Flag Courier | Background | Dungeons & Dragons 5e | Statblocks & Sheets | World Anvil

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

Flag Courier

So long as there are cities, there will always be a need for long-distance communication. Before the advent of equipment imbuements and incantations permitting long-distance communication the task was often handed to specifically trained people titled 'Flag Couriers'. It was - and often still is a vital role in many forms across Aldrathis with techniques and equipment being honed over generations. The name derives from a practice that became commonplace early on in which a messenger would 'mark' themselves as being available or unavailable for work for an assortment of reasons through a complex code of coloured pieces of cloth, banners or flags attached to their person.

Skill Proficiencies Perception, Animal Handling
Tool Proficiencies Mess Kit, Cartographer's Tools
Languages Common, Undercommon and 1 other of your choice.
Equipment Cartographer's tools, a set of traveller's clothes, a weather-resistant leather satchel for holding letters and small parcels with a concealed compartment containing 15 GP and a bundle of 'marks' (coloured strips of cloth). A mount without a flying or swimming speed, such as a Draft Horse, would also be available (at the DM's discretion).
Lifestyle Modest

Features

Reliable Messenger - Folks from all walks of life can recognise a Flag Courier by their distinct style and their 'marks'. Using your own, you may be able to find work for yourself and your party or pass through certain areas of a city more easily than usual. Certain situations such as working for a noble or royal house may require specialized marks but the most common ones used are:                              

Green Available for work
Red On an active job
Blue New in town
Brown Moving on to new location
White In need of aid/passage
Marks can be a double-edged sword at times, however, as bandits and other unsavoury individuals have been known to often target lone couriers. There are are also frequent reports of freelance couriers being captured and harmed during times of war between two factions.

Suggested Characteristics

Couriers are never the sort to be tied to one location for long, always on the move and making sure the messages that need to be sent are delivered. Though their journeys may take some far afield, others may choose to remain near where they consider home and ally their interests with local factions.

Traits

Ideal


Created by

ansavagegnome.

Statblock Type

Background

Link/Embed