You are a druid, a warden of nature, with a natural talent for shapeshifting. You have been on the road to becoming a druid for some time. The Circle of the Moon druids either recognized your promise, or cultivated you into who you are today. You may even be an awakened animal, granted the ability to shapeshift into a humanoid form. Regardless of your true origin, you grew up in the wilds, far from civilization and the comforts of town and technology, perhaps literally raised by wolves.
You’ve witnessed the migration of herds larger than forests, survived weather more extreme than any city-dweller could comprehend, and enjoyed the solitude of being the only thinking creature for miles in any direction. You have been part of the struggle for survival and seen the power and dynamics of Nature. What you lack in sophistication, you make up for with alertness and an insight into the natural world that few others can match.
This background should only be taken by druids, or those who were once very nearly on the path to becoming so.
- Skill Proficiencies: Survival, Animal Handling, Perception
You have lived frequently as an animal, which comes with a boon and a cost. You're incredibly skilled due to your natural attunement with the wild, but have had no real time to perfect any particular musical or tool proficiencies.
- Languages: One of your choice
- Equipment: A staff, a trophy from an animal you killed, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp
Choose a specific CR 0 creature. You can Wild Shape into it at will, with an action or a bonus action. All the other rules for Wild Shape apply.
Choosing a creature with a swimming or flying speed can only be done with the permission of the Dungeon Master.
| d12 | Favored Form |
|---|---|
| 1 | Baboon |
| 2 | Badger |
| 3 | Cat |
| 4 | Deer |
| 5 | Fox |
| 6 | Goat |
| 7 | Hyena |
| 8 | Jackal |
| 9 | Lizard |
| 10 | Rat |
| 11 | Scorpion/Spider |
| 12 | Weasel |
Well before you were officially initiated as a Druid, and even before most druids learn Wild Shape, you have already picked up the knack for it--but only with regards to one favored form.
Perhaps you simply possessed some innate talent for it, perhaps it was the years of training alongside senior Druids, or perhaps you were raised by animals already, so you were closer to the wild. Whatever the case, your feral nature and druidic indoctrination has conferred certain benefits, primarily your ability to take the form of a specific 0 CR creature at will. There is no time limit for how long you can stay in this form, it comes as natural to you as breathing. Shapeshifting to this form or leaving it takes 1 bonus action or 1 action, as you choose.
You can only choose a flying or aquatic favored form with this background with the DM's permission.
Suggested Characteristics
More at home with animals than you are with people goes without saying. You've been raised and bred among the wilds, nurtured by your mentors among the druids that defend them. This was likely not much in the way of socialization.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I maintain many of the habits of my favored animal form as a humanoid. |
| 2 | I watch over my friends as if they were a litter of newborn pups. |
| 3 | I prefer to see the world through the eyes of an animal. |
| 4 | I have a lesson for every situation, drawn from observing nature. |
| 5 | Wealth and manners are largely lost on me. |
| 6 | I’m always picking things up, absently fiddling with them, and sometimes accidentally breaking them. |
| 7 | I feel far more comfortable around animals than people. |
| 8 | I was, in fact, raised by wolves. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Change. Life is like the seasons, in constant change, and we must change with it. Our body is no different. (Chaotic) |
| 2 | Nobility. Live as the beasts do: they are honest, and live in harmony with their environment. (Good) |
| 3 | Power. I will become a feral force of destruction. (Evil) |
| 4 | Balance. There is stewardship and there is meddling, and it takes wisdom to know the difference. (Neutral) |
| 5 | Simplicity. My home is the open sky. My floor is the earth. The majesty of Nature shames any cathedral. (Any) |
| 6 | Order. The natural world follows rules, and so should we. (Lawful) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have a family member that is a beast, perhaps a member of my favored form. |
| 2 | An injury to the unspoiled wilderness of my home is an injury to me. |
| 3 | I will bring terrible wrath down on those who committed such a vile desecration to my habitat. |
| 4 | The druids of my circle are no more, and I have only what they taught me to guide and direct me. Now they must live through me. |
| 5 | I suffer awful visions of a coming disaster and will do anything to prevent it. |
| 6 | I don't see any difference between animals and people. We're all animals, and we're all people. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I like to hunt and eat what I kill, and I like to eat it raw. |
| 2 | I don't really understand the value of money. |
| 3 | I secretly just want to dominate and crush things. |
| 4 | I am skittish or shy around new societies, and large gatherings of people. |
| 5 | Violence is my answer to almost any challenge. |
| 6 | Don’t expect me to save those who can’t save themselves. It is nature’s way that the strong thrive and the weak perish. |
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