Homebrew:Rest Warden: 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.
In a place closer to the lands of the dead than the living, those who tend the eternal rest and disposition of the deceased are held in a mixture of high esteem and apprehension. You have plied the trade of the gravedigger, the mortician, and the embalmer. There are times when you have been the only one to say a kind word in honor of those who passed. The depredations of the Undead are well-known to you, and you don't suffer their meddling in the rest of your charges.


; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Memory Starved|Memory Starved]]
; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Grave Keeper|Grave Keeper]]
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose two (see below)
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : {{religion}}, {{survival}}
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose one (see below)
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : [[equipment:masons-tools|mason's tools]]
; <nowiki>Languages:</nowiki> : See below
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : Choose A or B: (A) mason's tools, hooded lantern, oil (3 flasks), shovel, soap, traveler's clothes (with thick gloves and dark-colored hood), 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 ==
== Building a {{PAGENAME}} ==
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.
Rest wardens tend to be either a dour and somber lot or—in contrast to their trade—are filled with the vibrance and joy of life. Those who understand the thin thread between life and death or who possess the strength to dig graves beneath moonlit skies and tend the bone orchards where the dead sleep are called to serve as rest wardens.
 
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 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 Rest Warden 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"
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! 1d6 !! Thread
! 1d6 !! Thread
|-
|-
| 1 || You have recurring dreams of someone you might recognize on your adventures.
| 1 || A strange figure commissioned you to carve a headstone for someone who is very much in the prime of life.
|-
|-
| 2 || You absent-mindedly doodle the same design or symbol over and over.
| 2 || In a time of desperation, you once accepted a sizeable bribe to look the other way when someone robbed a grave.
|-
|-
| 3 || A friend has been traveling the provinces of Druskenvald with a caravan, searching for any hint of your past as they do.
| 3 || You spent time learning from Yorgrim, gravedigger and caretaker of the Maidenmist Cemetery.
|-
|-
| 4 || A rhyme or song you've never heard before comes to mind when your thoughts wander.
| 4 || Someone violated graves under your watch and stole away with the corpses.
|-
|-
| 5 || Rainbow colors, such as those on a soap bubble or oil slick, fill you with unexplained terror.
| 5 || You comforted a child at their parent's funeral and have taken a protective shine to them.
|-
|-
| 6 || You have a fragmented recollection of traveling to a remote place in the mountains.
| 6 || A loved one once rose from the grave as an Undead creature. You vowed to bring them to their final rest.
|}
|}


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! 1d6 !! Trinket
! 1d6 !! Trinket
|-
|-
| 1 || Half of a tarnished silver ring with a partial inscription in a language you don't understand
| 1 || A prayer slip and seal covered in verses to protect the departed
|-
|-
| 2 || A music box that plays a sad tune you recognize but can't identify
| 2 || A charcoal rubbing of a gravestone epitaph
|-
|-
| 3 || A short note addressed to you signed with a name you don't recognize
| 3 || A coffin nail that always ends up bent, no matter how many times you straighten it
|-
|-
| 4 || A thin silk scarf with a fading scent that stirs familiarity
| 4 || A dried flower cleaned from one of the first graves you tended
|-
|-
| 5 || A toy horse with unfamiliar initials inked on it
| 5 || A length of rusty iron chain and padlock
|-
|-
| 6 || A locket whose portrait is burnt and unrecognizable
| 6 || A sealed bottle containing a final breath
|}
|}


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

Latest revision as of 23:25, 27 July 2025

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Rest Warden background from The Crooked Moon)

In a place closer to the lands of the dead than the living, those who tend the eternal rest and disposition of the deceased are held in a mixture of high esteem and apprehension. You have plied the trade of the gravedigger, the mortician, and the embalmer. There are times when you have been the only one to say a kind word in honor of those who passed. The depredations of the Undead are well-known to you, and you don't suffer their meddling in the rest of your charges.

Feat:
Grave Keeper
Skill Proficiencies:
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., SurvivalWisdom (Survival)skillThe DM might ask you to make a Wisdom (Survival) check to follow tracks, hunt wild game, guide your group through frozen wastelands, identify signs that owlbears live nearby, predict the weather, or avoid quicksand and other natural hazards.
Tool Proficiencies:
mason's tools
Equipment:
Choose A or B: (A) mason's tools, hooded lantern, oil (3 flasks), shovel, soap, traveler's clothes (with thick gloves and dark-colored hood), 10 gp; or (B) 50 gp

Building a Rest Warden

Rest wardens tend to be either a dour and somber lot or—in contrast to their trade—are filled with the vibrance and joy of life. Those who understand the thin thread between life and death or who possess the strength to dig graves beneath moonlit skies and tend the bone orchards where the dead sleep are called to serve as rest wardens.

Suggested Story Threads

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

Rest Warden Story Threads
1d6 Thread
1 A strange figure commissioned you to carve a headstone for someone who is very much in the prime of life.
2 In a time of desperation, you once accepted a sizeable bribe to look the other way when someone robbed a grave.
3 You spent time learning from Yorgrim, gravedigger and caretaker of the Maidenmist Cemetery.
4 Someone violated graves under your watch and stole away with the corpses.
5 You comforted a child at their parent's funeral and have taken a protective shine to them.
6 A loved one once rose from the grave as an Undead creature. You vowed to bring them to their final rest.

Rest Warden Trinkets

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

Rest Warden Trinkets
1d6 Trinket
1 A prayer slip and seal covered in verses to protect the departed
2 A charcoal rubbing of a gravestone epitaph
3 A coffin nail that always ends up bent, no matter how many times you straighten it
4 A dried flower cleaned from one of the first graves you tended
5 A length of rusty iron chain and padlock
6 A sealed bottle containing a final breath
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