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New Backgrounds

Page history last edited by Shieldhaven 6 years, 11 months ago


 

Enforcer

You worked, or still work, in the field of enforcing rules - either the laws of society or the secret codes of behavior of an organization. Bounty hunters, city guards, inquisitors, thief-takers, vigilantes, leg-breakers... any of them might belong to this background. Their skills and motivations are strikingly similar, and the most cynical of them often note that legal codes are little more than a dividing line between teams. Discerning infractions requires more careful thought than most realize. If the enforcer is sufficiently feared, there are a lot fewer infractions in the first place.

When you choose this background, work with your DM to establish who your employer was and what kinds of "cases" you handled. Which set of laws concerned you, and which side of those laws did you come down on?

 

Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, Intimidation

Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)

Equipment: Club, a badge or token of office, a broadsheet or contract with a bounty for a target, gaming set, hooded lantern, manacles, traveler's clothes, 5 gp for bribes

 

Employer

Someone hired you as an enforcer. If you still work for them, maybe they're a continuing source of adventure hooks. Or did you burn bridges escaping your employer's service?

 

d6  Employer 
Bounty Hunter's Guild (bounty hunter)
2 Church (inquisitor)
3 Craft Guild (thief-taker or caravan guard)
4 Local Baron or Count (palace guard)
5 Sheriff (constabulary)
6 Thieves' Guild or Criminal Family (leg-breaker)

 

Feature: Legal System (or "Legal" System)

You have knowledge and contacts in a legal system - not necessarily the same as one that you previously served. For example, a criminal who turned Crown's Evidence might have contacts among the city guard. You have an easier time getting that legal system to hold prisoners for a few days for later questioning, possibly bending regulations to do so. It may be necessary to put some effort into maintaining these relationships, of course. Open violations of the rules of that organization may sour your connections as well, though your knowledge of the system is unchanged.

 

Suggested Characteristics

 

d8  Personality Trait 
You can never plan for too many contingencies.
Once I'm on a case, I can't think of anything else until it's resolved. 
I like to sound clever, so I use a lot of big words... incorrectly, as often as not. 
My manners are abrasive enough that I do not make many friends.
I love to quote legal principles in conversation. 
My first resort in conflict is browbeating my opponents with threats of legal retribution. 
I am stoic in the face of every kind of hardship. 
8 Gallows humor? Bit redundant, wouldn't you say?

 

d6  Ideal 
Hidebound. If you can't adhere to our laws and traditions, you must suffer the consequences. (Lawful) 
"Efficient." There's a point, far out there when the structures fail you, and the rules aren't weapons anymore, they're shackles letting the bad guy get ahead.  (Chaotic) 
Mercy. Mercy and severity are a sacred balance. (Good) 
Power. When all you have is the law, everyone looks like a criminal. (Evil) 
Justice. The rules apply equally to all, from the highest to the lowest. (Lawful) 
Loyalty. With my help, the people I serve will rise above all other competitors. (Any) 

 

d6  Bond 
I carry a tome of laws and precedents to remind me of my duty. 
Need for an intellectual challenge draws me on. 
A criminal escaped me once, and I have hunted that one across the years.
The law - and I - exist to protect the weak from the strong. 
I do terrible things so that others do not have to. 
I accused a powerful person of a crime, and I've been dodging assassins ever since. 

 

d6  Flaw 
I obey any legitimate authority, even when they might be wrong. 
When I don't have a puzzle to occupy my thoughts, my boredom turns dangerous. 
I took the expedient path, and now I'm constantly trying to cover it up... but the web of lies is fragile. 
I've seen the worst that my city or my race has to offer - only the bottle keeps the demons at bay. 
Damsels, gentlemen, or other romantic interests in distress cloud my judgment. 
I never forgive, nor forget. 

 

 

Revolutionary

You struggle to overthrow what you see as a corrupt order. Your cause might be a radical, reactionary, nationalist, anarchist, or religious revolution - whatever your aims, you prepare yourself every day to fight and possibly die for the sake of the revolution. This puts you in deadly opposition to the established order and "decent" society. For some revolutionaries, there is an endpoint at which they could set down their banner and live in peace. Many find no peace after their victory, as a result of the compromises that victory requires, and continue the cause of the revolution or come to a messy end at the hands of those they put into power. This is not the life for those who prefer to sleep in comfortable beds - revolutionaries spends many nights on the move or in hiding.

 

When you choose this background, work with your DM to establish your cause and any network of support you may have.

 

Skill Proficiencies: Persuasion, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: One musical instrument

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: 3 vials of alchemist's fire, a set of common clothes, a book or pamphlet explaining your revolutionary cause, a belt pouch containing 10 gp

 

Cause

What cause have you chosen to spend your life fighting for?

 

 d6 Cause 
Political representation
Society-wide behavioral change (abolition, temperance, etc.)
Installing or replacing a ruler or governing body 
Instituting or dissolving a state religion 
Improving the standing of a racial, ethnic, or other societal group 
Protection of nature

 

Feature: Hardened Against Privation

Long hours and desperate circumstances have been your life and your training, and many nights you've had nothing to feed you but the fire in your belly. You can survive indefinitely on half rations, and can go an additional 3 days without food before suffering noticeable ill effects. When you undertake a forced march, you can march an additional 4 hours before you need to make saving throws to avoid exhaustion.

 

Alternate Feature: Disillusionment

In the course of bringing about the revolution, you became disillusioned. Your passion for the cause is not what it was, though in time that flame could be ignited once again. You recall the hard-earned lessons that kept you alive, but you have lost the zeal that swayed others to your cause. Many of your personality features become the inverse of those shown below. You gain proficiency in Insight rather than Persuasion. You can pass as a loyal adherent to your old cause. If your rejection of revolutionary principles is revealed, however, you will be treated as an enemy of the revolution and (in many cases) executed.

 

Suggested Characteristics

 

d8  Personality Trait 
 I idolize a martyr for the cause, and any mention of them can stir me to action.
 No matter how hopeless the situation, I keep a cheerful and confident attitude.
 I plan to live fast and die young, so why not have another bottle of wine, maybe two?
 I present an embittered, sarcastic facade to the world, but my dedication never wavers.
 Anyone could be a spy or counter-revolutionary, so I keep secrets from everyone.
 A pretty face is all it takes to distract me from my revolutionary zeal.
 I disregard dire risks - this is just the life I have chosen.
8  I always have an inspiring speech prepared for when my comrades falter.

 

d6  Ideal 
 Greed: The revolution sounds great, but who says we can't make some money on the side? (Evil)
 Peace: No matter how the enemies of the revolution persecute us, we must not be the first to offer violence. (Good)
 Independence: My own vision of the revolution is the only one I trust - I'll rebel even against the leadership if they go astray. (Chaotic)
 People: My true devotion is to my friends; the rest of the revolution is incidental. (Neutral)
 Honor: No cause can end in honor if it begins in dishonor. (Lawful)
 Glory: Dying for a noble cause is a kind of immortality, (Any)

 

d6  Bond 
 I must build a better world for my spouse and children to live in.
 The revolution is my one chance to win fame, glory, and a better station in life.
 I fight to take down the corrupt order that unjustly executed my parents.
 I can never allow an innocent to suffer without doing all I can to aid them.
 I want to complete the revolution so that I can return to the person I love.
 A former friend betrayed the cause, and I must bring them to justice.

 

d6  Flaw 
 I pounce on any sign of an ally's weakening devotion to the cause.
 I use accusations to draw attention away from my own faults.
 I hold myself to unattainable moral standards.
 I blindly trust those who say the right words in support of my revolutionary cause.
 My hot temper is going to get me in real trouble someday.
 When things turn bad, the first to flee has the best chance to survive, and I am a survivor.

 

 

 

Physicker

 

You have been formally trained in medicine, including after-treatment care. You are an expert in reading people, learning both what they wish to hide and what they do not realize about themselves. Like all formally-trained physicians, you have sworn the Physicker's Oath, which states that you are united in brotherhood with one another, and must help one another whenever possible, you must first do no harm to your patients, you must teach what you know to others who have sworn this oath, and other similar clauses of the Hippocratic Oath. The law regards your bond of care for your patients as sacrosanct.

 

Skills: Diplomacy, Insight, Medicine (includes primitive forensic pathology)

Trait: Physicker's Oath (carries both benefits in dealing with other practitioners of this trade and obligations to return the favor)

Suggested Equipment: Healer's kit, healing potion, antitoxin, smelling salts, bloodstained frock, jar of leeches, 40 gp.

 

 

 

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