The Down and Out
The player may decide that the character comes from humble or hardscrabble beginnings. Characters from this type of background strive to better themselves and do their utmost to escape their plight. The character either trains incessantly, picking up knowledge any way that they can, or simply is tough and resourceful enough to go out on their own.

Criminal
The reasons for pursuing a life of crime are as varied as the types of crime one can commit.

Self
The Explorer may be pursuing any number of goals or simply wandering the galaxy until something catches their interest. Their main purpose, however, is to discover who they truly are and what they are meant to do with their life. Each new path offers them a chance to learn something new about themself, and each challenge they face gives them insight into what they are really capable of. For many Explorers, this is a journey that will only end with their deaths...and possibly not even then.

Treasures
Some hunt it for the glory. Some hunt it for the challenge. Most treasure hunters do so, however, for the opportunity to fill their accounts with more credits than they can imagine spending in one lifetime. Whether it's a cache of precious gems stashed away long ago by decades-dead pirates or the incalculable worth of art and crafts from an eons-dead civilization, treasure hunters know there are immense riches out there in the galaxy just waiting for them to find where X marks the spot.

Bounty:
A Bounty on one's head is a powerful agitator for driving action. Many of the infractions described under Blackmail could well result in a Bounty being offered for an Explorer. Other circumstances for which a Bounty might be placed on an Explorer include the following: a Fringer being in the wrong place at the wrong time; a Trader failing in just the wrong delivery to just the wrong official; an Archaeologist trespassing across the wrong lands; a Driver swiping the wrong hot swoop; and so on.

Criminal
This usually means the character is in the employ of, or seriously indebted to, a crime lord or illicit organization of some kind. Explorers working in the Rim often discover their best — and sometimes only — opportunities to employ their skills are by working with one or more criminal groups. Unfortunately, this usually places them in trouble with whatever law-enforcement officials there are in the area, their only protection being those same criminal contacts. Such relationships can become vicious circles that are impossible to break. Consider the Scout who is wanted for too many trips to interdicted planets or the Driver who only avoids incarceration for grand theft because of the influence their criminal employer has with local security forces.