In your leisure time, you enjoy playing tabletop role-playing adventure games with a group of friends. Generally, this will involve one person as a world-building, tale-spinning game master, while the other players create fantastical avatars to navigate the game master's fictional world. Equipment commonly includes a bag filled with strange dice, pen and paper, and a book containing the rules of the game itself.
When you are drawn into the world of real-life adventures, will you be as valiant and bold as your imaginary avatars?
- Skill Proficiencies: Performance, plus choose one from among Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception, or Persuasion
- Tool Proficiencies: Dice Set, plus choose one from among Calligrapher's Supplies, Cartographer's Tools, Disguise Kit, Forgery Kit, Painter's Supplies, or Woodcarver's Tools
- Equipment: A set of common clothes, a bottle of black ink, an ink pen, six sheets of blank paper, a book of rules for your tabletop adventuring game of choice, and a pouch containing a polyhedral dice set and five tiny figurines carved from wood or cast in pewter.
In a world already filled with dungeons to explore and dragons to slay, tabletop adventuring isn't the most mainstream hobby to fall into. You can roll d10 or choose from the options in the Session Zero table to determine how your adventures began.
| d10 | Session Zero |
|---|---|
| 1 | I found a curious book sitting on the shelf in a shop or library, which turned out to be a rulebook for a tabletop game. I soon became enamored with the idea of going on thrilling adventures, even if they would only be imaginary. |
| 2 | A relative or close friend was an avid player of a tabletop adventure game, and eventually invited me into their group. I came to associate playing these games with comfort and companionship. |
| 3 | I was held prisoner for a number of years. To pass the time, my fellow inmates devised an adventure game to provide a mental escape from our bondage. |
| 4 | As an avid fan of military history and strategy, I stumbled into tabletop adventures as a way to simulate and re-create famous battles of the past. |
| 5 | Trained as a scholar, I've always been fascinated by the rules that make up reality, and the mathematics of probability. My research led me to games where such things were simulated in a simplified microcosm of reality. |
| 6 | A group of tabletop adventurers invited me to join them as a player. The game itself seemed interesting, but the hand-drawn maps and delicately painted figurines scattered about their table were what really caught my attention. |
| 7 | I obtained what I thought was an almanac. For a time, I was convinced that it was a completely factual guide to the creatures and workings of the world. Luckily, I've since learned it was fiction... though sometimes I may forget. |
| 8 | My family believes that demons brought tabletop adventuring into my life. While my family was completely correct, the demons were simply bored, and wanted me to run a game for them. They never tried to corrupt me, worried that it could ruin my imagination, which would make their games boring again. |
| 9 | Whenever I try to remember how I first began playing tabletop advenure games, I get a throbbing headache. Eventually, it just became easier to never think about it. |
| 10 | After a strange event, I found myself in a world that was not my own. I soon found that the world I now inhabit bears an uncanny resemblance to the world described in my favorite tabletop game or fantasy tale. |
In your time playing tabletop adventure games, you've learned facts about thousands of creatures. You've read through painstakingly researched scientific treatises, books of ancient folklore, highly embellished bardic tales, first-hand historical accounts, entertaining fiction, religious texts, and materials fabricated by the authors of your tabletop games. While your ability to recall what you've learned is nothing short of remarkable, it's often difficult to remember which bits of information came from which sources.
When encountering a type of creature for the first time, you may attempt to remember something relevant from your studies. At the Dungeon Master's discretion, they may offer you two or more pieces of potentially useful information from that creature's stat block and description. However, there's a good chance at least some of that information will be wildly incorrect.
Example: When you encounter a Werewolf for the first time, you may remember reading somewhere that Werewolves have a strong dislike of silver. At the same time, you may also remember reading about Werewolves' famous tendency to breathe fire when threatened.
Spell List
The thaumaturgy cantrip is added to the the spell list of your spellcasting class. (If you are a multiclass character with multiple spell lists, this spell is added to all of them.)
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | thaumaturgy |
If you already have a talent for magic, thaumaturgy comes naturally to you. You've found that it adds to the immersion of your tabletop adventures when you can create the sound of a burbling monster, the feeling of a tremor, or alter the room's lighting at will.
Suggested Characteristics
While you may believe you've led a relatively mundane life, you are not without your own quirks and idiosyncrasies. Roll once each on the Personality Trait, Ideal, Bond, and Flaw tables. Alternately, you can just choose an option from each table.
| d10 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I enjoy portraying different characters by using varied voices and accents. Sometimes I employ hats and fake beards. |
| 2 | Seeing the world (or worlds) is my passion. I often suggest scenic routes and side-trips. |
| 3 | I spring into action at the first sign of adventure, or at the first sign of boredom. |
| 4 | There's great joy to be found in abusing the letter of the law to subvert the intent of the law. |
| 5 | Nothing beats the rush of combat, though I do have interests other than fighting. Probably. |
| 6 | I hope to one day return home with enthralling stories to tell, no matter how much embellishment is needed. |
| 7 | All of life is a puzzle and, given time, I'm certain I can ascertain the solution. |
| 8 | Where my friends go, I go. I'll follow them into a dragon's lair as readily as I'll follow them into a tavern. |
| 9 | As long as I have a plan, I feel like I'm in control. Being forced to improvise makes me anxious and unstable. |
| 10 | I always try to find tactful, peaceful solutions to conflict. Some mistake this trait for weakness, which is a misconception that often proves useful. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fairness. I am scrupulously fair in all my dealings, and I demand the same fairness in return. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Beauty. The world can be a dark place, and I strive to create sparks of light to brighten it. (Good) |
| 3 | Excitement. I've lived a bland, uninspiring life in the past, and I refuse to ever live that way again. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Wealth. Riches can bring opulence and fame, but all I truly want is the peace of mind that only money can buy. (Any) |
| 5 | Victory. I'm here to test myself against the world, and the world will yield before I do. (Evil) |
| 6 | Knowledge. There is nothing more precious than knowledge, because there is nothing more powerful. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | The fey abducted me as a child, but brought me back a few hours later, and nobody knows why. |
| 2 | A fortune teller suffered a fatal heart attack as they were reading my fortune. That's probably a coincidence. |
| 3 | I feel a sense of debt to someone who helped me in a time of need. I hope to find a way to repay them. |
| 4 | There is a library in my hometown that I think of as my true home. |
| 5 | I will risk anything to become a great hero or a terrible villain, but I cannot remain a nobody. |
| 6 | I've lost some memories, but I know that I paid a Wizard to remove them via a modify memory spell. I don't know what those memories were about, or why I wanted them gone. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I frequently obsess over collecting interesting trinkets, regardless of their value. |
| 2 | I try to act unpredictably when challenged, believing it puts my opponents at a disadvantage. |
| 3 | I believe most problems can be solved by stabbing someone. Usually that someone is an enemy, but I'm flexible. |
| 4 | I find beholders and their kin adorable, which worries my companions. I've been warned not to pet the eye tyrants. |
| 5 | I tend to overestimate my real-life skills and abilities at inopportune times. |
| 6 | I am chronically indecisive, and often rely on flipping a coin, rolling a die, or other random decision-making aids. |
Contacts
Your past has provided you with a few colorful acquaintances. Roll once on the Cordial Contacts table and once on the Dubious Contacts table. Alternately, you can just choose an option from each table.
| d8 | Contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | The local tavern owner is especially fond of my friends and me, saying we cause less trouble than any of the tavern's other regulars. |
| 2 | I have an uncle who claims that he used to be a Vampire but says he "got better." |
| 3 | My sibling is a successful adventurer, but their travels have kept us apart for years. |
| 4 | A cleric has taken a special interest in me, though they've so far avoided mentioning what deity they serve. |
| 5 | A relative insists that my tabletop adventuring hobby has put my soul in peril and wants to "save" me. |
| 6 | One of my parents is a retired assassin, but that's a family secret. |
| 7 | My childhood bully is now infatuated with me, which I find extremely awkward. |
| 8 | A local shopkeeper is a longtime friend. They enjoy sharing rumors and gossip with me. |
| d8 | Non-contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | There is a Monodrone that sometimes watches me sleep, and I have no idea why. |
| 2 | I know a talking shrub. It doesn't talk to anyone else, which is concerning. |
| 3 | I thought I was romantically involved with a changeling, but they were just two people with the same name. |
| 4 | I have a former employer who spreads malicious rumors about me, purely out of spite. |
| 5 | A traveling bard performs a mean-spirited comedy routine about me. I'm not sure how they even know me. |
| 6 | There is a raven that tries to attack me on occasion as I walk through town. One time, I swear it said my name. |
| 7 | A former friend stole something of sentimental value from me. |
| 8 | A stranger has approached me more than once, offering me power beyond imagination. I'm pretty sure they're joking. |
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