When you were a child, an eldritch event caused a momentary tear in the walls between the planes and, for a moment, you were touched by something ancient, dark, and unknowable. While that maddening gaze was never directed towards you, mere mote that you are, that brief interaction left its impression on your very soul.
As man and creature pray and make sacrifice to a whole pantheon of angels, demons, demigods, and gods themselves, they are all but spots of light against the backdrop of night known as Bolothamogg, called Him Who Watches from Beyond the Stars. The realms exist only because they are beneath his dread consideration, yet are held in place by his very being. At the edges of your mind, you hear whispers of a sky beyond the night, terrible to behold in its infinite horror.
You feel most at home under the night sky, knowing reality is secured by Bolothamogg's embrace. His touch has left you different and otherly. You are not compelled to worship, as He requires nothing from mortals but you whisper thanks to the darkness from time to time. While you draw from the power of his briefest touch, you take comfort in knowing He cares not what you do with it, whether good or evil, because he considers you like the ocean considers a grain of sand, which is to say, not at all.
On Bolothamogg:
Also known as Him Who Watches from Beyond the Stars, Bolothamogg is the elder evil who is said to be the darkness between the stars, the guardian force or entity that exists to ensure that nothing in the multiverse can escape to taint the true reality of the outer dimensions. More a primal force than a physical entity, Bolothamogg is honored in Aboleth architecture by leaving large gaps and empty spaces in the facades of buildings, and by constructing large, open amphitheaters and other structures without roofs.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, History,Investigation, Religion, Stealth 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.
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 |
|---|---|
| 1 | A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent people spared your life, and you don’t know why. |
| 2 | 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. |
| 3 | 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. |
| 4 | 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. |
| 5 | An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it. |
| 6 | You were cursed with lycanthropy and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered. |
| 7 | 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. |
| 8 | 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. |
| 9 | 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. |
| 10 | You did terrible things to avenge the murder of someone you loved. You became a monster, and it haunts your waking dreams. |
Knowing the horror of the abyss, you clearly travel through life slightly detached from the reality that others exist in. You tend to make people nervous and chatty under the weight of your gaze. In your dreams and in quiet moments of darkness, you occasionally hear whispers from the eldritch plane. They often chatter meaninglessly but occasionally, they offer knowledge, guidance, or truths about the abyss. (These are not always useful to your quest.) Your preoccupation with the night sky means you are always able to recognize the stars and use them to guide you.
Suggested Characteristics
You have learned to live with the terror that haunts you. You are a survivor, who can be very protective of those who bring light into your darkened life.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me. |
| 2 | I like to read and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness. |
| 3 | I spend money freely and live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die. |
| 4 | I live for the thrill of the hunt. |
| 5 | I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse. |
| 6 | I expect danger around every corner. |
| 7 | I refuse to become a victim, and I will not allow others to be victimized. |
| 8 | I put no trust in divine beings. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good) |
| 2 | I’ll stop the spirits that haunt me or die trying. (Any) |
| 3 | I kill monsters to make the world a safer place, and to exorcise my own demons. (Good) |
| 4 | I have a dark calling that puts me above the law. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | I like to know my enemy’s capabilities and weaknesses before rushing into battle. (Lawful) |
| 6 | I’m a monster that destroys other monsters, and anything else that gets in my way. (Evil) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy. |
| 2 | I would sacrifice my life and my soul to protect the innocent. |
| 3 | My torment drove away the person I love. I strive to win back the love I’ve lost. |
| 4 | A terrible guilt consumes me. I hope that I can find redemption through my actions. |
| 5 | There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free. |
| 6 | I have a child to protect. I must make the world a safer place for him (or her). |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have certain rituals that I must follow every day. I can never break them. |
| 2 | I assume the worst in people. |
| 3 | I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones. |
| 4 | I have an addiction. |
| 5 | I am a purveyor of doom and gloom who lives in a world without hope. |
| 6 | I talk to spirits that no one else can see. |
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