Interspecies Orphan (5e Background)

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Interspecies Orphan[edit]

kung_fu_panda2.png
From "Kung Fu Panda" by Dreamworks

You were always different. One way, at some point in time, you were separated from your original race. Maybe you were a child when you were abducted amid a goblinoid raid, and eventually raised to be a slave soldier. Or perhaps you were already grown, but ended up joining a family of firbolgs when your own was lost to a calamity. Regardless the method and timing, you are among those with whom you share no blood or lineage, and you are of different racial origins entirely.

Consider how this special circumstance affects your character. What position are you in the family? Were you accepted lovingly with open arms? Does your family treat you different? Do you have siblings? If so, how do they view you? Do they see you as an outsider or fully accept you as their family member? Outside your family, how are you seen in the society? Maybe you're seen as a pariah, or maybe you even have to be disguised to keep your true identity a secret from others.

Is your character completely content with assimilating? Do they deny their differences? Or have they always stuck out and questioned their true origins, feeling like an outcast? This can affect what your character picks up from their families. A rebel will likely not have as many mannerisms as an assimilationist. This upbringing can also change how your character feels about other races in general. Does their view veer towards inclusivity towards all, drawing from their own experience? Or do they believe they can never truly belong?

Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Nature

Tool Proficiencies: A tool or instrument from your upbringing as according to your game setting. For example, being raised by dwarves might mean you are proficient with smith's tools.

Languages: One language from your foster race.

Equipment: A piece of jewelry worth 5 gp from the family that raised you, common clothes, a trinket from when you were adopted, and a belt pouch with 5 gp.

Odd Trait Out[edit]

There is something about you that just sticks out like a sore thumb among your adoptive family. When you are around others of that family race, this serves as a tell of your different nature.

d6 Specialization
1 I have a thick and unfitting accent.
2 My size is utterly different from the others who adopted me.
3 I do things in a way that goes against how everyone else is taught.
4 A small feature of my body betrays my true race.

Feature: Between Both Worlds[edit]

You don't know much about your blood-related culture, which makes you come across as an outsider to your own kind. You feel closer to the culture you were raised in more than anything. When interacting with people from the culture you were raised in, you can quickly demonstrate a lifelong understanding of their social norms and graces that make you come across as an exotic and interesting oddity, earning you more clout with them.

The fact that people may not recognize you as growing up in, say, dwarf culture, can lead to some easy eavesdropping. If two dwarves want to talk in secret, they may openly speak Dwarvish to each other, completely unaware that you speak it fluently.

Suggested Characteristics[edit]

You might have an interesting temperament when raised in a different environment. As you may have guessed, you probably wouldn't be the same person if you were raised by some other family.

d8 Personality Trait
1 I put too much value in fitting in.
2 I question the norms of every society.
3 I'm proud of my culture, even if it's not mine by blood.
4 I do what feels right and natural by my own heart, whether it aligns or clashes with my culture.
5 I'm a weird mix of both the culture I was born in and the culture I was raised in.
6 I show absolutely no signs of my blood race's culture, in terms of personality or ideals.
7 There is a lot of things about my original race that I am always curious about.
8 I don't like new environments and they make me nervous.
d6 Ideal
1 Assimilationist. I just want to fit in. (Lawful)
2 Rebel. I know I'm special from everyone else and I want that to be clear. (Chaotic)
3 Origin. I want to find the ones whom I was taken away from. (Neutral)
4 Usurper. I want to take over this unfamiliar bunch who took me in, because I'm simply better. (Evil)
5 Aid. I will do everything I can for this family of mine, blood or not. (Good)
6 Realization. I want to figure what and who I am, as a weird mutt. (Any)
d6 Bond
1 I want to find my birth family.
2 I love my family which raised me. Blood doesn't matter.
3 I can't seem to bond well with people unless they look like me.
4 I don't trust anyone but the ones who raised me and their race.
5 There has to be someone out there like me, and I'm going to find them.
6 No one is able to relate to a freak like me.
d6 Flaw
1 I'm a very dense person. Subtlety is above me.
2 I can't adapt to situations very well.
3 I tend to be fussy if things don't go my way.
4 I refuse to try new things.
5 I resort to denial a lot when things seem bleak.
6 I speak condescendingly to everyone.
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