You come from an academic background, and are a graduate from college or university. As such you hold a qualification (the equivalent of a degree or higher) in a specific subject, and are generally considered an expert in that topic.

What is your area of expertise? What was the learning institution like? Is that subject still your passion, or was your education more the choice of somebody else?

In an age of near-infinite interconnectivity, it is easy for the nuances of a particular culture to be lost, for languages to fall out of use, and crafting or foundry techniques to no longer be passed down in favor of a more generic, mass-produced version. Whether you have been given this responsibility by your people, trained for it by a mentor, or have taken it upon yourself, you seek to preserve features of your culture, (and perhaps that of others). Some who walk this path specialize in a specific facet, such as craftsmanship, dance, or literature, while others are generalists.

You are a detective, called to investigate and solve mysteries—including crime and unexplained phenomena. Gumshoes such as yourself often skirt the law and deploy subterfuge to obtain truth and justice. After all, what lurks in the dark may hunt you, too.

You have joined the Fleet to explore, understand and share. There are a multitude of jobs required to allow such large scale space exploration and as an academy graduate you can perform all of them reasonably well. Be it performing impromptu repairs on a space cruiser or engaging in first contact, you have studied it to perfection.

What brought you to the Fleet? What kind of task do you specialize in? What do you have to find venturing into the vast unknown?

Most researchers take a very slow, methodical approach to their studies, carefully changing one variable at a time and recording every boring result. You, however, take a far more proactive approach, often to unearthly—or even explosive—results. This disturbing, unconventional, or dangerous undertaking may have cost you friends, respect, and even a digit or two. Perhaps you conducted your experiments in secret because of the stigma attached to your field of study, or maybe you joyfully invited the entire academy to view your ongoing work.

You seek the treasures of empires long vanished. The world’s dungeons are brimming with lost secrets and artifacts of unimaginable power—and they belong in a museum, or at least in your living room. While others call you a tomb robber, you consider yourself an archaeologist, a collector, or an explorer.

Are you associated with a wizards’ college or institute of higher learning, or are you a private collector? Are you an idealist or a profiteer? What is the one relic or piece of knowledge that you’d trade anything to find?

You are a seeker of the world’s truths and an expert in your chosen field, with esoteric knowledge at your fingertips, or at the farthest, in a book you vaguely remember.

Why have you left the confines of the library to explore the wider world? Do you seek ancient wisdom? Power? The answer to a specific question? Reinstatement in your former institution? 

You might be a criminologist on the city payroll, a public prosecutor, part of a military tribunal, or a private amateur whom the local authorities rely on to help solve crimes. Consider what case might have most affected you, and whether you are still in contact with any of the victims or perpetrators.

You were a member of a sinister cult. You performed ancient rites found in forbidden tomes, seeking to empower a fiend, a false god, or a terrible being from a strange and distant realm. 

Why did you leave the cult? Did you come to recognize the emptiness of its promises of power? Did you witness horrors that shook your faith? Or do you still nurture its dark edicts in your heart?

You are skilled enough in a trade to make a comfortable living and to aspire to mastery of your art. Yet here you are, ready to slog through mud and blood and danger.

Why did you become an adventurer? Did you flee a cruel master? Were you bored? Or are you a member in good standing, looking for new materials and new markets?