Homebrew:Scholar of the Forbidden: 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.
Delving into the brittle pages of ancient tomes and weathered tablets carved with blasphemy, you have unearthed secrets of eldritch beings of unfathomable might. Most of their meaning slips like whispers out of your grasp, but you have seized both forbidden knowledge and cursed power from them. The deeper you plunge into depravity, the more certainty you feel that you are not there alone.


; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Memory Starved|Memory Starved]]
; <nowiki>Feat:</nowiki> : [[homebrew:Dread Speech|Dread Speech]]
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose two (see below)
; <nowiki>Skill Proficiencies:</nowiki> : {{arcana}}, {{intimidation}}
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : Choose one (see below)
; <nowiki>Tool Proficiencies:</nowiki> : [[equipment:calligraphers-supplies|calligrapher's supplies]]
; <nowiki>Languages:</nowiki> : See below
; <nowiki>Languages:</nowiki> : Choose one (Deep Speech recommended)
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : Choose A or B: (A) book (personal notes), ink, ink pen, traveler's clothes, 11 gp; or (B) 50 gp
; <nowiki>Equipment:</nowiki> : Choose A or B: (A) calligrapher's supplies, book (a topic of arcana), ink, ink pen, lamp, oil (3 flasks), paper (10 sheets), 2 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.
Wizards and warlocks make the most common scholars of the forbidden, but any character who stumbles onto the dread truths waiting beneath the surface of reality can find themselves walking the path. The secrets you unveil could threaten to destabilize any number of powerful beliefs and organizations, which makes you dangerous to them.
 
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 Scholar of the Forbidden 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 wealthy patron paid you handsomely to research what led to your discoveries, and they want what you found.
|-
|-
| 2 || You absent-mindedly doodle the same design or symbol over and over.
| 2 || When you spoke aloud the first secret word you deciphered, you passed out and woke hours later to find your lips cracked and blackened.
|-
|-
| 3 || A friend has been traveling the provinces of Druskenvald with a caravan, searching for any hint of your past as they do.
| 3 || Something has been following you since you uncovered the illicit secrets. You sense it always behind you, drawing closer.
|-
|-
| 4 || A rhyme or song you've never heard before comes to mind when your thoughts wander.
| 4 || Your shadow converses with you when you're alone, acting as a debate partner and sounding board in your studies.
|-
|-
| 5 || Rainbow colors, such as those on a soap bubble or oil slick, fill you with unexplained terror.
| 5 || The reflections of your eyes are black voids, but no one else seems to notice.
|-
|-
| 6 || You have a fragmented recollection of traveling to a remote place in the mountains.
| 6 || An order of inquisitors or witch hunters hound you wherever you travel, seeking to silence you and your discoveries forever.
|}
|}


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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 broken fragment of a stone table carved with symbols that seem to slither and writhe
|-
|-
| 2 || A music box that plays a sad tune you recognize but can't identify
| 2 || A desiccated bit of tentacle
|-
|-
| 3 || A short note addressed to you signed with a name you don't recognize
| 3 || A small soapstone idol that always seems to end up in your pocket, bag, or otherwise on your person
|-
|-
| 4 || A thin silk scarf with a fading scent that stirs familiarity
| 4 || A book bound in Humanoid skin with blank pages that absorb ink or other pigments
|-
|-
| 5 || A toy horse with unfamiliar initials inked on it
| 5 || An alien eyeball floating in a jar of preservative fluid
|-
|-
| 6 || A locket whose portrait is burnt and unrecognizable
| 6 || An antique amulet with indecipherable symbols, that whispers at the edge of consciousness when worn
|}
|}


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

Latest revision as of 23:32, 27 July 2025

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Scholar of the Forbidden background from The Crooked Moon)

Delving into the brittle pages of ancient tomes and weathered tablets carved with blasphemy, you have unearthed secrets of eldritch beings of unfathomable might. Most of their meaning slips like whispers out of your grasp, but you have seized both forbidden knowledge and cursed power from them. The deeper you plunge into depravity, the more certainty you feel that you are not there alone.

Feat:
Dread Speech
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., IntimidationCharisma (Intimidation)skillWhen you attempt to influence someone through overt threats, hostile actions, and physical violence, the DM might ask you to make a Charisma (Intimidation) check. Examples include trying to pry information out of a prisoner, convincing street thugs to back down from a confrontation, or using the edge of a broken bottle to convince a sneering vizier to reconsider a decision.
Tool Proficiencies:
calligrapher's supplies
Languages:
Choose one (Deep Speech recommended)
Equipment:
Choose A or B: (A) calligrapher's supplies, book (a topic of arcana), ink, ink pen, lamp, oil (3 flasks), paper (10 sheets), 2 gp; or (B) 50 gp

Building a Scholar of the Forbidden

Wizards and warlocks make the most common scholars of the forbidden, but any character who stumbles onto the dread truths waiting beneath the surface of reality can find themselves walking the path. The secrets you unveil could threaten to destabilize any number of powerful beliefs and organizations, which makes you dangerous to them.

Suggested Story Threads

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

Scholar of the Forbidden Story Threads
1d6 Thread
1 A wealthy patron paid you handsomely to research what led to your discoveries, and they want what you found.
2 When you spoke aloud the first secret word you deciphered, you passed out and woke hours later to find your lips cracked and blackened.
3 Something has been following you since you uncovered the illicit secrets. You sense it always behind you, drawing closer.
4 Your shadow converses with you when you're alone, acting as a debate partner and sounding board in your studies.
5 The reflections of your eyes are black voids, but no one else seems to notice.
6 An order of inquisitors or witch hunters hound you wherever you travel, seeking to silence you and your discoveries forever.

Scholar of the Forbidden Trinkets

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

Scholar of the Forbidden Trinkets
1d6 Trinket
1 A broken fragment of a stone table carved with symbols that seem to slither and writhe
2 A desiccated bit of tentacle
3 A small soapstone idol that always seems to end up in your pocket, bag, or otherwise on your person
4 A book bound in Humanoid skin with blank pages that absorb ink or other pigments
5 An alien eyeball floating in a jar of preservative fluid
6 An antique amulet with indecipherable symbols, that whispers at the edge of consciousness when worn
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