Details
- Abilities: Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom
- Skills: Perception, Survival
- Tool: Navigator's Tools
- Feat: Alert
Description
You serve as a scout and forward watcher, skilled at moving swiftly through wilderness and alert to approaching danger. Your keen senses and steady endurance help you guide others safely, while your vigilance ensures you rarely fall prey to surprise. Trained to navigate and survive in the wild, you are often the first to spot trouble and the last to leave it behind.
Equipment
Choose A or B: (A) Navigator's Tools, a Traveler's Clothes, a Bedroll, a Waterskin, 10 GP; or (B) 50 GP
At a glance
- Table role: Scout and early warning
- Family: Wilderness
- Primary pillar: Exploration
- Secondary pillar: Combat
- Themes: scouting ahead, wilderness survival, early danger detection, navigation skills, endurance under stress
What this background is good for
Choose Outrider if you want a character who turns scouting ahead, wilderness survival, early danger detection, navigation skills, and endurance under stress into usable table momentum. Its skill package points toward Perception and Survival, so the background naturally rewards players who ask questions, notice patterns, and act on practical details. As a Wilderness background, it gives the character a clear place in the world instead of just a mechanical bonus. The Alert feat, Navigator's Tools, and Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom abilities help define how this character contributes before initiative is rolled.
Play this if...
- You want to play a Lone Pathfinder rather than a generic adventurer.
- You want scenes built around scouting ahead, wilderness survival, early danger detection, navigation skills, and endurance under stress.
- You are considering Ranger, Fighter, Rogue, and Druid and want the background to support that identity.
How to play this background
You move swiftly through wild terrain, alert to threats and skilled at guiding others safely through danger.
Table cues
- Track signs of recent passage or disturbance.
- Note changes in weather that affect travel.
- Identify safe resting spots and water sources.
- Spot ambush points or hidden threats early.
- Listen for unusual sounds in the environment.
For Dungeon Masters
Use Outrider when the campaign benefits from scenes about scouting ahead, wilderness survival, early danger detection, navigation skills, and endurance under stress. The Wilderness angle gives you a quick way to attach NPCs, locations, favors, and complications to the character. Build scenes where Perception, Survival, and Navigator's Tools can reveal information, open a route, or change how an NPC reacts. A simple recurring cue: track signs of recent passage or disturbance.