You are from a broken family - not due to an altercation with roaming bands of goblins like most people, but simply because you and your former spouse could no longer stand being around each other. Your divorce may have been mandated by your previous partner, something you thrust upon them during a breaking point, or mutually agreed upon months of work seeing the village marriage counselor. Regardless, the breakdown of your union has changed your life, and might have set you on the path to adventure as you attempt to make up for the lost years you spent in a loveless relationship. It could also come with difficulties as you attempt to navigate the social consequences and struggle to meet your obligations, including providing for any children you may have.
- Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, plus one from among Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion, and Religion
- Tool Proficiencies: Your choice of a gaming set or a musical instrument
- Languages: Any one of your choice
- Equipment: Your wedding band, a set of traveler’s clothes, the tool you choose for this background’s tool proficiency, and a pouch containing 15 gp
Marriages rarely fall apart for one single reason, but there is often a straw that breaks the camels back. Choose or randomly determine the cause of your divorce from among the possibilities in the table below. Work with your Dungeon Master to come up with details: Why is your divorce so important, and what is its full story? You might prefer for the DM to invent these details as part of the game, allowing you to learn more about your relationship breakdown as your character does.
| d8 | Divorcee |
|---|---|
| 1 | You and/or your former partner had a marriage plagued with adultery and jealousy. One final incident was the last straw. |
| 2 | How you could ever stand each other to begin with is a mystery, but after non-stop bickering, enough is simply enough. |
| 3 | Your partners decline into conspiracy and paranoia was gradual, but after increasingly fiery arguments you realise you are no longer ideologically aligned and called it splits. |
| 4 | Once a happy union, your household was struck with a tragedy which stopped you from communicating, permanently isolating you from each other. With the gulf growing too far to bridge, you drifted apart. |
| 5 | You only married under your parents insistence, and remained together to keep them happy. With the last of them passing, there is nothing keeping you and your spouse together. |
| 6 | They say a marriage breakdown is not the fault of the kids. But sometimes it really is. They're honestly the worst, and it's all their fault. |
| 7 | You are ashamed to admit it, but your marriage was a sham to begin with. You used your former partner as a disguise to hide your true self, but that is now over. |
| 8 | There was a time where you both wanted nothing more than to grow old together. As you both change other the years so do priorities, and truer callings become more important, sending you down different paths. |
After years (or months) together, you and your significant over have called it quits. Whether it was mutual or not, you are no longer committed to each other, however this does not strictly mean your ties and fates have been severed.
The Dungeon Master is free to use your divorce as a story hook, sending you on quests to navigate the stressful proceedings, finding the true nature of commitments, or confronting you with foes who have an objection to your decision to break your marital vows. The DM also determines the significance of your divorce and how they figure into the cultural taboos or norms of the world in which you live. For instance, the divorce might be a minor event, or one that begins with a modest proceedings and increases in drama with the passage of time.
When you begin your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your divorce right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your relationship history a secret until you learn more about what it means to you.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables below as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a divorcee.
Your bond might be directly related to your divorce, or to someone or something else entirely. Your ideal might be influenced by your experiences in your marriage, or by what you intend to do with your single status now you have it.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I advocate for myself and refuse to be made to feel small or ashamed. People will judge me by my actions, not my past. |
| 2 | You've got to understand the rules if you want to best know how to bend them. Thus I've come to find strength in demanding absolute clarity in anything I'm told. |
| 3 | I live for those who I feel a responsibility towards. After everyone else is taken care of, I'll look to my own needs. |
| 4 | I have a strong sense of what is fair and always try to find the most equitable solution to arguments. |
| 5 | I'm prone to feelings of insecurity, and tend to require a lot of assurance of my place in a group. |
| 6 | I've spent far too long thinking about the things I want. Now it's time to go after it with everything I've got. |
| 7 | I take no guff from others, and will stand my ground, no matter how much of a scene I may cause. |
| 8 | I get bored of others easily. The standard I have for the company I keep is much higher than it might have been in the past. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Respect. Just because you disagree with someone doesn't mean they don't deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. (Good) |
| 2 | Fairness. The rules and laws exist to ensure emotions don't cloud judgement, and no one should get preferential treatment. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Freedom. Life is short, and you're not going to waste another year living under someone else's rules. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Might. If I fight hard for myself, I can take what I want—what I deserve. (Evil) |
| 5 | Sincerity. There’s no good in pretending to be something I’m not, and I'm done with living lies. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Destiny. Nothing and no one can steer me away from my higher calling. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have offspring, but they live with their other parent. One day, I hope to win full-time custody. |
| 2 | My public image is important to me, and I need to protect it through performances of strained amicability. |
| 3 | They say time lost is never found, but I'm determined to prove that wrong. |
| 4 | My wedding band is a symbol of my past life, and I carry it so that I will never forget my mistakes. |
| 5 | My former partner may have got everything else in the divorce, but damned if they will keep the dog. |
| 6 | I wish I had followed my heart and pursued my childhood sweetheart instead of marrying for less pure reasons. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Embittered and cynical, I can often fall into dark moods when I see other happy couples. |
| 2 | Driven by shame, I sometimes find it easier to be absent in my duty as a parent than to face up to my responsibilities. |
| 3 | During the divorce proceedings I was dishonest about some details, and left my former spouse destitute and outcast. |
| 4 | Adapting to single life has been difficult, and I have found a weakness for the vices of the city, especially hard drink. |
| 5 | I desire nothing more than for my estranged partner and I to make amends, despite being told it is unrealistic and unhealthy. |
| 6 | I sometimes make people uncomfortable by speaking disparagingly of my former spouse. |
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Posted Sep 10, 2020nice