or connections have you acquired during your travels?

1. You're pretty good in a fistfight. (Your unarmed attacks do d6 damage.)
2. There's always a local magistrate somewhere around the area who owes you a favor.
3. You're an incorrigible, and generally pretty successful, flirt.
4. You're familiar with local lore everywhere you go, including some hidden dangers and rumored treasures.
5. You've learned enough of the healing arts to bind wounds and make salves and poultices.
6. You always have a standing invitation to perform at one nearby castle or lordly manor or another.

 

Background 14:

Poyer

Like almost everybody else in the world you know, you are a humble peasant. You might be called peon, mujik, serf, dihkan, or seljak; it's all more or less the same, in the big scheme of things. Unlike almost everybody else you've ever known, though, you find yourself on the road, far from your fields, with coins in your pocket and a weapon in your hand. Your lord, if he could see you now, would strike you dead on the spot.

Starting Gear

• 3d6 Groschen
• Rations (3 uses)
• Torch (3 uses) 
• Hatchet (d6)
• Bucket
• Rope (25 ft)

d6: What dramatic event uprooted you?

1. You sheltered a fugitive from the “justice” of religious hatred. Now you are seen as halfway to being an infidel or heretic yourself.
2. Ruined by an unusually bad harvest, you sent your family to stay with relatives and went to seek your fortune abroad.
3. Bilked out of what little wealth you had by a charlatan, you followed him to seek restitution or revenge.
4. It came to you in a vision: You are destined for greater things than tilling the land for some rich man's profit.
5. You had a brief but torrid affair with somebody of a much higher social station. Their family would kill you if they caught you.
6. A nobleman sexually assaulted one of your family members. You struck him dead in a rage, and are now a wanted murderer.

d6: What token of home are you carrying?

1. The Holy Book of your faith.
2. A Pouch of Dirt from your fields.
3. A Sachet of Herbs (petty) from your kitchen garden.
4. A Charm (petty) containing a lock of a loved one's hair.
5. A Lucky Feather (petty) from your most beautiful chicken.
6. Your faithful Dog. No use in a fight, but has a good nose.