Whether it was by chance, by choice, or by birth, you were used as a template for all sorts of tests, some more depraved than others. One thing is for sure: you had no idea what you signed up for. For some, it was experiments into producing utter obedience, and for others, creating the ideal soldier. For an unlucky few, it was both. Perhaps you broke under the pressure, or maybe you didn't. Perhaps your tormentors were legimate, perhaps not. Maybe it doesn't matter, since you see blood when you close your eyes regardless.
One day, you found yourself suddenly freed. Perhaps your usefullness was exhausted, perhaps you rejected the grafts, or perhaps you simply ran away.
- Skill Proficiencies: You are quite adept at medicine, and little escapes your eye.
- Tool Proficiencies: You are proficient in the usage of lockpicks and medical supplies.
- Languages: You speak a few odd languages, mostly gained from reading the arcane guidelines to your tests.
- Equipment: You only have a jumpsuit from your days as a subject, along with whatever you were issued or used to escape.
Obviously, someone did this. The only question is who.
| d12 | Experimenter |
|---|---|
| 1 | an ostensibly-legitimate research group |
| 2 | an outlawed mercenary guild |
| 3 | a cabal of ultra-rich nobles |
| 4 | an omnipresent crime syndicate |
| 5 | a corrupt mage's college |
| 6 | a shadow council controlling your country |
| 7 | the espionage agency of your country's enemy |
| 8 | agents of a genocidal government |
| 9 | a group of powerful court wizards |
| 10 | a rogue scientist |
| 11 | an eldritch cult with flesh-shaping powers |
| 12 | a well-intentioned, self-undermining group doing evil acts |
Your pain emanates from you. Be it from your vacant eyes, skittish disposition, or bizarre phobias, people tend to find out about what happened before you tell them. A lot of people like you find this frustrating, but it gives you significant leeway in social situations. You can effectively end a conversation by subtly steering it towards what happened to you, for instance. That is, if you can sleep enough at night to have a conversation anyways.
Suggested Characteristics
Whatever happened to you, your mind isn't quite right. Strange quirks tend to surface in people who are put through extreme situations, after all. They make you stand out in a crowd, which you don't like at all, considering it's quite possible your captors are still looking for you.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | You twitch constantly and jump at even mild surprises. |
| 2 | The names of your experimenters bring you too much pain to utter. |
| 3 | You couldn't hold up to the pressure, and you now have a permanent madness trait. |
| 4 | You divert your pain into art. |
| 5 | Hating your experimenters is too tiring, so you love everyone around you instead. |
| 6 | You have a strange fascination with the devices used to torture you. |
| 7 | You've stopped hating your experimenters, and now hate their cause. |
| 8 | You are willing to endure any hardship to avoid returning to the lab. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Reversal. I can undo the evil my experimenters brought. (Good) |
| 2 | Power. I never had it, and those around me are going to give up theirs, whether they like it or not. (Evil) |
| 3 | Order. Though their methods were awful, I somewhat admire my experimenters' ability. (Lawful) |
| 4 | Anarchy. If I find any institution that condoned this, I'll tear it down myself. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | Freedom. I'm finally free, and I'll change things around me to leave my mark. (Any) |
| 6 | Obedience. It's not my place to question my orders. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have a beloved who I met in the lab and who's still in there. |
| 2 | One of my experimenters helped me escape, and I'm forever in their debt. |
| 3 | A group of outcasts took me in, and it's my duty to protect them. |
| 4 | I'll die before I let anyone harm my friends. |
| 5 | I've written an account of my torture, which must not go unseen. |
| 6 | I retain loyalty to my organization, and I love my handler like a spouse. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I'm compelled to obey any command that comes after a certain codeword. |
| 2 | When confronted by my experimenters, I literally cannot control myself. |
| 3 | Most of my effort is spent not running away when my experimenters are near. |
| 4 | I drink most of my money away. |
| 5 | I learned to cope by losing all empathy. |
| 6 | Certain situations cause me to break character, as not doing so would cause damage to my programming. |
Contacts
If you aren't a sleeper, none. Otherwise, you are heavily connected with your organization, and can call in favors if they're reasonably cheap and help you to achieve your mission. You have a handler, and if you can get in contact with them, you can arrange for more in-depth favors at the DM's discretion.
| d4 | Contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | your handler |
| 2 | a favored scientist |
| 3 | the laboratory's caretaker |
| 4 | a group of fellow agents in your area |
| d4 | Non-contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | your laboratory, which is currently sending teams to find you |
| 2 | a fellow subject who has mistaken you for an experimenter |
| 3 | a vigilante group hunting down sleepers - real or potential |
| 4 | your sibling, who believes you have been replaced because of your long absence and seeks to find the "real" you |
What a strange little situation; you actually made it. A one-in-a-million chance, you accepted the implants and conditioning perfectly. When the job was done, you were an obedient drone to your experimenters. Their final command to you was to forget the whole ordeal, and you went back to your normal life, perfectly unaware. Recently, something happened, be it a strange pattern seen or quiet code word spoken, and everything came flooding back. Now, will you diverge from your programming, or does your loyalty go unto death and beyond?
Around you, things tend to work out in your favor. Guards coming after you take wrong turns, political advances are miraculously free of red tape, and needed items show up where they most certainly should not be. Once per two weeks, you can arrange for a single nonmagical item worth at most 10 GP to be delivered to you if you are in an urban area. This is free, and the delivery occurs as you wake up the next day, regardless of where you are. Instead of an item, you can neutralize one bureaucratic obstacle to your plans, or delay the arrival of the town guard of your area by 1d10 minutes. In order to do any of these things, you require paper and a writing utensil. As your organization has eyes everywhere, you don't need to worry about legitimately delivering it.
Choosing this feature removes Traumatized.
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