Backgrounds as presented in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition are a fairly important part of the character creation process. They tell you where your character came from as well as giving you additional mechanical benefits in the form of proficiencies and abilities that have the opportunity to become powerful storytelling tools. But so often I see people recommending the combinations that make the most sense – the Cleric who grew up as an acolyte or the Fighter that was a soldier before he took up the mercenary lifestyle. There are so many rich stories that can be told if you think a little outside the box in terms of your character’s background. This week we look at Karn, the barbarian who found strength in knowledge.
Karn
Human (Variant) Path of the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian 3
Armor Class 13
Hit Points 32 (3d12)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Speed 30 ft.
Alignment neutral good
Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarvish, Elvish, Giant, Gnomish, Halfling
Ability Scores
Strength 16 (+3)
Dexterity 13 (+1)
Constitution 15 (+2)
Intelligence 13 (+1)
Wisdom 10 (+0)
Charisma 8 (-1)
Attacks
Melee Attack: Maul +5 2d6+3 bludgeoning damage, heavy, two-handed
Melee or Ranged Attack: Handaxe +5 1d6+3 slashing damage, light, thrown (range 20/60)
Melee or Ranged Attack: Javelin +5 1d6+3 piercing damage, thrown (range 30/120)
Skills Acrobatics +1, Animal Handling +0, Arcana +3, Athletics +5, Deception -1, History +3, Insight +0, Intimidation -1, Investigation +1, Medicine +0, Nature +3, Perception +0, Performance -1, Persuasion -1, Religion +1, Sleight of Hand +1, Stealth +1, Survival +0
Equipment maul, two handaxes, explorer’s pack, four javelins, bottle of black ink, quill, small knife, letter from a dead researcher about a lost family line, set of common clothes, belt pouch w/ 10 gp
Linguist. You can ably create written ciphers. Others can’t decipher a code you create unless you teach them, they succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence check, or they use magic to decipher it.
Class Features
Rage. In battle, you fight with primal ferocity. On your turn, you can enter a rage as a bonus action. While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:
- You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws
- When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.
- You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging. Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious of if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action. Once you have raged the number of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column of the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.
Unarmored Defense. While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
Reckless Attack. You throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, you attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn.
Danger Sense. You gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.
Ancestral Protectors. Spectral warriors appear when you enter your rage. While you’re raging, the first creature you hit with an attack on your turn becomes the target of the warriors, which hinder its attacks. Until the start of your next turn, that target has disadvantage on any attack roll that isn’t against you, and when the target hits a creature other than you with an attack, that creature has resistance to the damage dealt by the attack. The effect on the target ends early if your rage ends.
Proficiencies
Armor Proficiencies: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tool Proficiencies: None
Saving Throws: Strength and Constitution
Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Athletics, History, Nature
Background: Sage (Researcher)
Researcher. When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even an entire campaign.
Personality Traits: There is nothing I like more than a good mystery.
Ideals: Knowledge. The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge.
Bonds: My life’s work is a series of tomes related to a specific field of lore.
Flaws: I am easily distracted by the promise of information.
Personal Totem: A small leather pouch holding three stones that represent your ancestors.
Background: Karn was born into a small tribe of barbarians and found that he possessed the ability to summon strength from the power of his ancestors at an early age. However, he was disappointed to find that his parents and the elders of the tribe could not tell him exactly who his ancestors were, and that the knowledge had apparently been lost ages ago.
And thus began Karn’s interest in genealogy. This interest turned into a passion and that passion quickly became an obsession. He began looking into his tribe’s history, trying to find the secrets of his past. He found finding the knowledge difficult, but he was able to find plenty of knowledge about many of the other major families in the area and began to make his living as a researcher. But there were forces that weren’t happy about his newfound trade – the conservative leaders within his tribe made their displeasure known. They wanted to keep the secrets of the past locked away. When one of Karn’s colleagues wrote him a letter telling him that he had stumbled across an ancient manuscript that mentioned his tribe several times, he rushed to see it, only to find the other researcher dead, brutally murdered and the manuscript missing. He knew it was a warning for him, but it only added fuel to his desire to learn the secrets of his past. He knew it was the right thing to do – his ancestors’ spirits had never left him in all this time. Surely that meant he was on the correct path. And he’ll stop anyone that tries to get in his way.
Ben Erickson
