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Backgrounds: Difference between revisions
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== Backgrounds == | == Backgrounds == | ||
You used to do something before adventure, something that gave you unique skills. The following are a list of backgrounds that represent your life before adventure. | You used to do something before adventure, something that gave you unique skills. The following are a list of backgrounds that represent your life before adventure. | ||
=== Aberrant Scholar === | |||
The aberrant, something that has always piqued your curiosity. Ever since the 16th Age, the Age of Crusades, almost all who come back from the Twisted Lands come back mad, but not mad in the usual way. Those who come back are Twisted, they murmur compulsively, drawing or scrawling on walls or paper or whatever they can find in ant attempt to get whatever is haunting their mind, out of it. The Aberrant Scholars studied these drawings, trying to understand them, providing extensive information on the Twisted, however, they were often shunned from society because many lost loved ones to the aberrant forces at work in Drakomere, and preferred to not think about it when possible. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: History, Investigation | |||
Languages: Aberrant | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher's Supplies | |||
Equipment: Scroll case, calligrapher's supplies, common clothes, a sack containing 10gp, a depiction of an Abberant Lord, and one trinket. | |||
Feature: Aberrant Society | |||
You have spent much time studying the aberrant, and creatures from the Far Realm, thus, you have both kindred spirits, and loss of society. If someone learns of your occupation as an aberrant scholar, most will treat you with resentment or forbidden curiosity, but another aberrant scholar will most likely instantly see you as a companion and do what they can for you. | |||
=== Acolyte === | === Acolyte === | ||
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'''By Popular Demand.''' | '''By Popular Demand.''' | ||
You can always find a place to perform, usually in an inn or tavern but possibly with a circus, at a theater, or even in a noble’s court. At such a place, you receive free lodging and food of a modest or comfortable standard (depending on the quality of the establishment), as long as you perform each night. In addition, your performance makes you something of a local figure. When strangers recognize you in a town where you have performed, they typically take a liking to you. | You can always find a place to perform, usually in an inn or tavern but possibly with a circus, at a theater, or even in a noble’s court. At such a place, you receive free lodging and food of a modest or comfortable standard (depending on the quality of the establishment), as long as you perform each night. In addition, your performance makes you something of a local figure. When strangers recognize you in a town where you have performed, they typically take a liking to you. | ||
=== Ex-Twisted === | |||
You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to bury it and run away from it, to no avail. Whatever this thing is that haunts you can’t be slain with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its toll, isolating you from most people and making you question your sanity. You must find a way to overcome it before it destroys you. | |||
You were twisted by one of the seven Aberrant Lords in the Twisted Lands, you've since been cured, but those buried memories can never be brought up without risk of you going mad. | |||
:'''Skill Proficiencies:''' Choose two from among Arcana, Investigation, Religion, or Survival | |||
:'''Languages:''' Aeberez, Proto-Aeberez, and one other language of your choice. | |||
:'''Equipment:''' A monster hunter’s pack, one trinket, a set of common clothes, and 1 sp. | |||
:'''Heart of Darkness.''' Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone. You also have advantage on saving throws against being frightened and cannot be Twisted. | |||
=== Fisher === | === Fisher === | ||
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'''Harvest the Water.''' You gain advantage on ability checks made using fishing tackle. If you have access to a body of water that sustains marine life, you can maintain a moderate lifestyle while working as a fisher, and you can catch enough food to feed yourself and up to ten other people each day. Additionally you have advantage on animal handling checks made against bests with swimming speeds. Additionally, when you make an attack against a creature with a swimming speed, you can give yourself advantage on the attack roll. You can give yourself advantage on a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining expended uses at the end of a long rest. | '''Harvest the Water.''' You gain advantage on ability checks made using fishing tackle. If you have access to a body of water that sustains marine life, you can maintain a moderate lifestyle while working as a fisher, and you can catch enough food to feed yourself and up to ten other people each day. Additionally you have advantage on animal handling checks made against bests with swimming speeds. Additionally, when you make an attack against a creature with a swimming speed, you can give yourself advantage on the attack roll. You can give yourself advantage on a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining expended uses at the end of a long rest. | ||
=== Folk | === Folk Hero === | ||
You come from a humble social rank, but you are destined for so much more. Already the people of your home village regard you as their champion, and your destiny calls you to stand against the tyrants and monsters that threaten the common folk everywhere. | You come from a humble social rank, but you are destined for so much more. Already the people of your home village regard you as their champion, and your destiny calls you to stand against the tyrants and monsters that threaten the common folk everywhere. | ||
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Also being established in a guild, you can sell products of the type your guild makes for full price, instead of half the price as is usual for adventurers. | Also being established in a guild, you can sell products of the type your guild makes for full price, instead of half the price as is usual for adventurers. | ||
=== | === Hermit === | ||
You are | You lived in seclusion — either in a sheltered community such as a monastery, or entirely alone — for a formative part of your life. In your time apart from the clamor of society, you found quiet, solitude, and perhaps some of the answers you were looking for. | ||
You | |||
:'''Skill Proficiencies:''' Medicine, Religion | |||
:'''Tool Proficiencies:''' Herbalism kit | |||
:'''Languages:''' One of your choice | |||
:'''Equipment:''' A scroll case stuffed full of notes from your studies or prayers, a winter blanket, a set of common clothes, an herbalism kit, and 5 gp | |||
'''Discovery''' The quiet seclusion of your extended hermitage gave you access to a unique and powerful discovery. The exact nature of this revelation depends on the nature of your seclusion. It might be a great truth about the cosmos, the deities, the powerful beings of the outer planes, or the forces of nature. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen. You might have uncovered a fact that has long been forgotten, or unearthed some relic of the past that could rewrite history. It might be information that would be damaging to the people who consigned you to exile, and hence the reason for your return to society. Work with your DM to determine the details of your discovery and its impact on the campaign. Additionally, you | |||
=== Inheritor === | |||
You are the heir to something of great value — not mere coin or wealth, but an object that has been entrusted to you and you alone. Your inheritance might have come directly to you from a member of your family, by right of birth, or it could have been left to you by a friend, a mentor, a teacher, or someone else important in your life. The revelation of your inheritance changed your life, and might have set you on the path to adventure, but it could also come with many dangers, including those who covet your gift and want to take it from you — by force, if need be. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Survival, plus one from among Arcana, History, and Religion | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Your choice of a gaming set or a musical instrument | |||
Languages: Any one of your choice | |||
Equipment: Your inheritance, a set of traveler’s clothes, the tool you choose for this background’s tool proficiency, and a pouch containing 15 gp | |||
Feature: Inheritance | |||
Choose or randomly determine your inheritance from among the possibilities in the table below. Work with your Dungeon Master to come up with details: Why is your inheritance so important, and what is its full story? You might prefer for the DM to invent these details as part of the game, allowing you to learn more about your inheritance as your character does. | |||
The Dungeon Master is free to use your inheritance as a story hook, sending you on quests to learn more about its history or true nature, or confronting you with foes who want to claim it for themselves or prevent you from learning what you seek. The DM also determines the properties of your inheritance and how they figure into the item’s history and importance. For instance, the object might be a minor magic item, or one that begins with a modest ability and increases in potency with the passage of time. Or, the true nature of your inheritance might not be apparent at first and is revealed only when certain conditions are met. | |||
When you begin your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your inheritance right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your inheritance a secret until you learn more about what it means to you and what it can do for you. | |||
=== Investigator=== | |||
You relentlessly seek the truth. Perhaps you’re motivated by belief in the law and a sense of universal justice, or maybe that very law has failed you and you seek to make things right. You could have witnessed something remarkable or terrible, and now you must know more about this hidden truth. Or maybe you’re a detective for hire, uncovering secrets for well-paying clients. Whether the mysteries you’re embroiled in are local crimes or realm-spanning conspiracies, you’re driven by a personal need to hunt down even the most elusive clues and reveal what others would keep hidden in the shadows. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Insight, Investigation, or Perception | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieves’ tools | |||
Equipment: A magnifying glass, evidence from a past case (choose one or roll for a trinket from the Horror Trinkets table after this background), a set of common clothes, and 10 gp | |||
:'''Official Inquiry''' | |||
You’re experienced at gaining access to people and places to get the information you need. Through a combination of fast-talking, determination, and official-looking documentation, you can gain access to a place or an individual related to a crime you’re investigating. Those who aren’t involved in your investigation avoid impeding you or pass along your requests. Additionally, local law enforcement has firm opinions about you, viewing you as either a nuisance or one of their own. | |||
=== Knight === | |||
You understand wealth, power, and privilege. You carry a noble title, and your family owns land, collects taxes, and wields significant political influence. You might be a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, a former merchant just elevated to the nobility, or a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could be an honest, hard-working landowner who cares deeply about the people who live and work on your land, keenly aware of your responsibility to them. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion | |||
Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set | |||
Languages: One of your choice | |||
Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a signet ring, a scroll of pedigree, and a purse containing 25 gp | |||
Feature: Retainers | |||
You have the service of three retainers loyal to your family. These retainers can be attendants or messengers, and one might be a majordomo. Your retainers are commoners who can perform mundane tasks for you, but they do not fight for you, will not follow you into obviously dangerous areas (such as dungeons), and will leave if they are frequently endangered or abused. | |||
=== Marine === | |||
You were trained for battle on sandy beaches and rocky shores. You have launched midnight raids from swift ships whose names evoke terror in the hearts of your adversaries. The water is your second home, the rain your shelter, and the crashing waves your battle cry. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Survival | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Vehicles (water, land) | |||
Equipment: A dagger that belonged to a fallen comrade, a folded flag emblazoned with the symbol of your ship or company, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp | |||
Steady | |||
You can move twice the normal amount of time (up to 16 hours) each day before being subject to the effect of a forced march (see “Travel Pace” in chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook). Additionally, you can automatically find a safe route to land a boat on shore, provided such a route exists. | |||
=== Mercenary Veteran === | |||
As a sell-sword who fought battles for coin, you’re well acquainted with risking life and limb for a chance at a share of treasure. Now, you look forward to fighting foes and reaping even greater rewards as an adventurer. Your experience makes you familiar with the ins and outs of mercenary life, and you likely have harrowing stories of events on the battlefield. Now you’re looking for something else, perhaps greater reward for the risks you take, or the freedom to choose your own activities. For whatever reason, you’re leaving behind the life of a soldier for hire, but your skills are undeniably suited for battle, so now you fight on in a different way. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Persuasion | |||
Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land) | |||
Equipment: A uniform of your company (traveler’s clothes in quality), an insignia of your rank, a gaming set of your choice, and a pouch containing the remainder of your last wages (10 gp) | |||
Feature: Mercenary Life | |||
You know the mercenary life as only someone who has experienced it can. You are able to identify mercenary companies by their emblems, and you know a little about any such company, including the names and reputations of its commanders and leaders, and who has hired them recently. You can find the taverns and festhalls where mercenaries abide in any area, as long as you speak the language. You can find mercenary work between adventures sufficient to maintain a comfortable lifestyle (see “Practicing a Profession” under “Downtime Activities” in chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook). | |||
=== Noble === | |||
You understand wealth, power, and privilege. You carry a noble title, and your family owns land, collects taxes, and wields significant political influence. You might be a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, a former merchant just elevated to the nobility, or a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could be an honest, hard-working landowner who cares deeply about the people who live and work on your land, keenly aware of your responsibility to them. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion | |||
Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set | |||
Languages: One of your choice | |||
Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a signet ring, a scroll of pedigree, and a purse containing 25 gp | |||
Feature: Position of Privilege | |||
Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to. | |||
=== Outlander === | |||
You grew up in the wilds, far from civilization and the comforts of town and technology. You’ve witnessed the migration of herds larger than forests, survived weather more extreme than any city-dweller could comprehend, and enjoyed the solitude of being the only thinking creature for miles in any direction. The wilds are in your blood, whether you were a nomad, an explorer, a recluse, a hunter-gatherer, or even a marauder. Even in places where you don’t know the specific features of the terrain, you know the ways of the wild. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Survival | |||
Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument | |||
Languages: One of your choice | |||
Equipment: A staff, a hunting trap, a trophy from an animal you killed, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp | |||
Feature: Wanderer | |||
You have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and you can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around you. In addition, you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day, provided that the land offers berries, small game, water, and so forth. | |||
=== Pirate === | |||
You sailed on a seagoing vessel for years. In that time, you faced down mighty storms, monsters of the deep, and those who wanted to sink your craft to the bottomless depths. Your first love is the distant line of the horizon, but the time has come to try your hand at something new. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Perception | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water) | |||
Equipment: A belaying pin (club), 50 feet of silk rope, a lucky charm such as a rabbit foot or a small stone with a hole in the center (or you may roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5), a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp | |||
Feature: Bad Reputation | |||
No matter where you go, people are afraid of you due to your reputation. When you are in a civilized settlement, you can get away with minor criminal offenses, such as refusing to pay for food at a tavern or breaking down doors at a local shop, since most people will not report your activity to the authorities. | |||
=== Sage === | |||
You spent years learning the lore of the multiverse. You scoured manuscripts, studied scrolls, and listened to the greatest experts on the subjects that interest you. Your efforts have made you a master in your fields of study. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, History | |||
Languages: Two of your choice | |||
Equipment: A bottle of black ink, a quill, a small knife, a letter from a dead colleague posing a question you have not yet been able to answer, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp | |||
Feature: Researcher | |||
When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign. | |||
=== Sailor === | |||
You sailed on a seagoing vessel for years. In that time, you faced down mighty storms, monsters of the deep, and those who wanted to sink your craft to the bottomless depths. Your first love is the distant line of the horizon, but the time has come to try your hand at something new. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Perception | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water) | |||
Equipment: A belaying pin (club), 50 feet of silk rope, a lucky charm such as a rabbit foot or a small stone with a hole in the center (or you may roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5), a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp | |||
Feature: Ship's Passage | |||
When you need to, you can secure free passage on a sailing ship for yourself and your adventuring companions. You might sail on the ship you served on, or another ship you have good relations with (perhaps one captained by a former crewmate). Because you’re calling in a favor, you can’t be certain of a schedule or route that will meet your every need. Your Dungeon Master will determine how long it takes to get where you need to go. In return for your free passage, you and your companions are expected to assist the crew during the voyage. | |||
=== Shipwright === | |||
You have sailed into war on the decks of great ships, patching their hulls with soup bowls and prayers. You once helped build a fishing vessel that single-handedly saved a town from starvation. You have seen a majestic prow in your dreams that you have not been able to replicate in wood. Since childhood, you have loved the water and have been captivated by the many vessels that travel on it. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: History, Perception | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Carpenter’s tools, vehicles (water) | |||
Equipment: A set of well-loved carpenter’s tools, a blank book, 1 ounce of ink, an ink pen, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a leather pouch with 10 gp | |||
Feature: I’ll Patch It! | |||
Provided you have carpenter’s tools and wood, you can perform repairs on a water vehicle. When you use this ability, you restore a number of hit points to the hull of a water vehicle equal to 5 × your proficiency modifier. A vehicle cannot be patched by you in this way again until after it has been pulled ashore and fully repaired. | |||
=== Smuggler === | |||
On a rickety barge, you carried a hundred longswords in fish barrels right past the dock master’s oblivious lackeys. You have paddled a riverboat filled with stolen elven wine under the gaze of the moon and sold it for twice its value in the morning. In your more charitable times, you have transported innocents out of war zones or helped guide herd animals to safety on the banks of a burning river. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Deception | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Vehicles (water) | |||
Equipment: A fancy leather vest or a pair of leather boots, a set of common clothes, and a leather pouch with 15 gp | |||
Feature: Down Low | |||
You are acquainted with a network of smugglers who are willing to help you out of tight situations. While in a particular town, city, or other similarly sized community (DM’s discretion), you and your companions can stay for free in safe houses. Safe houses provide a poor lifestyle. While staying at a safe house, you can choose to keep your presence (and that of your companions) a secret. | |||
=== Soldier === | |||
War has been your life for as long as you care to remember. You trained as a youth, studied the use of weapons and armor, learned basic survival techniques, including how to stay alive on the battlefield. You might have been part of a standing national army or a mercenary company, or perhaps a member of a local militia who rose to prominence during a recent war. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation | |||
Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land) | |||
Equipment: An insignia of rank, a trophy taken from a fallen enemy (a dagger, broken blade, or piece of a banner), a set of bone dice or deck of cards, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp | |||
Feature: Military Rank | |||
You have a military rank from your career as a soldier. Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and influence, and they defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and requisition simple equipment or horses for temporary use. You can also usually gain access to friendly military encampments and fortresses where your rank is recognized. | |||
=== Urban Bounty Hunter === | |||
Before you became an adventurer, your life was already full of conflict and excitement, because you made a living tracking down people for pay. Unlike some people who collect bounties, though, you aren’t a savage who follows quarry into or through the wilderness. You’re involved in a lucrative trade, in the place where you live, that routinely tests your skills and survival instincts. What’s more, you aren’t alone, as a bounty hunter in the wild would be: you routinely interact with both the criminal subculture and other bounty hunters, maintaining contacts in both areas to help you succeed. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Deception, Insight, Persuasion, and Stealth | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Choose two from among one type of gaming set, one musical instrument, and thieves’ tools | |||
Equipment: A set of clothes appropriate to your duties and a pouch containing 20 gp | |||
Feature: Ear to the Ground | |||
You are in frequent contact with people in the segment of society that your chosen quarries move through. These people might be associated with the criminal underworld, the rough-and-tumble folk of the streets, or members of high society. This connection comes in the form of a contact in any city you visit, a person who provides information about the people and places of the local area. | |||
=== Urchin === | |||
You grew up on the streets alone, orphaned, and poor. You had no one to watch over you or to provide for you, so you learned to provide for yourself. You fought fiercely over food and kept a constant watch out for other desperate souls who might steal from you. You slept on rooftops and in alleyways, exposed to the elements, and endured sickness without the advantage of medicine or a place to recuperate. You’ve survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each. | |||
Skill Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand, Stealth | |||
Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieves’ tools | |||
Equipment: A small knife, a map of the city you grew up in, a pet mouse, a token to remember your parents by, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp | |||
: | Feature: City Secrets | ||
You know the secret patterns and flow to cities and can find passages through the urban sprawl that others would miss. When you are not in combat, you (and companions you lead) can travel between any two locations in the city twice as fast as your speed would normally allow. | |||