Ever since you were a child you have been able to see ghosts. Some are friends, others are nightmares, but most just seem lost. Only a handful can actually communicate with you. Those who can often like to tell you of their previous lives, what they can remember of them. But the unfriendly ones live through you, whispering continually and trying to exact old revenges through you. Are you influenced by them or not? It’s up to you.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, Investigation, Religion, or Survival
- Languages: Choose two, one of which is exotic. (Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon)
- Equipment: A monster hunter’s pack, one trinket of special significance (choose one or roll on the Gothic Trinkets table after this background). Also gain a set of set of common clothes and 1 sp.
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 escape. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.
| d10 |
Harrowing Event |
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1
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A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent people spared your life, and you don’t know why.
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2
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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.
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3
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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.
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4
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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.
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5
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An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it.
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6
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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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7
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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.
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8
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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.
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9
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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.
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10
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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 have learned to live with the spirits that haunt you. You are a survivor, who can be very protective of those who bring light and clarity into your confused and darkened life.
| 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 have grown so used to listening to the spirits around me, that I rarely make my own decisions. I consult them in everything I do.
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3
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I like to dabble on the dark arts. They help me understand what is wrong with me.
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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 am more used to the dead than the living. The spirits that haunt me are the closest things I have to friends.
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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 trust no one. I have experienced too much of humanity in the spirits that haunt me.
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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 do what the spirits tell me too. Maybe one day, they will release me from their curse.
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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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The spirits that surround me are my friends, counselors, and tormentors. I don’t think I could survive without them.
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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 can’t stand the darkness. It makes the spirits more real.
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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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