Midwife

You've spent your life until now training to help with the delivery and care of infants. You have coached expectant parents through the rigors of birth, and delivered many a happy baby to their parents. You know how to make sure everything goes right--and what to do if it all goes wrong.

Work with your DM to determine how and where you practiced midwifery. Were you one of many healers attached to a large temple? Were you a local midwife, delivering an entire generation of your neighbors? Were you a traveling midwife, bringing help and health to any expectant parents you met?

 

Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, Insight

Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism Kit, one  Artisan's Tools of your choice

Suggested Characteristics

 

While a good midwife is as good at the medical aspect of the craft as at the interpersonal skills involved, the characteristics they possess may lend themselves more easily to one side than the other.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I care deeply for people, even if I don't know them very well.
2	I'm not bothered by blood and gore; in my line of work, I've seen more than some warriors.
3	I can keep a cool head in any situation.
4	I am a naturally warm person, and do what I can to put others at ease.
5	Once I get started, I could talk for hours about my work.
6	I am an extremely empathetic person, especially when it comes to suffering children or struggling parents.
7	I am not always comfortable with personal interaction, and prefer to stick to the technical aspects of my work.
8	I see my role as a counselor as much as a healer; though I know what I'm doing when it comes to herbs, my focus is on the personal connection.

d6	Ideal
1	Relief: I see it as my highest duty to ease the pain and suffering of others. (Good)
2	Oath: I swore to aid those who need me, regardless of my personal feelings. (Lawful)
3	Nature: Life is unpredictable, and I have to be flexible to help it along. (Chaotic)
4	Pride: I know what I'm doing, and there isn't anyone better at it. (Neutral)
5	Power: There is no greater power than choosing who gets to survive, and I make those choices to further my own interests. (Evil)
6	People: I care more about the individual than the abstract; what's important is dealing with people rather than upholding some ideal. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	I created some item for each child I delivered, such as a blanket or a pair of baby shoes. Many of the families still have those items, and remember me fondly by them.
2	I've been a midwife long enough that many of the children I delivered are now grown adults, scattered throughout the world.
3	I saved the life of a noble during childbirth, and earned the family's favor in return.
4	I have no children of my own, and so I consider the ones I delivered to be the closest thing to family I have.
5	I believe that children are sacred and it is my duty to make sure that they are safe, loved, and cared for.
6	I take personally every parent or child I lost, and carry with me a physical reminder of each one.

d6	Flaw
1	When I lose someone, even if it wasn't my fault, I blame myself to the point that I dwell on it for years after.
2	The family of a patient and child I lost blames me for the deaths; there's a price on my head in a certain part of the realm.
3	I have a hard time saying no, and will give and give even if it hurts me to keep giving.
4	I'm too attached to old ways of doing things, and I'm dismissive to new methods even if they would be more effective.
5	I've seen so much loss that I lost whatever optimism inspired me to join my profession in the first place; I've become hard where I once was kind.
6	My devotion to my work cause me to distance myself from my own family, and they resent me for it.