HAUNTED ONE

You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to bury it and flee from it to no avail. This thing that haunts you can’t be slain with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its toll, isolating you from others and making you question your sanity. You must find a way to overcome it before it destroys you.

  • Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, Investigation, Religion, and Survival
  • Languages: Choose one exotic language (Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon)
  • Equipment: A monster hunter’s pack, a set of common clothes, and one trinket of special significance (see below), and a belt pouch containing 15 gp.
HARROWING EVENT

Prior to becoming an adventurer, your path in life was defined by one dark moment, one fateful decision, or one tragedy. Now you feel a darkness threatening to consume you, and you fear there may be no hope of escape. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.

d10Harrowing Event
1A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent people spared your life, and you don’t know why.
2You were born under a dark star. You can feel it watching you, coldly and distantly. Sometimes it beckons you in the dead of night.
3An apparition that has haunted your family for generations now haunts you. You don’t know what it wants, and it won’t leave you alone.
4Your family has a history of practicing the dark arts. You dabbled once and felt something horrible clutch at your soul, whereupon you fled in terror.
5An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it.
6You were cursed with lycanthropy and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered.
7A hag kidnapped and raised you. You escaped, but the hag still has a magical hold over you and fills your mind with evil thoughts.
8You opened an eldritch tome and saw things unfit for a sane mind. You burned the book, but its words and images are burned into your psyche.
9A fiend possessed you as a child. You were locked away but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but now you try to keep it locked away.
10You did terrible things to avenge the murder of someone you loved. You became a monster, and it haunts your waking dreams.
FEATURE: HEART OF DARKNESS

Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone.

GOTHIC TRINKETS

When rolling for a trinket, consider using this table, which is designed for a gothic game.

d100Trinkets
01-02A picture you drew as a child of your imaginary friend.
03-04A lock that opens when blood is dripped in its keyhole.
05-06Clothes stolen from a scarecrow.
07-08A spinning top carved with four faces: happy, sad, wrathful, and dead.
09-10The necklace of a sibling who died on the day you were born.
11-12A wig from someone executed by beheading.
13-14The unopened letter to you from your dying father.
15-16A pocket watch that runs backward for an hour every midnight.
17-18A winter coat stolen from a dying soldier.
19-20A bottle of invisible ink that can only be read at sunset.
21-22A wineskin that refills when interred with a dead person for a night.
23-24A set of silverware used by a king for his last meal.
25-26A spyglass that always shows the world suffering a terrible storm.
27-28A cameo with the profile’s face scratched away.
29-30A lantern with a black candle that never runs out and that burns with green flame.
31-32A teacup from a child’s tea set, stained with blood.
33-34A little black book that records your dreams, and yours alone, when you sleep.
35-36A necklace formed of the interlinked holy symbols of a dozen deities.
37-38A hangman’s noose that feels heavier than it should.
39-40A birdcage into which small birds fly but once inside never eat or leave.
41-42A lepidopterist’s box filled dead moths with skull-like patterns on their wings.
43-44A jar of pickled ghouls’ tongues.
45-46The wooden hand of a notorious pirate.
47-48A urn with the ashes of a dead relative.
49-50A hand mirror backed with a bronze depiction of a medusa.
51-52Pallid leather gloves crafted with ivory fingernails.
53-54Dice made from the knuckles of a notorious charlatan.
55-56A ring of keys for forgotten locks.
57-58Nails from the coffin of a murderer.
59-60A key to the family crypt.
61-62A bouquet of funerary flowers that always looks and smells fresh.
63-64A switch used to discipline you as a child.
65-66A music box that plays by itself whenever someone holding it dances.
67-68A walking cane with an iron ferule that strikes sparks on stone.
69-70A flag from a ship lost at sea.
71-72Porcelain doll’s head that always seems to be looking at you.
73-74A wolf’s head wrought in silver that is also a whistle.
75-76A small mirror that shows a much older version of the viewer.
77-78Small, worn book of children’s nursery rhymes.
79-80A mummified raven’s claw.
81-82A broken pendent of a silver dragon that’s always cold to the touch.
83-84A small locked box that quietly hums a lovely melody at night but you always forget it in the morning.
85-86An inkwell that makes one a little nauseous when staring at it.
87-88An old little doll made from a dark, dense wood and missing a hand and a foot.
89-90A black executioner’s hood.
91-92A pouch made of flesh, with a sinew drawstring.
93-94A tiny spool of black thread that never runs out.
95-96A tiny clockwork figurine of a dancer that’s missing a gear and doesn’t work.
97-98A black wooden pipe that creates puffs of smoke that look like skulls.
99-00A vial of perfume, the scent of which only certain creatures can detect.
SUGGESTED CHARACTERISTICS

You have learned to live with the terror that haunts you. You are a survivor, who can be very protective of those who bring light into your darkened life.

Personality Trait

D8Options For Personality Trait
1I don’t run from evil. The Evil runs from me.
2I like to read, write, and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness.
3I spend money freely and live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die.
4I live for the thrill of the hunt.
5I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse.
6I expect danger around every corner.
7I refuse to become a victim, and I will not allow others to be victimized.
8I put no trust in divine beings.

Flaws

D6Options For Flaw
1I have certain rituals that I must follow every day. I can never break them.
2I assume the worst in people.
3I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones.
4I have an addiction.
5I am a purveyor of doom and gloom who lives in a world without hope.
6I talk to spirits that no one else can see.

Ideals

D6Ideals
1I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
2I’ll stop the spirits that haunt me or die trying. (Any)
3I kill monsters to make the world a safer place and to exorcise my own demons. (Good)
4I have a dark calling that puts me above the law. (Chaotic)
5I like to know my enemy’s capabilities and weaknesses before rushing into battle. (Lawful)
6I’m a monster that destroys other monsters and anything else that gets in my way. (Evil)

Bond

D6Bond
1I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy.
2I would sacrifice my life and my soul to protect the innocent.
3My torment drove away the person I love. I strive to win back the love I’ve lost.
4A terrible guilt consumes me. I hope that I can find redemption through my actions.
5There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free.
6I have a child to protect. I must make the world a safer place for them.
SOURCE

Curse of Strahd