People always seem curious about monsters. Entertainers seek to tame wild monstrosities or foul beasts. Nobles seek exotic pets or intimidating guard animals. Scholars seek to understand the intricacies of monstrous societies. There's one thing that they all have in common, none of them wish to die horribly. That's where someone like you comes in. Someone who knows how to disguise oneself as a particular dangerous creature. These creatures aren't necessarily evil but they are often seen as dangerous and are at least more powerful than a commoner. Maybe you were a researcher of monsters, maybe you were a swindler or scammer, maybe you were an actor very deep into their performance, maybe you were even raised by monstrous creatures, or maybe you are a monstrous creature yourself. Regardless of how, you know the mannerisms of and have spent time around, some type of creature most would consider a monster or at least very dangerous.
- Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in Deception and your choice of Intimidation or Performance.
- Tool Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in the Disguise kit.
- Languages: Choose one language that your disguised creature speaks. If they do not have a language or if they only speak common choose one language from Abyssal, Deep Speech, Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Infernal, Orc, Primordial, Sylvan, Undercommon, Minotaur, or Thri-kreen.
- Equipment: One Disguise Kit, one costume of a particular creature, traveler's clothes, and a book that describes your chosen creature's behavior that only you can make sense of.
How did you come to learn and mimic your monster's behavior? Why would you dress up like a creature that most guards would kill on sight? Roll for or pick one of my suggestions, come up with your own, or tweak one of mine for your origins.
| d10 | Bestial Background |
|---|---|
| 1 | I'm a researcher of goblinoids and I have found them much more amicable when they think I'm one of their own. My colleagues think I'm crazy but the results speak for themselves. |
| 2 | I was a con artist that pretended to be an Oni to get appeasements from a local village. One day, an actual Oni confronted me believing I was a rival in its territory. I'm happy they decided to give me some tips on disguising myself better instead of killing me but I'm never heading back there again. |
| 3 | I was the main event in a traveling circus, Hoot-Hoot the Great Tamed Owlbear. Emphasis on the was in the was the main event. They got a real one, and while I was close I wasn't as authentic as the real thing. I'm still grateful to have seen a real one up close as it let me hone my craft. |
| 4 | I was a guard to a noble's estate who's job was to scare off thieves. They dressed me up as a vampire and gave me a notebook on how to act like a vampire. The noble would often have to explain to intrepid vampire hunters that there was no vampire, just one of his guards in a costume. That was until one of the hunters stabbed the noble in the heart with a wooden stake and my boss turned to dust. I'm pretty sure that means my costume is accurate. |
| 5 | My family has a long history of pretending to be monsters. I have a tradition to uphold and expectations to live up to, so no. I will not take the dretch costume off just because it's scaring those kids who were orphaned by demons. |
| 6 | I was raised by orcs and I feel much more comfortable living among them. Unfortunately, most orcs don't take kindly to one of my kind conversing with them. The costume just makes things easier, and these notes are just for things I don't do instinctually. |
| 7 | Back in my world Hook horrors are common and friendly pets, and I had one growing up named Stanford. A few weeks ago my spelljammer crashed here and the only thing that survived was this Hook horror costume I used to keep warm and this book on how to interact with them. |
| 8 | I am a very dedicated actor who was auditioning for the role of a repentant gnoll in an upcoming play. I spent nearly three months living in a gnoll tribe only for one of them to follow me back and snatch the part out from under me! |
| 9 | I've been fascinated by troglodytes ever since I was a little kid. Now that I've done my research and made my costume I've started talking to some of them and I don't think they can tell the difference. |
| 10 | I was dressing up as a ghost to scare people away from the old mine so I could buy it for cheap. And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those meddling kids. |
Choose a Monstrosity, Undead, Beast, Fey, Giant, Fiend, or Humanoid that is not an NPC of your size category or one size category larger. You can create a costume that can disguise you as that chosen creature using a disguise kit over an 8 hour period. This disguise takes 10 minutes to don and 30 minutes to doth. Small and Medium costumes cost 5 gp while Large costumes cost 25 gp. While using this costume you have advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks against Wisdom (Insight) checks to pass as that creature. However, if you are not disguised as another humanoid an Intelligence(Arcana) check of a DC equal to 13 + your proficiency bonus. You can choose another creature to disguise yourself after spending a 3 month period of doing research on that creature. This does not remove your ability to disguise yourself as the original creature or any other additional creatures you study.
Suggested Characteristics
Choose characteristics from a background that best fits your description. I would look towards Entertainer and Charlatan first for the normal version and Far Traveler for the variant.
You are a member of a race feared amongst most inhabitants. Whether you are one of the so called monstrous races like minotaurs, goblins, and orcs; an intimidating looking race on an unfamiliar world like warforged on Faerun, leonins on Krynn, or loxodons on Oerth; or it could just be a race with a bad reputation like Goliaths, Drow, or Yuan-ti. You might also just be an actual monster using the custom lineage rules from Tasha's Cauldron. Whatever the case, if you already have a sinister or bestial appearance to most people disguising yourself as another monster might be too much effort.
You can use your disguise kit to create a costume that highlights your bestial nature. When you choose this variant, take proficiencies in performance and intimidation instead of deception and one of the two. You have advantage on Performance checks and can use Performance instead of Deception to deceive others so long as it is "in character."
i.e. A stealthy orc thief is spotted trying to sneak onto a noble's estate. If they try to make a thought out or complex explanation like "I'm supposed to be here, I'm one of the noble's old friends" then it's Deception versus Insight as normal. If the orc is in costume and plays dumb such as claiming he got lost and apologizing for doing something wrong but not knowing what, then it's Performance versus Insight and the orc has advantage.
Choose or roll on this chart instead of choosing or rolling for the options on the bestial background.
1. I wasn't raised with the rest of my kin. Growing up I tried my hardest not to act like them, but no one noticed. Eventually, I just gave up.
2. I was born on a world where creatures like me were seen as normal and treated well, but now I'm stranded on this one. I worry that my unusual nature might get me some unwanted attention from less than reputable people so I'm hiding my true self away. My true goal though is to get home.
3. Terrible magical experiments have changed my mind, increasing my intelligence and my ability to feel empathy. I hide my true self away so my old masters don't find me again.
4. Most people view pre conceived notions as a bad thing. I view it as an opportunity. Conversations are often like games, people respond based on the actions of the opponent. If you always know what responses will come from what actions, you can get any response you want.
5. I don't have much of a reason to act the way I do but it's certainly fun! I might not match my stereotype in the slightest but I like taking a walk on the wild side.
6. My friends know I'm different even though the world doesn't. Sometimes though I can act up or not understand big things. When that happens, the people who know I'm different seem to quietly question if I really am different than my reputation. I put on the facade so I can play off any dumb comments or acts of aggression as jokes to my friends even when I'm not joking. Maybe I am just a dumb monster and the act I play is the real me, but I'll never let my friends figure that out.
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