Gravebound Custodian

You were once the silent sentinel of the forgotten dead — a gravekeeper, mortuary warden, or ossuary tender whose duty was to honor the remains of the fallen and protect the living from what might stir beneath. Long nights alone among tombstones taught you to listen for the scratch of fingernails on pine and the telltale ring of a grave bell. Whether you came to revere the quiet dead or meddled with necromantic secrets out of curiosity or necessity, your work made you intimate with mortality.

Some say the dead should be feared. You know better: they should be understood... and sometimes, commanded.

Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, Religion

Tool Proficiencies: One tool proficiency of your choice between (Poisoner's Kit or Herbalism Kit)

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A bottle of black ink, an ink pen, five sheets of paper, a gaming set (matching your chosen proficiency), a signet ring, a set of fine clothes, a shovel, a bell, and a pouch containing 18 gp

Suggested Characteristics

A Gravebound Custodian lives with one foot in the land of the living and the other brushing the edge of the grave. Years spent in the quiet company of corpses shape a person in strange ways — some emerge solemn and philosophical, others haunted or grimly humorous. Whether reverent of the dead or resentful of the living, custodians are often guided by an inner code forged through long contemplation of mortality. Their beliefs about death — whether it’s a sacred cycle, a force to master, or an enemy to defy — often inform their ideals and flaws alike.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I speak to the dead as if they were still here. Sometimes they even answer.
2	I’m slow to trust the living — they tend to break promises the dead never would.
3	I find peace among gravestones that I don’t find among people.
4	I feel obligated to ensure every soul reaches its proper rest.
5	I maintain a morbid sense of humor — it keeps the darkness at bay.
6	I obsessively record names, dates, and last words.
7	I light candles for the forgotten and resent when others forget them.
8	I’ve grown accustomed to silence. I find noise almost painful.

d6	Ideal
1	Duty. The dead deserve care, and the living deserve protection. (Lawful)
2	Balance. Life and death must remain in harmony. (Neutral)
3	Knowledge. I seek to understand death, not to wield it blindly. (Any)
4	Oblivion. The grave is freedom. All should embrace it. (Chaotic)
5	Power. Death is a tool like any other. (Evil)
6	Compassion. I remember that each corpse was once a person. (Good)

d6	Bond
1	A spirit speaks to me in dreams. I must learn what it wants.
2	I buried someone I loved, and I fear they may not be resting.
3	I protect my graveyard with zealous fury.
4	My master taught me forbidden rites; I carry their secrets.
5	I once exhumed something I shouldn’t have… and it’s watching me.
6	I owe my life to the undead — one saved me when no one else would.

d6	Flaw
1	I fear death more than I admit and would do anything to avoid it.
2	I’m desensitized to horror and often offend others with my apathy.
3	I keep trophies from the dead — fingers, teeth, or names.
4	I talk to corpses even when others are watching.
5	I don’t see a difference between raising the dead and healing the living.
6	I will never forgive myself for one burial I performed incorrectly.