Displaced Peasant

SAGA Rules

by Steve Miller

From the Chaos War through the devastation wrought upon Ansalon by the Great Dragons, thousands of men, women, and children have been left homeless. Former farmers, fishermen, and serfs, they have been forced into a miserable existence as beggars in the cities, or nomadic bands of ineffectual bandits on the roads.

Some of these unfortunates give up and let themselves be consumed by their own despair. Others vow to strike back against those who have wronged them any way they can. This latter group can be counted among the unsung and overlooked heroes of Ansalon.

Role-playing:

Generally, as mentioned above, the displaced peasants tend to either be despondent and lethargic, or consumed with a desire to take revenge on the entire world. This need not be true for heroes who take this role. With a Wealth score of 2, they are clearly paupers, but generally heroes can see a way past their current circumstances and are working to accomplish that goal--be it working with the Legion of Steel or a covert Knightly Circle to regain some land, or working on a n entirely new venture, or just working toward toppling an evil lord on his own--while pretending to be just another poor broken soul.

Requirements:

A hero with this role may not have a Wealth score higher than 2.

Advantages:

There are few upsides to the harsh life of these people--except that no one wants to acknowledge their existence. The cities of Ansalon have their own problems and do not want to deal with the ragged refugees, and the rich and powerful don't want to acknowledge the unfortunates either, for fear that their consciences might plague them as they lay in their soft beds at night.

Being that few people even want to look at them, displaced peasants who manage to get a decent set of clothes, need only to perform an easy Presence action to not be recognized by anyone except their closest friends or family members.

Disadvantages:

The "invisibility" of the displaced peasant is a double-edged sword. When he wants to get noticed or receive help from officials or law enforcement, he must successfully perform a daunting Presence action, or be ignored. A mishap during this action will land the hero in jail.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This role was originally slated for Heroes of Defiance, but was cut.

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