Backgrounds: Death

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death."

- Anais Nin

The following new backgrounds (if such a phrase is valid) can be added to the Player's Choice list, if the Game Master so desires, or can be added to the character through experience. Many of these relate to childhood, family, and other aspects of growing-up, and can be added readily without harm to the campaign—in fact, such backgrounds are designed to add additional personality, history, and flavour to the character.


 * Alter Ego: At some point in your life, you pretended to be someone else. You were so successful in this task that everyone who lacked knowledge of you in your previous identity thought that you were in fact the alter ego. This can make it easier to hide your tracks, but it can be embarrassing when someone calls you the 'wrong' name. It is up to you to decide if your alter ego was something that you used in your past, or if the alternate is still your current 'self'.


 * Anecdotes: While you may have not seen or done it all, you know someone who did. For any given situation you have a second- or third-hand story that is tangentially related. How well you recall this story, and how appropriate it may be, is based on the result of a Wits check. Whether or not the anecdote is actually helpful is another issue.


 * Bastard: This is the classical definition, i.e. illegitimacy. If you choose to act like a right bastard, that's your problem. This background typically means that your father never wed your mother, however it is possible that you had no mother instead, that your parents divorced/separated, or that one of your parents died. You are not eligible for anything that would be passed on through your father (or mother if she's the one missing in your life); in most nations this includes noble titles or land.


 * Battle Scars: You have cool scars to brag about over drinks. These are not inconvenient or painful. You have an interesting (if embellished) story to tell about how you earned the scars. Not everyone will have the same appreciation for your war-wounds, but warrior cultures rate them highly and Hobgoblins consider well-earned scars to be equal to sash-trophies. Elves and those that can regenerate are generally immune to scarring, and should determine another background.


 * Beloved Pet: Once you were bonded to a pet friend. Now you are more familiar with that animal type, and more knowledgeable as to its ways. Other animals of that type are more comfortable around you.


 * Birth Blessing: You were brought up believing that you were blessed by whatever religion you practice (or that your parents or guardians practised). You are above the norm in at least one area. Note that this background does not increase any game mechanic, nor allow skills to go above the normal starting limits like Experienced or the Prodigy trait does. As a child you rationalized that the divine blessing was the reason you seemed to be skilled in one or more particular areas of expertise. This is something of a delusion rather than a fact. Even into late adulthood you would be thinking that you were better than others because you were blessed, possibly even affecting the way you act around others. A person with this as a background would likely be fanatical. This background also includes the Dedicated background, and is an additional option for Strong Religious Upbringing.


 * Body Mods: This refers to the cosmetic alterations that someone makes to turn their body into living art. This background does not refer to the more extreme modification measures of the MetaHumans. Your body mods could be tattoos, piercings, branding, scars, subdermal studs, filed teeth, acid-burnt areas, removed extremities, stitches, pierced organs, or any other form of modification that your sick little mind can conjure. You are limited only by your own desires, willingness, and expense. While those modifications selected initially have no out-of-pocket cost to the character (i.e. from starting funds), people that get tattoos, piercings, or other body art, can get addicted to having them added, and typically continue to get more throughout their lives.


 * Change of Pace: You have recently had a major change in your life. You could have changed occupation, address, or lifestyle. You might have gotten married or divorced. You may have just had a child, or lost your spouse. Even if the change is positive, it is still quite stressful—don't forget to take some time to relax.


 * Cultist: You are a member of one of the lesser religious faiths. Cults lack the numbers and public support of mainstream churches. Some cultists, notably some of the druids, proudly proclaim their faith; others must keep their affiliation secret.


 * Daddy's Little Squirt: You were the favoured (or only) child. This is typically either the oldest: the responsible one, the one who inherits; or the youngest: the eternal baby of the family. While you may have younger siblings that look up to you—or older siblings who look after you from a feeling of responsibility—there is still a measure of resentment. That doesn't matter, because you are still the favourite.


 * Dedicated: You have been officially inducted into a religion or cult. This may have happened at an early age. There are many variations of this ritual. Followers of the Temple of Light sprinkle water from a rose onto the heads of newborn babies to "shower them in love from the Light"—they also have a follow-up ritual at adulthood where a censor is passed overhead to represent being "purified in the holy flame." Initiates in the Bhahi faith likewise use water in a baptismal ceremony, but use a full dunk in a river, and only to adults or children old enough to understand the significance—this follows a reading from scripture before the whole congregation. Followers of the Red God in the Heldanic Confederation have integrated their dedication and coming-of-age ceremonies into one grand occasion. Stryfe's minions have his 8-way arrow tattooed somewhere on their bodies, usually inconspicuously, but occasionally very public such as on the forehead—the pain is a test of commitment & loyalty. The various druidic cults typically borrow heavily from the Celebration of New Life ceremony as practised in the Elven Homeland, but sometimes steal from other sources, e.g. replacing 'Divine Light' with 'Eternal Cycle' or 'Great World-Mother' from the Temple of Light's baptismal. Other cultists' dedications range from the very minor (as in the Church of Hugh: "You in? OK, that's cool.") to the very intensive (such as the 12-day ceremony wherein Azat sends a Demon minion to mystically brand you). Unofficially, a child brought up in the Church of Hugh is "brought into the fold" when she receives her first "brain freezie" from eating vanilla ice cream too quickly.


 * Disturbed Upbringing: Parents lie to their children. Generally speaking, you learn the truth as you grow older, but not in this case. Either through ignorance of the truth, or oversight in correcting a youthful tale, you grew up thinking that one or more lies of your parents was factual. This could be a large, red, clawed being that sneaks into your house once each year. You might think that 'Uncle' Mike really was helping your mother find something lost under the sheets. You may have been told that Shirley Temple and Shirley Temple-Black were the same person. It could be a mother who warns her daughter about a family curse that would strike "any day now"—said daughter worried for years until she finally discovers Mom really meant menstruation. It could be the story of the Fae who trades coins for teeth, or of the rabbit that lays strangely coloured eggs for the little Gentile boys & girls.


 * Dropout: You attempted to learn another career or way of life. You were unsuccessful. Loser. You still remember some of what you learned before giving it all up—select 1D6 skills from a class or skill suite as bonus skills. These all start at apprentice or level I, and cannot be increased through spending skill points.


 * Dull Life: You have lived up until now a very boring, average, and uninspiring life. When someone refers to a 'typical' childhood in an 'average' town, it is like they can read your mind. You have lived in the same spot, known the same people, and done the same things until the melancholy brought by your pathetic existence becomes unbearable.


 * Exposure: Your parents ensured that you had a well-rounded upbringing. You saw elements of various cultures, and met many interesting people. As a result, the actions of others from cultures alien to your own don't seem that odd to you.


 * Family Business: Your family runs some type of traditional business, and you helped out. You automatically know two or three free skills relevant to a given profession. See the section on Skill Suites in the Midian Codex for ideas. You do not necessarily have a stake in the business currently, but you may possibly stand to inherit at least some of it. People who know your family, or at least know of them from the business, are great sources of additional contacts.


 * Family Curse: Some evil curse haunts your family throughout its generations. The exact nature of the curse is between you and the Game Master, but it will be well known to you, and will be exceedingly difficult to lift.


 * Family Honour: The reputation and status of your family is great enough to cross the generations. You gain whatever statuses are deemed appropriate by your Game Master. One to three is reasonable. Your family name might possibly also have a separate reputation score.


 * Gained/Lost Weight: You have either gained or lost many pounds. Those that knew you before the drastic change may not recognise you. This can be good or bad. This background represents any extremes of the scales, e.g. from very fat to moderately trim, from overly thin to bulked-up, from morbid obesity to near-fatal anorexia, or from fit & attractive to "push it back in the water before it drowns."


 * Green Kangaroo: You are the middle child. You don't have the responsibility or possible inheritance of the oldest, nor will you have the attention and leeway that the youngest receives. You're stuck in the middle.


 * Hellion: You were a little monster. You made sure that whomever looked after you suffered for it. Did you not get enough attention, or did you receive too much? While you (hopefully) calmed down as an adult, your childhood exploits are still remembered where you grew up.


 * Illuminated: You have worked for the hidden masters-in-shadow. This gives you frightening insight into the way that the world really works. You are not the unwilling and unknowing pawn that everyone else is, even if you are not one of the mysterious puppetmasters pulling the world's strings. You could have been a secret agent of a government, a 'notable ally' of the Phantoms, involved in some vile cult, or some other shadowy organisation that works behind the public view. Alternately, you could just be a paranoid lunatic who happens to be right, or someone who just woke up one morning and finally saw how the world works.


 * Kind & Loving Parents: Your parents were good folk. You wanted for little, if they had it to provide. This background allows you to reroll any negative backgrounds or traits that could have been overcome by parental guidance (reroll once only for each negative background or trait; good parenting sometimes isn't sufficient). In addition, you gain +1 to Grace, Knowledge, Stamina, and Common Sense.


 * Latchkey: Your parents or guardians were frequently away. They may have been gone for certain hours of the day, or they may have been out of town for days at a time. This lack of parental supervision allowed you to learn to do things on your own, perhaps sooner than your peers. Of course, growing up faster, or having the house to yourself, doesn't make up for their absence.


 * License: You have a required license of some sort. This could be a permit to carry weapons, license to ride a horse, right to crenelate, or an exemption from taxes. This is always based on some government's authority, and as such may be quite locally limited.


 * Loved and Lost: Where once you had someone special in your life, you now have only a ragged black hole in your soul. You believe in true love; you believe it to be a crock of shit.


 * Mentally Scarred: Something happened to you, something bad. It probably isn't on your list of favourite dinner topics; you might not even completely remember what happened. Whatever it was, it messed up your head in a very bad way. This background makes a good (read: lame) excuse for questionable behaviour.


 * Moonlighter: Some people are never satisfied with just one job. You are one of these. Select two or three additional skills that you picked up from your second job (or third, fourth, et cetera). Your extra workload also gives you one-and-a-half times your normal starting cash. In addition, you have the option of selecting the trait Chronic Insomnia. As a side note, you don't have much of a social life while working multiple jobs and trying to learn a trade.


 * Name Recognition: You have a famous-sounding name. This background is merely irritating if you share your first name with someone famous, but can be potentially useful (or harmful) if your family name is famous. So while you may or may not be related to the influential Roquefort textile family, you may be able to convince someone to loan you money if they think that you have some claim on the family business. Then again, you may have someone try and kidnap you just because they can't tell the difference between that wealthy merchant family and yours—the pig farming Rockforts. Most of the time, this background is just a nuisance: "Your name is Genevieve, like the Crown Princess?"


 * Not From Around Here: You have recently moved to this area from afar. This could be from a few towns over, or from another continent. If you are from a different culture, you do not automatically know all about the one you currently live amongst.


 * Odd Relationship: You are involved with someone outside of the norm for your subculture. This could be romantic involvement, a business relationship, or just close friends. Some examples: a Gothic musician hanging around with a perky sailor, a young noble lass who fancies the stableboy, a Dwarven thief and a Hobgoblin fence, or an Elf with anyone else. This person counts as a free Companion level contact.


 * Ordained: You are invested with the authority and faith of some church. This allows you to invoke any rites or ceremonies that you know, as your religion allows. You may also be entitled to be referred to by your title by members of your faith. You have gone through one or more investiture rituals, and are a full member of the priesthood if you meet that church's other requirements. This also automatically includes the background Dedicated.


 * Overprotective Parents: Your parents wanted to keep you safe—to excess. You didn't have much exposure to the world, nor did you have many opportunities for rough & tumble play. It is possible that you may not have even had the chance to play with other children. The downside is that your lack of bruises and scars reduces your starting hit point maximum by one, and since this background is common to families with one child (or one surviving child) you aren't likely to have siblings to assist you. The upside is that you double your normal starting money, and the lack of siblings means you get more pie.


 * Plague Survivor: You lived while all others around you suffered and died. You must select one disease that you have survived. Your body might still show any ravages that the plague left, but you are now immune to further infection by that disease.


 * Poor Parenting: Whether from lack of concern for the welfare of a certain 'little mistake' or because they simply didn't know better, your parents showed poor skills when it came to your upbringing. The fact that you survived to adulthood, and out of prison or hospital, says wonders about your resilience and luck. If you desire, you may select an additional background or two that represent your miserable upbringing.


 * Primitive/Advanced: Technology does not travel to all parts of the world equally. You are accustomed to a culture that is either behind (still using bronze tools) or ahead (running water) of the rest of the world. It will take some adjusting for you to get used to cultures outside of your own, as they will seem either ahead or behind your own technologically. This background does provide some use, if your group encounters an area that is advanced or primitive. In this case you will either be more at home, or more accustomed to the technological differences, than your companions. As a player, note that technological advancement is not always the same as cultural advancement, although your character might not feel that way.


 * Refugee: Either to avoid war, famine, or political strife, your family moved to a neighbouring land. Most refugees live together in camps or ghettoes. You are bilingual (if applicable) and know the cultures of both lands.


 * Sea Legs: You have spent time at sea. While you might not be an accomplished mariner, perhaps only a passenger, you still have spent sufficient time on a boat to be comfortable with the voyage. You do not suffer from seasickness, are familiar with the workings of a ship and its crew, and can accept the realities of long term trips—or even a life at sea.


 * Simple Life: This is all rather strange and new to you. Other than as indicated by your other Backgrounds, you have not been anywhere, met anyone, or seen anything at all curious or exciting. Note that it is quite possible to be well-travelled without seeing anything worthwhile, such as the tourist who never leaves his hotel room. The ways of other cultures seem quite bizarre. It may take some time & effort to become accustomed to realising that others may have ways, knowledge, and customs unfamiliar to you, and that what is quite ordinary or common knowledge to you may be novel & alien to them.


 * Thrifty: Your miserly, penny-pinching ways have paid off in a nice little chunk of change. You start out with double the usual amount of money.


 * Unusual Name: Your name is uncommon, at least to those around you. This may be a foreign name, the name of an old relative—such a name now falling into disuse, a variation on a more locally common name, a unique name invented by your parents, or one that simply isn't popular or common. The upside is that some people will always remember your name because it is out of the ordinary. The downside is that you are forever doomed to have people mispronounce your name. Most annoying of all is the endless barrage of forcefully parochial mindsets of those who bring the conversation to a crashing halt as they are unable to advance past, "No seriously, what's your real name?" Fuckers. This is a fairly common background for player-character types, especially for those graduating from MMORPG's.


 * Vow: You have taken a solemn oath. This could be a knight's vows, a vow to never marry, the oath of service that a Killian warrior makes to his master, a vow of pacifism, or a vow to avenge the death of your father. Any long-term vow of import may be used for this background.


 * Wanderer: You have been to many different places, and seen many interesting sights, by happenstance rather than design. Either you never stay put for long, or you just get lost easily, you have the habit of travelling about and seeing marvellous things. While you may have missed the typical tourist destinations, you have walked though the lesser pathways. Back alleys, quiet streams, restaurants where the locals eat, all of the wonderful things that won't be found in any guidebook are part of your adventures.


 * With the Band: You have travelled with minstrels. This gains you the Songs skill for free, even if you can't actually sing or play. You also gain a wide—if not too detailed—knowledge of the area.