You grew up into a house where only one of the parents was actually yours. Your birth did not break the family, but it almost did, and you were never allowed to completely forget about it. Maybe your adoptive parent was cruel to you, indifferent, or maybe they actually tried to raise you as their own. Maybe your biological parent was the one who hated you as evidence to their adultery or shameful early life. Maybe you were the reason your mother was deemed unsuitable for marriage and had to spend her life in her parents' home, loading them with two extra mouths to take care of. Even though you were provided with clothes, a bed and a roof over your head, and meals, you grew up with the sense of being a burden and focused on developing your own means to get by, or at least earn a little extra on the side and feel useful.
- Skill Proficiencies: Bastard Child: Insight, Survival
You developed a necessary talent of reading the mood in the room to know if your presence or request would be well received. You also made sure you could take care of yourself in case, as was your greatest fear, you were eventually thrown out.
Royal/Noble Bastard: History, Persuasion
Your education was indistinguishable from any noble child's.
- Tool Proficiencies: Bastard Child: Choose any two out of:
Carpenter’s tools, Cook’s utensils, Leatherworker’s tools,Potter’s tools, Weaver’s tools, Woodcarver’s tools
Royal/Noble Bastard Child: Choose any two out of:
Calligrapher's Supplies, Painter’s supplies, Disguise Kit, Poisoner's Kit
Or one and one Language of your choice.
Your proficiencies are determined by the role your family bestowed on you.
- Equipment: Bastard Child: A set of common clothes, a tool set of your choice, a token from the parent that did not raise you, 10 gp.
Royal/Noble Child: a set of fine clothes with your family's colours and insignia, a token showing you have your family's favour, a tool set you are proficient with, 20gp.
Feeling that your slightest mistake would give your family an excuse to throw you out, you forced yourself to become a quick learner, learning how to use tools and utensils in a time span shorter than other people required on expected of you, if you thought such a skill would help you be seen in a better light and somehow cement your right to belong to the household, always eager and desperate for any sign of approval from any parental figure.
Suggested Characteristics
d6 Personality Trait
1 My fear of abandonment causes me to be a people pleaser
2 I have a soft spot for the black sheep in any group or setting
3 My biological parent preferred me to my siblings and I have a sense of unfulfilled entitlement
4 I yearn for a family that will feel mine unconditionally, and tend to cling to any person that shows interest to me
5 I am not very vocal or expressive of my opinions, after years of trying or being told to stay out of the way
6 I make an extra effort to come through as a valid,worthy member of society
d4 Flaws
1 I often offer to give more than I can handle
2 I am embarrassed of the nature of my birth and will result to ridiculous lies to hide it if necessary
3 I am afraid to take on responsibilities cause I was often dubbed a useless nuisance
4 I feel an exaggerated duty to defend my family and often lose my temper even if a comment towards them wasnt particularly insulting
d4 Bonds
1 My siblings did their best to erase the exclusion my parents made me feel
2 A person in my community took on the role of my missing parent in my eyes
3 The tools that I used for extra income are instrumental to my sense of identity other than being a bastard
4 The biological parent who raised me took many pains to keep me safe and happy
If only you had not been born on the wrong side of the sheets, you would have been a person of great influence and power. As it is, you are lucky to have been recognized instead of disposed of as a threat to your noble parent's legitimate children. You received education and training, as well as lodgings, equal to a legitimate child, but were never for a second allowed to mistake yourself for one. Eager not to prove a disappointment, you have thrown yourself into whatever use your family decided they had for you. Maybe you were educated with the purpose of being a perfectly loyal counselor to the title's true heir. Maybe trained in weaponry to be their guard. Perhaps you were raised as a perfect replica of a noble to be useful as a marriage trade off that secures an alliance with a minor noble. You might have been given insight into darker talents, to use your name as a means to infiltrate high society spaces and take care of your family's enemies. Or maybe groomed into a skilled diplomat that is disposable enough to risk but impossible to dismiss in a bargaining table. Whatever the case, you are aware that you only remain useful as long as you fit into your given role, and that your every action must be compliant with your family's interests and wishes or you are risking dire consequences for your life.
The family name you have the right to care will unmistakably grant you access to any noble feast, dining table, garden party or ball. However, the conditions under which you carry it dub you as forgettable in the real noble's minds. Nobody will seek you out in a social gathering that you dont have a central role at, nobody will wonder why your table seat is empty. When you do manage to draw their attention to yourself, you are treated with mild amusement up to barely vailed contempt they would have for a child in such a setting, depending on how much favour you are known to carry with your family. Standing next to people having conversations and receiving virtually no acknowledgement is a common occurrence, as is ending up socializing with serving staff instead.
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