1d6 Outcast Origins

Inspired by the classes of MÖRK BORG and CY_BORG. For players who want some inspiration beyond the basic character creation guidelines in my rules. Roll 1d6, choose, or use the standard method.

Languages

Almost everyone in the Tower Lands speaks Halish. Common Halish, also known as city Halish or high Halish, is spoken by cosmopolitan folks and travelers. You can get around and trade with it just about anywhere, but things beyond that might be difficult out in the sticks. Just about every village has its own regional dialect of Halish.

Cultic languages are used by cults for devotional purposes. Archaic languages are the dead tongues of pre-Halish peoples. Barbaric languages are spoken by foreigners.

Few are fluent in the First Speech, the language of the gods. Those who are speak with the power of tongues to anyone who understands any human language.

The raun of the Tower Lands have their own language, Tauruh. All who live in human communities, and most who don't, also speak Halish.

Characters can be partially or fully fluent in a language. Partially fluent characters can stumble through trade and asking for directions; anything more requires a check.

Characters can also be partially or fluently literate in a language. Common Halish is written in the Halish script. Regional Halish can be written, but almost never is. Surviving archaic languages are written in ancestors of Halish script, cultic languages in encoded forms. Barbaric languages have their own scripts, if any. Tauruh has no script; certain archaic raun languages survive in writing, with their own scripts, but no one speaks them anymore.

The First Script is even rarer than the First Speech. Any character fluently literate in a human language can read the First Script as if partially fluent, but only those trained can write in it.

1. VAGABOND KNIGHT

Once, you served your liege lord with honor. You were their hand, their shield; their glory was your glory. When they fell, you should have faced death with them as a true warrior.

You didn't.

Now you have nothing. No house, no liege.

Your honor? That's up to you.

You have a given name and the name of your birth house. You once called yourself Sir and announced yourself by your liege lord, sworn house, and martial instructor. Maybe you still do.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.

Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.

Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwe, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthe.

House names: Artorias, Berengar, Cerilian, Embelyon, Follinense, Ivalis, Kiriona, Lupercal, Maliante, Nausicaa, Pergamond, Vendren.

You're an expert swordsman, trained in the high arts. Your style (1d6 or choose):

1. Iron Gate, baiting out the fatal misstep.
2. Void Current, moving without thought or hesitation.
3. Crimson Tide, leaving the foe no room to recover.
4. Kingfisher, poised for the perfect opening.
5. Six-Armed Fighting Deity, dazzling with blinding speed.
6. Ogre's Fist, throwing everything into the decisive blow.

Other skills: military weaponry, armory, horsemanship, tactics, heraldry, etiquette.

Languages: common (fluent).

Literacy: common (fluent).

Your sword (1d6 or choose):

1. A champion's honor - long, graceful, inlaid blessings.

2. A vanguard's claw - solid, rugged, trophy pelts.

3. A butcher's cleaver - broad, heavy, indelible stains.

4. A disciple's devotion - simple, balanced, meditative engravings.

5. A marine's luck - short, nimble, pearl ornaments.

6. A foreign novelty - curved, strangely weighted, unfamiliar orange gems.

You also have:

- mended arming coat, leggings, and shoes

- medium armor (AC 2), dented and rusting

- shield, defaced of its former banner

- dagger

- backpack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- lantern

- 3d6 Đ

What was your liege lord's fate? (1d6 or choose):

1. Fought bravely against a superior foe.

2. Victim of their own incompetence.

3. Betrayed by a trusted retainer.

4. Executed for crimes against their own liege.

5. Disappeared. Their end remains unknown.

6. You killed them yourself.

2. FORSAKEN BANDIT

You weren't lucky enough to be born into a house. So you made your own. Your chosen, your brethren, bound by oath against a world that held no other place for you. You took what you wanted, went where you pleased, chose your names and spit in the eyes of the gods.

They're gone now. Maybe it's what you deserve.

As an outcast, you've chosen your own name. You keep your given name hidden, for fear of curses.

Outcast names: All In, Beadless, Crow, Drummer, Goblin, Fair Flower, Hound, Mourner, Nine, One-Eye, Rotgut, Smiler.

Skills: common weapons, military weapons, skirmishing weapons, fieldcraft, stealth, tactics, appraisal. You're an expert in 1 of your skills.
Languages: common (fluent), regional (fluent in your home, partial elsewhere).
Literacy: common (partial).

Your favorite weapon (1d6 or choose):

1. A looted sword, battered but still good steel.

2. A pair of matched axes that whistle when swung.

3. A short spear, talismans tied around the shaft.

4. A smith's hammer, freed from its labors.

5. A hunter's bow, string dyed deep red, with 20 arrows.

6. Lots and lots of knives (when you can conceal more, use a depletion die, starting at d8).

You also have:

- weather-worn cloak, tunic, and sandals

- light armor (AC 1)

- dagger

- backpack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- 1d3 torches

- 3d6 Đ

What happened to your gang? (1d6 or choose):

1. Betrayed you and left you for dead.

2. Killed each other over a score.

3. Taken out by a rival gang. They think you're dead too.

4. Caught and executed. You alone escaped.

5. Pardoned and knighted. You alone refused.

6. Did something you couldn't live with. You left.

3. PROSCRIBED HERETIC

You served the gods once. In the seclusion of your temple, you tended the shrines, left the offerings, chanted the devotions on behalf of those who petitioned. It was a simple life, but one of purpose.

Your cult fell out of favor, made an enemy of the Lords. Those not purged were scattered, driven from your sanctuary. Now that simple life of prayer and duty is gone. But there are other ways to serve the gods.

You have a given name, and are addressed as Sister or Brother.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.
Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.
Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwé, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthé.

Skills: sacred rites, iconography, orthodoxy, heresy, prophecy. Choose 1 more or roll 1d4: 1. physick, 2. natural lore, 3. ancient lore, 4. cosmic lore. You're an expert in 1 of your skills.

Languages: common (fluent), cultic (fluent in your cult's language, partial for others), archaic (partial).

Literacy: common (fluent), cultic (fluent in your cult's language, partial for others), archaic (partial).

You carry a symbol of your cult's patron deity (1d6 or choose):

1. The knotted cord of Old Beleg, who guides travelers home through the wilderness.

2. The peeled anath bark talisman of Fevered Lodra, who banishes disease.

3. The six-fingered hand of Demara the Compassionate, who cares for the unwanted and the strange.

4. The scrimshawed fang of Ragahur, who delivers omens in the wounds of savaged livestock.

5. The blue linen shroud of the Cloud Dancer, who guides the souls of those undergoing sky burial.

6. A vellum bearing the obscured name of the thing entombed beneath your old temple. Is it free now?

You also have:

- ascetic's robes and sandals

- sturdy staff

- knife

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- 2d6 candles

- scrolls bearing sacred texts

- ritual incenses, pure salt, chalk

- 3d6 Đ

What heresy was your cult accused of? (1d6 or choose):

1. Offering immortality to the devoted.

2. Sheltering escaped slaves.

3. Denying the divinity of the Lords.

4. Seeking the obscured name of the God-King.

5. Misappropriating offerings.

6. Preaching poverty for the highborn.

4. CURSE-MARKED SCION

You were favored. Born into a high house, destined for glory. From your first breath, you learned the arts of power--the blade, the honeyed word, the sacred rite. You took the Dust, chanted the litanies, prepared to receive the divine gift.

You failed.

With the mark of your curse upon your flesh, you were cast out. Now you're alone, feared, shunned. But the power is still yours--and you don't intend to waste it.

You have a given name. Your house name was stripped from you, but you remember it still.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.

Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.

Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwé, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthé.

House names: Artorias, Berengar, Cerilian, Embelyon, Follinense, Ivalis, Kiriona, Lupercal, Maliante, Nausicaa, Pergamond, Vendren.

Skills: dueling weapons, tactics, heraldry, etiquette, sacred rites, orthodoxy, nerve control.

Languages: common (fluent), cultic (fluent), First Speech (partial).

Literacy: common (fluent), cultic (fluent), First Speech (partial).

What sign graced your banner? (1d6 or choose):

1. The crossed blades, ever ready to win glory.

2. The twin moons, constant as Heaven's cycle.

3. The thunder beast, whose roar shakes the Towers themselves.

4. The crow, collector of debts to the ancient dead.

5. The scroll, honoring the wisdom of forebears.

6. The anath leaf, renewing against all adversity.

You are a tuner, blessed by Dust with the power of the gods. You know 2 random spells of the 1st Circle, and you can sense Dust nearby as a prickling beneath your skin.

What curse-mark do you bear as a sign of your failure? (1d6 or choose):

1. Your eyes are solid black and slowly weep inky tears. You can see twice as far in dim light.

2. One of your arms is withered and scarred, fingers ending in claws. As small weapon.

3. A second mouth opens on your neck, occasionally muttering gibberish. It can detect poisons and identify elixirs by tasting a small amount, without harm to you.

4. Your skin is pale blue. If you soak in water for a full day, heal 1 wound.

5. Horns sprout from your forehead. As weapon with a running start.

6. You have a thin tail, ending in a stinger. At grappling range, deliver a poison that will kill a human in 1 round, then take a wound as your tail rips off. It regrows as the wound heals.

You have:

- fine tunic, cloak, and sandals

- side sword, still little used

- dagger

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- lantern

- gold ring bearing your banner sign (worth 1d6x10 Đ).

- 4d6 Đ

5. EXILED BARBARIAN

You aren't from around here. Did you dream of leaving home, or dread the thought? Your kin made the choice for you.

Now you're a stranger in a strange land. Unfamiliar words on your tongue. People living in the shadows of towers that scrape the heavens, praying to the sorcerers within as gods. Thinking themselves your betters.

You'll show them.

You have a given name. What other names, if any, do you carry from your homeland?

Barbaric names: Aelfrith, Amalek, Bayarjargal, Ceolmund, Ch'ayña, Dishaa, Hannu, Hildegard, Inanna, Jagannath, Leofric, Narangerel, Osorkon, Pariwana, Qhispe, Rajendra, Ragnar, Sehener, Temüülen, Wulfgar.

Your people (1d6 or choose):

1. sail upon the frozen waters of the far north. Skills: skirmishing weapons, armory, fieldcraft, seamanship, navigation, appraisal.

2. raise great cities of red stone in the jungles of the east. Skills: military weapons, armory, tactics, hunting, cosmic lore. Literacy: common (fluent).

3. ride across the great grass seas of the south. Skills: skirmishing weapons, horsemanship, animal husbandry, tactics, fieldcraft, navigation, midwifery.

4. trek the oasis roads through the deserts of the southwest. Skills: skirmishing weapons, animal husbandry, tactics, navigation, desert survival, appraisal.

5. make the harsh slopes of the northwestern mountains your own. Skills: military weapons, skirmishing weapons, mountaineering, fieldcraft, navigation, tactics, cosmic lore.

6. wander in the forgotten margins of the Tower Lands. Skills: common weapons, skirmishing weapons, animal husbandry, navigation, fieldcraft, midwifery, appraisal.

You're an expert in 1 of your skills.

Languages: common (fluent), barbaric (fluent in your native tongue).

If your native tongue has a script, you read and write it fluently.

You brought a weapon with you (1d6 or choose):

1. A curved sword, grip adorned with protective talismans.

2. A polearm with a deviously hooked head.

3. A mace with a striking weight of smooth green stone.

4. A pair of ring-shaped blades balanced for throwing.

5. A short bow with a graceful recurve, surprisingly powerful, with 20 arrows.

6. A broad axe, blade engraved with complex knot designs.

You also have:

- clothes brought from your homeland

- light armor (AC 1)

- dagger

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- 1d3 torches

- coins and valuables from your homeland, worth 3d6 Đ

For what crime were you banished? (1d6 or choose):

1. Stealing from a well-connected merchant.

2. Lying with the spouse of someone powerful.

3. Defiling a holy place.

4. Exacting vengeance, well deserved but forbidden by law.

5. Deserting the field of battle.

6. Transgressing against the role of your gender.

6. RUNAWAY SLAVE

Work. Sleep. Work. Sleep. Work. Die. The future laid out before you.

You had other plans.

You have a given name, and nothing more.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.

Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.

Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwé, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthé.

You've endured the hardest the world has to offer. You're an expert at surviving deprivation.

How did your former master use you? (1d6 or choose):

1. Laboring in their fields. Skills: weather-reading, animal husbandry, midwifery.

2. Toiling in their mines. Skills: digging, caving, underground foraging.

3. Keeping their house in order. Skills: sneaking, eavesdropping, appraisal. Literacy: common (fluent).

4. Rowing their ships. Skills: seamanship, navigation, endurance. Languages: barbaric (limited).

5. Fighting in gladiator pits. Skills: brawling, common weapons, dueling weapons.

6. Seeing to their pleasure. Skills: acting, lying, apothecary, midwifery.

Languages: common (fluent).

Literacy: none.

What did you take from your master when you fled? (1d4 or choose):

1. An heirloom sword, pommel shaped like a heraldic beast.

2. A shirt of fine polished mail (AC 1).

3. A golden amulet set with emeralds (worth 3d6x10 Đ).

4. A manual with instructions for a random spell of the 1st Circle.

You've also stolen:

- tunic and sandals

- knife

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1 day's rations

What mark of your servitude do you still bear? (1d6 or choose):

1. Scars of the lash on your back.

2. A tattoo on your cheek, your old master's banner.

3. A missing finger, taken as punishment.

4. A bone-deep fear of dogs.

5. Devotions to gods not your own, spoken morning and evening.

6. You will never have a child of your own.