**NOTE: The majority of the content written here has been plagiarized from either D&D Wiki's "Doctor 5E Background" from the website dandwiki.com, or user MFjones's "Doctor" background from D&D Beyond's homebrew section. I do not take any credit for the vast majority of the text and mechanics of this background, as it is mostly derivative of the aforementioned authors' work and better edited to suit the D&D Beyond website's format and my own needs.
You are trained as a healer and a medical practitioner who makes a living by treating and/or studying diseases, maladies, and injuries. Most doctors typically intend to heal such conditions, though there are some who are more concerned with research and study than actually helping people. Whatever your priorities, your background is characterized by the medical knowledge you picked up as you plied your trade as a doctor.
As a doctor, you have sworn yourself to the Hippocratic oath, one of the oldest binding documents in history. The Oath written by Hippocrates is still held sacred by physicians: to treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on. In a world where everyone can not pay for resurrection spells or even minor curative magic, a doctor can be the final arbiter between who lives and who dies.
- Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, and one from Nature, Religion, or Investigation
- Tool Proficiencies: Herbalist Kit
- Languages: One of your choice
- Equipment:
- A piece of doctors equipment (such as scalpel, pouch of aromatic herbs, or a small mirror), doctoral notes on your area of specialization, your doctor's certification, a healer's kit, a set of traveler's clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp. You also gain one additional piece of equipment based on your specialization below.
Doctors vary widely based on their specialized treatment options. Some take care of specific age groups while others focus on general, minor treatment of everyday aches and pains. As a doctor, you likely specialize in a particular field and manner of medicine. Choose one specialty, or roll on the table below.
| d10 | Speciality |
|---|---|
| 1 | Holistic: Home care remedies are trusted by many, no matter how it cannot be explained, including acupuncture and cupping. You have a case of home remedies like needles, glass cups, and oils. |
| 2 | Shaman: You use a variety of ancient ancestral techniques that use a range of remedies from plants to inhalation agents. You have a drum that you use to induce an altered state of consciousness which allows you to travel between the physical and spiritual worlds. You also have an arcane focus that allows you to concentrate your spiritual powers, and a regalia or headdress you wear that resembles an animal of your choice. |
| 3 | Apothecary: You are adept at potion-making from your experience. Whether these potions are used for good, evil, or simply serve as a placebo is up to you. You have a poisoner's kit, but every time you use it you must roll a D100 to see if, on the off chance, your potion ends up going wrong instead of producing the desired effect. If you roll 30-11, your potion simply didn't work, and drinking it will have no effect at all. If you 10 or below, your potion has the opposite effect on the consumer; if it was intended to heal, it now poisons, and vice-versa. |
| 4 | Spiritual Healer: Doctors who know of the energies in the universe and their interactions with the body understand there are materials that can balance and imbalance the body to cause illness, including lapidary practices and meditation. You have a case of up to 10 gemstones of your choice, each one worth no more than 5 gp. |
| 5 | Plague Doctor: Using your old and time-tested techniques of humorism and knowledge of bodily fluid, you use things like leeches and perform minor surgeries. You have a plague doctor's case*. |
| 6 | Herbalist: Your knowledge of the medicinal properties of local plants and fungi rivals that of a Wood Elf. You use your knowledge to create salves, healing agents, and oinments from certain leaves. You have a book to aid in plant identification and a pouch containing a small amount of dried herbs that you've collected over the years for a time of need. |
| 7 | Psychologist: You are a trained professional who has studied all there is to know about the human/humanoid mind. You can recognize symptoms of various mental disorders and illnesses in others, and offer therapy treatments instead of the usual physical care most others doctors offer to help those in need. You have a journal in which you keep and record notes of your patients from your sessions. |
| 8 | Veterinarian*: Instead of treating the usual humans/humanoids of the Forgotten Realms, you know how to treat their pets or other beast-type creatures. You carry a set of doctor's tools* that is sized appropriately for the types of animals you usually treat. |
| 9 | Modern Doctor or Nurse: You have an understanding of basic family medicine to keep people healthy after years of studying. You have a set of doctor's tools*. |
| 10 | Surgeon: You have received the top of the line education to carry the qualifications required to be able to perform surgeries and operate in a professional environment. You have extensive knowledge of the human body and anatomy due to your schooling, and because of that, should have the experience and knowledge required to treat or diagnose nearly any physical ailment. You carry a scalpel, sanitization equipment, and a set of doctor's tools*. |
- *See dandwiki.com for a description of what equipment is included in the "plague doctor's case" and "doctor's tools."
- *See variant feature.
Your talents make you highly sought after, particularly in regions or communities with little access to medicine. Your certification as a doctor makes others treat you with a higher degree of respect for the extensive level of education you received to hold your title and the commitment it took for you to get there. Those who recognize you as a doctor may request your services, and may offer you a reward in return should you choose to provide them. You might be able to receive free or discounted food and lodging, or gain access to normally off-limits locations by leveraging your position as a doctor if your services are needed.
Suggested Characteristics
Doctors come from many walks of life. Some may be well educated while others may have learned how to be a doctor through the passing down of knowledge from one generation to another, while others may have had to start from scratch and have had to learn as they doctored. Regardless, many doctors are troubled by harrowing events they bore witness to. Some are shockingly pragmatic, with an "it may not be pretty, but you'll live" approach to problems. Many are seemingly tireless, hard-working individuals. Some can be inspiring souls, with a deep appreciation, not only for life, but for the person who is alive as well.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Confident in my impressive skills and talent, I refuse to believe that a condition exists that I cannot cure. |
| 2 | Magic is unreliable hogwash! I only trust in the sciences. |
| 3 | I am constantly taking note of potential signs and symptoms in the people I meet. |
| 4 | I take every opportunity I can get to wash my hands. |
| 5 | Because of my devotion to my work as a medical practitioner, I find it hard to interact with people as individuals rather than patients outside of my workplace. |
| 6 | Desensitized from my line of work, I am cold and impersonal in my every word and action, even when furious or frightened. |
| 7 | I have a tendency to become so focused and engrossed in my work that I ignore everything else around me. |
| 8 | I base my every action on which outcome will save or prevent the most people from being injured. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Empathy. All I care about is the relief my skills bring to others. (Good) |
| 2 | Power. I practice medicine solely for my own profit in the form of prestige, money, and title that comes with it. (Evil) |
| 3 | Recognition. I want the entire world to know of my medical advancements, and give me the respect I deserve. (Any) |
| 4 | Heresy. No god or illness has any say on who is and isn't meant to die; I'll take that role into my own hands. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | Efficiency. I am to remain objective when I deal with myself and others, not letting emotions or distractions get in the way of my work. (Lawful) |
| 6 | Survival. I am simply doing what I need to in order to ensure that the ones I need to survive. (Neutral) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am secretly suffering from a terminal disease and aim to find a cure before it's too late |
| 2 | I am compiling my medical discoveries in a series of tomes, which I hope will educate future generations. |
| 3 | Someone I loved died of an illness. I want to spare others from the same fate. |
| 4 | I was pushed, or encouraged, into the field by my parents or a mentor, and owe my successful career to them. |
| 5 | Nothing is more important than my patients. |
| 6 | I'm on the edge of a breakthrough of finding the cure to the plague that decimated my home, and will stop at nothing to finish it. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am too sympathetic to those in pain; no matter the reasons, I would never turn away a suffering patient. |
| 2 | I have seen too much horror to be affected by scenes of suffering, hardly reacting to emotions or pain at all. |
| 3 | I am hesitant to injure others, even in self-defense. |
| 4 | I think I am better than other doctors, and other people in general. |
| 5 | I am haunted by the memories of every patient I could not save and engage in self-destructive behavior as a way to escape them. |
| 6 | I only treat certain races, viewing the ones I don't as beneath my level and unworthy of my expertise. |
Choose a creature type besides humanoid to be a specialized doctor of. You are generally aware of what substances are helpful or harmful to members within the species of that type. If you encounter new species, you can put together a rough idea of how old knowledge affects new and fascinating creatures. Spending time to study a creature lets you get a better and more accurate idea of minute details to treat issues that might ail them, as well as what ailments can develop. Other doctors may not take you as seriously, but anyone who has an important animal, such as a knight's steed or a caster's familiar, will have deep respect for you, for acknowledging that their creature is worth saving.
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