Monday, August 29, 2016

5e Backgrounds: Witch-Kin, Knight of St. Othric, White Raven Agent

Backgrounds are by far my favorite new thing in the fifth edition of D&D. They add a good bit of flavor and differentiation between characters without adding a ton of mechanical cruft. More importantly, it's easy to make new backgrounds that are tied to the aesthetics and themes of your homebrew campaign setting. Here's a few I've cooked up for Krevborna:



Witch-Kin
Those who were born into families of witches. This background is particularly well-suited to characters who hail from the witch-town of Hemlock. Pdf here.












Knight of St. Othric
A member of an ancient knightly order reborn to fight the undead scourge that troubles the land. Heavily-based on the Knight of the Order background. Pdf here.













White Raven Agent
A member of an organization that specializes in hunting the most dangerous game--man himself. Heavily-based on the Faction Agent background. Pdf here.






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DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY TRACK
  • The witch-kin background was inspired by Joseph Delaney's The Last Apprentice books, particularly by the character of Alice. I was listening to Gehenna's "A Witch is Born" while writing it, if that helps.
  • The Knight of St. Othric background came about directly due to player action in the current campaign I'm running. The Knights of St. Othric were just a throw-away dying organization I placed in a single adventure, but player interest in them (and interest in restarting the order) meant that now the Knights are totally a thing in the setting.
  • The White Raven Agent background was inspired a bit by Bloodborne, but I also wanted a background for the faction most likely to figure into the same aims that player characters tend to follow.