World Builder Blog

It’s time for another Halloweeny background! Last week saw the lycanthrope background for PCs who were once afflicted with the curse but have had it cured. Next up – dead! As in your PC was once no longer with us, but is back!

I’ve written a couple of posts on this blog about the way death is handled in Dungeons and Dragons. I presented a few rules modules to make PC death more of a consequence than a few thousand gold pieces and I also presented some ideas about how spells like raise dead and resurrection might affect the world of your game. Now it’s time for me to present it as a background for PCs. And why not? Having been dead can make a truly compelling story. Just ask Wesley in The Princess Bride.

What’s even more interesting is that spells like true resurrection can turn your PC into a time traveler. Some PCs could have been dead for a century or longer only to be brought back by powerful magic. Imagine how the world will have changed in that time! Friends of long-lived races might remember the PC, but shorter-lived ones have passed on. Kings may have been overthrown, entire cities built or leveled by dragons, new technologies, new magic – the list keeps going. How would all these revelations affect a character?

Then of course there’s the question of how the time while dead was spent. In a pleasant heavenly plane the PC is upset to have left behind a la Buffy? With the terrible fires or the Nine Hells or the demons of the Abyss torturing the PC? Maybe that time was spent as an undead like a ghost or vampire before the PC was raised. Surely the time spent as an undead being would have some sort of impact on the PC’s second (or third or fourth or ninth) life.

Of course there’s always the possibility that the PC could not remember anything from the period of death. Just absolute nothingness like a deep, dreamless sleep. That affect a PC’s faith in the gods or enhance the PC’s fear of the inevitable.

With these thoughts and questions in mind I present to you the dead background for fifth edition dungeons and dragons.

Dead

You have died and come back. This experience has changed you and helps define who you are today. The specifics of your death are up to you, but the following questions and suggestions will help you determine those.

How did you die? It probably wasn’t of old age. Spells like raise dead can bring back those who die before old age takes them, but after old age there is almost no magic which can bring a person back from the dead. Was it combat? An accident? A disease?

How long were you dead? Spells like true resurrection allow a PC to return from death after 200 years. How has the world changed politically, technologically, and culturally since your death? What remains of your family, friends, and personal life?

What was your period of death like? Did you spend time in the glory of eternal battle is Ysgard? Were you enjoying the heavenly paradise of Elysium? Were you being tortured in the Nine Hells or Abyss? Do you simply remember nothing from that time?

Maybe you didn’t completely pass on, but lived life as an undead, wayward soul such as a ghost or vampire. Why did you become such a being? What acts did you commit that you now regret? Who will think of you as a monster because of the time you spent as an undead?

Finally someone brought you back. Who was it? Why? Maybe it was to face an old enemy who has now returned. Maybe it was a loved one who searched for a long time and spent all their resources to bring you back. Maybe you were called back for some valuable piece of information only you knew. How did this person bring you back? Maybe with one of the spells that first spring to mind, but what about a spell like reincarnate, which could bring your spirit back in the body of another humanoid race? Or maybe it was some other magic which has a more sinister secret.

Skills: History, Intimidation

Languages: Two of your choice

Equipment: 50 feet of rope, a bit of dirt from your grave kept in a sacred vial, a set of common clothes, two rare coins with which you were buried, and a belt pouch with 5 gp.

Feature: Spirit Talk

Nonhostile souls of the dead feel can connect with you thanks to the long time you spent dead. You may spend a day of downtime communicating with the souls to learn a piece of information by asking a question. The quality and specifics of the information you get is up to the DM.

Suggested Characteristics

As a person who has already experienced death for a long period of time, you have experienced something few living people have yet to go through. Your return from death makes you a even rarer breed. You might be the type who embraces the second chance and loves life, relishing every opportunity and letting nothing stand in your way. Or you might be quiet and brooding, thinking of the revenge you seek for your death or the planar heaven you left behind. People who have died often live in one of these extremes, living life to the fullest or becoming fixated on a single goal which gives their new life meaning.

d8	Personality Traits
1	When faced with a new experience the word no is not in my vocabulary.
2	I always have the loudest laugh in the room.
3	When I want something I’m direct and simple in my request.
4	The story of my demise, like all my stories, is greatly exaggerated.
5	If you ask me about my death I will stare daggers at you.
6	I treat most people like they’re idiots because they don’t know what I know.
7	If I don’t want to do something I simply don’t do it.
8	I don’t excite easily.

d6	Ideals
1	Freedom. Life is short so live how you want and let no one get in the way. (Chaotic)
2	Despair. Nothing in life is worth celebrating and death is the destination we all deserve. (Evil)
3	Vengeance. I will find and punish what killed me. (Neutral)
4	Charity. I want to prevent others from dying before their time. (Good)
5	Mercy. I was given a second chance and others should get the same opportunity. (Good)
6	Labor. Life is short and so I must keep working to make my mark. (Lawful)

d6	Bonds
1	I have a great fear of that which killed me.
2	The scars of my death wound are still on my body.
3	My vengeance is more important than any other task.
4	I never wish to return to my grave site.
5	I wish to bring back another who died by my side.
6	Any mention of my hometown reminds me of my first life.

d6	Flaws
1	Death isn’t a big deal to me. I’ve died and come back. People should stop whining.
2	I don’t listen to the protests of others before I do something reckless.
3	I’d rather be mad than try to solve the problem making me angry.
4	I would rather cheat, lie, and steal than be honest because none of this matters.
5	Everything was better when I was dead.
6	I’m better than everyone who hasn’t died and come back from the dead.

PDF

Would you like to have this background in a PDF? Grab it below by itself or alongside the other backgrounds I’ve created on this blog.

Dead

All Backgrounds

If you don’t want to grab them now, but decide you want the PDFs at a future date, head on over to the Free Game Resources section of this site where the documents will live along with magic items, monsters, D&D fifth edition rules modules, spells, adventures, and more created by yours truly.

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