Note: This is from Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos 5e
You work to understand and treat insanity and madness. You might be called upon to determine why a horrible act was performed or learn the true nature of a madness. You likely work with the authorities to identify and contain individuals who are dangers to themselves and others. You might approach your work as an agent of law and order, as a researcher into the hazards and ills of the mind, as a healer of wounded souls, or as a confidante hoping to understand. You have probably stumbled at
least once upon the unexpected horrors of the Mythos in the course of treating or tracking folks thought by the public to simply be criminals or lunatics. When you choose this background, discuss with your GM the kinds of maladies, crimes, or monsters you have investigated.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from Insight, Investigation, and Medicine
- Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism Kit
- Languages: One of your choice
- Equipment: A diploma or letter vouching for your expertise to the authorities, notes on cryptic clues regarding the behavior of cultists or victims of Mythos entities you have studied, manacles, a set of common clothes, an inkpen, a bottle of ink, paper, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp
As an alienist, you have qualifications and contacts to be consulted on a wide variety of strange happenings. You know of or can easily find asylums, sanitariums, hospitals, or temples offering counsel or healing where you can obtain ready treatment for yourself and a few others in any area that has them. The treatment is quickly administered, private, and discounted to at least half price, although it might not be sufficient for significant trauma. Additionally, when you fail to recall or discover information related to unexplained events and Mythos entities, you generally know of a former patient, fellow alienist, or institution with relevant clues, even though their information might be incomplete.
Suggested Characteristics
Alienists’ characteristics are shaped both by how they see their work and what they had to do to get their work done. Their traits often relate to coping with stressful discoveries and interacting with those whom the Mythos drives to dramatic acts. Most alienists rely on tight bonds outside their work to ground them, or else throw themselves entirely into their work, forsaking the outside world to find meaning in eldritch mysteries. Their ideals tend to
drive their work forward, even if what they discover along the way threatens those ideals. Alienists’ flaws are usually related to how isolating their work can be
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