You understand wealth, power, and privilege. You carry a noble title, and your family owns land, collects taxes, and wields significant political influence. You might have started out a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, a former merchant family elevated to the nobility, or a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could have began 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. However, when your parents married you off to somebody, you got the shaft. It wasn't a wonderfully rich noble family you married into, it was a lowly farm owner, a merchant, or some other smallfolk who was well off enough that it was a beneficial marriage for your family... but your style of life was dramatically changed.

Work with your DM to come up with an appropriate title and determine how much authority that title carries. A noble title doesn’t stand on its own—it’s connected to an entire family, and whatever title you hold, you will pass it down to your own children. 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’s your position in the family? Are you the heir to the head of the family? Have you already inherited the title? How do you feel about that responsibility? Or are you so far down the line of inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don’t embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career? Are you in your family’s good graces, or shunned by the rest of your family?

Does your family have a coat of arms? An insignia you might wear on a signet ring? Particular colors you wear all the time? An animal you regard as a symbol of your line or even a spiritual member of the family?

These details help establish your family and your title as features of the world of the campaign.

Work to figure out how your noble background and your humble background mix together to create your character's background and skills, and then what happened to make you decide to leave and become an adventurer. Did your spouse die? Did you hate your spouse and decide to leave them? Were you fed up with the expectations that your new role had?

At the time you left to become an adventurer, you ended up with a weird mixture of high born and low born traits.

Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling and Survival OR History, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools, vehicles (land) OR one type of gaming set

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A set of artisan’s tools (if appropriate), a set of common clothes, an older set of fine clothes, a signet ring (if appropriate), a scroll of pedigree (if appropriate) and a pouch containing 10 gp OR a purse containing 25 gp

 

Suggested Characteristics

Your character lived the high life in childhood and then was brought lower due to marriage, they'll never lose that little bit of noble training drilled into them from childhood, but they are also irrevocably affected by their life as a more common folk.

d6	Personality Trait
1	I judge people by their actions, not their words.
2	If someone is in trouble, I’m always ready to lend help.
3	When I set my mind to something, I follow through no matter what gets in my way.
4	I have a strong sense of fair play and always try to find the most equitable solution to arguments.
5	I’m confident in my own abilities and do what I can to instill confidence in others.
6	I get bored easily. When am I going to get on with my destiny?

d6	Ideal
1	Respect. People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. (Good)
2	Fairness. No one should get preferential treatment before the law, and no one is above the law. (Lawful)
3	Freedom. Tyrants must not be allowed to oppress the people. (Chaotic)
4	Might. If I become strong, I can take what I want—what I deserve. (Evil)
5	Sincerity. There’s no good in pretending to be something I’m not. (Neutral)
6	Destiny. Nothing and no one can steer me away from my higher calling. (Any)

d4	Bond
1	I have a family, but I have no idea where they are. One day, I hope to see them again.
2	I worked the land, I love the land, and I will protect the land.
3	My tools are symbols of my past life, and I carry them so that I will never forget my roots.
4	I protect those who cannot protect themselves.

d5	Flaw
1	I killed my spouse and can't return to my old home.
2	I’m convinced of the significance of my destiny, and blind to my shortcomings and the risk of failure.
3	I have a weakness for the vices of the city, especially hard drink.
4	Secretly, I believe that things would be better if I were a tyrant lording over the land.
5	I have trouble trusting in my allies.