Character Histories

Travels Far Elsewhere

2 levels

Willingly or unwillingly, you have travelled the planes, meeting strange people and facing strange dangers. You have passed through at least two planes other than the Material Plane; usually one transitive plane (the Ethereal Plane or the Astral Plane) and an inner or outer plane.

You gain the following benefits:

• Extensive knowledge of the structure of the cosmos, and detailed knowledge of two planes that you visited
• An amiable relationship with a group that lives in a plane you visited, such as an aarakocran enclave or a gith city
• A trinket keepsake that is obviously of non-material origin
• Knowledge of the (guarded and distant) location of a cubic gate

Seeking Arcane Lore

2 levels; must be a spellcaster

You have spent time perusing and studying lore in libraries, arcane establishments, or more exotic places, seeking out spells and methods to add to your own knowledge base. This might have been relaxed downtime between adventures, or a frantic search for a solution to an imminent crisis.

You gain the following benefits:

• The ability to immediately recognize the verbal and material components of every spell on each spell list you draw spells from
• If you have a spellbook or ritual book, the opportunity and materials to copy two spells of your choice into your book
• A friend at a particular library or arcane establishment who will grant you free entrance

Alternatively, if your DM uses spellcrafting rules, you can replace the above benefits with crafting and learning a 1st-level spell or a cantrip.

A Blessed Quest

3 levels

You undertook a perilous quest at the behest of a god. Be it out of duty, love, obligation, or desperation, you fought the god's worst enemies, spread their words, reclaimed their most holy shrine, or something similar. You were granted a blessing as part of this endeavor, either at the start to see you through or at the end as a reward.

You gain the following benefits:

• A good reputation among followers of the god, who will provide food and shelter for you and your friends if able
• A pendant of the god's symbol which glows in an obviously divine way when you touch it
• Proficiency in the Religion skill, if you don't already have it

Additionally, choose a 1st-level cleric spell. You can cast this spell once without expending a spell slot or material components, and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

Deals Most Profane

3 levels

You made a deal with a devil, selling something dear to you in exchange for something you desperately wanted. You researched, talked with dark beings, and eventually found a way to contact a devil. You formed a contract, with or without thinking it through.

You might have bargained your eye for the name of your parents' killer, given up your mother tongue for mastery of Infernal, sold your soul to bring a lover back to life, or something similar.

You gain the following benefits:

• Knowledge of a particular devil who is willing to bargain with at least some semblance of fairness
• A 5th-level spell scroll of infernal calling or contact other plane, which you can use without an ability check and without needing any spellcasting capability
• A coin made from your own bone, a candle made from the fat of a swan, and a bloodstained unicorn's horn

An Ambitious Heist

3 levels

Alone or with collaborators, you have successfully taken a large sum of money through unscrupulous means. Plans turned to action with few enough hiccups that you made away with your reward.

Spending large amounts of money at once does draw attention, which you may not want, and you've laid low so far.

Choose one of the following heists:

Secret Thievery. You gain 750gp, a masterfully-crafted set of thieves' tools, and a criminal contact who can quietly procure any kind of item or creature for twice its normal price.

High-Profile Heist. You gain 1000gp, a gemstone or art piece too large to fence, and notoriety among the criminal underbelly of many cities near where you conducted the heist. A noble has placed a 2000gp bounty on your head.

A Hostage. You gain 1500gp, a hair tie woven from platinum, and a golden signet ring. A noble or other rich figure seeks your death by any means necessary.

You can take this history multiple times, choosing the same heist or a different one. For each time beyond the first, you gain an enemy who is a criminal that wants to kill you to take your money.

A Mysterious Egg

4 levels; must have proficiency in the Animal Handling skill

Through killing or misdirecting a creature and raiding its nest, receiving a gift from an eccentric patron, stealing from an unusual foe, or some unfathomable blessing of the wilds, you came into possession of a strange, large egg. The egg has since hatched, and through great effort, pain, and possibly no small feat of magic, the creature that hatched is now your loyal companion.

Your companion is an ankheg, allosaurus, owlbear, giant constrictor snake, or griffon. They are no more intelligent than normal, but will fight (and kill) at your verbal direction, provided that you continue to take care of them.

You bear some measure of scarring across your hands and arms, be it minimal or extensive, from the training process.

If you can cast the sending or speak with animals spells, or have the Expertise feature and it applies to the Animal Handling skill, the creature is also trained as a mount and you own an appropriate exotic saddle.

The Bloody Taste of War

4 levels

You were a soldier in a long, difficult campaign, and quickly rose through the ranks of your military or mercenary force, sometimes because of excellence, and sometimes because of the untimely deaths of your immediate superiors. You were a competent commander, and made fast friends during that time.

You gain the following benefits:

• Rank and favor among the force you served with
• Minor political clout in places where the force has power
• The ability to call to arms three close friends (statistics of a veteran) to fight as a favor to you once every few months
• Advantage on Constitution saving throws to avoid exhaustion

Crafting Something Wonderous

Levels vary; must be a spellcaster

You took it upon yourself to create a magic item for your own use. To do this, you searched for and acquired a blueprint, learned the requisite techniques, and sought out the exotic material needed to create this item. Some people helped you, but others hindered you, because of either competition or enmity.

You gain one common, uncommon, rare, or very rare wondrous item of your choice. The number of levels associated with this history depends on the rarity of the item you created, as outlined on the Levels by Rarity table.

A Dragon Tyrant's Death

5 levels

You have tracked down, fought, and slain a dragon that was terrorizing the countryside. With help from the local citizens and government, and with allies fighting alongside you, you found its lair and killed it there, ending the destruction and terror of its reign, and leaving you with a sizable chunk of the spoils.

You gain the following benefits:

• A 1000gp share of the hoard
• Substantial renown and political clout in nearby settlements
• (a) A weapon, shield, or other similarly sized object carved from dragonbone, or (b) A hard, colorful egg that weighs 30 pounds
• A hand-sized dragon scale as a keepsake

The Founding of a Guild

5 levels

With time, collaborators, and no shortage of money, you have started a guild, business, temple, or other similar organization. -- To facilitate its operation, a headquarters was built, which might be in a city or out in the countryside.

You gain the following benefits:

• A headquarters where thirty people work, where you can direct the organization's efforts, and where you can get room and board for you and your party
• An agent in each of six major cities who can guide you around and tell you recent goings-on
• A 50gp share of the profits each month, which you can pick up at the headquarters
• Two competent guildmembers you can hire indefinitely for 1gp per day each
• Proficiency in the Persuasion skill, if you don't already have it

Studying the Deeper Mysteries

5 levels, must have proficiency in the Arcana skill

A strong understanding of esoteric arcana is achieved though study, not combat. You have dedicated time, be it full-time research or hours snatched by the campfire over the course of years, to studying the deeper mysteries of the universe, with an eye toward practical applications.

As your mastery grew, you began to create tools to aid further study, but these tools proved to have other uses all their own.

You gain the following benefits:

• A hand mirror whose reflections show truth, as for truesight, within 30 feet
• Four 3rd-level spell scrolls, one of each of the following spells: detect magic, dispel magic, remove curse, sending
• Expertise in the Arcana skill, which means your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make with it
• A potent revelation about the world or something in it, determined by the DM

Alternatively, if your DM uses spellcrafting rules, you can replace the above benefits with crafting and learning a spell of 5th level or lower. If you don't have spell slots of at least that spell's level, you can cast it once per week without expending a spell slot. When you cast it this way, you gain two levels of exhaustion.

Variant: Potent Histories

A DM can choose to allow the following histories, which have a more profound impact on the characters and their relationships with the world.

Transfiguration

5 levels

A hostile archmage, spiritual quest, or freak accident has left you with the body of a creature you were not born as. With immense time and effort, you have battled your way against the limitations of your form and clawed out your independence with sheer force of will. Life is never easy, but after what feels like an eternity of practice, you can once again start making choices about your future.

Choose a beast that has a challenge rating of 1/8 or lower. Replace your racial traits, including ability score increases, with the following:

Ability Score Increase. Apply all the beast's ability modifiers as ability score increases and reductions. For example, if you are a cat, your Strength score would be reduced by 4, your Dexterity score would be increased by 2, and your Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma would change similarly.

Size. Your height and weight are within healthy ranges for your form. Your size is that of the beast. Any armor you wear costs four times as much as the humanoid equivalent, and if you are Tiny, it weighs half as much.

Animal Capabilities. You gain the beast's speeds, skill proficiencies, resistances, immunities, special senses, traits, and actions.

Extensive Self-Training. You don't have hands that can wield weapons, but you can carry small items that you can grip with your limbs or your mouth. If you can cast spells, you can perform somatic and verbal components despite your form, though they aren't intelligible to other spellcasters. You can't use material components.

Languages. You know all the languages you knew before your transformation, but can't speak. You can still communicate with strangers by scribing out words in dirt or with ink, and you can communicate quickly and effectively with people that know you well using a system of sounds and signs.

Sepulchral Return

5 levels

You met a cruel and undeserved end, and have been returned to the realm of the living by your own soul's unfinished business. As a revenant, you thirst for revenge against those who wronged you in life, or seek to complete a final, critical task you left unfinished.

Undeath. Your creature type becomes undead, instead of any other types. Your body has the appearance of a recently-dead corpse.

Relentless Nature. Choose a central, driving goal—typically, one related to your character's death. The goal must be a specific task you can complete, such as slaying an enemy or liberating an area and its people. Until you fulfill that goal, you gain the following benefits:

• If you are below half your hit point maximum at the start of your turn, you regain 1 hit point.
• If you die, you return to life 24 hours after death. If your body is destroyed, you reform without any equipment within 1 mile of the place of your death at a spot determined by the DM.
• You know the distance and direction between you and any creature involved in your goal, such as a person you seek vengeance against or someone you pledged to defend. This awareness fails if the creature is on another plane of existence.

When your goal is complete, you finally find rest. You die and cannot be restored to life.