Homebrew:Crimson Aspirant: Difference between revisions

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{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the {{PAGENAME}} background from [[The Crooked Moon]]}}
{{ooc note|This is an implementation of the {{PAGENAME}} background from [[The Crooked Moon]]}}
__NOTOC__
__NOTOC__
Some portion of your past has been swallowed by nothingness. The missing time could be a short interval—mere days or weeks gone from your memory— or you might have only vague hints at best of who you are and where you are from. Flashes of déjà vu are common, taunting you with recollection, but they almost always slip away, as ungraspable as the mists of Druskenvald. An injury, some traumatic experience, or the magical workings of a spell or curse could be the culprit behind your amnesia.
You have delved into the forces that animate all life—even those that counterfeit life, such as Constructs and Undead. Many of these studies concentrate on the nature of blood and its power to sustain life and transmit vital essence, binding the soul to the flesh. You might have apprenticed under a sly-hearted mentor or a secret cabal focused on understanding or even manipulating life and death. You may have learned from a detailed treatise that you've put into practice, daring to become versed in the forbidden arts.


; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Memory Starved|Memory Starved]]
; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Crimson Ritualist|Crimson Ritualist]]
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose two (see below)
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : {{arcana}}, {{medicine}}
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose one (see below)
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : [[equipment:herbalism-kit|herbalism kit]]
; <nowiki>Languages:</nowiki> : See below
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : Choose A or B: (A) herbalism key, dagger, fine clothes, healer's kit, 3 vials, 10 gp; or (B) 50 gp
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : Choose A or B: (A) book (personal notes), ink, ink pen, traveler's clothes, 11 gp; or (B) 50 gp
== Scattered Memories ==
You don’t choose skill proficiencies or a tool proficiency when you select this background, and you don’t choose any languages other than Common during character creation—these are parts of your past that you are missing. Instead, you can pick one of those proficiencies or languages during play at any time. The knowledge might return in a spontaneous flash, even as you make a roll that relies on the proficiency, or slowly emerge as you struggle to solve a problem. Once you choose one of these features, you can’t choose another one until you gain a level.


The GM might rule that you can choose a new recalled feature early if something reminds you of your past, such as finding a piece of evidence from your missing memories or experiencing an event similar to one you have forgotten. Of particular value is an event relating to one of the story threads or trinkets presented below.
== Building a {{PAGENAME}} ==
 
Characters who value study and learning, as well as those with a capacity to heal the injuries and illnesses of others, readily become crimson aspirants. More physically inclined characters can be drawn to the teachings of blood to tap into their increased vital energies, as can those who are sickly or weak in hopes of overcoming that adversity.
== Building an {{PAGENAME}} ==
Any character can face misfortune or a choice that steals their memory. Consider how your character came to lose their memory. Was it lost through injury or illness, or did something more sinister steal it with a toxin or curse? You might decide to leave this choice up to the GM, letting you as a player discover the cause alongside your character.


=== Suggested Story Threads ===
=== Suggested Story Threads ===
This background presents a paradox when considering threads to weave through a campaign, since the character may not remember them. Work with the GM to create some leading events or people that can serve as constants to trace a path through the void of the character’s past, especially if the GM can insert existing nonplayer characters into the thread to strengthen these connections. The Amnesiac Story Threads table suggests events and people who can be the start of these threads.
The Crimson Aspirant Story Threads table suggests events and people who can be the start of story threads for your character that weave through the campaign.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Amnesiac Story Threads
|+ {{PAGENAME}} Story Threads
! 1d6 !! Thread
! 1d6 !! Thread
|-
|-
| 1 || You have recurring dreams of someone you might recognize on your adventures.
| 1 || Sometimes when you bleed, you hear whispers from your fallen blood that tease with meaning.
|-
|-
| 2 || You absent-mindedly doodle the same design or symbol over and over.
| 2 || You were trained by a remote monastery, but your mentor ushered you out one morning in a panic and sent you away.
|-
|-
| 3 || A friend has been traveling the provinces of Druskenvald with a caravan, searching for any hint of your past as they do.
| 3 || A plague carried in the blood defies cures, and you must find its origin.
|-
|-
| 4 || A rhyme or song you’ve never heard before comes to mind when your thoughts wander.
| 4 || Your mentor, who inducted you into the secrets held within life and blood, vanished suddenly.
|-
|-
| 5 || Rainbow colors, such as those on a soap bubble or oil slick, fill you with unexplained terror.
| 5 || Your studies reveal a spate of anemia cases, some ending in death, as the predations of blood-drinking monsters.
|-
|-
| 6 || You have a fragmented recollection of traveling to a remote place in the mountains.
| 6 || A loved one, such as a paramour or sibling, has died, and your studies hint at a way to bring them back.
|}
|}


=== Amnesiac Trinkets ===
=== {{PAGENAME}} Trinkets ===
When you make your character, you can roll once on the Amnesiac Trinkets table instead of on the normal starting Trinkets table.
When you make your character, you can roll once on the {{PAGENAME}} Trinkets table instead of on the normal starting Trinkets table.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Amnesiac Trinkets
|+ {{PAGENAME}} Trinkets
! 1d6 !! Trinket
! 1d6 !! Trinket
|-
|-
| 1 || Half of a tarnished silver ring with a partial inscription in a language you don’t understand
| 1 || A glass pendant with a single drop of blood suspended within
|-
|-
| 2 || A music box that plays a sad tune you recognize but can’t identify
| 2 || A long scroll with an anatomical study and description of how life energy flows through the body
|-
|-
| 3 || A short note addressed to you signed with a name you don’t recognize
| 3 || A handkerchief with a blood drop pressed into the center
|-
|-
| 4 || A thin silk scarf with a fading scent that stirs familiarity
| 4 || A polished bloodstone for balancing vital energy
|-
|-
| 5 || A toy horse with unfamiliar initials inked on it
| 5 || A vial of blood that never coagulates or dries
|-
|-
| 6 || A locket whose portrait is burnt and unrecognizable
| 6 || A small box of ashes said to be from a martyr who was falsely accused of vampirism and burned at the stake
|}
|}


[[category:homebrew backgrounds]]
[[category:homebrew backgrounds]]

Latest revision as of 22:48, 27 July 2025

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Crimson Aspirant background from The Crooked Moon)

You have delved into the forces that animate all life—even those that counterfeit life, such as Constructs and Undead. Many of these studies concentrate on the nature of blood and its power to sustain life and transmit vital essence, binding the soul to the flesh. You might have apprenticed under a sly-hearted mentor or a secret cabal focused on understanding or even manipulating life and death. You may have learned from a detailed treatise that you've put into practice, daring to become versed in the forbidden arts.

Feat:
Crimson Ritualist
Skill Proficiencies:
ArcanaIntelligence (Arcana)skillYour Intelligence (Arcana) check measures your ability to recall lore about spells, magic items, eldritch symbols, magical traditions, the planes of existence, and the inhabitants of those planes., MedicineWisdom (Medicine)skillA Wisdom (Medicine) check lets you try to stabilize a dying companion or diagnose an illness.
Tool Proficiencies:
herbalism kit
Equipment:
Choose A or B: (A) herbalism key, dagger, fine clothes, healer's kit, 3 vials, 10 gp; or (B) 50 gp

Building a Crimson Aspirant

Characters who value study and learning, as well as those with a capacity to heal the injuries and illnesses of others, readily become crimson aspirants. More physically inclined characters can be drawn to the teachings of blood to tap into their increased vital energies, as can those who are sickly or weak in hopes of overcoming that adversity.

Suggested Story Threads

The Crimson Aspirant Story Threads table suggests events and people who can be the start of story threads for your character that weave through the campaign.

Crimson Aspirant Story Threads
1d6 Thread
1 Sometimes when you bleed, you hear whispers from your fallen blood that tease with meaning.
2 You were trained by a remote monastery, but your mentor ushered you out one morning in a panic and sent you away.
3 A plague carried in the blood defies cures, and you must find its origin.
4 Your mentor, who inducted you into the secrets held within life and blood, vanished suddenly.
5 Your studies reveal a spate of anemia cases, some ending in death, as the predations of blood-drinking monsters.
6 A loved one, such as a paramour or sibling, has died, and your studies hint at a way to bring them back.

Crimson Aspirant Trinkets

When you make your character, you can roll once on the Crimson Aspirant Trinkets table instead of on the normal starting Trinkets table.

Crimson Aspirant Trinkets
1d6 Trinket
1 A glass pendant with a single drop of blood suspended within
2 A long scroll with an anatomical study and description of how life energy flows through the body
3 A handkerchief with a blood drop pressed into the center
4 A polished bloodstone for balancing vital energy
5 A vial of blood that never coagulates or dries
6 A small box of ashes said to be from a martyr who was falsely accused of vampirism and burned at the stake
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