Skulker Background
You’ve lived in Skullport for years now—maybe you
were born here, maybe you came here willingly,
or maybe you’re an escaped slave trying to eke out
a life of your own under cover of darkness. One
way or another, the Port of Shadows is your home,
whether temporary or permanent. This background
can also be used to represent characters from
other, similarly rough locales in Faerun or other
settings.
Skill Proficiencies: Stealth, Athletics
Tool Proficiencies: One of the following: Ropework
Kit, Body Modification Kit, Poisoner’s Kit, or
Thieves’ Tools, one type of gaming set (see
appendix F for more on these kits).
Languages: One of your choice, usually
Undercommon.
Equipment: A hooded lantern, a hooded cloak with
a secret pocket, a dagger, fishing tackle, and
10gp.
Feature: Haven in Dangerous Straits.
If you can make it in Skullport, you can make it anywhere.
When in an urban environment, no matter
how dangerous, you can always find a reasonably
safe hideout, and mediocre food, usually scavenged
from the trash, for up to six people including yourself.
Alternatively, if your character has survived in
Skullport by making friends with a powerful faction,
you can use the Safe Haven feature from the Faction
Agent in Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.
Suggested Characteristics
Skulkers are defined by their sense of self-preservation,
a necessary trait which naturally leads
to quirks and tics that can give an idea of the kind
of person a skulker might be. These traits can be
used to describe a skulker as a player character, or
to quickly create unique and memorable NPCs in
Skullport.
d8 Personality Trait
1 Get it done quiet, don’t make a show of
yourself, and don’t rock the boat—that’s
the Skulker way.
2 I’m always counting entrances and exits
when I come into a building.
d8 Personality Trait
3 I’m constantly expecting the Skulls to
show up at any moment, even if I’m
nowhere near Skullport
4 My sense of humour makes civilized types
uncomfortable. Just the way I like it.
5 I never keep my things in one organized
location.
6 I always keep my effects prepared for
travel. Never know when you’ll need to
quickly move out.
7 I get twitchy when people outwardly talk
about religion.
8 I maintain an appearance that helped
me blend in back home. On the surface
though, it just makes me look sketchy.
d6 Ideal
1 Freedom. I've seen the worst of what
can happen when people's freedoms
are restricted, and I won't let it happen
elsewhere. (Chaotic)
2 Honour. There are horrible people in the
world, and those who lack a code are
doomed to become one of them. (Lawful)
3 Belonging. My homeland does not suit me,
nor does it define me. But I know I will
find somewhere that does. (Neutral)
d6 Ideal
4 Selfishness. You take care of yours, I take
care of mine. Don’t expect sympathy from
me for your woes. (Evil)
5 Community. When the world is against
you, what do you have but the kindness of
friends and strangers? (Good)
6 Caution. First and foremost, I am driven
by a simple principle: don't die. (Any)
d6 Bond
1 A good friend of mine was taken by
slavers, and I haven’t seen them since.
2 Skullport may be one big refuse heap, but
it’s my home and I’ll defend it to the death.
3 I was once a slave, and still bear a mark
put on me by my old owner.
4 Someone close to me is trying desperately
to get enough money to leave Skullport
and find a better life. I hope to help them.
5 I disappeared without a trace one night
and woke up in chains. But surely,
someone will come looking for me some
day, right?
6 A kind soul put their life on the line for me
and asked nothing in return. In a place of
such darkness, their light inspires me.
d6 Flaw
1 I always look shabby, poor, and down-onmy-
luck, no matter how much money I
have.
2 I’m always expecting situations to
suddenly escalate into violence, so much
so that I will sometimes do it myself.
3 I expect everyone to take advantage of any
kindness I offer.
4 I never stick to a plan.
5 Whenever someone asks me my name, I
impulsively lie.
6 If someone’s being nice to me, it’s because
they want something from me.
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Ohh! It's interesting, not a specific character bard but a background. I like it :D
Love to code, but this one is driving me crazy!
My world Shattered won as the "Most ground-breaking premise new world"!
I leave this part as private as I am unaware if you would like some feedback related to the structure of the article or not. You can always delete it if you don't want feedback.
First of all, I'd highly recommend to take a look at the BBCode article of the Codex. BBCode will help you structure the articles a lot!
Second (this is based on what I think might look good, but in the end, it all depends on your opinion), I would put the title of the feature in bold to highlight it, or even a header (be aware that the number in the header can be between 1 and 4). Also, I would use an ordered list for the traits as it will make it more easy to read. There are a lot more of BBCode that might be useful for you but these are the main I think might be useful for this article to be more easy to read. (sorry for double ping, the first comment wasn't sent as private) (Okay SO SO sorry for all these comments. It doesn't seem to allow me to sent it private and then the bbcode I sent was broken; I was adding the code with a BBCode tag that supposedly shows the code rather than its actions but it did not work.)
Love to code, but this one is driving me crazy!
My world Shattered won as the "Most ground-breaking premise new world"!