Wilderness Noble Image

Prince of the Peaks, Lady of the Wood, Lord of the Jungle: all are titles bequeathed Wilderness Nobles.

Being raised by animals in the wild, you understand the dynamics of the interplay among different types of beasts and their relationships to the environment. You may come from a noble bloodline, but even if you don't wild animals treat you with the same type of deference humanoids grant the peerage. You have advantage on animal handling checks when dealing with wild beasts (and disadvantage with domestic ones.)

You might be a pampered amusing curiosity to the beasts of the wild, a newfound champion and defender of the wilderness, or the most feared tyrant preditor the area had ever known. 

Discuss your wilderness noble title with your DM to determine how much of an influence that title carries and how far from your home wilderness area it is known.

Unlike conventional nobility, wilderness nobles are rarely a product of bloodlines. There may be hope that the Lord of the Jungle's child might rise to the task, but it is far from assured.  What really sets a Wilderness Noble apart from other people is that they fully understand and identify with animals to such a degree that they regard each individual animal as a person in their own right.

Some of those with the Wilderness Noble background are driven to discover their origins and retake their place among their own kind, some have a mild curiosity about it, and others have no interest at all in how they came to be alone in the wild.

Choose or roll on the Wilderness Noble Origins table to discover your origins.  While the player has this little bit of knowledge, the character typically does not. Let your DM know your origins.  It can serve as a great starting direction for story development, and even if you have no interest in the past, it does have a habit of coming out to bite you sometimes.

 
Skill Proficiencies: Survival

And either Acrobatics, Athletics, Stealth or Animal Handling

Tool Proficiencies: Either [tool]Herbalism Kit[/tool], [tool]woodcarvers kit[/tool], or [tool]Poisoners kit[/tool]

And [instrument]Pan Flute[/instrument], [instrument]Flute[/instrument] or [instrument]Drum[/instrument]

Equipment: A a set of well worn clothes, a signet ring or bauble token clue to your origin. A wilderness musical instrument and either a dagger, sling and blowgun or a spear, shortbow and quiver with 20 arrows.
 
Wilderness Noble Origins

Choose or roll a [roll]1d8[/roll] to determine the reason you grew up among animals instead of people.

d8 Wilderness Noble Origins
1 Rival for the Throne - You are born of royal blood and have a valid claim to the throne. When the current ruler took power, all other infant claimants were murdered. Your mother stole you away to the wilderness to protect your life and your claim.
2 Lost Heir of Noble House - You are the true heir to some grand landed noble house. You were either lost on a hunting trip or 'gotten out of the way' by rivals to your inheritance.
3 A Hidden Charge- You were brought to the wilderness by someone other than your parents to protect you from some threat. Your guardian fell to some hazard in the wilds leaving you with no knowledge of your origins.
4 Exposure Survivor- Some cultures practice exposure to test whether an infant is deigned worthy of life by the gods. When left out in the wilderness, you not only survived, you thrived with the help of the animals that found you.
5 Orphaned Child of a peasant, traveling merchant, escaped slave or outlander.
6 The Last Survivor of an ill fated expedition or a far flung colony that fell prey to raids or plague.
7 Child Explorer who got lost in the wild and couldn't find the way home. May be from any strata of society.
8 Left Behind by caravan, either intentionally or as an oversight.
 
Feature: ANIMAL RETAINERS

You have advantage on animal handling checks when dealing with wild beasts, and disadvantage with such checks with domestic beasts.

You have the service of three animal retainers (CR 1/8 or less) that are loyal to you and provide for you in the wilderness. (Typical retainers are a sparrow or other small bird, a small dexterous animal such as a racoon, weasel or monkey (use baboon stats) and one M sized beast such as a  hyena, deer or wild dog (use Mastif stats.) These retainers act as attendants or messengers for you while you are in the wilderness, and can find shelter and food for you if any is in the area. Your retainers are beasts 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.  Your M sized retainer will not willingly enter areas of civilization, but your other two may be bribed to do so.

If your animal retainers die, your DM will decide if and how they can be replaced.

 
Suggested Characteristics

Wilderness nobles are raised in a lifestyle so completely different from what most people experience that it can be difficult to imagine; their personalities reflect that upbringing. A noble title, even that of a wilderness noble, infers far more than privilege. A true noble has responsibility so ingrained into their lives that it pervades every thread of their being. For wilderness nobles the responsibility extends beyond the bonds of pack or friendship; they are both part of and servant to a greater whole.

d8 Personality Trait
1 I like to give gifts. Here's a dead rat; I saved half for you.
2 I am a predator. If you run, you are prey.
3 I am proud and strut. My status as Alpha should be obvious to all.
4 It is important to be well groomed. You pick my lice, I'll pick yours.
5 I am completely baffled by the customs of civilization. I cock my head to the side with a raised eyebrow when thinking or confused.
6 When greeting someone, I sniff them all over. If a friend, I rub my face on them.
7 I enjoy taunting others, particularly the silly civilized people.
8 I tend to resolve challenges with an immediate grapple attack.
d6 Ideal
1 Conservation. You waste nothing that could be of use to anyone, and kill only if you must. (Good)
2 Consequence. All actions have consequences. The Law of the jungle is written in blood, not ink.(Lawful)
3 Innovation. The same old way of doing things is boring. New ideas and ways of doing things keeps life dynamic.(Chaotic)
4 Merciless. Like nature itself, you are completely without mercy, (unless granting it benefits you personally.) (Evil)
5 Origins. You are where you came from. (Any)
6 Dominion. As a Wilderness noble your wilderness area is Your's alone. Heavy lies the weight of the crown. (Any)
d6 Bond
1 I will face any challenge to protect the animals in my wilderness home.
2 The animal (or pack) that raised me is my mother (or family.) I must keep them safe even if I must leave home to do so.
3 I owe a great debt to the person that brought me back to civilization and showed me a larger world than I knew existed.
4 I am in love with a druid or ranger that was the first person of my race that I met.
5 A surviving unknown sibling or (possibly distant) relative.
6 An antagonist- either a character threatening my wilderness area, a rival beast seeking to displace me as alpha predator or someone from my origins that wishes me harm.
d6 Flaw
1 You do not understand cooking, utensils or table manners. You prefer your food raw.
2 You are illiterate.
3 You are afraid of fire. The fear is not incapacitating, but you avoid fire and treat it with the same caution as you would any unknown beast.
4 You taste everything you can and are always putting small objects in your mouth. What you cannot fit in your mouth, you lick.
5 You are special, in fact unique. You believe you are therefore entitled to do anything you want.
6 The concepts of property, ownership and personal space completely elude you. If someone is wearing something you want, you take it.
 
 
Contacts

Small bird.

Variant: old or very young lesser member of your pack.

d1 Contact
1 A little bird shows up obviously distressed. Maybe you should follow it?
 
Variant Wilderness Noble: Raised by Wolves

It wasn't prey that took you in, it was a pack of predators. 

Instead of a musical instrument, you have proficiency with hunting traps and fishing gear. The instrument in your inventory is replaced with a signal whistle to call your contact.

Instead of Acrobatics, Athletics, Stealth or Animal Handling, you may take Intimidation.

Your contact is a member of your pack, not a little bird. 

 
Variant Feature: Leader of the Pack

You do not have animal companions. Instead you have a pack that lives in your home wilderness while you are out on "the long scout" or "the lone hunt." 

A lesser member of your pack trails you from a distance, either one very old or young, who serves as your contact and may come to your aid if you are incapacitated and alone. Like animal retainers, your pack contact does not willingly enter civilized areas, but will come if not too often called.

You have a den shared with your pack in your home wilderness that you can live in while not adventuring. While there you have shelter, meat and access to drinkable water. As a leader of the pack your rank hath its privileges- you can maintain a modest rather than poor standard of living with no monetary cost.

In addition, when you find another group of the same or similar animals in a wilderness area other than your home, you may challenge for leadership of the pack in nonlethal melee combat. If you win, this feature grants the same benefits in this wilderness area as your home den.

 
Wilderness Noble Image

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