Metaphysician

You are on a metaphysical journey of self discovery. You practice an esoteric set of ascetic and spiritual disciplines such as breathing control, meditation, body posturing, and deep introspection. Through these activities, you seek enlightenment and a metaphysical understanding of how reality itself functions. Your studies are deeply personal to you, though you may belong to a school of like minded individuals who also follow your same path. Regardless of who you are or who else is on your path, you use the special disciplines you have learned to understand the world around you and the people in it. Your understanding and the physical aspects of your practice have made you pliable, flexible, and balanced. The mental and spiritual aspects of your soul searching have given you insight into the very magic which one finds embedded in the fabric of the world.

Skill Proficiencies: Acrobatics, Arcana

Languages: Two of your choice

Equipment: A pouch of incense, a tinderbox, a book on metaphysical studies, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 5 gp.

Feature: Meditation

During a long rest, you may readily enter a state of meditation and relaxation. For every hour you meditate, it counts as two hours of sleep. While in this state, you are functionally asleep, but you may wake yourself instantly at any moment without grogginess or other ill effect from waking suddenly. It is important to note that the duration of your long rests remains the same as standard, but meditation allows you to effectively spend less of the duration in actual repose. Additionally, this feature may be used in conjunction with other similar abilities, such as the Trance ability of Elves, but the benefits are not further increased in either case; the effects do not stack.

While meditating, you may experience lucid dreams which you can exert varying degrees of control over. This may be one of the primary ways in which you achieve enlightenment through your studies.

Fleshing Things Out

Some questions to consider when determining how this background applies to your character: Do you have a particular goal you are trying to achieve through your studies?

If so, how are you trying to achieve it? What lengths are you willing to go to in order to reach it? Are there any other seekers from your particular teachings who are also on your path? If so, what is your relationship with them? Where did you discover your teachings? Did you train at a school? Did you have a mentor? In either case, where are they now, and how do you relate to them? How has your journey and the things it has taught you affected who you are and how you behave? Has it shaped you as a person? In either case, how do you feel about that?

You should also consider what caused you to take up the role of an adventurer. Did you become an adventurer to further your metaphysical journey somehow? Or did you stumble upon the path of your studies as you adventured for other reasons? What is your motivation for adventuring? Is it related to your studies, or is your quest for self discovery a separate task for you? Is your adventurer’s life simply a side effect of your studies? Or is it perhaps entirely unrelated?

d8 Personality Trait
1 I am patient and slow to anger.
2 Material wealth does not interest me.
3 My beliefs are correct. Others are mistaken.
4 Through study and practice, one can become truly enlightened.
5 The answers to all things lie within us.
6 I am easily distracted and lost in thought.
7 I love to discuss my journey with others.
8 I am more enlightened than most others.
d6 Ideal
1 Dogma. The teachings, and therefore the path, are clear. (Lawful)
2 Unpredictability. Understanding only comes once you accept the unpredictability of life. (Chaotic)
3 Growth. My studies lead me to be a better person. (Good)
4 Advantage. I can exploit this path to my own advantage. (Evil)
5 Peace. I find peace in this path. (Any)
6 Balance. I assign neither condemnation nor commendation. (Neutral)
d6 Bond
1 All things are one, ultimately.
2 I am fiercely loyal to my school and those who believe as I do.
3 It is my job to spread my teachings far and wide.
4 I seek wisdom from one more enlightened than me.
5 If the wisdom of my path were to fall into the wrong hands, the consequences could be dire.
6 I alone hold a specific secret about existence. If anyone knew…
d6 Flaw
1 I am generally unwilling to accept other people’s points of view.
2 I never stop talking about my studies and beliefs, even at inappropriate times.
3 My personal hygiene is often neglected in favor of my studies.
4 Nothing is my fault. Things just happen as they do.
5 Life is a river, and I can do nothing to change it.
6 I should not be trusted with money.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

The Big Book of Backgrounds Copyright 2019, P.B. Publishing, Phil Beckwith, and Cody Faulk.

scroll to top