You are slowly losing control over yourself. it is so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to overcome it and run away from it, to no avail. Whatever is controlling you can’t be stopped with a sword or broken with a spell. It might come to you as a whisper in your head on the wall, a horrible nightmare, a memory that you will never forget, or in the dark you find your self giving in. The burden has taken its toll, you hurting people against your will and making you question your sanity. You must find a way to overcome it before it has full control over you.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, Investigation, Religion, or Survival
- Languages: Choose two, one of which must be Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon
- Equipment: A monster hunter’s pack (containing a chest, a crowbar, a hammer, three wooden stakes, a holy symbol, a flask of holy water, a set of manacles, a steel mirror, a flask of oil, a tinderbox, and 3 torches), one trinket of special significance (choose one or roll on the Horror Trinkets table after this background), a 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.
| d7 |
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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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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4
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An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it.
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5
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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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6
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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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7
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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 terror that controls you. You are a survivor, who can be very dangerous to those who are around you and your darkened life.
| d4 |
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 don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse.
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3
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I expect danger around every corner.
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4
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I put no trust in divine beings.
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| d3 |
Ideal |
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1
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I’ll stop the thing that controls me or die trying. (any)
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2
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I have a dark calling that puts me above the law. (Chaotic)
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3
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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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| d1 |
Bond |
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1
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There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free.
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| d3 |
Flaw |
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1
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I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones.
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2
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I am a purveyor of doom and gloom who lives in a world without hope.
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3
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I talk to demonic spirits that no one else can see.
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