What Education Did Your RPG Character Receive?

"We can't stay here," Tibald snarled, hammering a fist on the inn's table. "Those things from the caves are coming in force! If we stay here, they'll slay us all!"

"And what would you have us do, hmmm?" Shevan demanded, folding her arms over her chest. "Run? Leave our homes and anything we can't carry for them to take without a fight?"

"We won't be able to hold our walls," Tibald said. "There's too many of them. They'll swarm over us!"

"No they won't," a voice from the corner of the tavern said.

All eyes turned to the man sitting on a high stool. He took a long sip from his tankard, and belched. Wrapped in boiled leather, with a pair of heavy daggers on his belt, he was unwashed, unshaved, and uncouth. But there was something in his eyes that said this wasn't an idle boast.

"Oh, forgive me," Tibald said, directing a mocking bow toward the man. "I forgot we have a warrior of legend in our midst. Surely you'll save us all from this menace, and we can just go home."

The man set his tankard aside, and stood. He wasn't particularly imposing, but there was something about him that made people shrink back. It may have been the scars along his arms, or the black tattoo on the back of his hand, but as he approached the table where the town had been discussing their strategy for dealing with the encroaching goblin threat, everyone fell silent. He studied the map for a moment, lips pursed.

"We lay pitfalls here, here, and here," he said, touching the map in rapid succession. "Block roads along these areas with deadfalls. Gannard, you said there was fish that wouldn't keep?"

"I... I did yes," the fisherman said, his eyes widening at being addressed.

"We can't eat it, so we use it as bait. Worst case scenario, the little bastards slow down and fight over it. Best case scenario, it draws something bigger. If there's any bear musk, spray the area where we leave the fish to make sure the area is dangerous."

He spoke clearly, waving his hands across the map, and pointing out strategic locations. The confidence of his words made it sound like he was merely describing what would happen, instead of what might happen.

"We lay out pitch here, here, and here, creating concentric rings. We station archers in these separate locations with additional shafts, and fleet horses should they need to reposition. Once the goblins attack, and they're within the rings, we light them. Trapped between the flames, they either run toward the spears on the wall, or try to reach the archers outside the fire before being shot down, or burned to ash."

The room was quiet for a long moment. The townsfolk looked at each other, then at the mercenary who'd laid out the plan. Shevan frowned at him, clearly re-evaluating something.

"And how do you know this will work?" she asked.

"It's called the Burning Anvil," the soldier of fortune said. "It's how General Kalmund Gord defeated the Bogwen Trolls at the Battle of Broken Pass."

"And how the hell did you know that?" Tibald asked, his forehead furrowing.

"I graduated the Lions Academy in Karracun," the mercenary replied. "Now, are you all just going to stand around? We have preparations to make!"

You Had To Learn Somewhere

Education is a practice as old as humanity. With that said, when most of us hear the word, we tend to think of modern forms of education. Because the idea that all children are brought to a communal learning place where they're taught the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, then they go to university in order to finish their education and prepare themselves for a career is a relatively new concept... but that's only one form education has taken over the years.

And because a lot of us have this idea that people were stupid in the past (they really weren't), we just assume that fantasy games based of the so-called Dark Ages would just be a slew of backwater beliefs and ignorance. However, most of these same settings have huge libraries, great colleges of learning, guild halls, military academies, monastic orders, and dozens of other ways one might get an education.

So it's often worth asking where your character got their education... because you might find some really unique, or unusual answers to this question. And you should do this with every character, not just wizards, clerics, and paladins (which tend to be the most common classes to have received some kind of formalized education).

As an example, consider some of the following places where your characters may have been taught about philosophy, magic, or practical skills, like:

- Open Air Lectures: Whether held in parks and squares, or taking place in coffee houses, any place where people regularly held forth on academic matters could very well act as free, open-air classrooms.

- As An Apprentice: A 1-on-1 teaching relationship with a master, this is often the way one learns a trade from an experienced professional, or as a member of a guild. If you're looking for inspiration, check out 100 Fantasy Guilds for this option, as well as 100 Sci Fi Guilds.

- Monastic Training: From chained libraries where one might study ancient texts, to the proverbs explained by elders, monasteries are often places of learning. Whether one is born there, left there as a child, or whether they journey there in search of wisdom, one may learn skills and secrets within.

- University: Traditional universities are older than we often realize in our world, and fantasy settings tend to be filled with these institutions. Whether they specialize in arcane studies, musical composition, or war and military strategy, these places are centers of learning that may cater to all kinds of studies.

- Religious Institutions: Whether it was an orphanage run by a church, or you were taken in by the clergy and taught the necessities of faith along with the skills to perform various duties, one may find a mix of the practical and the mystical here. For those seeking examples, 100 Cults to Encounter as well as Cults of Sundara (DND 5E and Pathfinder versions) have several examples. There's also 100 Sci Fi Cults, for those playing games set in the far future, or the very distant past!

- Secret Societies: These groups often have all kinds of agendas, but members may be taught particular skills, or learn certain truths that are concealed from the general populace. Unique languages, spycraft, or even closely guarded magical rituals might all be learned in this way. Those seeking inspiration might want to check out 100 Secret Societies.

- Military Training: Whether it's as a member of a militia, or a sworn sword of a knightly order, those who are trained to fight are often taught a variety of other skills as well. From fieldcraft, to code languages, to trap snaring, and strategy, there's a lot that goes into being a soldier, sailor, etc. For those seeking inspiration, check out both 100 Knightly Orders, or 100 Random Mercenary Companies. For those playing games in sci-fi settings, there's also 100 Sci Fi Mercenary Companies, and the latest release 100 Knightly Orders For a Sci Fi Setting.

This isn't an exhaustive list, of course. Nor does it include things like independent study and experimentation, learning from parents, grandparents, and siblings, summoning devils and angels for their knowledge, finding wandering wizards or hermiting druids to teach you, or the private tutors one might hire if one happens to be a member of a powerful family, a royal bloodline, and so forth.

At the end of the day, however, just like all of our characters had to be raised by somebody, all of them had to pick up their skills and knowledges somewhere. And this component is often forgotten about (or at least not examined very deeply) when we're putting their histories together. So take a moment, and ask yourself how your character learned what they know.

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