You have done a terrible deed, one that you can never forget. You have murdered someone. Someone secret. Someone innocent. Someone who haunts your waking thoughts and fills your dreams with blood. Maybe you've embraced it, decided to do it again. Maybe you try to run from it, pretend that it never happened. Maybe you try to protect both victims and killers, make sure no one ever endures the same fate.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Deception, Investigation, Perception, or Survival
- Languages: Choose one exotic language (Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon).
- Equipment: A burglar’s pack, a set of common clothes, and one trinket of special significance (choose one or roll on the Gothic Trinkets table after this background).
Haunted Mind
Years ago, you were responsible for the death of an innocent. You ended the life of someone who should've lived so much longer. Maybe you liked it, maybe you didn't. Either way, it's done and can never be undone. You were probably found by guards or commonfolk, probably put in prison. Chose a result or roll on the table below.
| d10 |
Haunted Mind |
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1
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You murdered an innocent to prove a point, and you got a life sentence. But you weren't about to spend your life in a cold box alone with the shouting of mad creatures.
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2
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You were born under a dark star. You can feel it watching you, coldly and distantly. Sometimes it beckons you in the dead of night, telling you to repeat your deadly mistake. . .
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3
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The spirit of the person you killed follows you wherever you go, screaming at you. Maybe you're tempted to let it drive you insane.
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4
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Your family has a history of killing. You followed once and felt something horrible clutch at your soul, whereupon you fled in terror.
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5
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An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you chose to let it happen.
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6
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You were cursed with lycanthropy and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered.
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7
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You once killed someone to hide another crime you commited. It haunts you more than the original crime.
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8
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You're friend opened an eldritch tome and saw things unfit for a sane mind. You burned the book, but its words and images burned their mind. You'll never forget their horrible screams.
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9
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A fiend possessed you as a child. You were trapped, but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but after the incident you try to keep it locked away.
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10
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You did terrible things to avenge the murder of someone you loved. You became a monster, and it haunts your waking dreams.
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Feature: Dark Heart
Those who look into your eyes can see that you have done something horrible, that your past haunts you. Some fear you, some will run as far away as they can from the creature with a dark past. The creature who may have made his past the present. Some will help you. Some will fight for you. Some take pity on the creature with darkness in her eyes. The creature who has endured too much for one so young. . .
Suggested Characteristics
You have learned to live with the ghost that haunts you. You are a survivor, able to forget if you want to.
| d8 |
Personality Trait |
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1
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I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me.
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2
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I like to read and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness.
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3
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I spend money freely and live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die.
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4
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I live for the thrill of the hunt.
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5
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I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse.
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6
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I expect danger around every corner.
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7
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I refuse to become a victim, and I will not allow others to be victimized.
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8
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I put no trust in divine beings.
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| d6 |
Ideal |
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1
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I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
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2
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I’ll stop the spirits that haunt me or die trying. (Any)
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3
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I kill monsters to make the world a safer place, and to exorcise my own demons. (Good)
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4
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I have a dark calling that puts me above the law. (Chaotic)
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5
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I like to know my enemy’s capabilities and weaknesses before rushing into battle. (Lawful)
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6
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I’m a monster that destroys other monsters, and anything else that gets in my way. (Evil)
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| d6 |
Bond |
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1
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I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy.
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2
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I would sacrifice my life and my soul to protect the innocent.
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3
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My torment drove away the person I love. I strive to win back the love I’ve lost.
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4
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A terrible guilt consumes me. I hope that I can find redemption through my actions.
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5
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There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free.
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6
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I have a child to protect. I must make the world a safer place for him (or her).
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| d6 |
Flaw |
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1
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I have certain rituals that I must follow every day. I can never break them.
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2
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I assume the worst in people.
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3
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I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones.
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4
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I often wake up screaming in the night.
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5
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I am a purveyor of doom and gloom who lives in a world without hope.
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6
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I talk to spirits that no one else can see.
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