Gypsy

Created on: September 03, 2006
Modified on: July 12, 2010

Outwardly, Gypsies appear as a tightly knit band of entertainers. They dress in bright, colorful clothing without even attempting to match patterns or fabrics. Gypsies wear all manner of jewelry, along with anything that sparkles, clinks, or jingles. You can always hear a band of gypsies coming into town, their small bells tinkling merrily as they dance toward you. Gypsies are always offering to sell brews, potions, and fortunes. Any Gypsy worth his gold hoop earring can sing, dance, tumble, eat fire, juggle, or play the fiddle. Gypsies do anything to amuse the masses and earn a gold piece. The band usually travels from town to town setting up camp and charming or stealing their way through the village. Children love the color and excitement the gypsies bring when they come to town, but the parents just reach for the money pouch to make sure its still there.

Gypsies are primarily business folk, but if they feel that they have been wronged or cheated in anyway, beware the quick retribution of a scorned Gypsy. The women are believed to be gifted in the mystical arts and can make a decent living selling love potions and reading palms.

Because they are vagabonds, gypsies tend to be a good source of information, if you can get it out of them. They usually don’t talk about anything important to people not of their band, but cross their palms with gold and they may tell you what you want to know.

There are rumors of a Gypsy lord who hides himself amongst the different bands and controls the business affairs for all the Gypsies of a particular area. He travels incognito with a group for a while then moves on, seemingly just another band member. But when in the company of solely Gypsies he is treated as royalty.

Gypsies are usually loud and have a colorful demeanor. They are very proud of both their entertaining skills and their way of life and are quick to take insult. If a Gypsy is out-numbered, she will usually try to change the insult into a joke at the insulter’s expense and reserve vengeance for another day. Insult or injury to one Gypsy earns the animosity of her entire band, but gypsies can only be relied upon to help out if the odds are in their favor. Gypsies avoid large battles unless their wagon, or the entire caravan, is at risk.

Role-playing

A Gypsy should have a Romanian/Hungarian accent, but you do not have to upstage Bela Legosi.
Gypsies are always calculating a situation to learn how it will best benefit them, and are not known for displays of selflessness or courage. A gypsy always wants to have the open road as an option, and is unwilling to commit to anything that might tie her to one location or one way of life permanently; of course, most gypsies won’t think twice about lying in such a situation and worrying about the consequences later.

Costuming and Makeup

Gypsies usually where brightly colored clothing and anything garish and attention grabbing as accessories. They also like to festoon their clothes with bells or other noisemakers, the better to remind everyone of their presence.