You are a member of a royal family. You may be an heir to a throne, or a distant relative, or somewhere in between. Something in your past caused you to run from your family. Be it a banishment, voluntary exile to protect your family, or another reason, you no longer reap the rewards of your family's name. If your family still holds status and your relationship with them is still favorable, perhaps they send you gifts in hopes that you return safely. Alternatively, perhaps you were forced into exile and your family has stripped everything from you, including your name and rank.
Without the wealth, power and privilege of your noble upbringing, you have probably struggled to adapt to life in the lower classes. You have left with just the clothes on your back and the coins you can carrying your pocket. To avoid attention from nobility and earn some extra gold you have sold your fine clothes. You likely have a range of skills that you developed during your time in nobility, are you able to make them marketable?
Work with your DM to come up with an appropriate title and determine how much authority that title carries. Is your family old and established, or was your title only recently bestowed? How much influence do they wield, and over what area? What kind of reputation does your family have among the other aristocrats of the region? How do the common people regard them? How has losing your title affected you? Do you still feel yourself above the commoners? Do you have family ideals, traditions or religions you still adhere to? Do you have a family crest, sigil or color you continue to wear?
These details help establish your family and your title as features of the world of the campaign.
- Skill Proficiencies: You grew up learning courtly graces, choose two skills from: History, Insight, Persuasion, or Deception
- Languages: Choose two language you learned, either from your tutors in your former life, or to make ends meet in the world outside of your family's influence.
- Equipment: A set of travelers clothes, a purse containing 25 gp, and one heirloom taken with you from your former life.
Because of your circumstances you have the manners and eloquence of a highborn, but a humility and newfound respect for the common folks. While some may know who you are by rumor, others may take pity on you without that knowledge. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among commoners, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, or insult them in some way. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.
Suggested Characteristics
Nobles are born and raised to a very different lifestyle than most people ever experience, and their personalities reflect that upbringing. However, choosing or being forced to abandon that lifestyle can have a lasting effect, for good or ill. Your personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws should reflect the struggle you went through when leaving your family.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I often talk wistfully about my home and how I long to return some day. |
| 2 | As soon as I left, I hardened myself to the realities of the world, becoming cold and bitter. |
| 3 | I still carry myself with dignity and poise, reminding everyone around me that I am still of noble birth. |
| 4 | I constantly write home to a few family members that still desire to keep in contact with me. |
| 5 | I have come to expect a certain level of decorum around me and will chastise those who are impolite or rude. |
| 6 | I do not hold myself any higher than others, regardless of where I come from. We are all equal. |
| 7 | If you hurt me or mine, I will not stop hunting you until you are dead or worse. |
| 8 | Having lost all my friends and family, I long for a sense of belonging. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Respect. Respect is still due to me because of my birthright, but all people regardless of station deserve to be treated with dignity. (Good) |
| 2 | Responsibility. One day I will return home to face my family, whether I return victorious or in chains. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Independence. I will do everything in my power to remain free of the bondage of my house. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Power. I will crush my family into dust and from their ashes I will raise a new, stronger house. (Evil) |
| 5 | Family. Nothing is more important than helping my family in any way I can. (Any) |
| 6 | Noble Reclamation. For the good of my family, the realm, or even the world, I must restore mine or my family's good name. (Good) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | Although I have left them, I will always be loyal to my family and their goals. |
| 2 | The only one who can protect me is myself. |
| 3 | The common people are more family than my true family ever was. |
| 4 | Now that I have tasted freedom, it is all I could ever know. |
| 5 | The person who forced me into exile is the one I owe my loyalty to, but only so that I can clear my name. |
| 6 | My friends or my lover are the only ones who will truly understand me. |
| d8 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have lost everything and my broken pride makes me hesitant to accept help. |
| 2 | I hide a truly scandalous secret that could ruin my family forever. |
| 3 | I will leap to defend my family's name, with often violent results. |
| 4 | I cannot control certain urges that have earned me my family's ire. |
| 5 | I am oblivious to anything that does not involve me. |
| 6 | I have brought shame to my family, and I continue to do so with nearly every word I say. |
| 7 | Because of my upbringing, I often don't know how to do simple everyday tasks. |
| 8 | Sometimes I expect too much of those around me, because I am used to special treatment. |
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