Hello adventurers! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the 30th article in our background series. Today we have in store another interesting background to say the least not really so much in terms of its execution but in terms of its customizability.
There are a handful of backgrounds that are incredibly customizable and the inheritor which we are talking about today is certainly one of them. The inheritor background is found under the sword coast adventurer’s guide which is an older book.
So, i’m assuming most people have access to it and if you don’t i’d consider it worth getting it didn’t really add too too much in the way of min maxin optimization but it did go a long way in terms of adding flavor and a couple other options to the game. Now let’s take a quick look at it’s description and other informational aspects.
But before we check its details we have a quick announcement here if you haven’t checked our official dnd backgrounds yet we highly recommend you to check them once because you must be update yourself with the latest information.
Table of Contents
Overview
As an inheritor 5e you’re a heir for being something of a great value-but for not a mere coin or wealth, but of course an object which has been entrusted for you and you also be alone. Probably, your inheritance might have been come directly for you from any of the member of your family, by simply right of birth, or else it have left for you by a friend, a mentor, a teacher, or someone else important in your personal life.
The revelation of your inheritance which has been changed your life and it might have been set you on a path for adventure, but it could have also been come with many types of dangers, which includes those whoever covet your gift and also would like to take it from you- by utilizing its force, if need be.
Another addition i’d like to make to that is it could also just be the strands of fate. Maybe in a past life you were someone of noteworthiness and some item or something of that nature made its way back to you in the current version of your life. Very interesting stuff.
It does provide a nice little d8 table for what your inheritance might be. It’s weird because both two and three are just a trinket and i don’t really why that is maybe it’s a misprint on sword coast adventurers guide so i don’t know i might be must misremembering if i got it wrong let me know down beneath.
| D8 | Object or Item |
|---|---|
| 1 | A document such as a map, a letter, or a journal |
| 2-3 | A trinket |
| 4 | An article of clothing |
| 5 | A piece of jewelry |
| 6 | An arcane book or formulary |
| 7 | A written story, song, poem, or secret |
| 8 | A tattoo or other body marking |
But i’m pretty dang sure i remember thinking that was weird when i was flipping through the actual book. In any case some of them are pretty cool, some of them maybe less so, however talk with your DM about it and i will get into that in a little bit here but your DM is going to play a huge role in kind of helping fine-tune a lot of this stuff but before we get into that let’s quickly go over it’s mechanics here.
Mechanics
Under skill proficiencies you gain a survival, plus arcana, history or religion. What i really like about this is it allows for a decent amount of customization within the character already. Which is quite nice especially if you have a particular theme in mind and it might relate back to the inheritance you received as well.
In any case let’s move on to its tool proficiencies: You gain your choice of a gaming set or a musical instrument which once again kind of funds into that customization. Any one language of your choice. Under equipment your inheritance, a set of traveler’s clothes, the tool you choose and a pouch containing 15 gold piece. Which puts you above the average by 5gp which is certainly nice starting out.
- Skill Proficiencies: Survival, plus one from among Arcana, History, and Religion
- Tool Proficiencies: Your choice of a gaming set or a musical instrument
- Languages: Any one of your choice
- Equipment: Your inheritance, a set of traveler’s clothes, the tool you choose for this background’s tool proficiency, and a pouch containing 15 gp.
I really do like these mechanics. I think they’re okay Really customizable which is what this background was kind of built around. Now let’s take a look at its feature here and this is quite a long one so i do apologize in advance.
Feature: Inheritance
You can simply select or else randomly reconcile your inheritance via among any of its possibilities which has shown below table. You must work with your DM to come with some details.
The main question is Why is your inheritance so important, and what is its full story? You might have been preferred for the DM for being invent these kind of details being a part of the game, also allowing you for learning much more about your inheritance like what your character does.
Actually, the DM is free for using your inheritance like a story hook, also sending you on the quests for being learn more about its history or else true nature, or even confronting you by the foes those whoever want to claim it for themselves or it might be prevent you from your learning procedure of whatever you seek.
Although, the dungeon master can also determine the properties of your inheritance and even how they figure out into the item’s history and also its importance.
For an example, the object might not be a major, that could be a minor magic item, or else one that begins by a modest ability and also enhances in the potency with a passage of time. Or else, the original nature of your inheritance may not be apparent at the first and also it has revealed only whenever some of the certain conditions are met.
Whenever you have begun your adventuring career, and also you can decide either to tell your companions regarding your inheritance right away. Rather than being attracting attention for yourself, you might wanted to be keep your inheritance a secret until you do learn more about what it means to you and what it can do for you.
You can also read: gladiator background 5e
Very interesting stuff! This is the first feature and as far as i remember the only feature that focuses specifically on the DM. What is interesting about this is when i read over it, i was already doing this in my games. So in my games i usually assign characters items or trinkets relatively close to the beginning of the game that adapt and grow as the character does.
They have unique personality traits from time to time. I usually make sure they’re sentient because i like having that level of engagement. But so i’ve already kind of done this and experimented with it for a long time now. And let me tell you it’s great, like it really is fantastic, it kind of gets over the party’s lustful desire for loot in a lot of ways.
Because they’re not always looking to constantly upgrade their equipment, if they have equipment that grows alongside them. Really interesting stuff and this is a good way to guide the party or at least this particular player without coming across as railroady. In any case it is interesting, a lot you can do with it. It’s kind of kept the lose and vague intentionally to kind of let the DM have as much fun as possible with this particular player.
That being said, if you have any cool ideas for inheritances please put them down beneath in the comment section and be sure to explain how, why or what would cause them to grow and change and what they would ultimately do. Now let’s move on to some suggested characteristics here.
Suggested Characteristics Of D&D Inheritor Background
For this inheritor background 5e suggested Characteristics you can use the folk hero background tables also, like the basis of your traits and also the motivations, by modifying the entries whenever it is appropriate to suit your identity.
Personality Traits
For the personality trait i went with “If someone is in trouble, I’m always ready to lend help.”
| D8 | Personality Traits |
|---|---|
| 1 | I judge people by their actions, not their words. |
| 2 | If someone is in trouble, I’m always ready to lend help. |
| 3 | When I set my mind to something, I follow through no matter what gets in my way. |
| 4 | I have a strong sense of fair play and always try to find the most equitable solution to arguments. |
| 5 | I’m confident in my own abilities and do what I can to instill confidence in others. |
| 6 | Thinking is for other people. I prefer action. |
| 7 | I misuse long words in an attempt to sound smarter. |
| 8 | I get bored easily. When am I going to get on with my destiny? |
Ideal
Under Ideal “Respect. People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and this will take you towards the good alignment.”
| D6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Respect: People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. (Good) |
| 2 | Fairness: No one should get preferential treatment before the law, and no one is above the law. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Freedom: Tyrants must not be allowed to oppress the people. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Might: If I become strong, I can take what I want—what I deserve. (Evil) |
| 5 | Sincerity: There’s no good in pretending to be something I’m not. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Destiny: Nothing and no one can steer me away from my higher calling. (Any) |
Bond
Under bond ” I protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
| D6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have a family, but I have no idea where they are. One day, I hope to see them again. |
| 2 | I worked the land, I love the land, and I will protect the land. |
| 3 | A proud noble once gave me a horrible beating, and I will take my revenge on any bully I encounter. |
| 4 | My tools are symbols of my past life, and I carry them so that I will never forget my roots. |
| 5 | I protect those who cannot protect themselves. |
| 6 | I wish my childhood sweetheart had come with me to pursue my destiny. |
Flaw
Under the flaw is “The tyrant who rules my land will stop at nothing to see me killed.”
| D6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | The tyrant who rules my land will stop at nothing to see me killed. |
| 2 | I’m convinced of the significance of my destiny, and blind to my shortcomings and the risk of failure. |
| 3 | The people who knew me when I was young know my shameful secret, so I can never go home again. |
| 4 | I have a weakness for the vices of the city, especially hard drink. |
| 5 | Secretly, I believe that things would be better if I were a tyrant lording over the land. |
| 6 | I have trouble trusting in my allies. |
Of course your bond might have directly been related to your inheritance, or else to the person from whomever you’ve received it. Your ideal might have been influenced by whatever you know about any of your inheritance, or else by whatever you intended to do with your gift once you could realize what it is capable of.
Very interesting stuff! By this what i kind of see is a king arthur-esque kind of character. Only not in power yet. Kind of having assassination attempts on him and the inheritance in that case would be the sword or the sort of excalibur to be more specific. But yeah it’s pretty interesting, there’s a lot more you can do with this as well.
For example let’s say in your past life you were a lich or some evil high caster of some form or another and the inheritance is your spell book that found you even with all the time being passed it still seeked you out. When you’re reincarnated and i have access to like this evil tome of undeath and destruction.
The only thing is not all of it’s readable yet and as you do certain things and reach certain milestones more spells become revealed to you. Very interesting stuff! I like mixing in sentience with a lot of this but i’ll talk about that a little bit more later on. That being said, let’s get to my personal thoughts on it.
Thoughts
I really like that this background that kind of challenges the DM to take a more active role in character development. Because i find a lot of DMs approach dungeons and dragons in particular. Almost like it’s a sandbox role-playing game.
I mean if that’s your DM style that’s fine although i have had very poor luck with it in the past, i find parties require a decent amount of direction at least at the start until they can build enough story and plot based momentum and from there it’s they kind of take care of themselves.
This provides the DM with a great guiding tool and i like that. That being said, if you’re a dungeon master you’re listening to this right now, i’d recommend you do this anyways. One of my favorite things to do is provide the party with sentient weapons that reflect how the world views them.
So they might be good aligned on the inside but if all they’re doing is pillaging and raiding and looting then that is going to be reflected in personalities of their weapons. I would even go so far as to have the weapons, attack with disadvantage when they’re up against evil foes because the alignments match, very similar ish to the equalizer sword, back in balder’s gate it’s kind of an alignment based sword.
So i’d have their weapons or armor behave in that way. I’d also have more evil things to attracted to them because their armor and weapon were giving out that kind of aura and i wouldn’t really tell them about it until they had a high-level caster appraise their items and that would reveal kind of what was going on.
However overall mileage may vary i suppose feel free to get as creative as you like. I do like the idea however of sentient weapons in general in these games and i find most party members love them as well.
Conclusion
That being said, let me know what you think of inheritor down beneath in the comments section. Be sure to mention any thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns you have about it and mention any cool sentient weapon or item experiences you have had while playing d&d. That being said, i hope you all have a great day and as always happy adventuring everyone.