100 reasons to quit your job and start adventuring

 A while ago, one of my players was having a hard time coming up with a reason as to why someone of the occupation they rolled up would become an adventurer. I don't think its 100% necessary to come up with an in-depth backstory (although I often do) but I told them there are hundreds of reasons why someone could pursue the life of an adventurer. Here are just 100 of them off the top of my head:

I was a (roll occupation table) but then… (d100 roll twice or until it makes sense)

1. I got my heart broken, out traveling, seeing new things and getting new skills to find myself again. (If the person who broke your heart is still alive 50/50 chance they became an adventurer for the exact same reason.)

2. I joined the Corpse Collectors Guild, a little extra money and a decently good cause.

3. I went into a coma, by the time I woke up the world had moved on without me.

4. I discovered a talent for (class)

5. I wanted to go back to my family roots as a (class)

6. I Became a wanted man under the laws of my home country

7. I had a profound religious/spiritual experience

8. I was rescued by a adventurer caravan

9. I just kind of wandered off

10. I was kidnapped by a adventurer caravan

11. I got into a crazy amount of debt.

12. I was consumed by wanderlust

13. I decided to commit passive suicide by adventuring.

14. I was ostracized by my community.

15. I needed to make an exorbitant amount of money for a personal project.

16. I needed to make an exorbitant amount of money for a sick loved one.

17. I met my mentor.

18. I fell in love.

19. I lost it all in the divorce.

20. I got super lost.

21. I became bound into the service of some kind of higher power

22. I died and was resurrected

23. I got banished to another dimension for a while.

24. I got way too drunk

25. I needed to dodge the draft

26. I wanted to follow my childhood dream

27. I craved violence.

28. I was sent out as a right of passage, never came back

29. I was banished from my home.

30. Someone important to me died

31. I had a strange experience with a magical creature

32. I received a strange omen

33. I got bit by a vampire (no powers, just sun allergy and blood diet)

34. I was terribly cursed

35. I was subject to a miracle!

36. I took a psychedelic drug

37. I went stark raving mad!

38. I got bit by a werewolf

39. I got involved in a shady business venture

40. I got a brain injury which changed my personality

41. I spent some time in the can.

42. I got addicted to a drug that someone else in the caravan is addicted to or grows/makes.

43. My Family got turned into monsters.

44. I developed a fascination with ancient cultures and history.

45. I found out I speak a strange language

46. I received a strange package

47. I encountered a life-changing piece of art.

48. I woke up in a wizards lab, turns out I was a clone, my memories never having truly belonged to me…

49. I got conscripted into an elite training program.

50. I got replaced with a doppelganger, no one believed me.

51. I faked my own death

52. I woke up in a dungeon

53. I was physically enhanced

54. I developed an all consuming obsession`

55. I spent some time working for a military organization

56. I encountered a strange artifact

57. I was mentioned in a prophecy.

58. I wanted to look for a good place for my family to settle down, and make some money while I'm at it.

59. I pissed off a wizard

60. I pissed off a noble

61. I found a manual

62. I made a bet

63. I made a deal with someone powerful

64. I got Freaky Friday’d

65. I Found out I have a terminal illness.

66. I found out the world was going to end

67. I got enslaved, sold and escaped

68. I got sent to the future

69. I got sent to the past

70. I got consumed by a great ambition.

71. I made a friend

72. I had a kid with someone else in the caravan

73. I found out someone else in the caravan is my long-lost parent

74. I made a vow

75. I committed a wrong that I need to make right

76.  I lived with a group of animals

77. I started to remember pieces of a past life

78. I started work as a hireling

79. I got a taste of incredible power and then lost it

80. I got teleported far away from home

81. I found a dungeon near home

82. I discovered a terrible truth

83. I got hope-pilled

84. I found out I have strange ancestry

85. I started pretending to be someone else

86. I got some good advice

87. I got some bad advice

88. I just needed an excuse to get out of the house.

89. I became inspired to write a book

90. I met someone who changed my life

91. My rival started adventuring

92. I witnessed something horrible

93. I witnessed something beautiful

94. I developed a desire to work with more exotic materials

95. I was the victim of a crime

96. I was captured and experimented on

97. I started adventuring on the behalf of someone who could not

98. I ate a magical creature

99. An animal stood up on its hind legs and spoke to me

100. Nothing, I was always both my occupation and an adventurer.

Alternatively, this could all be one character's very complicated personal history.