You were once a proud Dragonborn, but death claimed you before your purpose was fulfilled. Somehow, you returned. Your memories of your former life are fragmented, appearing in dreams, flashes and moments of strange familiarity.
Now you walk between the living and the dead, searching for answers about who you were, how you died, and why you were given another chance.
- Ability Scores:
- Constitution +2 — Your body has endured death itself and continues to function despite no longer being truly alive.
- Charisma +1 — There is an unnatural presence about you. Whether inspiring or unsettling, others can sense that you have crossed the boundary between life and death.
- Feat:
Death has left a permanent mark upon you. Fragments of lost lives seem to linger around your presence, and your own memories sometimes surface when you need them most.
You gain the Echoes of the Fallen feat, representing your supernatural connection to death, forgotten memories, and the life you once lived.
- Skill Proficiencies:
Your former life as a Dragonborn warrior and your experiences since returning from death have shaped the skills you carry into your second life.
Athletics — Your body remembers the strength, training, and physical discipline of the warrior you once were.
Insight — Having crossed the boundary between life and death, you have become unusually perceptive of others' emotions, intentions, and hidden fears.
- Tool Proficiencies:
Fragments of your former life remain in your hands, even when your mind cannot remember where you learned them.
Smith’s Tools — Your hands remember how to maintain, repair, and work metal, weapons, and armour, even if the memories of learning the craft have faded.
One Gaming Set of Your Choice — A small remnant of the person you were in life. The rules and movements return naturally, even when you cannot remember who once taught you to play.
- Languages:
🌑 Undercommon — A strange remnant of your forgotten life. You don't remember when or why you learned the language of the Underdark, but its words remain buried within your fractured memories.
👻 Deep Speech — Since returning from death, you sometimes understand words that feel as though they were never meant for mortal ears. Whether you knew the language before your death or brought it back with you remains unknown.
- Equipment:
You returned carrying only fragments of your former life. Some possessions are practical, while others have a significance you can feel but no longer remember.
🐉 Broken Dragon Insignia — A cracked emblem bearing a draconic symbol from your former life. You don't remember what it represented, but you cannot bring yourself to discard it.
🧥 Worn Cloak — A weathered cloak that survived your death and bears signs of whatever happened to you.
📖 Journal with Missing Pages — An old journal containing fragments of your handwriting. Several pages have been deliberately torn out, leaving unsettling gaps in the story of your former life.
👕 Traveller's Clothes — Durable clothing suitable for someone who has spent much of their second life wandering in search of answers.
💰 10 gp — A small amount of coin either recovered with your belongings or gathered since your return.
🕯️ Memento of Your Former Life — One small personal object from before your death. You don't remember its full importance, but something inside you refuses to let it go.
| Roll | Description |
|---|
| 1 | The Final Battle. You remember clashing steel, blood, and someone desperately shouting your name. You cannot remember who killed you. |
| 2 | A Familiar Face. You remember the face of someone you once loved or trusted, but their name remains beyond your reach. |
| 3 | The Broken Promise. You remember making an important promise before your death, but you cannot remember what you promised or to whom. |
| 4 | Beneath the Earth. You remember darkness, stone walls, and voices speaking Undercommon. You don't know whether this happened before or after your death. |
| 5 | The Impossible Voice. Something spoke to you while you were dead. It spoke in Deep Speech, and somehow you understood it. |
| 6 | Dragon's Pride. You briefly remember yourself as you were in life: strong, confident, and unmistakably Dragonborn. |
| 7 | Blood on the Insignia. You remember clutching your broken dragon insignia while someone begged you not to close your eyes. |
| 8 | I Wasn't Alone. You remember that someone—or something—was with you when you died, but what happened between death and awakening remains missing. |
| d1 | 💀 Deathbound Characteristics |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fragments of the Life Before |
Description:
Death has left a permanent mark upon you. People who have experienced death, grief, or great loss often sense something strangely familiar about your presence.
When seeking information about local deaths, forgotten battlefields, burial sites, supernatural occurrences, or rumours of resurrection, you can usually find someone willing to speak with you or point you toward someone who knows more.
In addition, places, objects, or people connected to your former life may cause fragments of forgotten memories to surface, at the DM's discretion.
This gives you story opportunities and potential leads, but doesn't automatically reveal hidden information or secrets.
That should be her only background feature — everything else like Athletics, Insight, Smith's Tools, Undercommon/Deep Speech, equipment and the Fragments of the Life Before table belongs in their respective background sections rather than being additional features.
Suggested Characteristics
Absolutely. For Deathbound, I'd give you the full D&D Beyond-style Suggested Characteristics: Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws, each with a d8 table so you can copy them across.
🕯️ Suggested Characteristics
Death has changed you, but it has not completely erased the person you once were. Fragments of your former Dragonborn life influence your behaviour, while your unnatural return has given you new fears, desires, and attachments.
🧠 Personality Traits — d8
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I instinctively place myself between danger and those who cannot defend themselves. |
| 2 | I sometimes stare at people because I feel certain I knew them before I died. |
| 3 | I rarely show fear; I have already experienced the thing most people fear most. |
| 4 | I treasure small pleasures because I remember what it was like to lose everything. |
| 5 | I occasionally use names or phrases I don't remember learning. |
| 6 | I am fascinated by stories of ghosts, resurrection, and people who returned from impossible circumstances. |
| 7 | I sometimes become completely still and forget that living people expect me to breathe. |
| 8 | I treat my Echo like another person, even when everyone insists it is only part of me. |
✨ Ideals — d6
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Second Chances. I was given another life, and I refuse to waste it. (Good) |
| 2 | Duty. Death does not release me from the promises I made in life. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Freedom. Whoever I was before doesn't decide who I must become now. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Truth. I will uncover the truth of my death, whatever it costs me. (Any) |
| 5 | Protection. I couldn't save everyone before. I won't make that mistake again. (Good) |
| 6 | Vengeance. If someone caused my death, I will eventually find them. (Any) |
🔗 Bonds — d6
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My broken dragon insignia is one of the few things connecting me to my former life. |
| 2 | I remember someone's face but not their name. Finding them has become my greatest purpose. |
| 3 | I made a promise before I died. I don't remember what it was, but I know I haven't fulfilled it. |
| 4 | My Echo is more than an ability to me. I will discover what it truly is. |
| 5 | Someone gave me a second chance at life. I need to discover who—or what—they were. |
| 6 | I remember dying while trying to protect someone. I need to know whether they survived. |
🖤 Flaws — d6
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am terrified that the person who returned isn't really the person who died. |
| 2 | I become reckless when I believe dying could save someone else. After all, I've survived death once. |
| 3 | I struggle to trust anyone who knows more about resurrection than they're willing to tell me. |
| 4 | I obsess over anything that might be connected to my forgotten past. |
| 5 | Sometimes I value discovering the truth about my old life more than protecting the life I have now. |
| 6 | When my Echo behaves strangely, I hide it from my companions instead of asking for help. |
| d1 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I sometimes become completely still and forget that living people expect me to breathe. |
| d1 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | I will uncover the truth of my death, whatever it costs me. |
| d1 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My Echo is more than an ability to me. I will discover what it truly is. |
| d1 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am terrified that the person who returned isn't really the person who died. |
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