You have no past, at least not one that you remember. Right from the beginning of your campaign, your character has had their memory wiped, and there is no real way to regain memories using magic. Your DM gets to create your backstory but cannot blatantly tell you anything about it. All you can do is piece together your past bit by bit, your only way to learn anything about your life is through strange visions.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, Investigation, Religion, or Survival
- Tool Proficiencies: 1 martial weapon of your DM's choosing. They can tell you which.
- Languages: Choose one, one of which must be Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon
- Equipment: A monster hunter’s pack (containing a chest, a crowbar, a hammer, three 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), one trinket of special significance (choose one or roll on the Horror Trinkets table after this background), a set of common clothes, and 1 sp.
Harrowing Event
Whatever your past was, it lays forgotten. Still, you can foggily remember a disaster, perhaps by your own hand. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.
| d10 |
Harrowing Event |
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1
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A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent people spared your life, and you don’t know why.
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2
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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.
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3
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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.
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4
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Your family has a history of practicing the dark arts. You dabbled once and felt something horrible clutch at your soul, whereupon you fled in terror.
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5
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An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it.
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6
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You were cursed with lycanthropy and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered.
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7
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A hag kidnapped and raised you. You escaped, but the hag still has a magical hold over you and fills your mind with evil thoughts.
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8
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You opened an eldritch tome and saw things unfit for a sane mind. You burned the book, but its words and images are burned into your psyche.
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9
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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.
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10
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You did terrible things to avenge the murder of someone you loved. You became a monster, and it haunts your waking dreams.
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Feature: Recall
Sometimes, hints of your past seem to come back to you. You can roll a d20 for insight. If you roll 15 or higher, you get a flashback to your past. If you roll lower than 5, you suffer 1 d6 of physic damage. You can attempt to recall again after a long rest.
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.
| d8 |
Personality Trait |
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1
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I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me.
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2
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I like to read and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness.
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3
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I spend money freely and live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die.
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4
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I live for the thrill of the hunt.
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5
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I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse.
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6
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I expect danger around every corner.
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7
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I refuse to become a victim, and I will not allow others to be victimized.
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8
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I put no trust in divine beings.
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| d6 |
Ideal |
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1
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I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
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2
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I’ll stop the spirits that haunt me or die trying. (Any)
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3
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I kill monsters to make the world a safer place, and to exorcise my own demons. (Good)
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4
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I have a dark calling that puts me above the law. (Chaotic)
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5
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I like to know my enemy’s capabilities and weaknesses before rushing into battle. (Lawful)
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6
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I’m a monster that destroys other monsters, and anything else that gets in my way. (Evil)
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| d6 |
Bond |
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1
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I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy.
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2
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I would sacrifice my life and my soul to protect the innocent.
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3
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My torment drove away the person I love. I strive to win back the love I’ve lost.
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4
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A terrible guilt consumes me. I hope that I can find redemption through my actions.
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5
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There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free.
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6
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I have a child to protect. I must make the world a safer place for him (or her).
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| d6 |
Flaw |
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1
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I have certain rituals that I must follow every day. I can never break them.
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2
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I assume the worst in people.
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3
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I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones.
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4
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I have an addiction.
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5
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I am a purveyor of doom and gloom who lives in a world without hope.
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6
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I talk to spirits that no one else can see.
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