From Destiny & Demigods Vol. 1: The Wizard of Legend by The Fourth Place. Background only intended for use with the Wizard race and Wizard of Legend subclasses.
Being the Wizard of Legend isn't like any other life. The following background is designed to fit with the Race and Class rules in this supplement, and is not recommended for use separately. This section is key to roleplaying a character that works as a singular legendary character, within a game designed for group play as an adventuring party, so it's worth attention even if you normally don't find backgrounds particularly interesting.
Perhaps you were once a Wizard of such power and notoriety that your existence and story are intertwined with the history— even the very nature— of your world, whether the world remembers it or not. Perhaps you are known through Prophecy for deeds you have not yet accomplished. In some way you are, were, or will be truly Legendary and unique.
- Skill Proficiencies: You have knowledge beyond mortals. You may take Proficiency in one of the following skills: Animal Handling, Arcana, History, Medicine, Nature, Performance, or Religion. If you are already proficient from your Race or Class, then you instead gain Expertise in this skill.
- Tool Proficiencies: Choose one of the following: Alchemist's supplies, Calligrapher's supplies, Cartographer's tools, Jeweler's tools, Mason's tools, Tinker's tools.
- Languages: Any one of your choice.
- Equipment: A scroll case or journal over-full with notes from your long life (or about your Prophecy), fine clothes, a cloak or robes, a pointed hat, a writing kit (including a bottle of ink, a quill pen, and paper), and an ancient artifact— any common non-magical item usually worth 15 gp or less, but worth 20 gp extra due to its history.
If you are literally the Stuff of Legend, why are you joining a group of adventurers as their peer? Work with your Game Master to determine a story that fits your hopes for your character, and the world and story they are weaving. You may choose or randomly select such a story from the following table, or devise one of your own:
| d6 | From Legend to Adventurer |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have forgotten my past life, my powers, and most of my knowledge. I do not know why. |
| 2 | I have just been reincarnated and do not fully remember my past life (or lives). |
| 3 | After a moral failure, I chose to begin again and lead a better life. |
| 4 | Cosmic Law prohibits me from interfering in mortal affairs unless I do so within the limitations of a normal person. |
| 5 | I am not remembered, I am foretold. I have just begun my adventures and must live up to the Prophecy. |
| 6 | I am not Legendary yet, but my place in reality makes it obvious to me, and those who meet me, that I will be. |
Feature: Cultural Memory
To understand who your character is today, it may help to consider what kinds of Legends, Prophecies, or Zeitgeist exist about you, and how you are seen in them. Choose (or randomly select) two to three traits from the Traits in Stories table to determine how you are portrayed, and one or two from the Types of Story table to determine the most famous stories about you.
| d10 | Traits in Story |
|---|---|
| 1 | Terrifying |
| 2 | Avuncular |
| 3 | Inspiring/Mentor |
| 4 | Heroic |
| 5 | Inscrutable |
| 6 | Emotional |
| 7 | Deeply Alien |
| 8 | Trickster |
| 9 | Political |
| 10 | Villainous |
| d10 | Types of Story |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nursery Rhymes |
| 2 | Fairytales or Fables |
| 3 | Dry History |
| 4 | Creation Myth |
| 5 | Apocalyptic Revelation |
| 6 | Prophecies |
| 7 | Racial Memory |
| 8 | Heroic Epic |
| 9 | Tragedies |
| 10 | Instinctive Knowledge |
This will determine what is common knowledge about your character, but not whether it is true or how you see yourself. This is an opportunity not only to play someone great, powerful, and famous, but to play their relationship with being seen that way.
Consider the following questions to help you flesh our your character further:
- What are your Legends or Prophecies titled?
- Who wrote them? Is the storyteller famous themself?
- What impact has your Legend or Prophecy had on culture?
- Are there people who idolize you, and what are those people like?
- Do people see you as you really are? Do you?
- Are the ways the tales describe you, including the traits chosen above, accurate?
- Especially if your Legends were long ago, how have you changed since then?
- How do you feel about the legacy of your Legend or Prophecy?
- How do you feel about the way people see you?
Spell List
A Wizard of Legend lives a life adjacent to, but not always among, both common folk and other adventurers. How does being famous and virtually immortal affect your personality? How does being a Legend, mostly for actions long ago or in the future, change who you are today? In what ways are you larger than life, and in which are you down-to-earth?
The tables below allow you to choose (or randomly select) various traits of your character. Select at least two personality traits, one ideal, one bond, and one flaw or feel free to come up with your own.
When playing someone who on the surface is Great and Powerful, it's more interesting to roleplay their struggles, flaws, and surprises too. These traits may also be used by your Game Master to award Inspiration, when acting in line with one furthers the personal narrative of other party members.
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|
Suggested Characteristics
A Wizard of Legend lives a life adjacent to, but not always among, both common folk and other adventurers. How does being famous and virtually immortal affect your personality? How does being a Legend, mostly for actions long ago or in the future, change who you are today? In what ways are you larger than life, and in which are you down-to-earth?
The tables below allow you to choose (or randomly select) various traits of your character. Select at least two personality traits, one ideal, one bond, and one flaw or feel free to come up with your own.
When playing someone who on the surface is Great and Powerful, it's more interesting to roleplay their struggles, flaws, and surprises too. These traits may also be used by your Game Master to award Inspiration, when acting in line with one furthers the personal narrative of other party members.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | My outward behavior is often comical or bumbling. |
| 2 | I talk more about my next adventure than past stories. |
| 3 | I am working to reinvent myself and form a new image. |
| 4 | I see the world in fundamentally alien or ancient ways. Everyday things are strange to me. |
| 5 | I don't believe my own hype. I see my Legend or Prophecy as exaggerated, myself as a regular person. |
| 6 | I always have an anecdote, historical reference, or joke that I think is relevant. |
| 7 | I make light of myself or my reputation with self-deprecating humor. |
| 8 | I see myself as both a student and a teacher in every situation. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Power. Nothing matters more than reaching, or returning to, my peak magical might! |
| 2 | Glory. All I really want is to become even more famous. (Loved or feared?) |
| 3 | Honesty. I value the truth, and am pathologically (or even cosmically) unable to lie. |
| 4 | Humanity. Great people only matter when they help the little people live their lives. |
| 5 | Vengeance. When it mattered, I could not stop evil from happening, so now I must punish it. |
| 6 | Connection. Great deeds don't matter. Love, friendship, and human bonds are much greater. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I yearn to be part of a party of equally Legendary adventurers. |
| 2 | I was close to another immortal or Legendary being, and long to restore that love or friendship. |
| 3 | My life is lonely. I want to find an equal to share it with. |
| 4 | I will do anything to prove I am better than the way the Legends or Prophecies portray. |
| 5 | My destiny is to aid and protect someone of great destiny— perhaps the rest of the party. |
| 6 | I have lost the great artifact that is associated with me in Legend or Prophecy. I long to find it. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am stuck in the past, and too arrogant to see what is needed today. |
| 2 | I have trouble connecting with other people, and it leaves me isolated. |
| 3 | I can no longer see the value of "small" lives. I sometimes lack a moral compass. |
| 4 | Nobody has told me "no" in too long. I can't see my own mistakes. |
| 5 | I take risks that aren't mine to make. |
| 6 | I have had a great failure, and I don't believe in myself. |
Contacts
Feature: Legendary Figure
Thanks to the Legends or Prophecies about you, and your unique appearance, your reputation precedes you— You're more than famous. If anyone realizes who you are, they recognize you and react accordingly.
A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Stealth) or Charisma (Performance) check as you enter a community (a village, town, neighborhood of a major city, college, war camp, etc.) will allow you avoid the effects of this feature by disguising your identity from the general populace. Your Game Master may allow individual NPCs to make further checks.
If you did not make and succeed at the check above, a successful Intelligence (History) or Wisdom (Insight) check at a DC of 12 will allow any individual NPC who meets you to recognize you. If you choose to be recognized by an individual NPC, you may make a Charisma (Persuasion) check at a DC of 12 convince them of who you are.
Common people who recognize you will provide you and your party with modest food and lodging for as long as you need, and even those in power will generally consider you to be of whatever social rank necessary to make your presence acceptable, except in very private or secure spaces.
If an individual rolls a natural 20 to recognize you, or you roll a natural 20 when trying to be recognized, that NPC will treat you as a beloved celebrity. On a natural 1, that NPC will react as if you as an enemy. In either of these cases, you will not be able to maintain anonymity in this place for one year.
Comments