You understand wealth, power, and privilege. You once carried a noble title, and your family owns land, collects taxes, and wields significant political influence. You might have been a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, the child of a former merchant elevated to the nobility, or a scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could have believed yourself to be an honest, hard-working landowner who cares deeply about the people who live and work on your land, keenly aware of your responsibility to them. In spite of your privileged background of noble status, you have come to regard the system as corrupt and you have abandoned your noble roots and adopted a belief in the injustice of the system of feudalism.
Work with your DM to come up with an appropriate title and determine how much authority that title once carried. A noble title doesn’t stand on its own—it’s connected to an entire family, and whatever title you held, you would have passed it down to your own children, and you would have ancestors' whose legacy you may have disrupted. Not only do you need to determine your noble title, but you should also work with the DM to describe your family and their influence on you.
Is your family old and established, or was your title only recently bestowed? How much influence do they wield, and over what area? What kind of reputation does your family have among the other aristocrats of the region? How do the common people regard them?
What was your position in the family? Were you the heir to the head of the family? Have you already inherited and disinherited a title? How did you feel about that responsibility? Or were you so far down the line of inheritance that no one cared what you did, as long as you didn’t embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your desertion? Do you revile your family and work to undermine their position, or are you a simply idealist unwilling to perpetuate the system?
Does your family have a coat of arms? An insignia you might wear on a signet ring? Particular colors you wear sometimes, as a reminder? An animal you regard as a symbol of your former line or even a spiritual member of the family?
- Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion, Insight
- Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument
- Languages: One of your choice
- Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a signet ring (likely kept as only a memento, but perhaps you still use it to open doors in spite of your beliefs?), and a book containing your diary, or perhaps a manifesto of your beliefs.
Variant only: additional 50 gp and a family treasure of some kind
Thanks to your noble birth, your upbringing has ill prepared you to walk amongst the common people inauspiciously. You try, but there are shared experiences you lack and that lack of experience makes you conspicuous to the commoners. Gain disadvantage on Charisma skill checks against those with a commoner background.
Because you deserted your noble roots, nobles will regard you as eccentric at best, treasonous at worst. Gain disadvantage on Charisma skill checks against those with a noble background.
Double your proficiency bonus on History, Insight, and one skill of your choice that uses the Charisma check.
At level 2, your disadvantage against commoners is lifted and becomes a -2 modifier to Charisma skill checks. At level 3, this modifier is reduced to -1 modifier to Charisma skill checks, as well as an additional -1 modifier to Charisma skill checks against nobles. At level 4, your modifier against commoners becomes +0 and against nobles becomes -2. At level 5, gain advantage on Charisma checks against commoners; in rolls in which you already have advantage, gain a +2 modifier.
Suggested Characteristics
Nobles are born and raised to a very different lifestyle than most people ever experience, and their personalities reflect that upbringing. A noble title comes with a plethora of bonds—responsibilities to family, to other nobles (including the sovereign), to the people entrusted to the family’s care, or even to the title itself. But the privilege of this position often corrupts, and nobles may perform their responsibilities far less enthusiastically than they reap the benefits of nobility. Somewhere along the way, you saw error in the ways of your background, and struck out after a new ideal.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | My speech is littered with formalities and noble vernacular, signalling my background to any who don't share it. |
| 2 | I want the common folk to love me for my kindness and generosity. |
| 3 | In spite of my sympathy for the commoners, my noble roots are conspicuous. |
| 4 | I miss wearing the latest fashions. |
| 5 | I'm not accustomed to getting my hands dirty and I struggle with living within my chosen means. |
| 6 | I am fascinated with the ways of commoners and wish to be more like them. |
| 7 | I am working to reform myself, but that old noble haughtiness shines through sometimes. |
| 8 | I may have discarded my nobility but I will not suffer my honour to be impugned. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Respect. All people regardless of station deserve to be treated with dignity, and I wish to be respected for the content of my character rather than the privilege of my station. (Good) |
| 2 | Responsibility. It is my duty to use the privilege I inherited to advocate for those with less power. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Independence. I must prove that the constraints of the system into which I was born are oppressive and should be made obsolete. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Power. In my hands, power wrested from the nobility can be used for good. |
| 5 | Fraternity. Blood of the covenant runs thicker than water of the womb. (Any) |
| 6 | Duty. I am obligated to protect and fight for the people beside me. (Good) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I will face any challenge to win the approval of my chosen family. |
| 2 | The fall of the nobility must be effected at all costs. |
| 3 | Nothing is more important than my comrades. |
| 4 | I am in love with the common man. |
| 5 | My loyalty to the commoners is unwavering. |
| 6 | The common folk must see me as a hero of the people. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I secretly believe that everyone is beneath me. |
| 2 | I hide a truly scandalous secret that could ruin my image of sincerity. |
| 3 | I too often hear veiled insults and threats in every word addressed to me, and I’m quick to anger. |
| 4 | I have an insatiable desire for carnal pleasures. |
| 5 | In fact, the world does revolve around me. |
| 6 | By my words and actions, I often bring shame to my movement. |
You do not merely reject the luxury of the nobles, built on the backs of the commoners. Your desertion of the nobility accompanied the decision to bankrupt your former position and distribute its wealth to the common people whom you perceive it to have been stolen from. You have given most of the gold away by now, and in so doing created a legend for yourself that disgusts the nobles, endears the commoners, and interests the ruffians. Is there a bounty on your head? (Chaotic alignments only)
Your former peers see you as a vile robber and an enemy and will treat you as such. Roll Initiative every time you encounter someone of noble origin, and roll Charisma and Dexterity saving throws at disadvantage if you fail the Initiative check (determined by your DM). Nobles talk-- if you fail, you are recognised and will be treated with hostility. Gain disadvantage on all Charisma rolls against nobles.
On the other hand, tales of your generosity and goodness have spread amidst the commoners. As long as you have not threatened them, commoners will want to help you and may even fight for you if you are alone.
Double your proficiency bonus on History, Insight, and one skill of your choice that uses the Charisma check.
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