Homebrew:Heretic

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Heretic background from Xanathar's Lost Notes to Everything Else)

You believe in a doctrine outlawed by your faith, taught to you in secret by other heretics. Perhaps your superiors excommunicated you from your temple, or forbidden dogma provided answers to questions you never sought. Whatever your origin, you’re now shunned by the faithful, or worse, hunted.

Skill Proficiencies:

DeceptionCharisma (Deception)skillYour Charisma (Deception) check determines whether you can convincingly hide the truth, either verbally or through your actions. This deception can encompass everything from misleading others through ambiguity to telling outright lies. Typical situations include trying to fast-talk a guard, con a merchant, earn money through gambling, pass yourself off in a disguise, dull someone's suspicions with false assurances, or maintain a straight face while telling a blatant lie., ReligionIntelligence (Religion)skillYour Intelligence (Religion) check measures your ability to recall lore about deities, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and the practices of secret cults.

Languages:

Two of your choice

Equipment:

A holy symbol (subtly modified to represent your own heretical belief), a prayer book or prayer wheel, vestments, a bottle of invisible ink, a quill, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp.

Heretical Belief

Hundreds of outlawed sects exist throughout the Forgotten Realms and other settings. Choose a belief that defines you as a heretic, or roll on the table below.

d8	Belief
1	Dark Moon. A doctrine that ascribes Selûne and Shar as two aspects of the same deity.
2	Fatemakers. Tymorans who believe mortals can influence and control luck.
3	Threefold God. A belief that Tyr, Helm, and Torm are all the same god.
4	Forsaken One. A conspiracy that Savras and Leira conceived and abandoned a god child.
5	Three-Faced Sun. The sun is a tripartite deity, with divine aspects of dawn, noon, and dusk.
6	Shared Suffering. Flagellant Ilmatari who say all mortals must share their god’s suffering.
7	Entropy. Belief that dying gods sent a divine sphere of annihilation to Toril to kill wizards.
8	Harlot’s Coin. Belief that Waukeen sold her divinity to Graz’zt and he receives her prayers.

Feature: Heretical Contacts

You know where to find heretics in settlements where your faith is represented. If no heretics are present, you can indoctrinate weak-willed souls if you spend a day preaching. Where heretics are present, you can always find a place to hide, rest, and recuperate. If needed, they can help you escape the settlement on a cart or through a secret tunnel.

Suggested Characteristics

Heretics survive by living on the run, or by blending into the ranks of greater faiths. They tend to be suspicious folk with zealous ideals and unshakable convictions. This sometimes manifests as a sense of superiority over the “unenlightened”.

d8	Personality Traits
1	I think I’m right even when I’m wrong.
2	I pity those who deny the heresy.
3	I always scope out the closest exits and position myself near them.
4	Those who refute my beliefs are damned and aren't worth saving.
5	I’m sure my god has chosen me for a greater destiny.
6	I’m a natural orator, but once I start talking it’s difficult for me to stop.
7	I’m always looking over my shoulder and the slightest things startle me.
8	I believe the end of the world is nigh.

d6	Ideals
1	Guidance. I must teach others my forbidden doctrine. (Neutral)
2	Caution. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. (Any)
3	Knowledge. If this conspiracy is true, what else are we being lied to about? (Neutral)
4	Insurrection. My old faith is corrupt and must be brought down by the new order. (Chaotic)
5	Honesty. I’ve been lied to enough, so now I’m sworn to always tell the truth. (Lawful)
6	Self-Knowledge. Those who seek the truth become wise beyond their years. (Good)

d6	Bonds
1	The heretics who educated me were burned at the stake. I won’t let that happen to me.
2	Belief in my old faith still nags at me. Have I chosen the right path?
3	I used to be friends with the cleric who’s now hunting me.
4	I carry a heretical treatise on my person. It mustn’t be found!
5	I protect the faithless so they can know enlightenment.
6	One of my underworld contacts reports my movements to the superiors of my old temple.

d6	Flaws
1	I’m suspicious of strangers, as they may be bounty hunters sent to arrest me.
2	I sneer at those whom I deem unworthy of my time.
3	I’m deeply superstitious, and have many rituals to avoid bad luck.
4	I tend to misjudge the devotion of others.
5	I’m obsessed with my studies, often to the detriment of other concerns.
6	I’m deeply mistrustful of temple hierarchies.