Whether it came from army training, time with a mercenary band, a military education, or some less-conventional source, you’ve been taught the art of war. Battle is far more than just swinging a sword, after all, and you likely spend as much time with tactical manuals and maps as you do conventional weapons.

Where did you gain this level of tactical ability? Do you hire your skills out to the highest bidder or did you take jobs on moral grounds? Or do you just seek out excitement and adventure to test your skills?

You’re a hard-bitten veteran accustomed to long marches, short supplies, and the sight of blood. A career as an adventurer seems like the logical next step.

Were you a battlefield soldier in a war between nations? A mercenary or town guard? Were you a front-line grunt, an officer, or a specialist such as a medic or a war mage? Did you retire with honor or in disgrace, or do you still serve?

You’ve had to make a living with your fists, but you’ve never had time to develop a particularly attractive style of fighting. The world is a rough place to make it in, and if that meant breaking a chair over your opponent’s head or taking them down with a grapple, then so be it.

With this brutal fighting style at your disposal, did you seek out excitement and opponents or was fighting for pay merely a grim reality? Did you leave a trail of broken bodies or reluctant admirers in your wake?

You come from a family with hereditary power. Since you’re taking up a life of adventuring, it’s quite likely that you’re a second child or more distant heir with no vast inheritance to look forward to. You’ve got to make your own way in the world with only your years of training from armsmasters and private tutors, your many rich relatives and friends, and your not inconsiderable personal wealth.

How rich and powerful is your noble family? Will the titled head of the family help you out of trouble? What is your family’s coat of arms or heraldic symbol?

Whether you worked as a sentry, constable, member of the city watch, or even a knightly order, rich folk used to pay you to protect them. These days you’re looking after yourself. 

Did you stand watch in a throne room or lookout tower? Walk a beat on city streets? Travel with a caravan? Why did you turn in your badge and sword?