Astronaut (5e Background)

Astronaut

You've traveled the stars in search of knowledge and artifacts. In the past you've spent years studying: learning magic, construction, and leadership skills that most sages dream of acquiring. You've might have encountered new planets or stars; you've might even had walked on worlds that aren't your own. Regardless if you explored multiple stars and planets or haven't yet discovered any new about the infinite Multiverse, the life of an astronaut is perhaps the most demanding yet most wondrous life anyone can fathom.

When you choose this background, discuss with your DM the following: What is the importance of your expeditions? What company or academy you worked for (or if you worked independently)? What drove you to explore space? If your work with a crew, what are your relations with your crew-members? What type of spaceship you work on? And what powers the spaceship? Also discuss why you're now adventuring on land: does your ship need refueling or repairs and it requires a rare or endangered material? Is there something on land—made by the gods or by an ancient civilization—that is required to understand a constellation or an extraterrestrial paradox? Do you need to protect the world by something out there in the depths of space? Were you fired or betrayed by your crew? Retired? Or perhaps you've felt that you haven't explored the lands well enough to be considered an actual explorer?

Notice: Like Sage with the Researcher feature, campaigns can revolve around this background, but it doesn't have to. Sure you can have a campaign about an expedition to collect an extraterrestrial substance, or you could have a regular campaign set on the world. That depends on the DM.

Skill Proficiencies: Acrobatics, Arcana

Tool Proficiencies: One set of artisan's tools, vehicles (air)

Equipment: A bottle of black ink, a quill, a map of constellations, a damaged blueprint for a huge ship written in an undecipherable code, a set of artisan's tools, a set of traveler's clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp.

Specialty

In crews, people have a specific role to play to make sure that everything goes well in an expedition. Roll or choose from the table below to determine your role. Ignore if you work alone in your travels.

d8	Specialty
1	Captain
2	Guard
3	Pilot
4	Astrophysicist or Mage
5	Constellations Cartographer
6	Collector of Alien Substances
7	Linguist or Cryptographer of Alien Languages
8	Janitor or Repair-worker

Feature: Celestial Contacts

You worked with a crew for a long time. A bond created with crew-members is (mostly) an unbreakable one. If you can get in contact with one of your crew-members, they usually feel obliged to help you. Whenever it's a place to stay, a companion for combat, or help with a dungeon's puzzle or code. Renting a spaceship however, is impossible unless the situation is absolutely dire. And even then is incredibly difficult and it always takes a long time to prepare a ship.

Alternate Feature: Constellations

If you work alone, you may not have any contacts to help you on your adventures. But, you can recall certain constellations and their effects on the Material Plane. Work with your DM to create a list of constellations and how they affect you and your party members (positively and negatively), when they appear, and if the effects are proven to be consistent or not.

Suggested Characteristics

Astronauts are the smartest but most occupied people in the world. They understand the natural and magical laws of the Multiverse and they have unquenchable wanderlust and curiosity, but they are often absent-minded or aloof—often getting lost in thoughts and calculations—and they quickly get bored the familiar. They are also vulnerable to putting common sense behind for the sake of curiosity.

d8	Personality Trait
1	Going to new places on land excites me because they're not infinite like space.
2	I like to pretend I'm not smart when I really am.
3	I've learned to never be afraid of a new place or experience.
4	I'll rather talk about the unknown than common gossip.
5	I never run out of productive things to do, or productive to my job at least.
6	The stars we can see on land bore me.
7	I can't stand untrue superstitions about the Multiverse
8	It's not worth delegating my work if it's unlikely that most people can do it as well as I can.

d6	Ideal
1	Advancement: The point of my work is to advance society and our limits. (Lawful)
2	Conservation: We must only use what we need of extraterrestrial materials and knowledge to conserve the beauty of the Multiverse. (Good)
3	Freedom: Space is the only place where you can truly go anywhere. (Chaotic)
4	Power: If I gain enough knowledge of the Multiverse, I can rule under any universe with unfathomable power. (Evil)
5	Knowledge: I'm only here to improve understanding of the Multiverse. (Neutral)
6	Discovery: I want to make a massive discovery or solve an ancient problem. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	My ship is the most important thing to me.
2	I'm willing to die for my crew-mates.
3	I've discovered a new planet in the telescope and I must be the first to explore it.
4	I do this for an old sage. I will make his/her dreams come true.
5	My parents died doing this, I shall do the same.
6	Nothing is more important than the Multiverse.

d6	Flaw
1	I get too caught up in the complex that I sometime forget rudimentary knowledge.
2	One time I almost made my crew-mates want me dead, I'm afraid that I'll do something similar again.
3	I guess more than I'll like to admit.
4	I get stir crazy easier than most people.
5	Whenever someone questions me on anything, I immediately start to doubt myself.
6	Sometimes I think that I'm the only one as smart and daring as I am.

5.00

(one vote)

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