What is an adventurer?

As I was sitting in my comfy living room and reading about inns and accommodation in European Middle Ages, a certain article helped spark a thought in my mind, or rather reignite something that may have been tormenting me (not really) for quite some time now, possibly since I first experienced the might and magic of D&D. The nature of this thought may comprise a significant portion of the existence of possibly all tabletop RPGs and involves the meaning of the D&D adventurer.

Hopefully, an adventurer is not that.

What exactly is an adventurer? Various gaming sources have attempted to give an explanation or two about the band of misfits who usually (and inadvertently) end up saving the world - or condemn it, and it often comes down to this:

A person who becomes rich and renowned through mighty deeds and perilous adventures

Suffice to say, I find this description lacking. The portrayal of the adventurer as the hero who fights off evil, recovers ancient treasures and builds strongholds and fiefdoms feels a bit dry. Certainly, one can have all sorts of juicy and exciting stories unfolded, but there is one critical aspect that occasionally frustrates me in D&D: the characters are often disconnected from society, as if they do not clearly belong in the social structure the fantasy communities are part of. Don't get me wrong, characters may have backgrounds and motivations that specifically engage them in social affairs and can be quite active in the matters of their region, but these don't invalidate the fact that adventurers don't quite fit any social role in a fantasy setting. Characters were given backgrounds/themes across all editions, accompanied by special traits and/or skills (5e uses artisan, knight, noble, outlander and sailor amongst others), but there's no telling what they're supposed to do besides adventuring, a meta-linguistic term used to denote a story in D&D. On the other hand, running the daily chores of a farmer, a fisherman, or a coach-rider isn't all that exciting, is it?

The closest I can liken adventurers to are mercenaries and sellswords, though it can be argued that these people weren't exactly the adventuring type, let alone them being motivated solely by wealth. And during lean times, mercenaries would often resort to banditry and other petty crimes, very unlike the mighty deeds and perilous adventures we mentioned earlier. What's more important is that mercenaries didn't possess any social rank; while having military experience, their usefulness was only situational, compared to a knight or a city guard whose position was clearly defined within the medieval social system. One can claim that adventurers are not driven just by monetary gain, but personal goals as well. I would say a prince may be also motivated by personal goals, but that doesn't make him an adventurer. An explorer, perhaps? A dungeon delver, a spelunker etc? Good call but still, historical explorers possessed other occupations. Leif Erikson was a farmer and a warrior. Pytheas of Massalia was a merchant and a scientist. Ibn Fadlan served as a member of the Abbasid embassy. Marco Polo was also a merchant. On the other hand, adventurers can be something akin to a farmer, a smith, a warrior, a merchant and for some reason they decided to take up arms; I can agree with that. A devastating raid that burnt their whole village and forced the characters into adventuring life, that's a pretty acceptable reason. If I want, however, to use this term to refer to a whole bunch of people doing whatever they know best, and not because of some random incident, I have to construct a class for them to fit in the social hierarchy.

So the idea that stuck in my mind is this: what if the adventurer is a traveller, as expected, but one who keeps the various settlements in contact, over a world dominated by foul monsters and vicious bandits? Imagine a world where merchant capitalism has yet to replace the feudal economic system; ideally, we have a Points of Light setting, where settlements are confined between vast expanses of untamed wilderness, filled with hazards and perils to the brim. Trade within a landowner's region is particularly limited, even non-existent, and only the local ruler has means of communication through a network of spies, scouts, and the military. As in a feudal society, commoners are bound to the land they work for, so movement is not feasible. Villages and towns in a given region are isolated from each other, as there is no centralised government to provide  adequate protection and maintenance of roads. Nobody dares venture beyond the safety of their community, however efficient that is. Enter the adventurers, folk that have travelled far and wide, picking up gossip, rumours, and the occasional trinket. For commoners, adventurers are the postmen who bring news from the neighbouring settlements, such as the marriage of one's relative, the death of another's friend, the struggles or merry times of said town etc; it isn't unreasonable for a family of peasants to approach an adventurer and ask the whereabouts of a specific person in the village directly south of here, or to deliver a message to a poor man's son who got enlisted in the nearby town's militia. Monetary rewards would be typically trivial (a few silver pieces, food and shelter for the night, a cheap trinket) but their social service would be of enormous worth. For craftsmen, adventurers represent traders and merchants, able to pick their crafts and sell them to their next stop; many an adventurer on a cart full of gear has been dubbed a pedlar, for good or ill. Smart adventurers can profit from this type of commerce, even though the life of a merchant is not very appealing an affair. Still, managing and protecting trade routes between towns can result in a prosperous living for both settlements and anyone involved. For the nobility, adventurers can serve as providers of gossip, intelligence over a rival's welfare, or information of any sort. They can also tackle current issues a local ruler faces, like delving into dark dungeons, clearing an area of monsters, getting rid of brigands, defending against raiders etc. While this employment comes with its own risks, its rewards are unmatched, and nobles learn to trust and cater to folk who advance their agendas. It's no wonder most adventurers are therefore drawn around the ruling class, for their chances of gaining wealth, fame, and prestige improve proportionally.

With those in mind, we can henceforth perceive the adventurers as an integral part to the medieval society, an effective carrier of information and goods, as well as able hands (or minds) to deal with local nuisances. Instead of being portrayed as social outcasts who hoard up treasure and make a name for themselves, somewhat detached from the rest of the community, adventurers and societies form a bipartite reliance that is built on connection, transaction, communication, aggression and protection.

In the end, though, adventurers can be whatever you want them to be in your game. Do they have to fit a specific social role in a fantasy setting for them to make sense? Certainly not, as long as you want to narrate an epic story, what purpose each adventurer has is of a lesser matter. What's interesting, however, is the history of the adventurer through D&D editions. I might tackle that at some point.