Let me start of by saying that all my backgrounds on the first page now boast equipment and the full complement of suggested characteristics, as well as corrected spelling (so much corrected spelling...). I believe this has increased their usefulness somewhat.
So please, give them another look, if just to point and laugh.
Further, I have finished two more backgrounds and I hope you enjoy reading and maybe even using them as much as I enjoyed creating them.
I trust you will find the second to be self explanatory. The first might not be. Going from the previous request in this thread, I thought there may very well be a place for a traumatized background.
However, I went a bit further and made one for those driven insane by the kind of fucked up shit that might happen to ordinary people in a world where fiends, the walking dead, evil gods, wicked cults and eldritch abomination are a reality.
Witness[/U]
Horrible beings and events plague the worlds of D&D and you where hit with the full exposure of one when you where just a child or youth, far from ready to bear it.
Maybe you got possessed by a demon and slaughtered your own kind, maybe some dark cult used you in their horrible rite to some eldritch power. You might be the only survivor from a town razed by a legion of undead or by some magical accident you gazed into alien realms .
Whatever the specific event, you where left broken and insane, but also possessing rare insights no mortal was ever meant to know.
After years you have regained some semblance of sanity and where released from whatever sanctuary you had. Or you're as unhinged as ever, but escaped your asylum. Whatever it may be, other than becoming a manic beggar, adventuring might very well be the only occupation you could fulfill.
Skills: Arcana or Religion, Insight
Languages: two of your choice
Equipment: Set of common clothes, one notebook or wooden sign covered with indecipherable scrawl or proclamations of coming doom, a single goldpiece of unknown origin.
Feature – The Horrors:
Once per long rest, you can decide to confront your fears and recall pieces of your traumatic experience. While doing this will disturb you and those around, you gain a piece of prophetic insight that is at least tangentially useful to current events.
Evidence, no matter how small, of the source of your trauma always triggers this ability.
Suggested Characteristics
Personality Traits
1 – My intense stare is always well focused on something. Something that is not there.
2 – When unoccupied, I draw disturbing but thankfully indiscernible scenes and diagrams.
3 – My idea of introducing myself is telling people that they will die horribly.
4 – I break out in fits of laughter at the most inopportune times
5 – I consider creatures cute or pretty, most would consider quite the opposite, such as worms, centipedes, zombies or hell hounds.
6 – When I don't have a fit of gloom, I am almost supernaturally happy and optimistic.
7 – Though I am well aware of the standards and norms of society. I just do not think they matter.
8 – I never raise my voice and whisper most of the time.
Ideal
1 – Survival. I know what awaits me after death. I must stay alive at any cost.
2 – Ascension. I have seen the worst of horrors, but I also got a glimpse of higher existence. I will discern and walk the path there.
3 – Revelation. The ignorance of others makes them defenseless. I have to show everyone what I saw.
4 – Sacrifice. I am already dead, now all that counts is to make my loss count, so others will not suffer as I did.
5 – Restoration. I just want a normal happy life, but know how broken I am. There must be some way to repair me.
6 – Oblivion. Nothing but utter destruction can end the torture, whether my own, my enemies or that of all existence.
Bond
1 – A kindly soul took me in and nursed me back to a semblance of humanity. I consider them my only family.
2 – Great heroes gave their lives to stop the horrors. I honor their memory whenever I can.
3 – I am irresistibly drawn to the site of my torture and even protect the place.
4 – I believe myself to be responsible for the events and seek nothing less than the forgiveness of those that died.
5 – I constantly seek out lore on the threat that befell me.
6 – I take comfort in a precious possession that signifies happier times to me.
Flaw
1 – To survive, I have sworn servitude to an unholy being, and my debt has yet to be called in.
2 – Only a certain vice can make me forget for a short time, so I indulge at every chance.
3 – My constant bouts of terror and lack of care leave me in deplorable hygienic condition, hurting my health and relation to others.
4 – I was not supposed to survive and the dark forces still aim to finish the job.
5 – A certain person or faction believes I am tainted and seeks to neutralize whatever threat I may pose.
6 – I believe that everyone considers me a freak. I flip out when I belief I am being pitied or stared at.
Graverobber
Congratulations, you have always been the quintessential adventurer, dedicated to taking dead peoples stuff.
Graverobbers come in a multitude of variations. The most petty stalk the slums and battlefields of the world for fresh corpses, rifling the pockets for some change and trinkets before dragging the poor sucker to the next necromancer or alchemist. One step above are those who break into graveyards to dig up the buried and breach mausoleums for fun and profit. Then there's those self styled scholars, who “explore” old necropolises, under the pretense of research. And who could forget the autodidact wannabe necromancer who digs out corpses to practice his arts and the blasphemer who does the whole thing just to spite others.
Skills: religion, stealth
Tools: choose one of thieves tools, vehicle (land) or alchemists tools
Languages: 1 (probably dead) language
Equipment: Dark set of common clothes, shovel, crowbar, curious collection of inscriptions and reliefs in charcoal rubbings, box filled with worthless baubles that couldn't be sold.
Feature – Dead Trail:
No graverobber stays alive long without a good portion of caution. You can identify and correctly interpret evidence of common undead, religious wards and traps and identify them automatically. You only exhibit this presence of mind at any kind of burial site.
Suggested Characteristics
Personality Traits
1 – I think blasphemy is the funniest thing in the world and I like sharing my humor.
2 – My nocturnal work has left me as pale and spooky looking as my “customers”.
3 – I collect holy symbols and give lip service to all gods equally. I think this puts me on the safe side.
4 – I am obsessed with historical trivia and recount it whenever, even though most tell me it is all utter bogus.
5 – I stay unperturbed at breaking graves and disturbing composing bodies, but I am supersticious in everyday activities.
6 – I use measures such as excessive smoking or perfume to hide the stench of death on me.
7 – I am so used to dealing with fences that I haggle in all my interactions.
8 – I am prone to morbid speculation on my own and my friends immediate future.
Ideal
1 – Wealth. Gems, gold and shiny trinkets, I love sound of coins, now everybody sing along.
2 – Equality. I dug up beggars and lords alike and guess what? In death we are all the same. So, no reason for anyone to act high and mighty in life either.
3 – Glory. They reject my scholarly works now, but I will make discoveries that will have scholars around the world singing my praise.
4 – Spite. Call me a looser? A freak? Think I am no good? I will show you no good, I will show you all, bwahahaha!
5 – Pragmatism. Why do what I do? I am good at it. That is the best one can do right? Get some food on the table, a roof that does not leak and always act professional, I say.
6 – Immortality. I have seen dead a plenty and it is not for me. I heard for some, the burial is just the start of eternity and one of these graves holds their secret.
Bond
1 – Hey, I have a lot of respect for the dead. In fact I once robbed my idols grave out of reverence. Still got the skull, tell him all my sorrows and dreams.
2 – I was once caught by an old gravedigger, but instead of squealing on me, he got me some hot chocolate and useful tips. I have been taking care of the old creep ever since.
3 – More than once I tracked down some nice heirloom only for my rival to take my prize. The reverse has happened just as often and the next time we always laugh it up over a beer.
4 – I became a grave robber because I wanted to solve a great mystery of historical significance. I've lost the trail but I have sworn to fulfill my quest.
5 – I came into the possession of a map to a legendary treasure, but I don't know what country it displays.
6 – My mentor up and disappeared. I have to find them, maybe out of honest concern or because they owe me something.
Flaw
1 – My job landed me a prize on my head back home and the bounty hunters could come knocking any day.
2 – The first graves I broke open where those of my own ancestors and I discovered a horrible family secret doing so. The shame lies heavy on me.
3 – My soul is forsaken unless I bring a relict I sold back to the priests.
4 – I once fought and killed a partner in crime in a dispute over the loot and I am pretty sure the greedy buggers body is still shuffling around somewhere.
5 – I am incapable of leaving behind any loot, even at the price of my life.
6 – I am far to good at my job and now some organization that is to unsavory even for me wants to recruit me with progressively greater pressure.
Comments and criticism are very much welcome.