Village Dunce (5e Background)

Village Dunce

After leaving your home village (either for reasons only you understand or having merely wandered away), you find yourself far from what you know. With only a small badly drawn map of home and a trinket to remember it by, it's up to you what to do now. Do you sit on that log and stare at that hill? Do you stand in the middle of the street and wonder how you got there? Do you follow the funny man over there? Do you... wait, what are you doing? No, you can't- HEY, stop that! No you can't eat... SPIT IT OUT, not all rocks are candy!

This is gonna be a long trip.

Skill Proficiencies: Pick two: Animal Handling, Athletics, Nature, Survival

Equipment: A small knife, a map of the village you grew up in, a pet rat, a trinket from home, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 1 gp

Feature: Lovable Lummox

Whether it's pity, amusement, or the fact that you're a "cute little fella," people seem to treat you nicely, almost like they would a child. They offer aid to you, perhaps by giving you small things to entertain yourself with or making sure you're doing alright. Whenever you're in an area where people congregate (i.e a town, village, city etc.) for more than a day, people will take it upon themselves to make sure you have basic necessities.

Alternate Feature: Savant

Though you may struggle with many simple tasks and are unable to grasp basic concepts, you are highly skilled in a specific area. Your area of expertise can be as narrow as a single task (maybe playing a certain game or instrument at genius level) or as broad as a whole topic, such as having knowledge about an entire monster type or how to sort out a maze within seconds of getting inside. Ask your DM before choosing this feature and work with them to decide the limits of the feature.

(Keep in mind that while you have this knowledge, you have to communicate it to your party IN GAME. You are playing a character that's considered dim by others for one reason or another, so remember to stick to your roleplay.)

Suggested Characteristics

Your character is the one people look at and see as simple, regardless of how true it is. You could have the greatest mind there ever was and be trapped in a uncooperative body or truly be the dullard they think you are. It's all up to you!

d8	Personality Trait
1	Everyday, you get to see things you've never seen before, causing you to be in a constant state of wonder.
2	You really are much more intelligent that you appear, but are incapable of communicating this to anyone, like some wiring is wrong between your brain and body. If only you could find a mind reader...
3	You make all sorts of "friends" wherever you go.
4	You find certain objects extremely intriguing, such as shiny rocks or empty bottles.
5	Sometimes you don't even understand how you know something.
6	You know exactly what others think of you, and you're okay with it.
7	You know exactly what others think of you, and you hate it.
8	In your travels, you've learned one thing: that it's difficult to be understood.

d6	Ideal
1	Kindness. You do your best to protect others from bad people. (Good)
2	Recompense. All kinds of people have helped you out over the years, and you want to repay their kindness! (Lawful)
3	Anonymity. Everyone knows you as the local idiot back home. You're going to go where nobody knows you instead. (Neutral)
4	Responsibility. Nobody trusts you with anything because they think you're stupid. You're taking it upon yourself to prove them wrong. (Chaotic)
5	Worldliness. You want to travel around the world and learn all that you can. That way, nobody can say you're stupid anymore. (Neutral)
6	Revenge. You're not actually stupid, your village just didn't want you. You're going to make them regret that. (Evil)

d6	Bond
1	You owe everything to you childhood teacher who never gave up on you.
2	Your parents protected you when the village wanted you gone.
3	You've got loads of friends from all kinds of places, you just can't remember their names...
4	You're going to get back at that kiss-up in school that got you branded as a dunce in the first place.
5	Your aging guardian kicked you out and said you couldn't come back until you got a job.
6	You would quite literally protect your pet rat with your life.

d6	Flaw
1	You're easily distracted, moving from one thing to the next rather quickly.
2	You often get overwhelmed with tasks and become angry at yourself.
3	You are too trusting of strangers.
4	You're not great in social situations.
5	You get extremely upset if anyone calls you stupid, even in jest.
6	You tend to accidentally steal things. Hey, it looked like a free sample, alright?!

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