Monstrous Adoptee
Background
Proficiencies & Equipment
- Skill Proficiencies:
- Intimidation, Survival
- Tool Proficiencies:
- No additional tool proficiencies
- Languages:
- One language of your choice, typically your adopted parents' language (if any)
- Equipment:
- A club, handaxe, or spear, a trinket from your life before you were adopted, a set of traveler's clothes, a collection of bones, shells, or other natural objects, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp
Description
Songs and sagas tell of heroes who, as children, were raised by creatures most view as monsters. You were one such child. Found, taken, left, or otherwise given to your monstrous parents, you were raised as one of their own species. Life with your adopted family could not have been easy for you, but the adversity and hardships you experienced only made you stronger. Perhaps you were “rescued” from your adopted family after only a short time with them, or perhaps only now have you realized the truth of your heritage. Maybe you've since learned enough civilized behavior to get by, or perhaps your “monstrous” tendencies are more evident. As you set out to make your way in the world, the time you spent with your adopted parents continues to shape your present and your future.
***Adopted***
Prior to becoming an adventurer, you defined your history by the creatures who raised you. Choose a type of creature for your adopted parents or roll a d10 and consult the table below. Work with your GM to determine which specific creature of that type adopted you. If you are of a particular race or species that matches a result on the table, your adopted parent can't be of the same race or species as you, as this background represents an individual raised by a creature or in a culture vastly different or even alien to their birth parents.
| d10 | Creature Type |
|-----|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 | Humanoid (such as gnoll, goblin, kobold, or merfolk) |
| 2 | Aberration (such as aboleth, chuul, cloaker, or otyugh) |
| 3 | Beast (such as ape, bear, tyrannosaurus rex, or wolf) |
| 4 | Celestial or fiend (such as balor, bearded devil, couatl, deva, or unicorn) |
| 5 | Dragon (such as dragon turtle, pseudodragon, red dragon, or wyvern) |
| 6 | Elemental (such as efreeti, gargoyle, salamander, or water elemental) |
| 7 | Fey (such as dryad, green hag, satyr, or sprite) |
| 8 | Giant (such as ettin, fire giant, ogre, or troll) |
| 9 | Plant or ooze (such as awakened shrub, gray ooze, shambling mound, or treant) |
| 10 | Monstrosity (such as behir, chimera, griffon, mimic, or minotaur) |
Features
Abnormal Demeanor.
Your time with your adopted parents taught you an entire lexicon of habits, behaviors, and intuitions suited to life in the wild among creatures of your parents' type. When you are in the same type of terrain your adopted parent inhabits, you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day. In addition, when you encounter a creature like your adopted parent or parents, the creature is disposed to hear your words instead of leaping directly into battle. Mindless or simple creatures might not respond to your overtures, but more intelligent creatures may be willing to treat instead of fight, if you approach them in an appropriate manner. For example, if your adopted parent was a cloaker, when you encounter a cloaker years later, you understand the appropriate words, body language, and motions for approaching the cloaker respectfully and peacefully.
Suggested Characteristics
Overview
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I don't eat my friends (at least not while they are alive). My foes, on the other hand . . . |
| 2 | Meeting another's gaze is a challenge for dominance that I never fail to answer. |
| 3 | Monsters I understand; people are confusing. |
| 4 | There are two types of creatures in life: prey or not-prey. |
| 5 | I often use the growls, sounds, or calls of my adopted parents instead of words. |
| 6 | Inconsequential items fascinate me. |
| 7 | It's not my fault, I was raised by [insert parent's type here]. |
| 8 | I may look fine, but I behave like a monster. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 |
Redemption.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|