Fitting into a mold has never been your style. You have always been a free spirit - following whims and doing as you please. Your parents have always allowed you extreme freedom to do as you please, so when your parents reveal to you the sudden arranged marriage to a far-off, unknown soul, your normal easy-going demeanor vanishes, replaced with rage. With the threat to leave and never return if the arranged marriage is insisted upon, your parents not only agree to allow you a year of searching the world for them; but also reveal to you that your people have an old, rare magic that binds another soul to your own. A soulmate.
Upon birth, those who are fated with a soul bound soulmate are left with a unique mark. Only your soulmate has an exact copy, or perhaps the completion of part of a mark. The mark, that you grew up believing to be a scar or mundane birthmark, suddenly seems anything but mundane. You're skeptical. Disbelieving. Perhaps even a little resentful. Afterall, how is a Soulmate any different than an arranged marriage?
Your parents explain - Soulmates can be bound through time and place, and exist regardless of race, gender, or age. These individuals exist in multiples, but most typically pairs. Soulmates’ traits only manifest upon meeting their counterpart(s). Your soul is bound to this person(s), connecting you together.
- Skill Proficiencies: Wanderlust Proficiencies: Any two skills of your choice.
Soulmate Proficiencies: Insight, or Investigation. Choose one.
- Tool Proficiencies: Wanderlust Proficiencies: One tool of your choice
- Languages: Upon meeting your Soulmate, you magically know one language (that you don't already know) that your soul bound partner knows.
- Equipment: Pack of your choice, a set of traveler's clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10gp.
Bound
Upon meeting your soulmate(s), you and your soulmate(s) are under these semi-magical effects:
- You are able to sense your soul bound partner when they are nearby
- You all can sense the direction and approximate distance of each other.
- You all can feel intense emotions of each other such as pain, grief, or rage at any distance. If there are more than two soulmates, you know which one was the source of the emotion.
- You can feel all emotions and can choose to read each others’ surface thoughts if within 30 feet of each other.
Speak to your DM regarding these special abilities specific only between you and your soulmate(s):
- You might gain healing if they are close enough.
- You have a feeling of dread hanging over you whenever your partner is in danger and you may even start taking a small amount of damage if you are too far away from your soul bound partner for too long.
Recommended Healing is 2d4 once per day, if partner is within 30 feet.
Recommended Damage is 1d4 once per day, if partner has been apart from you by a distance of more than a mile for longer than 24 hours.
Fated Familiarity
You share an immensely deep understanding with your partner(s), as if you had spent your entire lives together. As such, you are perfectly synchronized. Soulmates gain the following benefits:
- You can Help a partner as a bonus action as long as you are within 30 feet of them.
- You cannot be charmed or frightened as long as you can see a partner.
- If a partner is reduced to 0 hit points by a hostile creature, you have advantage on attack rolls against that creature until either you or it are reduced to 0 hit points.
Suggested Characteristics
| d10 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have a lesson for every situation, drawn from observing nature. |
| 2 | I'm always picking things up, absently fiddling with them, and sometimes accidentally breaking them. |
| 3 | Things come easy to me, so isn't it natural if I'm a bit laid back? |
| 4 | I always try to find the most peaceful resolution to disputes. |
| 5 | I find people fascinating and always try to know as much as possible of any person I meet. |
| 6 | Life is ephemeral, I mean to live it to the fullest. |
| 7 | I'm very honest with everyone, especially those I love, and would rather talk than fight. |
| 8 | Until I know how my soulmate feels about me, I am really shy around them, blushing at the slightest provocation, touch, or look; stuttering or babbling uncontrollably whenever they are around. |
| 9 | While I am deeply in love, I won't stand by while my lover does something I disagree with. |
| 10 | I am extremely skeptical of whether or not "soulmates" exist, and don't know if the idea that I have one infuriates me, or calms me. I'm unsure whether or not I will be happy with who the universe says I should love, but I'm determined to try to find them. |
| d12 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open. I have much to learn from the kindly folk I meet along my way. (Good) |
| 2 | Adventure. I'm far from home, and everything is strange and wonderful! (Chaotic) |
| 3 | Inquisitive. Everything is new, but I have a thirst to learn. (Neutral) |
| 4 | Family. I love my family dearly, and want to do right by them. (Lawful) |
| 5 | Love. I'm searching for the soulmate my parents believe I have, according to ancient magic and the mark my body bears. (Good) |
| 6 | Joy. Giving joy to others is my reason for living. (Good) |
| 7 | Freedom and Love. I can't help it, I don't want to be tied to someone unless I choose them. (Chaotic, Good) |
| 8 | Communication. The secret to any healthy relationship, I plan to stay with my lover for a long time. (Any) |
| 9 | Respect. Within our coupling, we each are equally important in all ways, and should respect each other. (Good) |
| 10 | Love. I will do anything and everything for my lover, whether or not it's approved by others. (Chaotic) |
| 11 | Peace. All I want is to settle down and marry my lover, and I don't expect anyone to want to get in the way of that. (Lawful) |
| 12 | Fair. Neither my lover nor I are perfect, and I will stand up for what I think is right, even if it means standing against the one I love. (Neutral) |
| d4 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | If I don't find what I'm looking for in a year, I must return home to fulfill a duty to my parents. |
| 2 | I am betrothed to someone I don't know. If I don't find my soulmate in a year, I must return home to marry them - whether I love them, and they me, or not. |
| 3 | I've been betrothed to a high-class spouse of an allied clan, but they do not hold my heart. I am torn between duty, and wanting to find someone to love. |
| 4 | No matter what anyone says, does, or thinks; my lover comes first. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | There's no room for caution in a life lived to the fullest. |
| 2 | I am slow to trust members of other races, tribes, and societies due to never leaving home until now, and being part of a rare race. |
| 3 | I am exceedingly jealous, and unwaveringly suspicious of anyone who gets in between me and my lover. |
| 4 | I'm overly clingy and jealous, sometimes to the point of annoyance to my lover. |
| 5 | People say I talk about my lover too much, but I think any conversation that doesn't mention them isn't worth having. |
| 6 | When ever my lover is near, I become unable to talk, think, or do anything properly, and become extremely anxious about everything. |
Wanderlust
As a Free Spirit searching for your soulmate, you travel the world. You’ve picked up bits and pieces of skills in your travels, but never truly stayed long enough to learn most of them, though that doesn’t mean that your travels haven’t taught you anything. As such, you choose any two skills and one tool to be proficient in to represent your varied past.
Wanderlust
As a Free Spirit searching for your soulmate, you travel the world. You’ve picked up bits and pieces of skills in your travels, but never truly stayed long enough to learn most of them, though that doesn’t mean that your travels haven’t taught you anything. As such, you choose any two skills and one tool to be proficient in to represent your varied past.
Time to Panic!
When your soulmate is in danger, anything and everything you were, are, or planned to be doing goes out the window and you immediately take action to secure your true love's safety, no matter the cost. Worked into a panicked frenzy, you are suddenly strengthened with hysteria, and anything that gets in your way will be puréed.
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Posted Sep 16, 2022This is not an original idea! I found the idea for most of these on an online google search. The original idea belongs to: u/KoyukiTei13 on Reddit. I took what I liked/needed for my character, and embellished with things I found on other homebrewed backgrounds I liked, such as In Love by MidoriNatalia and Soulbound by Lulamoon.