I’d Like To Thank the Little People…

Welcome to Wayfarer Wings! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

From Commoner to Hero

Behind every great hero, especially a hero that rises through the ranks of commoner to leader, there is a community of unnamed, unsung people. What these common people do for a living, what they eat, how they dress and their outlook on life… is far more relevant to the development of your world, and ultimately your hero, than you might think.

You should have a good grasp on what life is like for the normal person in the place of origins for each of your major characters. This is especially true if your character started out as one of the common people. This will give you tons of insight into who your characters are, their social origins, who they played with growing up, what sort of economic standards they hold and their general outlook on life. So much of this will help you to really flesh out a number of important aspects of personality as you will begin to understand where the character came from.

It’s also a good idea to sit down and develop out the common-person’s culture for main cities that your characters might travel through. This opens the door for more realistic interaction between NPCs and side characters with your main characters. Nothing paints the picture of an authentic, bustling fantasy city as giving the feel of what the common folk are doing as your characters walk in.

Designing your Commoner Class

There are a number of factors you can keep in mind while cultivating your commoner class. Here are a few of them to get you started… but by all means, don’t stop with these! And if you can find more to mull over, feel free to let me know.

Location/Climate

The first thing you should think about when thinking about a group of people, is to consider the climate and location in which they live. This really does dictate so much in terms of what occupations, quality of life, clothing, livestock, etc. would be.

Do they live near the ocean? In the mountains? Near a desert?

What sort of seasons do they have? Do they struggle through long cold winters? Is there a rainy season? Is there drought?

Quality of Life

You can measure the wellbeing of an establishment by looking at the quality of life of the largest social group within it. Common people often tend to be considered as poor and hardworking. But what does “poor” mean in your world? Is it a poor with starving people on the streets dressed in rags and begging for their next meal? Or is it poor in that most of their needs are met, sometimes food is a struggle and buying items of luxury is certainly out of question?

Think about the financial state of your city and define the quality of life for the common working person.

Outlook on Life

When your average Joe wakes up in the morning, what does he think? Is it another day at drudgery and back-breaking work with little hope to see anything beyond his family’s survival? Or is it a day to make an honest wage and strive for the betterment of himself and his children? Does the community foster neighbors and well being between people… or is it a dark, cut-throat society where only the strongest survive?

Occupation

A very important aspect of your commoners is their day-to-day jobs. Their occupation will be effected directly by location and climate as work often means food on the table. So consider what makes most sense from a financial and survival means when choosing occupation.

But also consider the quality of work the people have. Are they farmers? And by farmers, does that mean that they farm the lands that has been held in their family for many generations? Or are they serfs that farm the lands of rich lords for their wages?

Is there a system of masters and apprentices in your world? What are the major tradeskills and how is that knowledge passed along over time?

Clothing and Food

Another aspect that depends on things such as location, climate and quality of life. What sort of clothing do they wear? Does this change throughout the year as the weather changes? How does their clothing allow them to realistically carry out their occupations?

What do they eat? How is this effected by climate and quality of life? Is there enough to eat? Are there times when there are famines… and if so, how is this addressed by the community?

Fun and Games

Because everything in life isn’t always about work. It’s important to have an idea of what the people do in their time off. Maybe they stop by the pub for a few ales and a social hour or two after leaving the field? Or maybe, pubs don’t exist… the people are too poor to afford ales… but a good warm bonfire and storytelling fills the need for recreation.

Do they have festivals? If so, what do they celebrate? What are the great legends and stories that they pass down to their children?

What sort of games do they play? Both children and adults. Do they have their own sort of sporting events?

Again… that’s far for a complete list of aspects to look at in creating your commoner class. You can go on and on with education, system of belief, political standing, type of housing… anything that you see in your own day to day life can be applied here.

So next time you go to develop your next great hero, think about the little people that made everything possible.

photo credit: Tim Epps