You were once a divine being in service to a God: immortal and immensely powerful. You lived blissfully unaware of mortal troubles, tucked away from the clutches of death. Unfortunately, you angered your God, resulting in you getting banished from their domain and having your powers unceremoniously stripped away from you. You have been plunged into the mortal realm, left with only a sliver of what you once had. You are vulnerable for the very first time.
You may choose any God from the Dungeons and Dragons pantheon (or it can be a homebrew God) to be the entity that you once served. This is very important for the 'Archangel' background as it determines what you can do with your class features. The name of the 'Archangel' background however can be changed to better fit the God you have chosen - the name 'Archangel' is only a placeholder name.
- Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Religion
- Languages: Two exotic languages of your choice.
- Equipment: A holy symbol (a gift from your former master), a souvenir from your past life (can be homebrew or from the trinkets table), set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 5 gp.
Even though you have been banished by your God, you are still tethered to the immortal plane you were once from. This means you can still contact Gods that are affiliated with your former master. You can only do this once per long rest and only in dire situations (unless you want to madden the God you are contacting). However, you do not know whether the God you are contacting bears any ill will towards you. Roll a d20 to determine this. A roll of 15 or higher means the God you have contacted holds no grudges against you and is willing to aid you with your troubles. Unfortunately, a roll below this leads to you angering the God you have contacted as they have sided with your former God - it is best to never contact this God again. If you have contacted a certain God successfully but you contact them again and fail, it is still advised to not bother this God again. Additionally, if you decide to contact a God you have failed at contacting before, you must roll a 17 or higher to successfully contact them.
Note: This background feature is a lot like 'Divine Intervention', however keep in mind it is nowhere near as powerful. Your DM will decide the intervention 'Divine Origins' will cause, but it will be most likely used in cases where your character needs advice or a question needs to be answered.
Additional Feature: Divine Persuasion
You may only use this feature ONCE during the whole game. This feature is unlocked when you have done your first successful contact. You may chose to put yourself in this God's good graces, meaning you can bypass rolling a d20 when contacting this certain God. However, you cannot use this feature twice in a row.
Suggested Characteristics
Archangels have been alienated from the mortal world for their whole existence. All they've ever known is to obediently serve the entity that gave them their power. Their once glorious life and untimely banishment affects their mannerisms and ideals. Your character may be relieved as they are now unrestricted and can live however they want without the fear of upsetting their master. Their flaws may be the lack of knowledge of mortal customs except the practices of the worshippers of their former God or their arrogance towards others due to their once divine status. An ideal may be the desire to return to their former glory, either through respectable or nefarious means.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I expect everything to be perfect, just like how it was before I was banished. |
| 2 | Mortals are so fascinating to me since I lack what makes them different: emotions. |
| 3 | Obedience is in my nature. I rigidly follow the rules, regardless of what other people think of them. |
| 4 | Being surrounded by humans made me realize the immense amount of wisdom that I have. |
| 5 | Now that I can do whatever I want, I've truly become a free spirit |
| 6 | I'm finding this new body difficult to control, resulting in frequent bouts of clumsiness. |
| 7 | I've spent enough time observing mortals to know how to influence them. |
| 8 | The romantic tales mortals weave into their songs is how I want to live my life. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Revenge. It's my life goal to make my former master suffer the same fate I endured. (Evil) |
| 2 | Redemption. I would do anything to return to my rightful place: next to my God. (Neutral) |
| 3 | Freedom. Now that I'm free, I want to explore this beautiful world on my own terms. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Improvement. With what powers I have left, I wish to make this world a better place. (Good) |
| 5 | Responsibility. This world needs someone to bring order and justice, and I intend to fill that role. (Lawful) |
| 6 | Knowledge. I want to learn everything there is to know about mortals, for my sake or theirs. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | From what I've seen so far of this world, it's beauty must be preserved. |
| 2 | My devotion to my God still holds true and I cling to any fragment I still have left of them. |
| 3 | I would risk everything to protect the only remnant I have of my past life. |
| 4 | Even though I no longer serve my former God, I try my best to aid their worshippers. |
| 5 | I hold a special place in my heart for the first person who helped me navigate this unfamiliar world. |
| 6 | Ever since my God banished me, the only person I can trust is myself. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I tend to be arrogant and think I am above everyone else because of my divine origins. |
| 2 | I lack knowledge around mortal customs and practices so I am often seen as a social outcast. |
| 3 | I do not understand the concept of mortality yet, so I might not notice when my friends are in grave danger. |
| 4 | I find it difficult to create meaningful relationships with people due to my reliance on my former master. |
| 5 | As my life's purpose was to serve another, I struggle to find an identity for myself. |
| 6 | My hatred for the one who banished me has made me obsessed with destroying anything related to them. |
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