Campaign Traits

Campaign Traits

Pick one of the following traits (and one other trait) when you create your character.  They will have additional effects – both in the campaign, and mechanically – as we progress in levels.

Accidental Clone:

           Adventuring has been in your blood for as long as you can remember, and this urge to go out and explore the world left you recently in over your head when you (foolishly or bravely, depending on how you look at it) decided to explore an old Thassilonian ruin near your home town. The adventure ended in tragedy when you set off a devastating trap while investigating a statue of a beautiful woman. The trap slaughtered your entire party—including you. You woke from death sometime later, your memories intact but your body transformed. No longer did you resemble your previous self—you instead looked like the woman depicted in the statue.  The strange dreams you’ve been having ever since you came back to life in your new body have only further solidified in your mind the fact that you and your companions are destined for greatness.

            Your character must be human and female if you take this trait.  Your ethnicity is Azlanti, but you are not pure-blooded—you have the standard human ability score adjustments.  You gain proficiency in Azlanti – a dead language of the ancient Azlanti people.

            Additionally, pick one Charisma or Intelligence based skill.  You gain a +1 trait bonus in this skill, and this skill is now a class skill for you.

Chance Encounter:

            As a child, you grew up near the border of the World Wound.  You were a bit wild and tended to get in trouble, but your biggest youthful misadventure was the time you “accidentally” found yourself behind enemy lines in the World Wound. You probably never would have made it back home to your home city if not for the help of a mysterious woman who helped you trick your way through a group of cultists. The woman never told you her name, but you remember her beauty and a deep sense of sadness she seemed to carry with her. Her skill with the bow was impressive as well, but the thing you remember most about her was the symbol of Desna she wore—she often held onto it without seeming to realize it, as if the connection to the goddess was something she clung to in a sense of need, as someone might clutch at a rope while dangling over a vast pit. She left your side a few moments before you were picked up by a patrol of crusaders, who finished the job of escorting you back to safety, and you’ve never seen her again.  Eventually your antics and the difficulties of life living near the World Wound caused your family to ship you off to friends/relatives in Magnimar, but since encountering this stranger you’ve just been lucky when it comes to trickery.

           

            From your time near and in the World Wound, you gain proficiency in Abyssal (the language of demons and the Abyss).  Additionally, pick one Dexterity or Wisdom based skill.  You gain a +1 trait bonus in this skill, and this skill is now a class skill for you.

Exposed to Awfulness:

            When you were a child, you were captured and nearly killed by creatures from beyond the Dark Tapestry. The creatures were slain before they could kill you, but you lingered at death’s door in a coma for weeks before waking. Ever since then, you’ve been unusually hale and hearty, as if your body had endured its brush with awfulness by becoming supernaturally fit. But still, the scars (whether physical or purely mental) of your brush with death remain, and nightmares of what happened or what could have happened often plague your sleep. Something, be it your own personal force of will, some strange “infection” from the assault, or perhaps a combination of both, has made you stronger than before. You’re not sure what to make of the theories that you survived this exposure to awfulness because you yourself have some trace of Dark heritage that helped give you the advantage you needed to survive – or worse, that the attack infused you with Dark energies – but whatever it was, you’re glad for it! Your strange health and resistance to physical damage persists to this day.

           

            You gain Aklo as a bonus language (a First-World language from the Darklands and other places beyond the Dark Tapestry).  You gain a +1 trait bonus to Fortitude saves with this trait.

Intrigued by Thassilon:

            The rediscovery of Thassilon’s legacy several years ago was an eye-opener for many, including you. After living so long in the shadow of these enormous ruins, you were intrigued to find out that they were much older than anyone could have guessed and that the runelords who built them may still exist. You’ve made a promise to yourself to uncover all that you can about Thassilon, its runelords, and the mysterious history of that ancient civilization.

           

            You gain Thassilonian as a bonus language.  Additionally, your studies into Thassilonian magic and culture gives you a +2 bonus on Knowledge checks when researching in a library, and you may pick one Knowledge skill that gains a +1 trait bonus and becomes a class skill for you.

Spirit Touched :

            As a child, you were influenced by overwhelming emotional trauma associated with death or undeath, and that influence marked you for the rest of your life. You may have been possessed by a ghost, had strange dreams in a haunted house, or suffered from an affliction from an undead source. You might even have had a near-death experience, or actually died and been returned to life.

           

            You gain Necril (the language of Necromancers and the Undead, especially Ghouls) as a bonus language.  Additionally, your experience with spirits and the beyond give you a +2 trait bonus on saves against fear and death effects.

           

Stolen Fury:

            You were forced to take part in a Demonic ritual as a youth after having been captured by cultists. Whatever the ritual’s purpose may have been, it didn’t work out the way your captors envisioned—rather than corrupting your soul, you absorbed the ritual’s energy and made it your own before you escaped to safety. Ever since, you’ve been haunted by strange nightmares about the ritual, and have long felt that the energies it bathed you in have changed you. Recently, those energies have changed— it’s as if you’ve finally managed to come to terms with your past and have turned the ritual’s aftereffects to your advantage, following the old adage of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. You’ve been unable to learn more about the ritual or what it was for, but the question lingers in the back of your head to this day.

           

            You gain Abyssal as a bonus language.  Additionally, you gain a +1 trait bonus to Reflex saves with this trait.

Time Lost:

            You’ve always felt separated from the era into which you were born. Perhaps you feel that you were born too late, and that you and your interests are better suited to a previous age. Maybe you have the conviction you were born too soon, and that your true destiny lies in some distant future. You might be suffering from missing time—whether a few hours, a few weeks, or even several months—for which you have no memories. You might instead receive brief visions of friends or enemies much older or younger than their actual age. You’ve long since grown used to this strange condition but have not yet determined why you suffer from it.

           

            You have a knack for knowing when to act a few instants in advance and gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.

Touched by Divinity:

            As long as you can remember, you’ve had an unexplainable interest in one deity in particular. One of your parents may have been a priest of this deity, or you may have been an orphan raised by the church, but these alone cannot explain your deep connection to the faith. You’ve always felt calm and at ease in places holy to the deity, and often have dreams about the god or goddess visiting you.  Part of your connection to Sandpoint is your desire to attend the upcoming dedication of the new Cathedral, which will happen during the Swallowtail Festival.

           

            You must worship a good deity, even if you are not a Divine spellcaster.  You gain Celestial (the language of the Good-aligned Outer Planes) as a bonus language.  Additionally, you gain a +1 trait bonus to Will saves with this trait.