fantasy hobos

[Dwarven Gold]

I'm thinking about a subculture of hobos for a fantasy setting. I want to work in all of the best stereotypes. So they eat magic beans and use 1940s lingo.

I also have some scary looking hobo clowns.

There are some things that I still can't wrap my head around. Hobos would travel by hopping on trains. How would medieval hobos get around?

Any other ideas for high fantasy hobos?

 

[Dr.Dorkness]

I have some thing similair but then with beggars. who basicly are spies no one knows about.

Hmmmm, What about hay carts/wagons? Jumping in the hay and hiding there. Of course it would be problematic if the city guards stab in the hay with their sword if they know about this way of traveling or if someone is wanted in the region.

 

[Behelit]

I have some thing similair but then with beggars. who basicly are spies no one knows about.

Hmmmm, What about hay carts/wagons? Jumping in the hay and hiding there. Of course it would be problematic if the city guards stab in the hay with their sword if they know about this way of traveling or if someone is wanted in the region.

Or even better, a pitchfork.


@OP: There's also the option of inventing a transportation system. You claim it to be high fantasy so it doesn't have to coincide specifically with this world's industrial/technological level during medieval times.

 

[Kate]

There are some things that I still can't wrap my head around. Hobos would travel by hopping on trains. How would medieval hobos get around?

Walking I'd imagine would be the primary mode of transport. I like the hiding in the cart idea too. Or maybe hitching themselves somehow to the underside of a carriage? Stealing a horse? Might one of your hobos have their own beast of burden, like a scruffy donkey or something like that?

 

[Ophiucha]

I imagine medieval hobos did not travel much, unless there was a pilgrimage of some sort they could join. But they'd probably not want to, since I doubt anyone on it would want to spare food for a beggar, and he'd have to wait till they past a town to try to get anything. Perhaps not the best idea. But, yeah, I'd say minimal to no travel. Let's be honest, how many people traveled at all back then? Peasants certainly didn't. Your best chance at seeing a town other than yours was marrying out of the village and moving to your new husband's, and even then you'd likely only be a day's cart ride from where you grew up.

There's a homeless chap in my story - indeed, he is arguably the closest thing the story has to an actual hero, but the world is modern enough to have trains, so it isn't an issue (also, he's traveling with the king, so money is a nonissue for the time being).

 

[Ravana]

Hmm. You mean like gypsies?

Pilgrimages, yes; crusades—military campaigns in general—yes ("camp follower" covers a lot more than tarts); refugees, seasonal workers, escaped slaves, outlaws, mendicants.…

Method of travel would be by foot or by foot. Forget "hopping on" a wagon—the driver couldn't possibly miss the lurch the sudden addition of weight would cause. Not unless it was a very big wagon, with very good suspension (hah! there's a "fantasy" element for you), and the hobo was very, very light. The passenger might be able to hide in the wagon before the driver got up, but not afterward. Stowing away on a ship would not be impossible… as long as the ship wasn't out of port for more than a couple days at a time: those things were small. And cramped. Stowing away on a river barge would be more plausible, as crew requirements there are minimal. And a hobo who stole a horse would no longer be a hobo: he'd be a thief, and would be treated very differently—particularly in light of the relative value of horses in pre-technological eras… there was a reason this was generally punished by execution. Never mind that the hobo is normally going to have enough trouble feeding himself.…

Oh: and clowns are clowns. A clown that dresses like a hobo for comic effect is vastly different from a hobo that dresses like a clown for—eh, can't actually think of a reason why one would, though if you can, go for it, I suppose. Not to mention that, again, the hobo would be unlikely to possess the resources to do so. (Just try traveling like that—while remaining inconspicuous, generally one of the hobo's goals.)

On the other hand—innovate. Those are all real-world considerations. Come up with some fantasy methods to circumvent them.

 

[Dr.Dorkness]

Method of travel would be by foot or by foot. Forget "hopping on" a wagon—the driver couldn't possibly miss the lurch the sudden addition of weight would cause. Not unless it was a very big wagon, with very good suspension (hah! there's a "fantasy" element for you), and the hobo was very, very light. The passenger might be able to hide in the wagon before the driver got up, but not afterward. Stowing away on a ship would not be impossible… as long as the ship wasn't out of port for more than a couple days at a time: those things were small. And cramped. Stowing away on a river barge would be more plausible, as crew requirements there are minimal. And a hobo who stole a horse would no longer be a hobo: he'd be a thief, and would be treated very differently—particularly in light of the relative value of horses in pre-technological eras… there was a reason this was generally punished by execution. Never mind that the hobo is normally going to have enough trouble feeding himself.…

Oh: and clowns are clowns. A clown that dresses like a hobo for comic effect is vastly different from a hobo that dresses like a clown for—eh, can't actually think of a reason why one would, though if you can, go for it, I suppose. Not to mention that, again, the hobo would be unlikely to possess the resources to do so. (Just try traveling like that—while remaining inconspicuous, generally one of the hobo's goals.)

You have a good point about the wagons. Although I thought it spoke for itself that the wagon should be unguarded and not moving. At least that is my logic. But I have to remember your description for DnD sessions

 

[Stari Bogovi]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, hope that's not frowned upon too much here.

Home bum: homeless dude, stays in one place for the most part.

Tramp: a bum who likes to wander. Avoids working, gets by on begging, schmoozing, etc.

Hobo: an itinerant laborer who wanders from place to place looking for work. One theory is that it comes from the term "homeward bound", as Civil War soldiers after the war often took months or years to make their way back home, working odd jobs along the way to keep themselves going. Another theory is that it meant "hoe boys", itinerant farm laborers such as the Okies who were displaced during the Dust Bowl.

Also, at the close of the medieval era, a lot of peasants were displaced from aristocratic lands, i.e. "the enclosures" in England when nobles converted their land from crops to more profitable sheep raising (as English textile production took off). In France and England there were huge mobs of vagrants who went around begging, stealing, scraping. It was considered a huge, huge problem at the time. Many of these were shuffled into cities and put to work as mass urbanization commenced. So it's not strictly a modern phenomenon, large wandering bands of vagrants.

I think the home bum, tramp, and hobo subcultures could all easily be incorporated into a medieval-type setting.

 

[Saigonnus]

I would think that they would walk of they had an objection to stealing horses etc... undoubtedly people would stop and give them a ride here and there, so they wouldn't really have to walk everywhere. Another concept I have seen is more like gypsies with their own wagons and a complete society on the move, stopping in favorable places for the night and having yearly gatherings between clans; for the purpose of finding mates and the like.

 

[BeigePalladin]

Maybe boats/barges as a method of hobo-ing?; they where used for the same purposes as the railways before the latter was invented, they're easy to jump of off if the need presents itself and they spend enough time at port it would be possible to get safley stowed away on boats.

they could also try hitching rides on wagons etc or temporrily pssing themselves off as members of trade caravans for free food and the like, before vanishing whe they get to where they want to be

 

[Ghost]

I imagine a medieval hobo would stick to mainly one area. If he has to get around, he should walk. It will take him longer than the guy on a train, but so what? Infantry soldiers used to walk for hundreds of miles. Travelers who didn't have horses or wagons might walk miles by themselves or with a beast of burden. In my area during modern times, people walk over 90 miles on a pilgrimage to Chimayo. My dad knows a guy who walked from Socorro to the church, and that's over 140 miles. Maybe your guys could make the excuse that they're pilgrims, but everyone knows better, the same way some illegal drug users will claim it's for medical purposes.

People can get pretty far that way, especially if they're used to it. I don't see why these poor guys need transportation. You could still have that hobo culture, but instead of checking train cars, law enforcers could check bushes and barns along the popular routes. I could easily imagine a great hobo migration on foot. (Maybe it would happen at certain times of year, like those crabs that cross the roads by the thousands. :wink: jk)

Some people may give them lifts in wagons, but you might have folks who are suspicious of wanderers, giving them the old squinty eyed look of suspicion. Anyway, if there are a lot of hobos, I'd imagine some fraction of them would end up walking.

 

[Phin Scardaw]

I suggest you get highly creative with the dilemma:

If your fantasy world has many rivers both small and mighty, this would define transport and trade routes. Imagine long barge-trains riding these rivers that could be hopped, or worked on in exchange for transport.

Or what about hitching a ride from a passing dragon?

Maybe they beg not for coins but for magic relics they can pay to magicians that can cast teleportation spells.

Or what about air transport? What if dragons were tamed and used as drop-planes to drop supplies to towns or colonies. They could be "hopped" when they landed, or via grappling hooks, etc.

The possibilities are endless.

The important thing to consider is: Why is it important for this character to travel?
In the real world, there are hobos that hang out in cities and drink; there are vagrant workers who travel decided circuits; there are young punks who smoke and beg for change and clean windshields; there are penniless backpackers. They all have different lifestyles. Obviously, for a fantasy story a character that travels is usually of more interest than one who doesn't - but it all depends on the story, and a character who stays in one place can have just as much to offer.