This is both a very specific mish-mash of a few interesting homebrew backgrounds and a more specialized variant of Beebass' Dual Soul background, partially inspired by the "haunted one" background's harrowing event #9.
Host- You are the experiment of a demonic or devilish cult, and have been subjected to large amounts of dark magic throughout your childhood. Though at the time you didn't know why, now, the reason is painfully clear. Your body was forcefully altered to accommodate the soul of a dead fiend, which is with you to this day. Yet the experiment failed, and you still kept some manner of control over your own body, at least for a time. You either escaped or were set free, but not without troubles of your own. Though the fiend was unable to take full control of you, it still has the ability to control you for extended periods of time if you're not vigilant enough, or if you allow it. Of course, there are many ways you could take this. Perhaps your demon's power is a welcome edition. Your demon could instead be the bane of your existence, and drive you to seek a way to remove it. Or perhaps your experiences have made you submissive to your demon, making you no more than a minion.
Fiend- You were slain, whether it be a few days or thousands of years ago, and your soul was imprisoned within some form of container. But however long ago it was, your prison eventually fell into the hands of a cult. Perhaps you tricked them into finding a body suitable for your inhabitance? Or maybe you had no say in your new vessel, and could only watch as they prepared to force you into submission with magic after a success? Whatever happened, you could not gain full control over your host, and they left their captors through whatever means. Now, you're stuck inside your host, but not without your own means of entertainment. Maybe you like tormenting your host, and are waiting for the day when they finally go insane, and you can take over permanently? Or perhaps your long imprisonment has weakened your demonic instincts, and you take a more neutral stance? You could even find it an insult to be stuck in such a puny form, and instead seek a way to leave your confines and find a better host.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Acrobatics, Athletics, Arcana, Deception, Intimidation, Perception, Persuasion Stealth, or Survival to either give to one soul, or split among two souls.
- Languages: Choose two languages among (Abyssal, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial) for your demon soul to understand, along with common.
- Equipment: A backpack, a set of traveler's clothes, and an arcane focus (this may be abnormal, such as a fiendish glyph tattooed on you, or crystals implanted in your palms.)
Each fiend soul acts differently, depending on factors such as their type, how long they've been imprisoned for, and how they're roleplayed. Fiend souls have different combat preferences, and some will have a natural weapon emerge when they're in control, as detailed in the table below. Choose the fiend soul that dwells within you from the Fiends table below, or, if the fiend is not on the table but is viable (*you cannot have a fiend soul which would have had a CR greater than 16, or an intelligence or wisdom less than 7, nor can you have a unique fiend*), choose its combat preferences based on how it would have fought in life (*your fiend soul can only have one natural weapon, and that weapon's hit die cannot be more than 1d8*).
| d42 | Fiend Soul |
|---|---|
| 1 | Night Hag- will use the host's magic to fight. |
| 2 | Nightmare- Will use kicks and punches (1d4 + str bludgeoning damage) to fight. Are often very obedient. |
| 3 | Rakshasa- will use the host's magic to fight. |
| 4 | Glabrezu- will use both the host's magic and its pincers (1d8 bludgeoning damage) to fight. |
| 5 | Marilith- will use the host's weapons to fight. |
| 6 | Nalfeshnee- will use sharp claws (1d6 + str slashing damage) to fight. |
| 7 | Quasit- will use claws (1d4 + str slashing damage) to fight. Are often very obedient. |
| 8 | Vrock- will use sharp claws (1d6 + str slashing damage) to fight. |
| 9 | Barbed Devil- will use spiny tail (1d6 + dex piercing damage) to fight. |
| 10 | Bearded Devil- will use the host's weapons to fight. |
| 11 | Bone Devil- will use barbed tail (1d8 piercing damage) to fight. |
| 12 | Chain Devil- will summon spectral chains (1d6 + dex psychic damage) to fight. |
| 13 | Erinyes- will use both the host's magic and weapons to fight. |
| 14 | Horned Devil- will use both the host's magic and its tail (1d8 piercing damage) to fight. |
| 15 | Ice Devil- will use both the host's magic and its tail (1d8 piercing damage) to fight. |
| 16 | Imp- will use tail (1d6 piercing damage) to fight. Are often very obedient. |
| 17 | Succubus or Incubus- will use both the host's magic and its claws (1d6 + dex slashing damage) to fight. |
| 18 | Cambion- will use both the host's magic and weapons to fight. |
| 19 | Chasme- will use the host's magic to fight. |
| 20 | Shadow Demon- will conjure spectral claws (1d6 + dex psychic damage) to fight. |
| 21 | Yochlol- will use the host's magic to fight. |
| 22 | Spined Devil- will use both the host's magic and fling its spines (1d4 piercing damage, range 5 - 30 feet) to fight. |
| 23 | Yugoloth (Any)- will use the host's weapons or its claws (1d6 + str slashing damage) to fight, unless it's an arcanaloth, which would use the host's magic to fight. |
| 24 | Bulezau- will use spiny tail (1d6 + dex piercing damage) to fight. |
| 25 | Hellwasp- will use sword talons (2d4) to fight. |
| 26 | Narzugon- will use the host's weapons to fight. |
| 27 | Black, White, and Green Abashi- will use both the host's weapons and its claws (1d6 + str piercing damage) to fight. |
| 28 | Cackler- will use the host's magic to fight. |
| 29 | Master of Cruelties- will use both the host's magic or weapons to fight. |
| 30 | Sire of Insanity- will use both the host's magic and its claws (1d6 + str slashing damage) to fight. |
| 31 | Orthon- will use both the host's magic and weapons to fight. |
| 32 | Wastrilith- will use both the host's magic and its claws (1d6 + str slashing damage) to fight. |
| 33 | Nabassu- will use both the host's magic and its claws (1d6 + dex slashing damage) to fight. |
| 34 | Maurezhi- will use the host's magic to fight. |
| 35 | Dybbuk- will use the host's magic to fight. |
| 36 | Armanite- will use its tail (1d8 slashing damage) to fight. |
| 37 | Barghest- will use claws (1d6 + dex slashing damage) to fight. |
| 38 | Babau- will use both the host's weapons and its claws (1d6 + dex slashing damage) to fight. |
| 39 | Shoosuva- will use tail (1d6 piercing damage) to fight. Are often very obedient. |
| 40 | Devourer- will use both the host's magic and its claws (1d6 + str slashing damage) to fight. |
| 41 | Draegloth- will use both the host's magic and its claws (1d6 + str slashing damage) to fight. |
| 42 | Tanarukk- will use the host's weapons to fight. |
You are forced to deal with the side effects of having a fiendish soul trapped inside you. Every 1d4 days (rolled by either you or your DM), you're forced to vomit a large amount of black sludge, and gain one level of exhaustion for five minutes after doing so. As a player, you can either choose convenient moments for your character to have to do this, or let your DM choose when for you (though this may be less convenient for your character, depending on how sadistic your DM is.)
Along with that, you can switch between souls when you want. Switching souls can be either a conscious choice between cooperating parties, or forced control taken by the fiend, when your body falls below 1/4 of its hit points. The fiend acts of its own initiative, and its actions depend on how you roleplay it. (Your host character and the fiend may have different alignments, so keep in mind the fact that their goals may be wildly different.) If you wish for the host to struggle against the fiend's possession, then each turn, make a charisma saving throw. If you roll a number higher than half your current charisma (rounded up), without adding modifiers, you suppress the fiend soul, and regain control of your actions.
The host and the fiend are both fully aware of the other's actions when they're not in control. The controlling soul may speak with the other by addressing them aloud, and the soul not in control may communicate with the other telepathically. Along with that, each soul may sleep separately for half the time the host's race needs per day. When one soul is asleep, the other will take over the body. Both can sleep at the same time, or take actions while the other sleeps. Though this is the case, sleeping separately will not replace a long rest, though during a long rest, if a soul has already slept, they can do other things. Physical conditions, such as poison, petrification, and unconsciousness, are shared between the two souls, while the psychological conditions charmed and frightened only effect the controlling soul. If the controlling soul falls under the effects of either of those conditions, the other will automatically take control, until the condition on the other soul is dispelled. After that, if the fiend is on control, the struggle rules detailed above may apply if necessary.
Lastly, if the host and fiend soul have different skill or language proficiencies, the other cannot use those proficiencies as their own, and must consult the other for help. Also, if one is either asleep or for any other reason indisposed, those proficiencies cannot be used by the other.
Suggested Characteristics
Host- Prior to becoming an adventurer, you knew little freedom. Your life was defined by painful experiments. Yet the cult experimenting on you may have treated you in different ways. You may may have been given only squalid meals, chained up, and/or beaten up regularly, or you may have been pampered by them, in preparation for the introduction of your fiendish tag-along. These memories define you, and if negative, can either dominate you, or drive you to overcome them.
Fiend- You've likely lived a long time, and may have been imprisoned even longer. The terrible things you've done span centuries, all spurred on by your fiendish instincts. Yet since you've been dead, what's happened? Perhaps you still have that ruthless nature, and act in a way befitting of your evil alignment. Maybe you've lost your evil ambitions, and have turned to greed as a new motivation. You may have even shirked off your previous self entirely, and decided instead to seek atonement. Yet whatever it is, you'll have to deal with your host first.
| d16 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Host- I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me. |
| 2 | Host- I love messing with people, and so does my fiend. We're the party's prank squad. |
| 3 | Host- I'm overly respectful to others. |
| 4 | Host- I always try to pick a fight with my fiend, sometimes over the littlest things. |
| 5 | Host- I don’t talk about the fiend inside of me. I’d rather not be avoided by others. |
| 6 | Host- I never sleep without first downing a sleeping draught. The fiend within me cannot be allowed to take over. |
| 7 | Host- I embrace my fiend's presence, and treat it like a friend. |
| 8 | Host- I'm nothing but the servant of my fiend. Their desires are mine to make a reality. |
| 9 | Fiend- I can't wait for the day in which my constant tormenting of my host's mind will drive them insane. |
| 10 | Fiend- I literally don't care what my host does at all. I'm dead. The hell does it matter? |
| 11 | Fiend- I find it fun to force my host into their own subconscious, and take over their body to do things I know will traumatize them. |
| 12 | Fiend- I'm easy to anger, and may far too easily go on murder sprees. |
| 13 | Fiend- I keep a kill count, and will constantly compete with my host in order to see who has the highest number per week. |
| 14 | Fiend- During my incredibly long imprisonment, I lost all things fiendish about me. I've served my time, and now it's time to atone for all the terrible things I've done. |
| 15 | Fiend- I honestly have no ambition whatsoever, good or evil. I work alongside my host to keep our body alive, and our belly full. A couple hundred gold coins is pretty nice to have on hand as well, though. |
| 16 | Fiend- My many years of isolation and imprisonment have weakened most of my fiendish instincts, and I gained some semblance of compassion when I was implanted in my host. Of course, I can't let them know that. |
| d16 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Host- I'm very suicidal. Too bad my fiend soul isn't. (Neutral) |
| 2 | Host- I’ll destroy the fiend inside me or die trying. (Any) |
| 3 | Host- I hope to find a way to co-exist with my fiend soul. I can tell they aren't completely evil... right? (Good) |
| 4 | Host- My fiend's power is mine to command. No matter what I use it for, it shouldn't complain. It's only alive because of me, after all. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | Host- Though I respect my fiend's power, I don't want to use it. It's not mine, and I have no right to it. (Lawful) |
| 6 | Host- We're monsters that destroy other monsters, and anything else that gets in our way. (Evil) |
| 7 | Host- The words of my fiend are absolute. I'm nothing but its arms and legs. (Any, but often Evil) |
| 8 | Host- I slay monsters to protect others, and to show my fiend that I won't tolerate any nonsense. (Good) |
| 9 | Fiend- I died in the material plane. If I can just kill off this one, measly mortal, then perhaps I'll be able to return to my original plane of existence and reform. (Evil) |
| 10 | Fiend- They say when life gives you lemons, start murdering people. And that's just what I'm going to do. (Evil) |
| 11 | Fiend- Who needs mass murder nowadays? Money's where it's at. I'm going to pressure my host to loot everything. (Neutral) |
| 12 | Fiend- I'm going to make the lives of my host's party members a living hell. (Chaotic) |
| 13 | Fiend- I plan on traumatizing this host to the point of insanity, finding a way to erase their memories, and doing it all over again. I admit I'm sadistic, but honestly, it's too fun not to be. (Evil) |
| 14 | Fiend- I have no real interest in existing any longer. Perhaps if I sleep long enough, I'll fade away into nothingness. (Neutral) |
| 15 | Fiend- Mortal rules are for idiots. I'm doing things my way, and not even my host can stop me. (Chaotic) |
| 16 | Fiend- Something's happened to me, and I can't explain it. I don't crave evil deeds nearly as much as I used to. In fact, I seem to be... somewhat uncaring? I have to find out what's wrong with me, and until I fix it, I can't let my host know. (Neutral) |
| d12 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | Host- I record my thoughts in a journal. It may help me keep the madness away. |
| 2 | Host- I may not have had much hope when I first started out, but my party taught me never to give in to the evil I harbor. |
| 3 | Host- I don't care much for other people at all. If anybody gets close to me, all that happens is them getting hurt. I don't want that, so I push people away. |
| 4 | Host- The terrible actions my fiend has taken have traumatized me to the core. I feel that it's all my fault. I hope that I can apologize to the people it's killed by finding a way to stop it from ever murdering another innocent again. |
| 5 | Host- I was taught to suppress my fiendish tag-along by a traveling monk. I owe them everything I am today. |
| 6 | Host- I've become rather fond of my fiend. Evil or not, I don't think I care anymore. |
| 7 | Fiend- I plan on brutally murdering the people that killed me. Very, very slowly. |
| 8 | Fiend- My gold is my life. You steal my gold, and you're just asking for it. |
| 9 | Fiend- I used to like torture. Now I like pranks. Especially on my party members. |
| 10 | Fiend- I freaking hate my host. I want to be allowed to do things, but they won't let me out. I can't wait for the day when I turn the tables on them. |
| 11 | Fiend- I've never really paid attention to the people around me, but I do now. The death of others now seems painfully real to me. So much so that I may decide to stop them from doing that. |
| 12 | Fiend- For some reason, I care for my host quite a bit. I honestly don't know why, and I honestly can't find a reason to not. I know something's wrong with me, I just don't know what. |
| d12 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Host- My time being experimented on has left me deeply traumatized. I'll startle at the slightest sound, or at anything that triggers my bad memories, which makes it incredibly easy for my fiend to overtake me. |
| 2 | Host- The evil within me has created my deep feelings of paranoia. You may be out to kill me! And you want to steal my gold! And you, you want to turn me into a hill! |
| 3 | Host- I'm an insomniac. Every time I close my eyes, I see the terrible thing that have happened to me, or the terrible things that my fiend has done. If I do sleep, it's because my body physically cannot go on (or because a party member cast sleep on me.) |
| 4 | Host- I'm always on edge. I can't relax, because if I do, perhaps that's when the fiend within will overtake me. |
| 5 | Host- I'm stupidly pessimistic. And still suicidal. |
| 6 | Host- I talk to my fiend way too much, so much so that people look at me like I'm crazy whenever I go into public. |
| 7 | Fiend- Literally my entire personality. |
| 8 | Fiend- My host says that murder's the only word in my vocabulary. And that's not true. I also know slaughter, butcher, kill, assassinate, slay, massacre... |
| 9 | Fiend- I'm very proud. I also happen to be a pathological liar! |
| 10 | Fiend- Materialism is the only reason I live. Period, end of story. |
| 11 | Fiend- I guess you could say that I'm flawed for a fiend. I've turned my back on my old life, and now work with my host to atone for my actions. |
| 12 | Fiend- I'm way too happy with my current situation. I in fact seem to almost... prefer... this to my old life? Impossible! |
This is a custom pact option for use if your character is a warlock, and they decide to take their fiend soul as their patron. It's meant to serve as an alternate option to the pact of the blade feature, and instead strengthens the fiend's natural and host weapon attacks (the shadow demon's claws and the chain devil's chains will count as physical weapons for this purpose). Though this is in the variant feature section, it is not meant to be a replacement for the original feature. The full pact of the vessel is detailed below.
Pact of the Vessel
Prerequisite- Must have the Fiend’s Vessel Background and a fiend soul that uses either its host’s weapons or it’s natural ones.
Your Fiend grows ever stronger alongside you, and that’s reflected in the way it fights. Your fiend can now add its proficiency bonus to its physical attacks and will deal an extra 1d4 force damage when using them. At 5th level, you gain an extra attack with this feature. The force damage die increases to 1d6 at 11th level, and 1d8 at 17th level.
All invocations that have pact of the blade as a requirement can be used by pact of the vessel warlocks as well.
Comments