As part of my continued effort to make 5e’s starting equipment packs more interesting, today I present the Entertainer’s Pack!

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The Pack Itself

The entertainer’s pack is a sturdy leather backpack decorated with swirls of green and red pigment. Thick straps hold a bedroll over the main opening of the pack, making it difficult to access quickly – perfect if you need to put it down beside a stage or table while you perform. The interior of the pack is divided into different sized compartments to make for efficient storage of all the items you might need.

Inside The Pack

As well as the general items carried by most travelling entertainers – a couple of different costumes, candles and rations, and a disguise kit – the entertainer’s pack contains the following:

1. A pair of telescopic poles with heavy bases, joined together at the top with a 10 foot length of wire. When erected a sheet or similar can be thrown over the wire to allow it to function as a makeshift backdrop for your performances.
2. A thick notebook tied with heavy leather cord and stuffed full of handbills and notes on scraps of parchment. This contains songs and stories you have picked up during your travels.
3. A small set of wooden juggling balls, painted in various garish hues. They are housed in a wide tube with a hinged lid, not unlike a scroll case. It is padded with thick purple felt to protect the balls as they are being transported.
4. A felt bag with a sturdy wooden hoop for a mouth attached to a long handle. The bag contains an interior pocket; a hidden switch on the bottom of the handle can be moved with one finger, pulling the mouth of the pocket across the hoop so that it is either hidden or able to be accessed. This is a simple “magic trick” that gives the illusion of vanishing an item placed in the bag, without any need for real magic.
5. A simple jewellery box filled with rings, necklaces, bangles, and other items of jewellery. They look expensive, but on closer inspection all the gold is cheap plating and any gemstones are stained glass.
6. A hand mirror on a telescopic arm with a small clamp on the end. This can be easily clipped to shelves, railings, and the like, so that you can apply makeup and costumes with both hands without needing somebody to hold a mirror for you. 

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Image Credit: The twelth night entertainment in Hanwell Lunatic Asylum. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

The Pack Itself

The dungeoneer’s pack is a sturdy canvas backpack coated with wax on the outside and lined with thick fur on the inside. A series of hook-and-eye fasteners inside the pack can be undone to allow the whole bag to unfold and open up into a makeshift blanket. Thick leather loops attached to the outside of the pack make it easy to hang tools like hammers and crowbars from it, and also mean it can be hung from wall mountings to keep it out of reach of scavengers overnight.

Inside The Pack

In addition to the essentials for any delve into the deep places – a crowbar, a hammer and pitons, rope, torches, and the like – the dungeoneer’s kit contains the following:

1. A ten-foot-long wooden pole divided into ten sections that each fit inside one another, allowing it to be collapsed down to a foot in length with a simple twist. 
2. A leather pouch with a wide mouth that closes with a sturdy leather drawstring. It contains a block of chalk, useful for marking your route or for chalking up your hands for extra grip.
3. A leather strap that looks like a small belt, complete with sturdy brass buckle. A small mirror is mounted on it, with a spike to hold a short candle in front of it. The whole contraption can be mounted on your head to act as a quick and easy headlamp, leaving your hands free to explore.
4. Tapered wooden blocks used for jamming beneath doors, either to prevent them closing or to keep them open behind you..
5. A block of soap wrapped in waxed cloth. Not just for hygiene, this is lighter and easier to carry than oil and can be used as a lubricant in a pinch.
6. A small portfolio case treated with wax to protect it from moisture, used for safely storing maps, notes, fragments of parchment, and the like that may prove valuable in your explorations.

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Image Credit: Geology: two soldiers being shown the interior of Poca Roca Cave. Coloured aquatint, 1801.. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

The Pack Itself

The scholar’s pack is a compact satchel made of sturdy green leather stitched with heavy gold thread. Brass buckles hold the main flap tight to the body, and a leather handle makes for easy carrying. A detachable shoulder strap can be stored in the pocket on the front of the main flap, while a larger external back pocket makes for easy access to sheets of parchment or a slim volume.

Inside The Pack

Alongside the more common scholar’s materials like bottles of ink, an ink pen or quill, sheets of parchment, a bag of sand, and the like, the scholar’s pack contains the following:

1. Sticks of sealing wax in a variety of colours, wrapped in a supple sheet of waxed cotton and kept in an inner pocket alongside a signet ring engraved in intaglio with the scholar’s seal or monogram.
2. A pocket-sized notebook tied shut with worn leather cord, filled with lists of books and manuscripts that you have sought out or intend to read. Those that you have found have been crossed out, but the uncrossed list is much, much longer than the completed entries.
3. A collection of feathers from different birds – mainly goose, swan, and turkey – wrapped in cloth alongside a small knife to sharpen the ends for writing.
4. A flyer torn from a notice board, advertising a display of rare manuscripts at a library in a city you passed through recently. The date of the exhibit is coming up soon.
5. A small brass whistle on a chain, used for alerting people to dangers when working in the deepest, oldest part of the stacks in the library where you trained.
6. A narrow scroll case made of lacquered wood and engraved with the name of the university you studied at. It contains your certificates of merit and letters of recommendation from your tutors.

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Image Credit: A scholar-alchemist pores over a book, searching for. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

The Pack Itself

The priest’s bag is a large backpack made of simple leather, uncoloured and relatively unadorned. The backpack has thick, cushioned shoulder straps and a padded belt that sits on the hips and fastens at the front of the waist to aid in weight distribution – a must-have for a travelling priest set on spreading the good word. Straps on the bottom of the backpack give external space to carry a rolled up tent and bedroll.

Inside The Pack

Alongside the day-to-day items of a travelling priest – a blanket, candles, a tinderbox, an alms box, incense, and vestements – the pack also contains the following:

1. A leatherbound Book of Common Prayer, containing prayers and rituals common to all of the major faiths in the region.
2. A small vial of water from a revered place of pilgrimage. It is not magical Holy Water, but still sacred to you.
3. A set of prayer beads carved from dark wood and painted in swirls of red, green, and purple. They are strung on a simple cotton thread with a silver clasp so that they can be worn as a necklace.
4. A small journal or diary containing your reflections on bits of scripture, the nature of your faith, and your quest for truth. This may be written in a code known only to you. Reading it would reveal facts about you that you may not wish known.
5. A plain wooden box that contains the contents of a simple shrine or altar – a silk sheet, small candles, a statue or idol, and herbs and incense for burning.
6. A glass jar containing a thick, clear substance with the consistency of wax or jelly. It smells faintly of incense and spiced oils and is used to anoint the skin during certain rituals and sacraments.

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Image Credit: A priest pronouncing a benediction on a dead child. Lithograph. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

The Pouch Itself

The component pouch is a small bag made of worn, faded red leather, lined on the inside with blue felt. Supple leather drawstrings pull the mouth shut and are long enough to loop around a belt to ease carrying.

The inside of the pouch is divided into one large compartment and two smaller ones. There are three slim pockets in the lining of the larger compartment to hold longer items like sprigs of wood or sticks of graphite.

The pouch always has a vague smell of must and patchouli, along with the combined smells of whatever is currently being stored inside it.

Inside The Pouch

Alongside more common spell components like guano, chalk, iron filings, charcoal, and the like, the pouch contains the following:

1. Seven dead beetles, preserved and painted in a variety of shimmering colours – cerulean, umber, dragon’s blood, cadmium yellow, emerald, violet, ultramarine.
2. An ivory sculpture of a rotund humanoid with short, stubby limbs. The bloated stomach is painted with a single red eye.
3. A set of 23 brass buttons of various sizes, looped together with purple thread and wrapped in a silk pocket square.
4. A slender glass cylinder, 4 inches long and the width of a pinky fingernail, encasing a single strand of gold thread. It shimmers in light like oil on water.
5. A handful of smooth stone pebbles, each about the size of a silver piece, wrapped together in strong made from dried and wound seaweed. 
6. A stoppered wooden vial containing pink glass that has been ground into fine dust.

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Image Credit: Police raid a lodging house at night and arrest a convicted thief. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1848, after himself. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

The Pack Itself

The burglar’s pack is a slim, low-profile backpack made of green canvas so dark that it is almost black, designed to sit tight against the wearer’s back. Several hooks and slim sleeves attached to the outside of the pack allow quick access to essential items, while multiple external pockets allow other necessary tools to be kept close to hand wiithout needing to access the deep main pocket.

Inside The Pack

As well as the staples – a bag of ball bearings, string, candles, a crowbar and hammer, pitons, a hooded lantern with oil, and the like – the burglar’s pack contains the following:

1. A set of common keys, along with picks and a rake.
2. A small hand mirror mounted on an extendable rod.
3. Cubes of cheese wrapped in cheesecloth, used for calming aggressive dogs.
4. A grappling hook that folds down to the size of a small baton that can easily be slipped into a side sleeve of the burglar’s pack.
5. A long roll of tape or ribbon with adhesive on one side that can be stuck to panes of glass, allowing you to break them without causing them to shatter.
6. A small wax-coated canvas pouch with a narrow mouth that attaches to a tiny bellows. This can be slipped under sash windows and inflated, forcing the window up enough for you to slip a hand beneath it.

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Image Credit: Police raid a lodging house at night and arrest a convicted thief. Coloured etching by G. Cruikshank, 1848, after himself. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)