Your family can trace it's roots to an ancient champion of your community, be it a saintly figure, towering warrior, master craftsman, or your village's well-loved folk hero.
Perhaps due to your blood, or perhaps due to the burning desire to live up to the stories you heard as a child, you have begun to embody your ancestor's better traits as your own, garnering some respect and status amongst your peers.
The truth of your ancestry is still relatively unknown apart from to those you consider close, and as you venture out on your journey to build an even greater legacy, you'll have to be careful with just how much you share. Heroic adventurers do garner love and admiration, but it's likely your ancestor had no shortage of powerful enemies either, whose descendants may be just as eager to do right by their bloodline as you are.
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Decide on a historic figure for your character to be descended from, and discuss with your DM how they fit into the world your group's campaign is set in as well as the benefits you might gain from them:
Perhaps if your ancestor was a widely celebrated musician or entertainer, you have a natural talent for singing, informing a performance proficiency and a lyre being added to the standard starting equipment.
If they were a a master of cunning and guile then you could have a penchant for tricking others to help further your goals, informing a deception proficiency, as well as having a forgery kit proficiency.
If they were a master tracker and trophy hunter, your character could have a perception proficiency and have navigator's tools proficiency.
The idea is that while one of the two skill proficiencies is fixed as history, any other proficiencies for the background are free to choose and should be in some way informed by your ancestor's persona. Additionally, any regular item can be added to the starting equipment if it has a relevant link to your character's backstory and their link with the ancestor or community. It might be fun to have these items take on magical properties in game once a certain difficult challenge is completed in-game, though this is up to your DM's discretion.
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- Skill Proficiencies: Skill Proficiencies: History, Additional from ancestor relation (see table of ancestor personas for examples on what kind of ancestor might grant a certain proficiency)
- Tool Proficiencies: Tool Proficiencies (Optional): One type of gaming set, tools, artisan's tools, music, or vehicle (see table of ancestor personas for examples on what kind of ancestor might grant a certain proficiency)
- Languages: Languages: One of your choice
- Equipment: Equipment: An item linked to your ancestor (see table of ancestor personas for examples on what kind of ancestor might pass down a certain item), a set of common clothes, and a purse containing 15 gp
Something to discuss with DMs is whether the ancestral item will be discovered to be magical by your player, or infused with an enchantment/magic after some challenge has been accomplished in-game.
Your ancestor was known and revered by those in your community for their strength, conviction, brutality, or some other trait, as well as what they accomplished throughout their life. Choose yourself or roll to choose their persona and the benefits being descended from them would bestow on you.
| d8 | Ancestor Personas |
|---|---|
| 1 | A fierce warrior conscripted into a feudal lord's army, your ancestor was known throughout the land for incredible feats of bravery and skill on the battlefield. Choose the Athletics skill proficiency, any gaming set proficiency, and add a medium armor of your choice to your starting equipment. |
| 2 | A hulking, powerful northern raider, your ancestor's war-cries were said to have been terrifying enough to rout entire enemy companies. What were considered realistic depictions of their ferocity in battle at the time are often deemed otherworldly and far-fetched today. Choose the intimidation skill proficiency, and add a heavy martial weapon of your choice to your starting equipment. |
| 3 | Disowned from their noble house for loving a commoner, your ancestor earned a place in the world through music and dance. Their works stood the test of time, heard commonly in campsites, taverns and inns around the continent to this day. Choose the performance skill proficiency, flute proficiency and add a flute to your starting equipment. |
| 4 | Often seen attending to the downtrodden and needy with homemade remedies, your ancestor was the ultimate exemplar of piety and generosity. Given a boon from their worshipped goddess and heralded as one of her chosen, they were canonized by the religions' church soon after their death. Choose the religion skill proficiency, herbalism kit proficiency, and add a Holy Symbol of your choice to your starting equipment. |
| 5 | Obsessive attention to detail and acute senses meant that your ancestor was revered for deductive and logical reasoning skills which bordered on the fantastic. One of the greatest detectives of their time, uncovering and foiling an underground coup in the continent's capital secured their spot in the annals of history. Choose the investigation skill proficiency, alchemist's supplies proficiency and add a magnifying glass to your starting equipment. |
| 6 | A knack for staying hidden built up through a difficult childhood, your ancestor learnt to shift through shadows and drop their targets without detection, even amongst crowds in broad daylight. A guild of assassins bearing their name is rumoured to operate in the deepest parts of the undercity to this day. Choose the stealth skill proficiency, thieves' tools proficiency and add a dagger to your starting equipment. |
| 7 | A reclusive genius, your ancestor could conjure magic that could only be described as devastatingly beautiful. Their tomes of knowledge are kept under strict supervision in the libraries of modern magical institutions, lest they fall into the hands of the easily corrupted or untrustworthy. Take the arcana skill proficiency and a wand, orb or staff to your starting equipment. |
| 8 | Exiled after being found poaching on their lords' land, your ancestor relied on their otherworldly senses to survive in the harsh wilderness. A thriving community of exiles, nomads and rangers found in the outcrops of society owe their lives to your ancestors' teachings, having being passed down through countless generations of forest dwellers. Choose the perception skill proficiency, navigators' tools proficiency and add a half-plate, scimitar or longbow to your starting equipment. |
An ancestor's deeds earned them a place in local legend. Now it's your turn. You are the inheritor of a famed legacy. A new champion for your people, you will bring forth some of your ancestors' traits and complement them with your own to build an even greater legend.
Any time you reveal your legacy, you swiftly learn the local opinion of your predecessor. If locals have never heard of your predecessor, nothing changes. If they have, rumors of your connection spread swiftly, and many locals consider you either a hero or a threat. Heroes are welcomed and might easily gain an audience with local leaders. Threats are encouraged to leave before they invite danger.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables for the Folk Hero background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.
Your bond should be directly related to yourself, your ancestor, family or community. Your ideal might be influenced by what you know about your ancestor, and how you will forge your own path, championing their ideals or abandoning them to create your own image, escaping theirs.
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