You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to bury it and run away from it, but the darkness follows you. Believing that you are a curse upon the world, you have cut yourself off from civilization. Your time is spent on survival, introspection and gaining knowledge about your affliction or dark past.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Religion, or Survival
- Tool Proficiencies: Choose one from Alchemist's Supplies or Herbalism Kit
- Languages: Choose one exotic. (Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon)
- Equipment: A monster hunter’s pack. Alchemist's supplies or a herbalism kit. A scroll case stuffed full of notes from your studies. Also gain a set of common clothes and a pouch containing 1 gp.
Prior to becoming an adventurer, your path in life was defined by an horrific event, a dangerous pact or a tragic choice. After being unable to escape it, you fear that this darkness puts those you love at risk, so you remove yourself from society. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.
| d10 | Harrowing Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent people spared your life, and you don’t know why. |
| 2 | You were born under a dark star. You can feel it watching you, coldly and distantly. Sometimes it beckons you in the dead of night. |
| 3 | An apparition that has haunted your family for generations now haunts you. You don’t know what it wants, and it won’t leave you alone. |
| 4 | Your family has a history of practicing the dark arts. You dabbled once and felt something horrible clutch at your soul, whereupon you fled in terror. But something followed you. |
| 5 | An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it. |
| 6 | A chaotic fey cursed you as a child for its own amusement. As you got older, dark powers emerged that you were unable to control. The result was tragic. |
| 7 | A hag kidnapped and raised you. You escaped, but the hag still has a magical hold over you and fills your mind with evil thoughts. |
| 8 | You opened an eldritch tome and saw things unfit for a sane mind. You burned the book, but its words and images are burned into your psyche. Part of you longs to recreate the tome and distribute it. |
| 9 | A fiend possessed you as a child. You were locked away but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but now you try to keep it locked away. |
| 10 | You made a deal with a fiend or evil fey to protect someone you loved. You were irrevocably changed and became a monster. |
During your time spent in solitude, you gain access to a unique and powerful discovery. This could be physical, or metaphorical; the nature of this revelation will be directly related to the reason for your hermitage. It might be a morbid epiphany about the creature, organisation or powerful beings that hunt you. It could be an undiscovered or forgotten landmark, perhaps it was the site at which your haunted life began. After years of trawling through books and scrolls, maybe you uncovered a weakness to a foe, or unearthed some relic of the past that could be used to destroy your demons once and for all.
Work with your DM to determine the details of your discovery and its impact on the campaign.
Suggested Characteristics
You have learned to live with the terror that haunts you. You are a survivor, who can be very protective of those who bring light into your darkened life.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me. |
| 2 | I like to read and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness. |
| 3 | I spend money freely and live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die. |
| 4 | I live for the thrill of the hunt. |
| 5 | I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse. |
| 6 | I expect danger around every corner. |
| 7 | I refuse to become a victim, and I will not allow others to be victimized. |
| 8 | I put no trust in divine beings. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good) |
| 2 | I’ll stop the spirits that haunt me or die trying. (Any) |
| 3 | I kill monsters to make the world a safer place, and to exorcise my own demons. (Good) |
| 4 | I have a dark calling that puts me above the law. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | I like to know my enemy’s capabilities and weaknesses before rushing into battle. (Lawful) |
| 6 | I’m a monster that destroys other monsters, and anything else that gets in my way. (Evil) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy. |
| 2 | I would sacrifice my life and my soul to protect the innocent. |
| 3 | My torment drove away the person I love. I strive to win back the love I’ve lost. |
| 4 | A terrible guilt consumes me. I hope that I can find redemption through my actions. |
| 5 | There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free. |
| 6 | I have a child to protect. I must make the world a safer place for him (or her). |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have certain rituals that I must follow every day. I can never break them. |
| 2 | I assume the worst in people. |
| 3 | I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones. |
| 4 | I have an addiction. |
| 5 | I am a purveyor of doom and gloom who lives in a world without hope. |
| 6 | I talk to spirits that no one else can see. |