Background: Estranged Noble

Playing a noble opens up so many interesting character concepts that simply wouldn't exist for people born in the lower class. A noble can be educated, judgmental about wealth, aristocratic, naive, and so much more. Of course, a noble is probably also filthy rich, and therefore unlikely to be an adventurer, or at least the kind that is willing to stomp on a few kobolds for a purse of gold and a free room for the night. Enter the Estranged Noble, a person of power and influence who has found themselves on hard time, separated from their family and all of its benefits.

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“There is no desire so great as that for a home, and no loss so deep as the loss of a home both physically and emotionally.”

ESTRANGED NOBLE

You were born into the highest classes of the land. As a youth you had education, martial training, and the knowledge that you would hold some level of high office within your government.

However, through circumstance or choice you have fallen out with your family, leaving you without the wealth and power that defined the lifestyle you had grown accustomed to. Were you and your parents separated by some deep philosophical divide, causing you to storm out of their keep, vowing to return only when you could prove yours was the correct path either by reason or force? Did you refuse to follow their orders and marry the man they wanted you to, choosing the way of the warrior instead? Perhaps you went so far as to sell bits of their property without permission or exploit the people who lived and worked on their land for your own personal gain. Or were you that vilest form of offspring that attempted to seize your parents’ power through force or deception, causing you to go into hiding from bounty hunters?

Work with the DM to determine the nature of your family’s fortune and position within the realm according to the Player’s Handbook pg 135. Then, based on this, decide what would cause a divide within your family. Was your family the catalyst, were you, or did some outside factor force you to leave? Take into account the political landscape of the realm in which you will be playing and how your estrangement will have affected your life in the days, weeks, months, or years between leaving your former life and the start of your adventure.

Skill Proficiencies: Deception, History

Tool Proficiencies: Choose one from disguise kit and forgery kit.

Languages: Two languages of your choice

Equipment: choose from 1) a set of fine clothes and a set of common clothes, a signet of your house, a scroll of pedigree, and a purse containing 25 gp, or 2) a set of common clothes and a stolen draft horse.

FEATURE: PRACTICED COMMONER

Through a mix of confidence, desperation, and practice you’ve learned to adopt the mannerisms and speech patterns of the common folk without forgetting the education you received on how to act like a proper person of nobility. When you wish to pass as a commoner you may easily do so. You can fluidly switch between both ways of holding yourself such that only the keenest of observers would ever suspect you to be a noble when you were attempting to pass as a commoner. You can also choose not to hide your nobility, using it to gain access in to certain events or places as described in the Noble background (Player’s Handbook pg 135), which may or may not come with consequences.

SUGGESTED CHARACTERISTICS

An Estranged Noble is constantly on guard against those who represent their family or the possibility of being dragged forcibly back into a life they have chosen to leave behind. They have often left a life of ease and education for one of hard labor and hard consequences. They usually display tell tale signs of their upbringing when not actively trying to hide them. Regardless of the details, Estranged Nobles are defined by their lack of belonging. Estranged nobles tend to err on the chaotic or neutral side, having lost or abandoned their legal birthright.

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PERSONALITY TRAIT (D8)

1. I believe good manners to be of the upmost importance.

2. My parents raised me to respect and protect the peasantry, but our falling out has left me bitter towards them and their beliefs.

3. I have a great lust for the finer things in life.

4. I know quite a bit of history and like to talk about how it relates to the situation.

5. Now that I am not obligated, I am finally free to see the world and would very much like to do so.

6. I’ve lead a sheltered life and many of the customs I encounter are strange and foreign to me.

7. I can often be seen contemplating the small keepsake I took from my home.

8. My parents trained me for the soldiering life. I am a fine swordsman and often gloat about it.

IDEALS (d6)

1. Respect- People are to be judged on their actions, and treated as good until proven otherwise. (neutral)

2. Revenge- No injury should go unanswered. (evil)

3. Independence- No power in the realms can tell a person what to do with their life. Everyone is entitled to a choice. (neutral)

4. Greed- Without my house to provide for me, I will need to amass a fortune to provide the lifestyle I am accustomed to. (evil)

5. Noble Obligation- Estranged or not, it is my duty to help and protect the realm. (Good)

6. Fairness- I often adjudicated peasant disputes and take that sense of objective fairness into my decisions. (Good)

BONDS (d8)

1. I hold the key to the salvation of my house and name.

2. I still love the person I was pledged to/married to, but my situation prevents me from asking from pursuing them.

3. A cruel relative betrayed my parents, taking my birthright and denying me the seat of power I was entitled to.

4. My newly impoverished lifestyle has given me an appreciation for the suffering of the common folk.

5. My signet is my most prized possession.

6. I would rather die than return home to my heartless family.

7. My noble house was the site of a long buried and horrific secret. Our vainglorious attempt to unearth it lead to my estrangement.

8. My lover, for whom I fled my noble obligations, still travels with me.

FLAWS (d6)

1. I would openly defend my family’s name and honor no matter the situation.

2. I look down on people who lack education.

3. I fall quickly and completely in love at the drop of a hat.

4. I totally lack money management skills.

5. I’d rather see my inheritance burn than in the hands of whoever has it now. I carry that belief to all possessions I think I should have.

6. I’m used to getting my way simply because I want it.

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