Describing an Adventurer Culture

At the moment I am in the process of finishing up one of the final sections of the final volume of the Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting, namely an examination of adventurer culture, which in role-playing games often does not stand out from the society at large as much as it probably should. Following is this brief section as it stands now, which I am posting both so that it can be enjoyed by d-Infinity Online readers and also with an eye to crowdsourcing some of the adventurer beliefs and expressions, ala our various "Oddities" posts. So, pertinent comments are welcome! 

At the moment I am in the process of finishing up one of the final sections of the final volume of the Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting, namely an examination of adventurer culture, which in role-playing games often does not stand out from the society at large as much as it probably should. Following is this brief section as it stands now, which I am posting both so that it can be enjoyed by d-Infinity Online readers and also with an eye to crowdsourcing some of the adventurer beliefs and expressions, ala our various "Oddities" posts. So, pertinent comments are welcome! 

 

ADVENTURER CULTURE

Adventurers, a general term for people willing to risk life and limb in search of treasure, comprise an almost insignificant minority within the population overall but are the subjects of many of the stories set within the Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting. 

 

Very few characters of this sort adventure fulltime and most combine these activities with more traditional occupations that include working or pursuing careers as craftsmen, tradesmen, professionals, soldiers, sailors, farmers, and almost anything else. At one end of the spectrum, there is often a very fine line between such characters and brigands, mercenaries, vagabonds, or grave robbers — a line that some adventurers routinely cross — and this can lead to them being treated with some suspicion by authorities in areas where they are active. At the other end of the spectrum, adventurers might represent the interests of cities, states, temples, trading houses, universities, and other legitimate entities and conduct themselves with the utmost decorum. Most, as one might expect, fall somewhere in between.

 

Collectively, adventurers have within certain limits their own culture, customs, expressions, and general beliefs, some of which are described here.

 

* A popular superstition in vogue amongst adventurers throughout the lands of the Mediterranean is that the auspicious number of adventurers in a party should be either four or five; that the first four should consist of one each man-at-arms, priest, sorcerer, and rogue or some obvious variants on those themes; and that there are a number of acceptable sorts of "fifth characters," the most notable being bards.

 

* An idiomatic unit of measurement called the "square," an area five feet wide and five feet long, is common among adventurers and used to describe both two-dimensional areas and distances ("The Orc was about four squares away, so I decided to throw a dagger at it before drawing my sword.").

 

Popular Phrases

Following are a number of phrases commonly uttered by adventurers in various contexts.

 

"Lead the way!": Common response to a companion saying something like "Follow me!" that both affirms the intent to follow and exhorts the person leading to show courage and otherwise provide a good example. 

"Let's roll some bones!": A phrase used frequently by adventurers to convey an interest in engaging in a game of chance using knucklebones, but also as a double entendre to express the desire to initiate battle with opponents. "Let's roll some dice!" is a common variant among characters who play games with dice rather than knucklebones.

"Make a hole!": Expression used when an adventurer is trying to get past people in his way (e.g., when he is trying to push through companions to get to the front line of combat, when fellow tavern-goers are blocking his access to the bar).

 

"Right behind you": Phrase used when someone is dawdling and which can roughly be translated as "Move your ass!"

 

"Yamas, Ya'bas!": A popular adventurer toast that combines elements of Greek and Urban and translates as "To your health, you bastards!"