As a beggar, you devote your life to niggling food and sometimes money from passersby.
You are the child of a rich man, or a brilliant peasant boy who caught the notice of a man of the Church. You received a formal religious education in a bishopric or a monastery. Now you are a secretary, an administrator, a jurist, or an architect at the service of a count or a bishop.
You might be a smith, a baker, or a weaver. Choose your craft. You live in a village community or in a city.
You are the salt of the earth, a well-to-do farmer or colonist. Dark Age society depends on your crops, and you work like a horse.
You work in a cathedral city for the burgrave or the bishop. In times of peace, you have little to do but practice with your weapons and keep in shape.
To foreigners, you look like a villager. But villagers know better: your mentor granted you powers of the invisible world. Now villagers come to your hut for a cure or a potion, or for advice about love or birthing a child, the promise of rain and the evil eye. Be wary of the ever-suspicious village priest!
You are an outcast, a drifter, a person plagued by dreams and visions. You grasp at strange clues and bewildering notions. You either hide in the woods or live in a secret community.
You serve your lord in his urban palace or his castrum. Select one of the following functions: steward, headman of the stables, or keeper of the order.You spend much of your day bullying lesser servants to do their work.
You're witty and articulate, dress gaily and are interesting looking, and you love to get attention. You might be adept with chansons de geste (see page 66) - your heroes are Roland, Charlemagne and Alexander the Great - you play a musical instrument, recite poetry and stories that everybody already knows, and are maybe proficient at tumbling, juggling, rope walking, or some other entertaining craft. You might even own a tame bear or monkey!
If possible, you enter the services of a nobleman, whose praises you sing and whose generosity you praise. In return, you hope for gifts and treasures and the security only a court can offer you.
As a mercenary you fight for the highest bidder and then scavenge battlefields for trophies.As a brigand, you may have been the victim of some natural catastrophe or some heinous injustice that changed your life forever. Now you hide deep in the woods and rob traveling monks or traders.
You are a Jew living in a port city or on the outskirts of a cathedral city. You make a living from accounts and agents. You import wine, exotic spices, and silks from heathen countries and sell them to arrogant nobles. Not being a Christian, you are allowed to be a moneychanger and a moneylender.
You live in a monastery, in silence and in prayer, leading a simple life.When you don't pray or sing, you perform domestic tasks, or copy arcane manuscripts from the monastery's library. As a member of your order, you are not allowed to own private property but if you leave the monastery with special permission, you can always count on the hospitality and charity of other monasteries.
You live by the charity of other people. You accomplish a pilgrimage to a holy place such as Jerusalem, amonastery, or a cathedral city housing holy relics.You have your own reasons to be a pilgrim, maybe for the expiation of some crime, the wish to elevate your soul, or simply the desire for adventure in its noblest sense.You could be headed to Santiago de Compostela in Spain,Mount SaintMichel in France, Jerusalem, or Rome.
You are on a mission from the church to enlighten laymen and women in the ways of God. You are an exorcist or a full-fledged priest who is bound to a parish and collects the tithe from the farmers, most of which goes to your greedy lord. Although St. Paul highly commends celibacy and it is strongly recommended, you may have a concubine and even children, though they will not inherit from you.
You're skilled with sails, boats, and ships, and know tides, the wind, and the stars. You have seen Hamburg, Venice, or Constantinople. Life is glorious, except for storms, pirates, and the terrors of the deep.
You belong to a monastic or cathedral school. You are the recipient and the dispenser of godly knowledge. You spend your time reading classical authors, writing manuals, and teaching. When you don't teach you're involved in political intrigues for some good cause.
You are employed by a lord or a monastery to supervise the administration of the domain. Your main task is to collect tax money and dues in kind.
You own a few pack animals or a small ship. You circuit inland, up river, or along the coast for the benefit of your master. You know a lot about that route and its particular dangers.
You are a proud miles, a professional warrior. You are a bold adventurer on his own or hired by a warlord. Your proudest possessions are a horse, a long sword, and chain mail.
As a woodsman you exploit the forest: you might be a hunter, a honey gatherer or a woodcutter who produces charcoal. As a fisherman you are living in a fishing community by a lake or by the sea.