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 be a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, a former merchant just elevated to the nobility, or a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could 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.
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.
You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to bury it and run away from it, to no avail. Whatever this thing is that haunts you can’t be slain with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its toll, isolating you from most people and making you question your sanity. You must find a way to overcome it before it destroys you.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose 3 from among Stealth, Arcana, Investigation, Religion, Insight, Perception, Survival, or Deception.
As high born noble, you would have been taught history from an early age.
- Tool Proficiencies: As a noble your education was thorough, choose an instrument, a vehicle, a game, and a tool you have proficiency in.
- Languages: Choose 3, one of which must be Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon
- Equipment: A Monster Hunter's Pack, (containing a chest, crowbar, a hammer, 3 wooden stakes, a holy symbol, a flask of holy water, a set of manacles, a steel mirror, a flask of oil, a tinderbox, and 3 torches, a set of common clothes, and 99 sp.
Prior to becoming an adventurer, your path in life was defined by one dark moment, one fateful decision, or one tragedy. Now you feel a darkness threatening to consume you, and you fear there may be no hope of escape. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.
You spent years learning the lore of the multiverse. You scoured manuscripts, studied scrolls, and listened to the greatest experts on the subjects that interest you. Your efforts have made you a master in your fields of study.
| d11 | Harrowing for a Privileged Person |
|---|---|
| 1 | A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent spared your life, and you don’t know why. |
| 2 | You were born under a dark star. You can feel it watching you, coldly and distantly. Sometimes it beckons you in the dead of night. |
| 3 | An apparition that has haunted your family for generations now haunts you. You don’t know what it wants, and it won’t leave you alone. |
| 4 | Your family has a history of practicing the dark arts. You dabble and felt something cling to your soul. |
| 5 | An demon took someone close to you one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it. |
| 6 | You were cursed with lycanthropy and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered. |
| 7 | A monster kidnapped, raised you, you escaped, but the monster has a magical connection with you, & fills your mind with thoughts. |
| 8 | You opened an eldritch tome and saw things. You burned the book, but its visions are burned into your psyche. |
| 9 | A fiend possessed you as a child. You were locked away but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but now you try to keep it locked away. |
| 10 | You did terrible things to avenge the murder of someone you loved. You became a monster, and it haunts your waking dreams. |
| 11 | You were cursed with vampirism and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered. |
Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to.
Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone.
When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.
Suggested Characteristics
You have learned to live with the terror that haunts you. You are a survivor, who can be very protective of those who bring light into your darkened life.
| d16 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me. |
| 2 | I like to read. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness. |
| 3 | I live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die. |
| 4 | I live for the thrill of the hunt. |
| 5 | I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse. |
| 6 | I expect danger around every corner. |
| 7 | I refuse to become a victim. |
| 8 | I put no trust in divine beings. |
| 9 | I use polysyllabic words that convey the impression of great erudition. |
| 10 | I’ve read every book in the world’s greatest libraries—or I like to boast that I have. |
| 11 | I’m used to helping out those who aren’t as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others |
| 12 | There’s nothing I like more than a good mystery. |
| 13 | I’m willing to listen to every side of an argument before I make my own judgment. |
| 14 | I … speak … slowly … when talking … to idiots, … which … almost … everyone … is … compared … to me. |
| 15 | I am horribly, horribly awkward in social situations. |
| 16 | I’m convinced that people are always trying to steal my secrets. |
| d18 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | I try to help those in need. |
| 2 | I’ll stop the spirits that haunt me, no matter what. |
| 3 | I kill monsters to make the world a safer place, and to exorcise my own demons. |
| 4 | I have a dark calling, I place those needs above all. |
| 5 | I like to know my enemy’s capabilities and weaknesses |
| 6 | I’m a monster that destroys other monsters. |
| 7 | Knowledge. The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge. |
| 8 | Beauty. What is beautiful points us beyond itself toward what is true. |
| 9 | Logic. Emotions must not cloud our logical thinking. |
| 10 | No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence. |
| 11 | Power. Knowledge is the path to power and domination. |
| 12 | Self-Improvement. The goal of a life of study is the betterment of oneself. |
| 13 | Respect. Respect is due to me because of my position, but all people regardless of station deserve to be treated with dignity. |
| 14 | Responsibility. It is my duty to respect the authority of those above me, just as those below me must respect mine. |
| 15 | Independence. I must prove that I can handle myself without the coddling of my family. |
| 16 | Power. If I can attain more power, no one will tell me what to do. |
| 17 | Family. Blood runs thicker than water. |
| 18 | Noble Obligation. It is my duty to protect and care for the people beneath me. |
| d18 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy. |
| 2 | I will protect the innocent. |
| 3 | My torment drove away the person I love, I will learn from it. |
| 4 | I hope that I can find redemption through my actions. |
| 5 | There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free. |
| 6 | I have a child to protect. I must make the world a safer place for them. |
| 7 | It is my duty to protect my students. |
| 8 | I have an ancient text that holds terrible secrets that must not fall into the wrong hands. |
| 9 | I work to preserve a library, university, scriptorium, or monastery. |
| 10 | My life’s work is a series of tomes related to a specific field of lore. |
| 11 | I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question. |
| 12 | I sold my soul for knowledge. I hope to do great deeds and win it back. |
| 13 | I will face any challenge to win the approval of my family. |
| 14 | My house’s alliance with another noble family must be sustained at all costs. |
| 15 | Nothing is more important than the other members of my family. |
| 16 | I am in love with the heir of a family that my family despises. |
| 17 | My loyalty to my sovereign is unwavering. |
| 18 | The common folk must see me as a hero of the people. |
| d25 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have certain rituals I follow every day. I can never break them. |
| 2 | I assume the worst in people. |
| 3 | I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones. |
| 4 | I have an obsession. |
| 5 | I live in a world without hope. Doom around every corner. The world is all gloom. |
| 6 | I talk to spirits that no one else can see. |
| 7 | I am easily distracted by the promise of information. |
| 8 | Most people scream and run when they see a demon. I stop and take notes on its anatomy. |
| 9 | Unlocking an ancient mystery is worth the price of a civilization. |
| 10 | I overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones. |
| 11 | I speak without really thinking through my words, invariably insulting others. |
| 12 | I can’t keep a secret to save my life, or anyone else’s.My eloquent flattery makes everyone I talk to feel like the most wonderful and important person in the world. |
| 13 | I secretly believe that everyone is beneath me. |
| 14 | I hide a truly scandalous secret that could ruin my family forever. |
| 15 | I hear veiled insults & threats in every word addressed to me, & I’m quick to anger. |
| 16 | I have an insatiable desire for decadent pleasures. |
| 17 | In fact, the world does revolve around me. |
| 18 | By my words and actions, I often bring shame to my family. |
| 19 | The common folk love me for my kindness and generosity. |
| 20 | No one could doubt by looking at my regal bearing that I am a cut above the unwashed masses. |
| 21 | I take great pains to always look my best and follow the latest fashions. |
| 22 | I don’t like to get my hands dirty, and I won’t be caught dead in unsuitable accommodations. |
| 23 | Despite my noble birth, I do not place myself above other folk. We all have the same blood. |
| 24 | My favor, once lost, is lost forever. |
| 25 | If you do me an injury, I will crush you, ruin your name, and salt your fields. |
Contacts
As a high born noble you have many people and resources at your disposal.
| d8 | Contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Merchants Guild |
| 2 | Local Chamberlain |
| 3 | Thieves Guild Contact |
| 4 | Explores Guild |
| 5 | Monster Hunter Guild |
| 6 | Local Temples |
| 7 | Mercenary Guild |
| 8 | Counsel of Nobles |
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