Interplanar Merchant (5e Background)

Interplanar Merchant

The average merchant—whether they are of the artisanal, agricultural, services, or general-goods persuasion—is a stationary creature by rule. Living in a world with untold dangers and lands so alien that they may as well be separate realities, a cost-benefit analysis of trying the unknown versus deepening your roots in familiar territory makes such a decision laughably obvious. Even traveling merchants strictly limit themselves to the handful of routes and regions where they have a firm grasp on the flow of power, people, and coin.

Not you. You are a different breed of merchant, one who thinks not of trade between towns or nations but between entire planes. You've explored cities of breathing metal, watched souls auctioned off like jewelry, talked politics with genies, haggled with devils, and sold equipment to spirits fighting in eternal wars. While others bask in awe at the wonders beyond the material plane, you take notes on geographies, markets, natural resources, power structures, cultures and more, searching for untapped markets. Gems in the City of Jewels can be bought by the pound in silver and sold in Kuo Te' Lung by the ounce in gold. Countless weapons, dark magics, and exotic slaves circulate in the Abyss. Herbs, charms, and potions in the Feywild are practically unbeatable in price and quality. Intrigue from the Lower Planes can hold a good price in the Upper Planes, and vice versa. You've survived long enough to become adept at this unusual trade, perhaps to the point that some powerful bodies have taken an interest in you.

Skill Proficiencies: Survival, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: None

Languages: One from each locale you know very well

Equipment: A set of traveler's clothes, a notebook containing the sigil sequences of one teleportation circle in each of the locales you know very well, and an Explorer's Pack or a Diplomat's Pack (your choice).

Feature: Location, Location, Location

Choose 2 locales that you know very well, and 4 locales that you know moderately well. A locale can be any area in the cosmos with a minimum degree of goods and services trading hands: a large city, a network of towns, an immense building, a traveling warband, or a small demiplane. Possible locales for each of the major planes in the Forgotten Realms Great Wheel cosmology are listed below.

d100	Locales
01-04	The Material Plane (The Silver Marches, Kuo Te' Lung, The Dusk Ports)
05-08	Feywild (Leuthilspar, The Seelie Court, Sildëyuir)
09-12	Shadowfell (Evernight, Gloomwrought, Chaul'mur'ssin)
16-20	The Plane of Air (Aaqa, The Sirocco Straits settlements, The Citadel of Ice and Steel)
21-24	The Plane of Earth (The City of Jewels, The Swamp of Oblivion settlements, The Aviary)
25-28	The Plane of Fire(The City of Brass, The Fountains of Creation, The Crimson Pillar)
29-32	The Plane of Water (The Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls, The Isle of Dread, Triton settlements)
33-36	Mount Celestia (Heart's Faith, Mercuria settlements, Soqed Hezi)
37-40	Bytopia (Dothion settlements, The Mithral Forge, Glitterhome)
41-44	Elysium (The City of the Star, Dweomerheart, Precipice)
45-48	The Beastlands (The Library of All Knowledge, Stormhold, Settlements along Oceanus)
49-52	Arborea (Arkenos, The Crescent Grove, Elshava)
53-56	Ysgard (Svartalfheim, The Gates of The Moon, Himinborg)
57-60	Limbo (The Citadel of Gith, Fennimar, Knight's Rest)
61-64	Pandemonium (The Madhouse, The Supreme Throne, The Unseelie Court)
65-68	The Abyss (The Plain of a Thousand Portals settlements, Zelatar, Zoragmelok)
69-72	Carceri (The Mausoleum of Pain, The Rack of Injustice, Bastion of Last Hope)
73-76	Hades (Oinos warcamps, Nergaltos, Khin-Oin)
77-80	Gehenna (Rictus, The Crawling City, The Tower Arcane)
81-84	The Nine Hells (The Bronze Citadel, Abriymoch, Tantlin)
85-88	Acheron (Nishrek, Clangor forts, The Black Bastion)
89-92	Mechanus (Regulus, Mycelia, Yamapura)
93-96	Arcadia (Abellio settlements, Mount Clangeddin, Heliopolis)
97-00	Sigil, the City of Doors

You've traveled to the locales that you know very well many times, bought, sold, and traded with the locals, and maybe picked up a friend or two on the way. You have a solid grasp of their social, political, and economic systems, where to find particular goods and services, how to avoid trouble, and what kind of physics the plane dictates. If the locale's population is dominated by a single race or creature subtype (such as Devils, Seelie Fey, Gith, or Efreeti), you've become familiar with their history, physiology, motivations, and behavior.

You've traveled to the locales that you know moderately well a few times, but not enough to be comfortable living there. You have a decent understanding of the societal structures and physics of the plane, but haven't yet picked up on some of the nuances known to the locals. Still, you can find what and who you need without too much trouble while avoiding the common tricks, traps, and mistakes that outsiders fall for. You also know basic information about the most abundant creatures and peoples.

Alternate Feature: Elastic Lifestyle

You're accustomed to drastic changes in environment, social structure, and daily routine. Wherever you go, no matter how alien it may be, you can quickly decipher what's expected of you and how to avoid or mitigate trouble. You have a knack for finding people who can give you the lowdown about the area and won't ask much of you in return. If you spend a few days exploring the area, you can get a comprehensive understanding of the physics of the place, the major laws, the societal norms, and the basics of the most prominent groups and individuals known to the public. This process can be more or less expensive (with regards to time and money) depending on how exotic the area is and how amiable the locals are to outsiders. Areas lacking civilization and intelligent creatures, in particular, offer few situations where your experience can be applied.

Suggested Characteristics

d10	Personality Trait
1	I write meticulous notes about every place I visit.
2	I regularly check my surroundings to see if anything's changed.
3	It's common sense to follow the etiquette and expectations of the society you're in.
4	I love to meet exotic creatures.
5	I do business less for the money and more for the enjoyment of it.
6	I think I'm very interesting.
7	Money can absolutely buy happiness.
8	I entertain myself by puzzling through legal codes to find exploits and loopholes
9	I always have an eye out for useful trinkets and magic items.
10	The weirder it is, the more I want to try it.

d10	Ideal
1	Wealth. Money and property come first. (Neutral)
2	Power. Go to the places no one goes and you'll find gear that no one can beat. (Evil)
3	Knowledge. I just want to know how it all works. (Lawful)
4	Adventure. The best feeling in the world is arriving somewhere completely new. (Chaotic)
5	Company. As a rule, I don't leave until I've made two new friends. (Good)
6	The Bigger Picture. If it isn't at least kingdom-scale, it's inconsequential. (Neutral)
7	Unity. My purpose is to bring the disparate races of the cosmos together. (Good)
8	Individuality. I can be whatever I want. (Any)
9	Joy. You aren't really living if you aren't having a good time. (Any)
10	Reason. Everywhere and everyone has patterns they follow, no matter how nonsensical they may seem (Lawful)

d10	Bond
1	I seek a particular set of magic items.
2	I owe a large debt to a powerful being in the Inner Planes.
3	The only constant in my life is my connection to my god.
4	I'm part of a small group of plane-traveling merchants, and they're the closest thing to family I've ever had.
5	I work for an organization with branches and connections all across the cosmos.
6	I'm accustomed to being treated like the spokesperson for my race.
7	My dream is to build a business that becomes the market lead in my good, service, or industry of choice.
8	There's a good chance that I have a few kids I don't know about in different planes with parents I may or may not remember.
9	My schemes have landed me on the shit-list of many beings in the Upper Planes.
10	My partner and I were separated in a plane-shift accident, and I've been searching for them ever since.

d10	Flaw
1	I'm hesitant to break societal rules and norms, to say nothing of trying to change them.
2	If my life is in serious danger, I'm out. No exceptions.
3	I look down on anyone who spends their whole life in the same place.
4	My gut is never wrong, even if there's evidence that suggests otherwise.
5	I long for close companionship, but push away anyone who gets too intimate.
6	I grew up in a place with no other members of my race, so I don't know how to act when I meet one.
7	I get bored pretty easily.
8	There's a particular race or type of creature that I just can't stand.
9	Being the cleverest person in the room is my single source of self-esteem.
10	Living a simple life is living a stupid life.

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(0 votes)

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