You were abandoned as a young child or infant with little to no clues as to your origins. Too young to remember your birth family, the community in which you were left is the only home you have ever known, though it has not always been a welcoming place. The mysteriousness of your arrival has led many in the community to distrust you on sight. Others have pitied your family-less existence. Still, you were never fully left to fend for yourself. Whether you were taken in by the local temple, a young childless couple in town, or even passed from home to home as each family could afford to help, you have seen kindness from the community around you as well.
Even if you are of the same race as your found community, you've always felt different- and you've seen a vast array of how the world treats those who are different, from fear to reverence. Give a lot of thought to how you have reacted to these treatments throughout your life. Did you learn to lean into your differences, real or perceived? Or have you strived to prove yourself and finally earn a place as one of the group? Did you ever attempt to run away as a child and find the place where you belonged? How did the community around you react to your actions?
Build on your past to find your place in the present. How do you interact with the community now? Do you consider yourself one of them? Are they the family you hope to return to someday, or simply a part of your past you would rather leave behind? What has set you on your journey into the wider world now?
Optional Feature: Inheritance
You were not abandoned completely alone. An item of great significance and mystery was left with you. This item may not be of great monetary value, but it is the key to learning your true origins- if you dare to pursue it.
Follow rules laid out for inheritance in the Inheritor background in Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide and select the equipment option that includes your inheritance. Your Inheritance item cannot exceed a base value of 15GP max (before any magical additions, if applicable). Suggested Skills: Arcana, History, or Religion
Alternate Optional Feature: City Secrets
When the world around you would become too much- too many pitying looks, too much suspicion, too many reminders that you didn't quite belong- the surrounding landscape would become your solace. Whether in a bustling city, the middle of open grassland, or deep in the mines below towering peaks, your need to get away and be alone meant learning every possible place to hide and all the fastest ways to get to them.
Follow rules laid out for City Secrets in the Urchin background in Player's Handbook and select the equipment option that includes the map of your found community. Suggested Skills: Persuasion, Deception
- Skill Proficiencies: Survival, plus one of your choice: Stealth, Persuasion, Deception, Arcana, History, Religion
- Tool Proficiencies: Your choice of one game set, artisan tools, or musical instrument
- Languages: The language of your found community replaces your race specific language. Choose 1 other Language.
- Equipment: The tool set/game set/instrument chosen above plus your choice between:
A set of common clothes, a trinket (worth 5GP max), a pouch containing 15GP;
A set of traveler's clothes. an Inheritance (worth 15GP max), a pouch containing 10 GP;
A set of common clothes in the style of your found community, a trinket (worth 5GP max), a map of your found community, a pouch containing 10 GP
The mysterious nature of your arrival has cast a strange air around you. Some feel this Otherness as a fearsome dread, some as a source of great power and destiny. These reactions are strongest with those from your adopted community (or race) and those on the edges of life- the very young and those close to death. You'll find that you, and anyone you are traveling with, are treated with a certain deference in communities of your adopted home. You will be fed, healed, offered a place to sleep, wash and pray, even hidden if need be. Some may celebrate your arrival, but don't expect to be treated as one of the group. There will always be a distance between you, and you will never earn their full trust.
Suggested Characteristics
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D6 |
Personality Trait |
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1 |
I do my best to live up to my adopted community’s expectations- good or bad. |
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2 |
I long to find my birth parents or others like me, a place where I will finally fit in. |
|
3 |
My adopted community is my family, I don’t understand why I am seen as so different. |
|
4 |
It was a cruel fate that someone as exceptional as me was left in such a common place. Obviously, I was born for a higher purpose. |
|
5 |
I owe my life to the community that raised me and I will not rest until I have repaid that debt. |
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6 |
It was destiny that I was found when I had been left for dead. I have an obligation to live the rest of my life to its fullest potential. |
|
D6 |
Ideals |
|
1 |
Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it. (Lawful) |
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2 |
Sincerity. There's no good pretending to be something I'm not. (Neutral) |
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3 |
Freedom. Everyone should be free to pursue his or her livelihood. (Chaotic) |
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4 |
Respect. People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. (Good) |
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5 |
People. I help people who help me--that's what keeps us alive. (Neutral) |
|
6 |
Retribution. The rich need to be shown what life and death are like in the gutters. (Evil) |
|
D4 |
Bonds |
|
1 |
I will face any challenge to win the approval of my found family. |
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2 |
I've been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question. |
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3 |
I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me. |
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4 |
No one else is going to have to endure the hardships I've been through. |
|
D4 |
Flaws |
|
1 |
I'd risk too much to uncover a lost bit of knowledge. |
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2 |
I will never fully trust anyone other than myself. |
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3 |
I remember every insult I've received and nurse a silent resentment toward anyone who's ever wronged me. |
|
4 |
It's not stealing if I need it more than someone else. |
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