You were awoken one day with no memory of who you once were, knowing only your first name, your deity (if you have one), and your proficient skills. You don't know where you are, you don't know what to do, and you don't know why you are where you are. You can feel the gaps in your memory like the pained scars of a war veteran, filling your mind with searing pain whenever you try to access the information. Your memories may have been sealed away, or maybe your mind has been damaged, or some other arcane influence is blocking you from accessing the memories of who you once were.
This background requires a massive amount of cooperation with your DM since your background feature requires for an event linked majorly to your past to trigger. It is also a good background for campaigns in which the characters start with no class or items.
It is recommended to make a fairly detailed backstory for your character as to make the Rememberance ability of this background easier to use.
- Skill Proficiencies: You are proficient with 4 skills of your choice. You also start with one extra feat.
- Tool Proficiencies: You are proficient with one tool of your choice, one musical instrument or game set of your choice, as well as one weapon of your choice.
- Languages: You can read, write, and speak one common language and one exotic language of your choice.
- Equipment: You start with tattered travelling clothes, an explorer's pack that is missing half of the rations and 8 of the torches, the weapon with which you chose to be proficient, an empty scroll case, a compass, and a small wooden runestone with your name carved into it.
This table provides a few examples of the location in which you woke up and what is/was happening around you when you awoke.
| d8 | Circumstances of Awakening |
|---|---|
| 1 | You awake in a forest leaning against a tree, with an animal lying in your lap. |
| 2 | You awake in a graveyard with a spirit floating close to you. |
| 3 | You awake in a cave with little light that is provided by an almost extinguished torch. |
| 4 | You awake floating in a pool of water, seeing both the real and fey world. |
| 5 | You do not remember waking up, you just did. |
| 6 | You awoke chained to a post in a tent with the noises of a jungle coming from outside. |
| 7 | You are jolted awake by an explosion like sound (either lightning, an explosive, or a gun) with a man standing over you. |
| 8 | You woke on the other side of a portal and stare out at the expansive dimension before you, but are suddenly pulled back through the portal. |
You may slowly start to regain the memories of your past life. At certain moments, or in certain places, you might remember an event from your past after having made a "Memory check", which is a d20 roll + your Wisdom modifier, with a DC of 15. After succeeding on 3 "Memory check" the DC will decrease by 3 and will decrease by 3 again after another 5 successful checks. You may also remember or notice random information about enemies that you fight; once per long rest, you may ask your DM one thing about a creature that you are fighting using your bonus action. That question may be about:
- The creature's HP maximum.
- The creature's Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score.
- The creature's percentage of remaining HP (this may be percentage missing or percentage remaining by the DM's choice).
- The creature's resistances.
- The creature's weaknesses.
- One of the creature's special abilities (if it has any).
Your DM is allowed to answer your question with a lie, so do not take the given information as complete fact.
Suggested Characteristics
These characteristics are only recommendations. You may create your own if you wish.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I see good in everyone I meet, I treat everyone with kindness until it is proven to me that someone deserves my wrath. |
| 2 | I occasionally copy the behavior of others. |
| 3 | I am quick to forgive people for things that they have done wrong. |
| 4 | My eyes are filled with joy at the discovery of something new. |
| 5 | I often pretend to understand the things that others tell me. |
| 6 | I stare off into space when I remember something about my past. |
| 7 | I always examine my surroundings when I enter a room. |
| 8 | I am slow to trust others, you never know who could be trying to use you. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Forgiveness. I grant forgiveness to anyone who has wronged me, there is no point in holding grudges. (Good) |
| 2 | Freedom. I do not care for the rules of society, I will not let them bind me. (Chaotic) |
| 3 | Equality. I treat all that I meet in the same way for I have few preconceptions. (Neutral) |
| 4 | Order. The rules of society are a factor of balance against the chaos of the world around it. (Lawful) |
| 5 | Excitement. I look at the world with wonder and amazement, overjoyed to learn new things. (Any) |
| 6 | Greed. I will have whatever I want of this world that I have awoken in. (Evil) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I will always be loyal to my friends, they ground me and make me feel more real. |
| 2 | I love the language I get from my background and use it when ever I can. |
| 3 | I swear I will have my revenge on the person that took advantage of me when I first awoke. |
| 4 | I retain one specific memory from my forgotten life, and must find out what it means. |
| 5 | I desperately want to find something to dedicate my life to, a purpose. |
| 6 | I owe my life to the person that found me when I first awoke. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I would die to find the truth of my past. |
| 2 | I am overly trusting of anyone who offers me help, especially regarding my forgotten life. |
| 3 | I'm terrified of who I might have been and refuse to acknowledge what's been left behind. |
| 4 | I trust others too easily. |
| 5 | I do not understand common social customs. |
| 6 | I fastidiously record events and I am annoyed when other forget things. |
You had once lost your memory but have regained it. When you have regained all of your memories from the Remembrance feature of the main Amnesiac background, change your background to this one. You keep the secondary feature of the Remembrance feature and gain the feature of this variant.
You are surprisingly lucky and skilled at what you do. You gain 2 luck points that will be added to any luck points you currently have.
You may also notice random information about enemies that you fight. Once per long rest, you may ask your DM one thing about a creature that you are fighting or observing using your bonus action. That question may be about:
- The creature's HP maximum.
- The creature's Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score.
- The creature's percentage of remaining HP (this may be percentage missing or percentage remaining by the DM's choice).
- The creature's resistances.
- The creature's weaknesses.
- One of the creature's special abilities (if it has any).
Your DM is allowed to answer your question with a lie, so do not take the given information as complete fact.
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Posted Apr 6, 2020Awesome background. I would say though it should be 2 skill proficiencies instead of 4. The extra feat should replace one tool/language proficiency so it would look like this.
You gain two proficiencies of your choice.
You gain a feat and one tool or language.
With how it’s described now it makes a interesting character that’s overpowered.
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Posted Apr 7, 2020Thank you for your input. It has been a long time since I've looked at this background and your assessment is correct. I'll probably update this in the next few days to make it more balanced.