These are background traits chosen at first level for the Cauldron city campaign
to add depth and help incorporate the character into the story.
1. Child of Jzadirune
2. Demonscarred
3. Dream Haunted
4. Long Shadowed
5. Mark of the Beast
6. Nobility
7. Scarred Soul
8. Scion of Surabar
9. Touched in the Head
10. Wyrm Blooded
Background Traits:
Child of Jzadirune
One of your ancestors lived in Jzadirune at the time the Vanishing (disease)
struck. This place is a famous gnome city under Cauldron that was abandoned a
long time ago. You are especially resistant to diseases, but find the prospect of
becoming sick yourself horrifying.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws made to resist the effects of
disease.
Drawback: You suffer a -2 morale penalty on saving throws against fear while in
the ruins of Jzadirune, or when fighting creatures that are diseased or can
inflict disease with a spell, supernatural ability, or extraordinary ability.
Demonscarred
One of your ancestors was a half-fiend. As a result, you carry some of that taint
with you.
Benefit: Regardless of your actual alignment, spells, and spell-like abilities
with the evil descriptor treat you as if your alignment were evil. Magic items
are similarly fooled. An unholy blight spell, for example, won’t damage you, no
matter what your actual alignment is.
Drawback: Regardless of your actual alignment, spells and spell-like abilities
with the good descriptor treat you as if your alignment were evil. Magic items
are similarly fooled. A holy word spell, for example, will harm you even if you
are good aligned.
Dream Haunted
Your dreams are haunted by strange visions of tortured landscapes and deformed
monsters. In some of these dreams, you are the deformed monster!
Benefit: You are used to fatigue, and suffer no penalties when you become
fatigued. When you become exhausted, you are instead treated as if you are
fatigued.
Drawback: You suffer a -2 penalty on saving throws against effects that cause
madness or insanity, and on saving throws against sleep effects. If you are
normally immune to sleep effects, you lose that immunity.
Long Shadowed
You are descended from a tribe of indigenous peoples who died out as a separate
tribe many centuries ago. Still, this tribe’s penchant for necromantic magic runs
in your blood.
Benefit: You automatically stabilize if reduced to negative hit points. When you
take damage from negative energy, you reduce the actual damage you take by 5
points.
Drawback: Healing magic works poorly on you. Whenever you regain hit points from
magical healing, you gain 1 less point of healing per character level you
possess, to a minimum of one point per die rolled.
Mark of the Beast
One of your ancestors was a lycanthrope. Select a predatory animal of your
choice; that animal feels a mystic bond with you.
Benefit: Animals have a strange reticence when they attack you, and suffer a -2
penalty on all attack rolls made against you. If you have the wild empathy
ability, you gain a +1 bonus on wild empathy checks.
Drawback: You suffer a -4 penalty to saving throws made to resist lycanthropy,
and take +1 point of damage from attacks made by silver weapons.
Nobility
You were born into a noble family.
Benefit: You start play with an additional 200 gp, and gain a +1 bonus on all
Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against citizens of Cauldron or the nearby
villages. Certain NPCs in this campaign may react more favorably to your
presence.
Drawback: You are well-known and recognizable, and suffer a -4 penalty on
Disguise rolls made against citizens of Cauldron or the nearby villages. Certain
NPCs in this campaign may react more poorly to your presence.
Scarred Soul
You’ve led a particularly tough life. Perhaps you’re an orphan, or maybe you
suffered some sort of traumatic experience as a child. Whatever the cause, your
childhood experiences have left you jumpy and haunted.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks.
Drawback: Your experiences have left your mind less able to deal with trauma, and
as a result you suffer a -1 penalty on all Will saves.
Scion of Surabar
You are a descendant of the man who discovered Cauldron, helped settle the
region, and aided in the defeat of an ancient demonic army.
Benefit: Pride for your lineage girds your mind and soul. You gain a+2 morale
bonus on saving throws against fear, death effects, and insanity or confusion.
Drawback: Demons that encounter you in this region (not those that you might
fight on other planes) can instinctively sense you lineage and connection to
their old enemy, and gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage
rolls when fighting you.
Touched in the Head
You’re a little crazy.
Benefit: Your mind is disorganized and chaotic. You gain a +1 bonus on all saving
throws against mind-affecting effects, save for those effects that cause
confusion or insanity.
Drawback: Your inability to concentrate for long makes you suffer a -1 penalty on
all Wisdom-based skill checks.
Wyrm Blooded
One of your ancestors was a half-black dragon. You have some sort of
distinctively draconic feature, be it reptilian eyes, scales on the backs of your
hands, or tiny vestigial horns on your head.
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all saving throws against acid effects, a +2
bonus on Swim checks, and a +1 bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
Drawback: Your body isn’t quite as limber as it should be. You take a -1 penalty
on Reflex saves
Derni�re modification: 2015/04/29 | | |
