Paths and ways in a fantasy world are not just occupied with masses of people walking with a few nobles on horseback. They are also clogged with carriages and carts delivering goods. In my own world one NPC used two giant turkeys to pull his coffee delivery cart. The players enjoyed the presence of this NPC so much they kept bringing him back up.
The cabbie or ferien are taxis for a world where there are dragons and very expensive teleport circles.
Cabbie
You help carry people and goods between neighborhoods and distances. Working in urban areas either on the land or water you know the paths between places and the peoples who inhabit them.
The cabbie may pull their own cart, use a pony or even have experience with a two-horse carriage. Often they have a stool to help their clientele into their car. Also willing to talk, even when the occupant isn’t interested, the cabbie can learn the happenings of a region or distract that occupant in such a way that they are susceptible to crimes.
Cabbie (5e / 2014)
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Deception or Persuasion Tool Proficiencies: Vehicles (pick one of land or water) Languages: One additional language, often from a culture that is nearby the home of the character Equipment: Cart, carriage, rowboat, gondola, sailboat (pick one), a lantern with 3 flasks of oil, traveler’s clothes, a trinket, 2 days rations, pouch with 25 silver
Feature: Talk too much
You are a skilled conversationalist that frequently goes on and on. These long talks are often consuming and distracting. Some cabbies and feriens may have allies who use that speech as a distraction to pick pockets or similar events.
Additionally, you pick up the streets, rivers or flyways of a new city quickly almost never getting lost in natural urban areas.
Personality
Use the Folk Hero and Fisher for guidance.
Alternate: Ferien
First, let’s get this out of the way. There’s no simple gender neutral word for ferryman. Similar to Anagod on World Anvil, I appreciate the older English word ferien. As you expect the cabbie knows the streets of a city or the ways between villages, the ferien works the waterways of a land — rivers, canals, lakes and shores.
A scene in Venice – public domain
It’s pretty simple to make the Ferien version. Choose Vehicles (water) and then pick a rowboat, canoe, gondola or tiny sailboat for the vehicle. Nothing else needs to change.
Cabbie (5.5e / 2024)
Ability scores: Charisma, Strength, Wisdom Feat: Talk Too Much Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Deception or Persuasion Tool Proficiency: Navigator’s Tools (2024 depreciated Vehicles) Equipment: Cart, carriage, rowboat, gondola, sailboat (pick one), a lantern with 3 flasks of oil, traveler’s clothes, a trinket, 2 days rations, pouch with 25 silver or 20 gold.
Origin Feat: Talk Too Much
Shoulder talking. When talking to creature with which you share a language (or culture) you are able to distract a non-hostile creature. An ally attempting use Sleight of Hand, Stealth, or Deception against that creature has advantage in the current minute.
Paths and landmarks. After spending an hour in a bar, market, restaurant or other third place in a new non-magical urban area you are unable to get lost.
Cabbie (Black Flag)
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Deception or Persuasion Additional Proficiencies: Vehicle (land, water to be a ferrien) Equipment: Cart, carriage, rowboat, gondola, sailboat (pick one), a lantern with 3 flasks of oil, traveler’s clothes, a trinket, 2 days rations, pouch with 25 silver or 20 gold.
Talent
You are familiar with the conversations and flow of urban places, used to finding your way through new cities and old while talking to people across social class, faiths or ancestries. Pick one of the following;
Polyglot
Trade Skills
Aware
Design Goals
Watching Shadow & Bone, or the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, you see that those who manage transportation are part of fantasy stories. Whether the carriage driver or the polemaster in a gondola, these characters deserve the opportunity to be heroes.
Maybe because I’ve been focused on the bog-city of Sheljar for Dungeon 23 I thought it was time to share this background publicly. The bog-city, or an island city, must have peoples who are dedicated to navigating the waters.
This post was originally written for 5e in January 2023 and updated for 5.5e and Black Flag in July 2026.
Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons
Much of the flavor of the 2014 version of 5e Dungeons & Dragons backgrounds was within their features. These mild mechanics usually made some element of either the social or exploration pillars of the game.
They’re gone, replacing both story and the two minor pillars with a Feat in 2024 D&D. It’s a shame.
Many of my own custom backgrounds sit dormant, because the story was a key part of why they existed. And adding power through a Feat that offers more combat utility is silly.
There’s a solution. The example comes from the Realms books. The Feats there ooze flavor in ways the Player’s Handbook does not.
How can I do that at scale for the 20+ backgrounds I’ve created?
Borrow from themes
Find the origin feats (or talents) that are most similar to the desire and calibrate from there. Skilled, Musician and Crafter are the ones in the 5.5 Player’s Handbook I’ll lean towards. Black Flag expands the calibration in similar ways to the Realms books. Psychanist, Ritualist, Athletic, Polyglot, Scrutinous, and Trade Skills will be referenced as well. Having a bank of ten feats and talents to calibrate against should help.
Walkthrough
Let’s start with the clothier/weaver, which by design leans into tropes around various fictional cults that use threads to see futures.
The original feature with mild mechanics.
Feature: As the Wheel Wills
You have a certain comfort and understanding that you aren’t always in control. You have advantage on saves against fear, charm and other enchantments after the first round in these conditions.
Additionally, you are able to find and protect secrets. When using Insight or Sleight of Hand to keep or discover secrets you do so with double proficiency.
Making it modern
From mild mechanics to direct mechanics is a first step. The second is to calibrate versus similar feats and talents. As the Wheel Wills feels like more of a social feat with hints at magic, but not spell craft. Ritualist, Musician and Athletic have some of the heft I’ll use.
As the Wheel Wills for 5.5e
Due to your understanding of the wheel you have advantage on saving throws against fear and charm after being under the condition for one round. (This is somewhat similar to Athletic)
Also, your experiences understanding that weaving is a physical representation of the connections between peoples you have expertise with one of Insight or Sleight of Hand. (Removing the more situational impact from the previous version).
Another example – Cabbie/Ferien
The Cabbie is an attempt to capture some Shadow & Bone, Narnia, Bridgerton, Gilded Age vibes.
Feature: Talk too much
You are a skilled conversationalist that frequently goes on and on. These long talks are often consuming and distracting. Some cabbies and feriens may have allies who use that speech as a distraction to pick pockets or similar events.
Additionally, you pick up the streets, rivers or flyways of a new city quickly almost never getting lost in natural urban areas.
Let’s convert that
Origin Feat: Talk Too Much
When talking to creature with which you share a language (or culture) you are able to distract a non-hostile creature. An ally attempting use Sleight of Hand, Stealth, or Deception against that creature has advantage in the current minute.
Additionally after spending an hour in a bar, market, restaurant or other third place in a new non-magical urban area you are unable to get lost.
Moving forward
For some reason, unlocking this process within my mind is fuel to move forward with the backgrounds that are necessary to move forward with Uprising & Rebellion into the 5.5 era.
Converting 20 was overwhelming until these thoughts. Plus, with the idea that an Origin Feat can be a General Feat with the addition of an attribute bonus that helps advance the three pillars I’m most interested in — Social, Exploration, Scheming. Because a few of these backgrounds and their newly associated Feats will unlock crafting, business management or militia actions.
You don’t have to be a map maker to make adequate maps for gaming. A map can be as simple as showing the relative relationship between distance and location of the important elements. Even putting a few words on a page can be a map.
Take the word map of the Six Kingdoms. It shows the relative locations and rough distances between the various kingdoms, their major cities and the other lands that interact in the World of the Everflow.
Word maps can also represent a homestead, village or neighborhoods of a city.
Any player can take a quick glance and know what each location is and what they connect to within the compound. More thorough descriptions in a blog post and in the character’s notes, but these quick notecards reminds us of Spinebloom Farms at the table.
Fort Ooshar is a bridge-town that turned into a fortress when Sheljar fell to the Necromancer. This quick sketch lays out the neighborhoods of the bridge-town, the gates, the fields and the nearby hills.
Yes, a better mapmaker would be better. My favorites are Deven Rue and Dyson Logos. I support both via Patreon and use their works in my games.
But sometimes I want something that is unique to my world. That leaves me with my lack of art. I then build a word map.
Keys to making a quick word map.
Decide on the central space
Build outward using relative distance to represent a unit of time
Include evocative names, especially when in tight focus
If building a dungeon, point crawl or town having connective tissue — this can be a road, river, or other path
Leave yourself space to build details and add discoveries
Doing this as a player
Old school D&D involved at least one player making highly detailed maps. But a word map may be all that’s necessary to prevent your party from getting lost. Using a room-and-halls word map by the player helps represent how the characters think.
In essence you are channeling the concept of ‘turn left after the big red barn, go over Herringbone Bridge, take the third path’ into a simplistic drawing.
These are quick, simple and can be done on a 3-by-5 card or as a sketch in something as simple as Paint, Slides, Canva or even in a Spreadsheet (the Six Kingdoms started as a spreadsheet).
One of the special powers of the word map is that they’re quick. You don’t need to search for anything. It’s a sketch that can be done in a few seconds.
Whether as a player or a DM this tool can help you understand your fantasy world better than without a map at all.
The recent addition of Drops subscription content to DnD Beyond is going to challenge me.
I’m running only a single intermittent 5e campaign right now. The Ferments uses 2024 as its base set, but permits things from Black Flag, 2014 and A5e in general, with a quick scan to make certain that the addition fits within the campaign themes and the setting’s common lore.
In the past it’s been easy to judge what works and doesn’t. Book releases are heavily themed. Most grimdark will not fit in The World of the Everflow. Dragon stuff always fits. Giant stuff rarely fits. The new dinosaur book added to Beyond fits well in an undiscovered-to-this-point land.
But now there are weekly drops. The player facing stuff needs a quick review. Maps and stickers won’t matter because we aren’t using the Maps VTT. The cosmetics are fine, because they help a player connect with their character.
Teos explains the broader program.
Evaluating the content to fit The Ferments and The World of the Everflow
First off, the five feats added are all extra planar in a way that has not been explored in our games through the several hundred sessions of play plus writing and backstory. There’s only been a single Warlock.
Those are going to be easy to ignore. If I could toggle them off at the campaign level I would.
All five feats = no
Pact Seeker background = with lore tweak and different feat
Astral Flood = yes, fully
Buzzing Bee = yes, fully
Insidious Rhythm = yes, fully
Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment = yes, fully
Sticks to Snakes= yes, but DM content only
The Pact seeker background doesn’t fit as written. The lore doesn’t work because of the demand that the pact is extraplanar, but if a player wanted to rework that and take a new origin feat it would be allowed. Maybe they are seeking a pact with a religious figure, an elder dragon, a scholar or something similar.
There are also five spells in the first Drops.
Astral flood fits unchanged. The Astral and Ethereal are somewhat merged in my world and opening that up to the physical realm would be devastating.
Buzzing bee is excellent. My first encounter with Bee was the useless cantrip from Unearthed Arcana back in the 80s. This is better and needed. It fits the use of animals for the Kin too.
Insidious Rhythm is a fun spell too. The magic of performance by Bards and others would be the path of introduction.
Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment may not fit combat well. It does fit in social and political settings. Players will definitely find a way to turn a crowded room into a debate-disaster.
Sticks to Snakes is a classic spell, but this version is quite underpowered for 2024. It adds in-combat complexity for low damage. It reads more like a 2nd level spell and not a 4th. For narrative purposes it fits the world well. But it’s a waste for a player. This will be DM content only.
Eleven player facing items this week needed to be reviewed. Next week there will be more. And then there will be more. And more.
It’s going to be too much.
And each drop and each book from every publisher stretches and pushes a world. But fantasy worlds are not only defined by being permissive. They are also defined by what’s forbidden.
Every world a DM and their tables creates can choose to be a global fantasy (kitchen sink) or be as neatly defined as the group wants.
With Drops the default in the Everflow will not be for permission, but to evaluate what a player wants to add as they want to add it in order for us to continue to explore the themes of the world — how strong can the love between person and animal be, who gets to control access to knowledge, how can our local connections make the world better for most.
Not all desert communities are near an oasis. Long ago the Spineblooms settled in a desert area where the West Thundermoon River took a slow bend. Along that bend in the shallow salty marsh they do their best to raise some rice, as well as some fruited cacti, peppers, vines and largeflower onions in pods.
Originally the Spineblooms were a group of goliath druids, frequently connected to storms and fire. For many generations they’ve lived on The Bend in earthen huts only partially protruding from the ground.
Now, most are not magical. Instead they raise birds — herons (to fish), mynahs (pest control), bulbuls (warnings), waders (fishers) — in an aviary. They frequently trade their rice and catch upriver at the Multunyn Trading Post.
The Location
Based on a sketch by the player that included domed buildings mostly underground
Ensuring environmental oddities of The Ferments are included.
Thundermoon River
Slow, wide and muddy at The Bend, the Thundermoon River floods every early spring and during storms. It is the source of water which has to be filtered prior to use.
Auntie Dauthia Spinebloom kée Dustcaller is here during the daytime, fishing.
Elemental affinity: Water
Hazards: People frequently get stuck in the sands, animals do not. Every second round in the river a person must make a DC: 12 Strength check or be restrained.
Allies: Birds from the aviary are common here.
Max occupancy: 10 medium creatures.
The River connects to Spinebloom Commons (the main home) and lower river marsh.
Lower rice marsh
Less productive than upper marsh, the lower marsh is an edge of wild marsh plants and some rice that isn’t farmed. Within the plants one may find a mud mephit rehydrating, or the chwinga family that settled in the Farm.
Elemental affinity: Mud, water, salt
Hazards: Some chwingas settled here after the mephit flood.
Allies: The chwingas may insist they are allies while acting like foes, or they are foes acting like allies.
Occupancy: 5 medium creatures.
Lower rice marsh connects to the Upper Marsh, Spinebloom Commons and to Thundermoon River.
Spinebloom commons
The main home is inside the Commons. It has a large kitchen and a conversation pit with several small beds cut into the earth at the edges. These ‘rooms’ are frequently sectioned off with blankets or robes, with only a tiny shelf for personal goods. At the entry to the hut is a placement for staves, cudgels and gardening equipment.
Every member of the Spineblooms spends significant portions of their days in the Commons. They will clean items, repair them, play, and gather. All property is communal and the next person will want to use it shortly — it gets left there.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, dust, earth
Hazards: Interior has several changes in elevation. The kitchen has many flare ups that could occur. During certain lunar conditions the conversation pit has a dust devil in the center. Exterior is cluttered with loose tools, toys, cleaning pans and other small chore sites. It is difficult terrain and an improvised weapon is always at hand. Creatures knocked prone may take damage from the clutter.
Allies: There are always Spinebloom children present. Roll 2d4 to see how many. Half will be small. 1d4-1 adults are also present.
Occupancy: 8 medium creatures outside and 8 medium creatures inside.
Spinebloom Commons is centrally located and connects to every other zone, except the Path of Dragons.
Guarase traded for many, many books. This works as a Library from Bastions with a single research project per week of Scheming.
Upper rice marsh — also known as Marsh Chwinga
Once upon a time the upper marsh was highly productive for rice, eels and herbs. Now it has long furrows of damage from two dragon/ken invasions and the curse of the chwingas make it flourish for foods while everyone dreads entering the space.
Elemental affinity: Water, mud, plants
Hazards: Chwingas may take a soul. When a creature drops to zero HP and fails two or more death saves the chwingas can choose to stabilize it, mud wrap the body and have it kept until the mud breaks. There is currently an elven mage encased. The Spineblooms have not attempted to free the elf as its group tried to damage their home.
Allies: In this space the Chwingas act through their blue thoughts, sideways from morality of people.
Occupancy: 7 medium creatures.
Chwinga marsh connects to the lower marsh, the Commons and the aviary.
Unkie homes
Adult and middle aged men are the Unkies. They are kept aside from the Commons and the Aunties. They maintain the extremely competitive nature of goliaths, using their abilities and size to show off during the days.
Most of the Spinebloom Unkies came of age during The Awakening. The elements rage within them, frequently out of control. Lalok is peaceful. Others have wandered away with the few that stay not quite fitting in with the farm’s demeanor weaving with nature and kin to grow and thrive as one.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, fire, air, water
Hazards: These homes have doors with locks and they can be barred from the outside. Random spouts of elemental anger pop up regularly.
Allies: Unkies are usually around, but disorganized and will wrestle solo.
Occupancy: 5 medium creatures outside. Each hut fits 1.
Unkie homes connect to the Aunties, to the Commons, to the River and to the path.
The Unkies are also trained to Rally and Funnel (militia actions).
Auntie homes
Most of the women of the family live in smaller huts here by ones and twos. These small dugouts are protection from the elements, but few have cooking hearths.
Two took significant damage during a dragon attack, one of which collapsed and is now a pit.
Elemental affinity: Hearth, dust
Hazards: The pit-home is a ten-foot fall.
Allies: Aunties are frequently in the area able to help with militia actions.
Occupancy: This is a larger space able to hold 12 medium creatures outside.
Auntie homes connect to the Unkie homes, the path, the aviary and the Commons.
Fruitful Aviary
A mix of cacti and spined bushes the aviary is the home of the non-waterfowl that companion with the Spineblooms. Some of the cacti have fruits that the family eat, turn into jam, and use for meads.
Unkie Lalok Goateye Spinebloom is found at the aviary most times of the day, sometimes sleeping near the spiney bushes. He can create a small pool of water for the bird bath if need be.
Elemental affinity: Plants, water
Hazards: The maze of briars and cacti are spiny everywhere. Those knocked prone will take damage.
Allies: Many birds and Unkie Lalok are present
Occupancy: 4 medium creatures usually separated by the plants.
The fruitful aviary connects to the Commons, the Path of Dragons, the auntie homes and the upper marsh.
Inside the fruitful aviary is an optical telegraph that looks like a large, janky spire. The telegraph connects to Ellis Mills at Pirna Farms. Three small mousekin operate it and stay in a small hut at its base.
Path of dragons
A few months ago this path was simply “the path.” It is bare trail with scratched ruts in hard dirt that heads towards the West Thundermoon Mountains.
Then dragons and their ken attacked. They attacked again. Since the river is where the Maltunyans visit, the path is now the Path of Dragons. Everyone assumes more dragons are coming soon. They left one of their own behind.
Elemental affinity: Dust, sand
Hazards: Drakes, dragons and their Ken may come at any time.
Allies: None
Occupancy: There is no limit.
The Path connects to the Auntie and Unkie homes.
Recently Guarase created a system of locks and canals to flood the path of dragons. A militia action can activate these. When this happens the Path of Dragons becomes difficult terrain and the rushing waters cause disadvantage on Dex-based d20 Tests.
Ask a Spinebloom and Auntie Dauthia is a Spinebloom. If you can convince Duathia to talk she may, eventually tell you she’s a Dustcaller, a separate desert goliath collective that lives even more remotely. She’s mastered the ability to use small dust devils to carry fishing lures and nets around the river, until she catches something.
Every member of the family has a different tale about what Auntie Dauthia did before they found her injured along the path. She was a thief, a sorcerer, clergy with the Reformed Church of Quar, a warrior of the wilds or some other mystical thing. They all agree that there is no better fisher in all the land and likely the world.
Unkie Lalok Goateye Spinebloom
Lalok once left the home to work in a caravan. He’s wandered the Ferments and Western Wildes, seen Telse and the Evereflow, visited the Cliffs of Galinor, and Fort Ooshar. He’s seen everything.
He’ll never tell you about his encounters protecting the caravan. It”s the cities and his friends he tells tales of while sipping on cacti mead and with a flutter of sandpipers around him. He still has a massive pike, a shield the size of a table and a helm missing a third of an eye ridge where is slightly bulging ‘goateye’ is.
Adversaries
Chwingas
These elemental sprites act on their own will, with purposes that center the elements, not people. Though intelligent, it is impossible for normal kin to understand what the chwingas want. They are extremely active when Unkies or ken are in the area. If someone tries to visit the encased elf the chwingas attempt to block that path through mischief and thievery.
Dragons and their ken
Twice ken and dragons struck at the Farm. They damaged upper marsh while attacking the Auntie homes and the Commons. These powerful magic users are not local to The Ferments and remind most of the myths of a time unification, before companionship.
Goblins
A recent raiding party from the south indicated that these goblins know how they can harvest the fires and flames of The Ferments to power their smog-buggies and other creations — as long as someone from The Ferments is with them.
One goblin is now trapped with the chwinga.
Downtime and Quests
Guarase is searching for answers as to why the dragons and their ken came to the Spineblooms. The two attacks leave few clues and lots of damage.
There is a body and two members of the family were away during The Awakening when magic came back to The Ferments.
