You are haunted by a terrible atrocity you once committed. You’ve tried to forget about it but it's like the souls of the dead take hold of your very mind forcing you to remember. You are often on edge always observing your surroundings expecting a ghost to enact revenge against you. This paranoia has begun to take hold of your reality and warp your mind. As you fall deeper in to the darkness of your soul you will have a heavy choice to make. Will you embrace the darkness in your heart? Or will you search for redemption that may never be found?
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Perception, Investigation, Deception, or Intimidation
- Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit
- Languages: Choose one exotic language (Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon)
- Equipment: A monster hunter’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).
Harrowing Event
Prior to becoming an adventurer, your path in life was defined by one dark moment, one fateful decision, or one tragedy. Now you feel a darkness threatening to consume you, and you fear there may be no hope of redeeming yourself. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.
| d6 |
Harrowing Event |
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1
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A monster forced you to choose between killing your own family, or ending the lives of innocent children.
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2
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You were possessed by a dark apparition and slaughtered an entire town while under its control.
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3
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Your family has a history of practicing the dark arts. You dabbled once and made a mistake that brought plague upon your homeland.
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4
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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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5
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A fiend possessed you as a child and went on a murderous spree. You were locked away but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but now you try to keep it locked away.
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6
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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: Heart of Darkness
Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone.
Suggested Characteristics
You tend to see thing that are not there due to the ghosts that haunt your hear. You are on the edge of insanity, and you hope that protecting people will pull you out of the darkness.
| 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 have an addiction.
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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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