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{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the Inquisitor background from [[Plane Shift: Innistrad]]}}
{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the {{PAGENAME}} background from [[Plane Shift: Amonkhet]]}}
__NOTOC__
__NOTOC__
Historically, inquisitors were cathar detectives who investigated crimes both mundane and supernatural. They were known for traveling to remote parishes plagued by unexplained murders, and for exposing werewolves living among normal humans. During Avacyn’s absence, when the archangel was trapped within the demonic prison known as the Helvault, the inquisitors led a series of brutal forays into Kessig and the Gavony Moorland. They executed suspected lycanthropes with little or no proof, and punished accused heretics in unsanctioned trials. With Avacyn’s madness, this savage form of inquisition has become the norm, and inquisitors who still pry into dark mysteries have become a minority.
You are an initiate, on the path to completing the trials of the five gods in the hope of earning a glorified death in the final Trial of Zeal. Some combination of your natural aptitude, your crop’s needs, and your teachers’ assessment while you were an acolyte led you to focus your training in one particular area of specialization— hand-to-hand combat, long-range combat, or spellcasting. But only a well-rounded initiate can be called truly worthy of the afterlife.


; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Investigation, Religion
If you are a hand-to-hand specialist, consider the barbarian, fighter, monk, paladin, or rogue classes. As a long-range combat specialist, you might be a fighter, a ranger, or a rogue. If you are a spellcasting specialist, you might be a bard, sorcerer, or wizard. And beyond this initial choice, you might consider multiclassing or using feats to round out your skills in all three areas.
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Thieves' Tools, one set of artisan's tools of your choice
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : A holy symbol, a set of traveler's clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp


== Feature: Legal Authority ==
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Athletics, Intimidation
As an inquisitor of the church, you have the authority to arrest criminals. In the absence of other authorities, you are authorized to pass judgment and even carry out sentencing. If you abuse this power, however, your superiors in the church might strip it from you.
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : A simple puzzle box, a scroll containing the basic teachings of the five gods, a gaming set, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp. If you have completed any trials before the start of the campaign, you also have any cartouches you have earned.
== Feature: Trials of the Five Gods ==
Your life is oriented around your participation in the five trials that will determine your worthiness in the afterlife. While you prepare for and undergo those trials, you have constant access to training. A comfortable place to live and regular meals are provided to you by servitor mummies (the anointed) under the supervision of viziers. You can enjoy these benefits only as long as you obey the societal norms of Naktamun—training for the trials (with or without your crop), obeying the orders of the gods, and following the instructions of their viziers. If you violate these norms, you risk being treated as a dissenter. See “Trials of the Five Gods” for more information about undertaking the trials and their rewards.


== Suggested Characteristics ==
== Suggested Characteristics ==
Inquisitors are often driven by zeal, plagued with suspicion, and haunted by self-doubt. They are all too susceptible to human failings, and their judgment is not always divinely inspired.
An initiate’s life is focused on the trials, but it doesn’t need to be all about the trials. Though some initiates are highly focused on their training, most undergo that training while also experiencing joy, sorrow, love, loss, anger, jealousy, hope, faith, delight—the whole range of mortal emotions and experience. The afterlife might be a constant presence in every initiate’s mind, but it is the culmination of a life well-lived—not a replacement for it.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!d8 !! Personality Trait
!d8 !! Personality Trait
|-
|-
|1 || It will all go smoothly if everyone just does as I say.
|1 || I always have a joke on hand when the mood gets too serious.
|-
|-
|2 || Despair is an extravagance we can ill afford.
|2 || I use sarcasm and insults to keep a distance between myself and my crop-mates, because I don’t want to get attached to them.
|-
|-
|3 || I know the writings of Saint Raban backward and forward.
|3 || I’ll settle for nothing less than perfection—in myself, in my cropmates, in everything.
|-
|-
|4 || I try to see the bright side in the very worst situations.
|4 || I’m so focused on the glorious afterlife that nothing in this life can shake my calm resolve.
|-
|-
|5 || It helps me feel better when others show sympathy or appreciation for the horrors I've endured.
|5 || I enjoy using my skills to help those who lack those same skills.
|-
|-
|6 || I prefer to face evil with a strong group of friends in front of me.
|6 || I train hard so that I can play hard at the end of the day. I fully expect to play even harder in the glorious afterlife, but I’m not in a hurry to get there.
|-
|-
|7 || I want to see the wicked burn for the evil they've brought on us.
|7 || I’m perfectly happy letting others pick up the slack for me while I take it easy.
|-
|-
|8 || I feel the sin being purged from me as I help cleanse the world.
|8 || I’m constantly sizing up everyone around me, thinking about what kind of opponent they’ll be in the final trial.
|}
|}


Line 36: Line 38:
!d6 !! Ideal
!d6 !! Ideal
|-
|-
|1 || '''Honesty.''' The smallest deception paves the way to grievous sin. (Lawful)
|1 || '''Solidarity.''' The thing that matters most of all is that we’re there for each other. (Lawful)
|-
|-
|2 || '''Piety.''' Devotion to the angels and the rites of the church is all that keeps the world from destruction. (Good)
|2 || '''Knowledge.''' The world is a puzzle—a mystery waiting to be solved. (Neutral)
|-
|-
|3 || '''Order.''' The laws of Avacyn are meant to preserve the social order—everything in its proper place. (Lawful)
|3 || '''Strength.''' All that matters to me is my own perfection. Let everyone else seek that perfection in their own way. (Any)
|-
|-
|4 || '''Humanity.''' Human life is to be cherished and preserved against the horrors of the night. (Good)
|4 || '''Ambition.''' I’m going to prove that I deserve only the best—of everything. (Evil)
|-
|-
|5 || '''Knowledge.''' The path to holiness comes through understanding of the world. (Any)
|5 || '''Zeal.''' Anything worth doing is worth throwing my whole self into. (Any)
|-
|-
|6 || '''Punishment.''' It is better for the innocent to suffer than for the guilty to escape their due. (Evil)
|6 || '''Redemption.''' I will train all the harder to make up for the doubt I entertained when I was younger. (Any)
|}
|}


Line 52: Line 54:
!d6 !! Bond
!d6 !! Bond
|-
|-
|1 || Thraben is the heart of the world. The cathedral must stand even if the hinterlands are lost.
|1 || One of my crop-mates is my dearest friend, and I hope we will face each other in the final trial.
|-
|-
|2 || One day, I will claim vengeance against the monster that took my family from me.
|2 || I am in love with a vizier.
|-
|-
|3 || My weapon is all I have to remember my beloved mentor by.
|3 || I am particularly drawn to one of the five gods, and I want nothing more than to win that god’s particular favor.
|-
|-
|4 || The geist of my beloved speaks to me sometimes.
|4 || I am more devoted to Naktamun and its people than I am to any of the ideals of the gods.
|-
|-
|5 || My dear sibling is now a werewolf.
|5 || My weapon was a gift from a beloved trainer who died in an accident.
|-
|-
|6 || A small crossways chapel is my spiritual home.
|6 || I carry a memento of my time as an acolyte, and I treasure it above all other things.
|}
|}


Line 68: Line 70:
!d6 !! Flaw
!d6 !! Flaw
|-
|-
|1 || I am troubled by the wild rage and bloodlust that lurks in my own heart.
|1 || I’m easily distracted by an attractive person, which could be the death of me in the trials.
|-
|-
|2 || I have come to believe that I executed an innocent person.
|2 || I really wanted to be a vizier, and I’m angry at the god who didn’t choose me.
|-
|-
|3 || I enjoy the prestige of my position more than service to the angels.
|3 || Training for a lifetime to die in the end seems like a big waste of energy.
|-
|-
|4 || I drink to forget the horrors I’ve seen.
|4 || I’m not at all sure I’ll be able to grant a glorified death to any of my crop-mates.
|-
|-
|5 || I might have made a promise to a demon that I can’t keep.
|5 || I have a lasting grudge against one of my crop-mates, and each of us wants to see the other fail.
|-
|-
|6 || I'll do whatever grim task must be done, for my soul is already lost.
|6 || I think I’ve figured out that this world is not what it seems. Something dark is going on here.
|}
|}
[[category:homebrew backgrounds]]
[[category:homebrew backgrounds]]

Latest revision as of 22:30, 27 July 2025

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Initiate background from Plane Shift: Amonkhet)

You are an initiate, on the path to completing the trials of the five gods in the hope of earning a glorified death in the final Trial of Zeal. Some combination of your natural aptitude, your crop’s needs, and your teachers’ assessment while you were an acolyte led you to focus your training in one particular area of specialization— hand-to-hand combat, long-range combat, or spellcasting. But only a well-rounded initiate can be called truly worthy of the afterlife.

If you are a hand-to-hand specialist, consider the barbarian, fighter, monk, paladin, or rogue classes. As a long-range combat specialist, you might be a fighter, a ranger, or a rogue. If you are a spellcasting specialist, you might be a bard, sorcerer, or wizard. And beyond this initial choice, you might consider multiclassing or using feats to round out your skills in all three areas.

Skill Proficiencies:
Athletics, Intimidation
Tool Proficiencies:
One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)
Equipment:
A simple puzzle box, a scroll containing the basic teachings of the five gods, a gaming set, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp. If you have completed any trials before the start of the campaign, you also have any cartouches you have earned.

Feature: Trials of the Five Gods

Your life is oriented around your participation in the five trials that will determine your worthiness in the afterlife. While you prepare for and undergo those trials, you have constant access to training. A comfortable place to live and regular meals are provided to you by servitor mummies (the anointed) under the supervision of viziers. You can enjoy these benefits only as long as you obey the societal norms of Naktamun—training for the trials (with or without your crop), obeying the orders of the gods, and following the instructions of their viziers. If you violate these norms, you risk being treated as a dissenter. See “Trials of the Five Gods” for more information about undertaking the trials and their rewards.

Suggested Characteristics

An initiate’s life is focused on the trials, but it doesn’t need to be all about the trials. Though some initiates are highly focused on their training, most undergo that training while also experiencing joy, sorrow, love, loss, anger, jealousy, hope, faith, delight—the whole range of mortal emotions and experience. The afterlife might be a constant presence in every initiate’s mind, but it is the culmination of a life well-lived—not a replacement for it.

d8 Personality Trait
1 I always have a joke on hand when the mood gets too serious.
2 I use sarcasm and insults to keep a distance between myself and my crop-mates, because I don’t want to get attached to them.
3 I’ll settle for nothing less than perfection—in myself, in my cropmates, in everything.
4 I’m so focused on the glorious afterlife that nothing in this life can shake my calm resolve.
5 I enjoy using my skills to help those who lack those same skills.
6 I train hard so that I can play hard at the end of the day. I fully expect to play even harder in the glorious afterlife, but I’m not in a hurry to get there.
7 I’m perfectly happy letting others pick up the slack for me while I take it easy.
8 I’m constantly sizing up everyone around me, thinking about what kind of opponent they’ll be in the final trial.
d6 Ideal
1 Solidarity. The thing that matters most of all is that we’re there for each other. (Lawful)
2 Knowledge. The world is a puzzle—a mystery waiting to be solved. (Neutral)
3 Strength. All that matters to me is my own perfection. Let everyone else seek that perfection in their own way. (Any)
4 Ambition. I’m going to prove that I deserve only the best—of everything. (Evil)
5 Zeal. Anything worth doing is worth throwing my whole self into. (Any)
6 Redemption. I will train all the harder to make up for the doubt I entertained when I was younger. (Any)
d6 Bond
1 One of my crop-mates is my dearest friend, and I hope we will face each other in the final trial.
2 I am in love with a vizier.
3 I am particularly drawn to one of the five gods, and I want nothing more than to win that god’s particular favor.
4 I am more devoted to Naktamun and its people than I am to any of the ideals of the gods.
5 My weapon was a gift from a beloved trainer who died in an accident.
6 I carry a memento of my time as an acolyte, and I treasure it above all other things.
d6 Flaw
1 I’m easily distracted by an attractive person, which could be the death of me in the trials.
2 I really wanted to be a vizier, and I’m angry at the god who didn’t choose me.
3 Training for a lifetime to die in the end seems like a big waste of energy.
4 I’m not at all sure I’ll be able to grant a glorified death to any of my crop-mates.
5 I have a lasting grudge against one of my crop-mates, and each of us wants to see the other fail.
6 I think I’ve figured out that this world is not what it seems. Something dark is going on here.
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