Voss Family Legacy

House Voss is a hereditary family of monster hunters whose history stretches back generations. The Voss have dedicated their lives to hunting vampires, undead, fiends, lycanthropes, and other supernatural threats.

Members of the family are trained from childhood to combine practical hunting skills with knowledge of the supernatural. They learn to track creatures, investigate strange occurrences, recognize signs of supernatural influence, and prepare for encounters with creatures that ordinary warriors may not understand.

The Voss name carries particular weight among those familiar with monster hunting, including soldiers, priests, scholars, nobles, and other hunters. Those who recognize the family name may know of its reputation—or of the hunters who carried it before.

The Voss family believes that understanding a monster is as important as knowing how to fight one. Every generation adds to the family's accumulated knowledge through journals, maps, case files, relics, and firsthand accounts of supernatural encounters.

A Voss hunter is taught one principle above all others:

"Know the monster. Know yourself. Never underestimate either."

Ability Scores: Members of House Voss are trained in both the scholarly and practical traditions of monster hunting. Their education develops keen intellect, physical agility, and the endurance necessary to survive dangerous encounters.

Increase your Intelligence, Dexterity, or Constitution score by 1. Increase one of those scores by an additional 1. For example, you can increase your Intelligence by 2 and your Dexterity by 1.

Feat: House Voss hunters are trained from childhood to investigate, track, identify, and survive supernatural threats. Your Origin Feat represents the particular discipline or talent you developed as part of your family's tradition.

Skill Proficiencies: House Voss training emphasizes both the investigation of supernatural threats and the practical skills required to pursue them. Voss hunters learn to examine evidence, recognize unusual patterns, track dangerous creatures, and survive in hostile environments.

Tool Proficiencies: Voss hunters traditionally learn to prepare basic remedies, identify useful plants, and create simple preparations needed during long hunts far from civilization.

Languages: House Voss maintains records gathered from hunters, scholars, priests, and occultists across many regions. Members of the family commonly learn additional languages to study foreign records and communicate with those who possess knowledge of supernatural threats.

Equipment: A set of traveler's clothes, a Voss family hunting journal, a silvered hunting token bearing the Voss family crest, an herbalism kit, a dagger, a bedroll, a tinderbox, and 100 GP.

Suggested Characteristics

Personality Traits

1. I remain calm when everyone else begins to panic. I've seen what fear does to people facing monsters.
2. I have an unsettling habit of studying strange creatures rather than immediately fearing them.
3. I take meticulous notes about anything supernatural I encounter.
4. I have little patience for people who dismiss supernatural threats as superstition.
5. I inherited my family's dry sense of humor and use it when situations become uncomfortable.
6. I instinctively look for exits, hiding places, and ambush points wherever I go.
7. I respect anyone willing to face something terrifying to protect another person.
8. I don't brag about being a Voss. If someone recognizes the name, they usually know enough already.

Ideals

1. Knowledge. Understanding the supernatural is the first step toward defeating it.
2. Protection. Ordinary people should never have to face monsters alone.
3. Duty. The Voss name carries responsibilities that cannot simply be abandoned.
4. Independence. My family's legacy matters, but I must decide what kind of hunter I will become.
5. Discipline. Preparation is more reliable than courage.
6. Truth. Fear and superstition make monsters more powerful than they need to be.

Bonds

1. I carry the work of previous Voss hunters with me wherever I go.
2. I possess a family journal containing knowledge that must never be lost.
3. I intend to uncover what happened to a Voss ancestor who disappeared while hunting a powerful vampire.
4. Someone in my family died protecting innocent people, and I intend to honor their sacrifice.
5. I have sworn to finish a hunt that a previous Voss could not complete.
6. My family expects me to preserve the Voss legacy, even if I intend to change it.
7. There is a supernatural enemy that knows my family name.
8. I want to prove that the Voss name still deserves the respect it commands.

Flaws

1. I have difficulty walking away from a supernatural threat once I know it exists.
2. I sometimes assume I understand a creature before I have enough evidence.
3. I feel pressure to live up to the reputation of previous Voss hunters.
4. I can become dangerously curious when confronted with an unfamiliar supernatural phenomenon.
5. I dislike admitting that I don't know something about a monster.
6. I have a tendency to prepare for the worst even when others think I'm being paranoid.
7. I sometimes judge people by how they respond to supernatural danger.
8. When someone invokes the Voss name against me, I take it personally.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I remain calm when others panic; panic has never killed a monster.
2	I study strange creatures rather than immediately fearing them.
3	I keep meticulous notes about everything unusual I encounter.
4	I have little patience for people who dismiss supernatural threats as superstition.
5	I use dry humor when situations become too serious.
6	I instinctively look for exits, ambush points, and signs of danger.
7	I respect anyone willing to put themselves between danger and innocent people.
8	I rarely mention the Voss name unless it is genuinely useful.

d6	Ideal
1	Knowledge. Understanding a threat is the first step toward defeating it.
2	Protection. The purpose of the hunt is to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
3	Duty. A family legacy is a responsibility, not a privilege.
4	Independence. Tradition deserves respect, but I must ultimately choose my own path.
5	Discipline. Preparation is what separates a hunter from a victim.
6	Truth. A comforting lie can be more dangerous than a frightening truth.

d8	Bond
1	I carry the work of generations of Voss hunters with me.
2	My family hunting journal contains knowledge that must not be lost.
3	I intend to uncover the truth behind an ancestor who disappeared during a hunt.
4	I will honor the Voss who died protecting innocent lives.
5	I intend to finish a hunt that a previous Voss hunter could not.
6	My family expects me to preserve the Voss legacy, even if I change it.
7	A supernatural enemy knows my family name and has a reason to hate it.
8	I must prove that the Voss name deserves the respect it commands.

d8	Flaw
1	I have difficulty walking away from a supernatural threat.
2	I sometimes assume I understand a creature before I truly do.
3	I feel pressure to live up to the Voss name.
4	My curiosity about the supernatural can become dangerous.
5	I dislike admitting that I do not understand something.
6	I prepare for the worst, sometimes seeing threats where none exist.
7	I judge people harshly by how they respond when others are in danger.
8	When someone uses the Voss name against me, I take it personally.

Contacts

House Voss has accumulated contacts throughout generations of monster hunting. These contacts are not necessarily close friends or permanent allies, but they recognize the family name and may be willing to exchange information, provide limited assistance, or point a Voss hunter toward someone who can help.

d8	Contact
1	A priest experienced in fighting undead
2	A retired soldier who once hunted alongside a Voss
3	An occult scholar who studies supernatural creatures
4	A traveling monster hunter
5	A noble who has previously employed House Voss
6	An apothecary who supplies hunters
7	A keeper of forbidden or restricted supernatural records
8	A member of another monster-hunting family

d8	Contact
1	A priest experienced in dealing with undead and supernatural threats.
2	A retired Voss hunter who can advise you on monsters and hunting techniques.
3	An occult scholar with access to restricted supernatural records.
4	An apothecary knowledgeable about supernatural injuries, poisons, and rare herbs.
5	A veteran soldier who has fought alongside monster hunters.
6	A noble patron who has previously employed House Voss.
7	A traveling monster hunter who maintains contact with the Voss family.
8	A member of another monster-hunting family who maintains a cautious alliance with House Voss.

d8	Non-contact
1	A priest who distrusts monster hunters after a Voss operation went wrong.
2	A scholar who believes the Voss family hides dangerous supernatural knowledge.
3	A rival monster hunter who considers the Voss tradition outdated.
4	A noble family that remembers an old Voss debt.
5	A survivor whose family was saved by a Voss hunter generations ago.
6	A supernatural cult that recognizes the Voss name.
7	A member of another hunting family who considers the Vosses rivals.
8	A mysterious stranger who knows the Voss name but refuses to explain why.