D&D Backgrounds - Avenger

D&D Backgrounds - Avenger

Vengeance is yours with the Avenger background. The Avenger is not focused on setting out to kill some evil being that killed someone you loved, but instead to seek justice for others. Not every edgelord background have to involve dead parents, right?

Right?

This is just one of the Edgelord Backgrounds you can have the PDF of that can be found on our Patreon. You can also find background PDFs for the Avenger, Amnesiac, the Forsaken Wunderkind, and the Oathbreaker.


Avenger

Ability Scores: Strength, Constitution, Wisdom
Feat: Retribution
Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, Intimidation, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Tinker’s Tools
Equipment: Choose A or B: (A) Tinker’s Tools, Traveler’s clothes or (B) 50 GP

Description

You are not a hero by choice but rather one created to deliver revenge for others. When a grievous wrong was committed against those who could not defend themselves, you swore to provide retribution for them. Whether it was the slaughter of people unable to defend themselves, an injustice that destroyed the lives of people you swore to protect, or the killing of the last good man in the world, you were consumed by the need to hunt the perpetrators and punish them. It could be a corrupt noble, a rival clan, or an evil cult. Or perhaps it’s larger than that - your enemy could be the cruelty of fate, the systemic oppression of an entire people, or a corrupt system of government.

Your old life is gone, for you now have a single, driving purpose. You are now vengeance in mortal form, ready to do whatever is necessary to deliver punishment of your own choosing. This is not a quest for justice in the eyes of the law. You have witnessed that the law is powerless or complicit. Your path is a solemn duty, relentless, and absolute. You have transformed both body and spirit into instruments of retribution, mastering the skills needed - learning to track, to fight, and to terrify.

Because your journey is all-consuming, you are vigilant not to let it become a corrosive one. You fight against the descent into cruelty, of becoming like to monsters you hunt. You balance it with a fire of righteous fury. Your hope is the prevent others from becoming victims by making the guilty pay through fear and violence.

Background Story Ideas:

  • You were a guard for a caravan that was ambushed and slaughtered. You played dead and watched as your comrades and the family you were sworn to protect were cut down for sport.

  • A kind and respected scholar was declared a heretic and executed by a fanatical religious order for uncovering a forbidden truth. You have sworn to expose the order's hypocrisy and eliminate their influence in the world.

  • The city council has failed the people, catering only to the rich and powerful. It is time to tear the whole system down.

Origin Feat: Retribution

Your entire being is focused on hunting, locating, and eliminating your target.

Sworn Quarry. You spend 1 minute examining a creature to designate them as your Sworn Quarry. You have Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track it and on Intelligence (Investigation) checks to uncover information about its whereabouts or weaknesses.

Wrath. Once per turn, when you hit your Sworn Foe with a weapon attack, you can deal an additional 1d6 damage of the same type.


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Art Credit - WotC

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