Haunted
Spirits exist. It’s a simple fact of reality that most people forget until the specter of some long forgotten soul appears before them. But for you, it’s a constant reality. For some, the spirit that follows them has been there since childhood, as an imaginary friend or a monster in the dark. For others, the dead come at a later date, often in the wake of a terrible tragedy.
How did you become haunted and who is it that drifts in your wake? How has their presence affected your life? Do you adventure because you are an outcast whose spirit occasionally manifests in the presence of others? Or perhaps worse, remains invisible, forcing you to argue with thin air? Do you seek to merely break your bond or to send them to their final reward?
Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom and one other ability score of your choice.
Skill Proficiencies: Religion, and any one skill of your choice that the spirit has imparted to you.
Languages: Two of your choice, one of which is the spirit’s native language.
Suggested Equipment (Cost 16 gold): 2 days worth of rations, bell, 5 candles, ink, ink pen, 10 sheets of paper, 5 pieces of chalk, traveler’s clothes
Feature: Silent Aid. Being in tune with your spirit allows them to point out something you might have missed, if only for their own purposes. You gain a +2 to your choice of your passive Perception, Investigation, or Insight score, depending on your spirit’s skills.
If you banish, free, or otherwise lose your spirit, consult with the Narrator to choose an appropriate feature from another background. Alternatively, the Narrator may rule that you’ve become a beacon for the supernatural and another spirit has taken up haunting you.
Adventures and Advancement. Whether you seek to violently banish the restless dead or help them to peacefully pass on, you will gain a reputation as a spiritspeaker. Common folk and nobility alike are likely to approach you for advice and aid with everything from hereditary curses to irritable poltergeists to speaking with a dead relative about a lost treasure.
After you have solved several such problems, you’ve become known to those who deal in certain kinds of esoteric knowledge and gain access to their private libraries. These vast personal collections contain esoteric mysteries, such as those answerable with a DC 25 Arcana, History, or Religion check. While using such a library your host will provide you and your companions a moderate or rich lifestyle, depending on their means and how impressed they are by your exploits.
Haunted Connections
- A descendant of your spirit who blames them for current misfortunes.
- Another haunted individual who came to you seeking help with their spirit in a time of crisis.
- The murderer who killed your spirit.
- A ghost who has consulted your spirit during a time of need.
- The bereaved spouse your spirit left behind who will do nearly anything to speak with their lost love.
- Your spirit, a childhood friend or a romantic partner before tragedy struck.
- Your spirits, a gaggle of bickering ancestors trying to use you to right a terrible wrong.
- A relative of your spirit who killed them in order to inherit a fortune.
- Your spirit, a hateful enemy of your family who is bound to you through a quirk of misfortune.
- Your spirit, who haunts their own body after you stole it and took up residence.
Haunted Memento
- A personal item (jewelry, tools, weapon, ect) once owned by your spirit. You can’t seem to get rid of it.
- A locket containing the image of the one who haunts you.
- The scent of your spirit’s favored cologne or perfume that clings to you.
- A small pouch of soil taken from your spirit’s grave.
- A letter of introduction penned by your spirit, giving you their blessing.
- Journals of your spirit’s life.
- An innocuous nonmagical item that your spirit tells you is of dire importance.
- The manacles that shackled your spirit before their death.
- A cryptic note written by your spirit who has no memory of its existence.
- The signet ring of your spirit, who you claim as your parent or ancestor.