Background: Viking Raider

You hail from a culture of seafaring warriors and traders known for their longships and fierce spirit. Your people’s reputation as formidable raiders precedes them, but they are also explorers and settlers, braving unknown seas in search of new lands. You might be a seasoned raider, a ship’s captain, or a seer who guides your people’s decisions.

Skill Proficiencies

Survival, Athletics

Tool Proficiencies

Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water)

Languages

One of your choice

Equipment

A set of traveler’s clothes, a drinking horn, a set of bone dice or a deck of cards, a belt pouch containing 10 gp, a trinket from a raid (a small item of value from a distant land)

Feature: Sea Reaver

You are used to navigating the seas and surviving in the wilderness. You can accurately recall any path you have traveled before on sea or land, and you can always find enough food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day, provided that the land offers berries, small game, water, or that the water supports marine life, and so forth.

Sea legs

You’re accustomed to the rocking of ships and the slippery decks. You gain advantage on Strength (Athletics) and Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks made to maintain your balance. Additionally, you gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. This speed cannot be reduced by the natural conditions of the water itself, or inclement weather.

Suggested Characteristics

Viking Raiders are hardy and adventurous, with a strong sense of camaraderie and a deep respect for the gods and the forces of nature. Many are boisterous and love to feast, tell stories, and display their wealth and scars with pride.

Feat: Sea-Born Warrior

Prerequisite: Viking Raider background
You are as comfortable in water as you are on land. You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Strength or Constitution score by 1, up to a maximum of 20.
• You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes at a time.
• You have resistance to cold damage.

Feat: Shield-Maiden/Berserker

Prerequisite: Viking Raider background
You have trained to fight with the ferocity of a berserker or the resilience of a shield-maiden. You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Strength or Constitution score by 1, up to a maximum of 20.
• When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to make an additional melee weapon attack or to shove a creature.
• If you are wielding a shield and a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the creature.

Feat: Runestone Reader

Prerequisite: Viking Raider background
You have learned the ancient art of reading runestones, allowing you to tap into their magic. You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Intelligence or Wisdom score by 1, up to a maximum of 20.
• You can cast the Augury spell once without using a spell slot or material components. You regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.
• You have advantage on Arcana checks related to runes, glyphs, and other magical writings.