Recluse

You spent a good part of your life in the middle of nature or in a remote place of contemplation, either alone or with little company. Whether such isolation was imposed or voluntary, whether it was motivated by faith or by a need to go back to your roots, it had a profound influence on your outlook on life. People respect your abnegation, but rarely understand it. You have been through trials that many would have balked at. These inner tribulations have made you stronger and more self-assured, but you are not necessarily prideful about it.

Since then, you have given up on this way of life. Whether it was willingly or not, you must now adapt to life in society and face the outside world.

Proficiencies

Skills: Choose two from Athletics, Insight, Medicine, Religion, and Survival
Tools: Choose one from herbalism kit, alchemist’s supplies, or a type of artisan’s tools
Languages: One of your choice

Proficiencies

A quarterstaff, a blanket, a set of common clothes, a sheaf of notes and writing utensils, the tools you are proficient in, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

Feature: Sixth Sense

You do not always know why, but solitude and silence sometimes gift you with epiphanies, premonitions that you can often only understand after the fact. However, sometimes, you manage to follow your instincts, and thereafter realize that you were correct. The reason for such intuitions is probably fated to remain a mystery, but you have learned to trust them. It is up to your leader to decide when you receive such inklings. However, do not count on them to solve the campaign’s plot more easily, as you will probably only be able to make full sense of them at the conclusion of the story.

Suggested Characteristics

Most recluses remain so. Leaving on an adventure is a huge change for such an individual. Parties who include a recluse usually respect their privacy and value the necessary sense of perspective they bring. The reserve shown by such characters makes the times they slip out of it all the more noteworthy.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I am infinitely patient, so long as I am left to my reflections.
2	I keep my body fully shaved.
3	Life in society and its constraints seem absurd to me, and I have a hard time conforming to them.
4	When talked to, I only react after a few seconds.
5	I always keep my voice level and my movements composed.
6	I let nature run its course on my body without seeking to alter it: I have been keeping my hair uncut and my nails untrimmed for years.
7	I am often early or late, as I have obviously little notion of time.
8	My days are punctuated with various rituals.

d6	Ideal
1	Salvation. Wisdom and compassion will save the world. (Good)
2	Enlightenment. I have set myself on the right path and will soon be ready for the ultimate step. (Any)
3	Reason. Contemplation is the only way to stave off feelings, lies, and outside influences that sow confusion in the mind. (Lawful)
4	Refuge. The preoccupations of the world are but a source of suffering. Deliverance will come from seclusion. (Neutral)
5	Cynicism. Moral and social conventions are but tools to enslave the weak. Whoever understands this is that much closer to the truth. (Evil)
6	Maturity. Amidst the depths of solitude, I have learned that company is necessary. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	My mentor, to whom I owe everything, expects great things from me.
2	My seclusion was ordered against my will, and I never accepted it.
3	I went into isolation after a love story that went wrong.
4	My long retirement has brought me closer to values that were originally not mine or my people’s.
5	I must at all costs preserve the secret of the order who has housed me.
6	My isolation has allowed me to lie low long enough to be forgotten. At least, I hope so.

d6	Flaw
1	I usually appear to listen to people, but their opinion is of little importance to me.
2	Every day, I find it increasingly difficult to convince myself not to leave my companions and go back to my secluded life.
3	Through years of meditation, I have been able to repress a terrible vice of mine, but not overcome it.
4	I still do not understand why people are so attached to their paltry existences.
5	In consumption as in privation, I know only excess.
6	People think I meditate when I stare into space, but they have no idea of the sinister ideas that sometimes flow through my mind.