Divine (5e Background)
Divine
You have spent most of your life dwelling on one of the Upper Planes, surrounded by creatures straight out of legend; couatls, unicorns and angels great and small. Perhaps one of your ancestors settled there, never to return home, or it may be that your parents were planar travelers who left you in the care of an angelic guardian. Maybe you are the servant of a deity, brought to the heavens by their will. Whatever the case, the planes of goodness are your home and you were raised under the tutelage of celestials who taught you the importance of temperance, charity and diligence. Now you travel the Prime Material Plane, entranced by its landscapes and confused by the selfishness of its cultures, with each day bringing new mysteries of the various creatures that call this strangely mundane world their home.
Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Religion
Languages: Choose one from Celestial, Deepspeech, Abyssal, or Primordial
Tools: One type of musical instrument
Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a musical instrument (one of your choice), a belt pouch containing 15 gp, a piece of your home plane (a shard of Mount Celestia, a vial of water from the River Oceanus, etc.) and a token from a celestial friend or family member (ie. an angel's feather, a lock of hair from a unicorn's mane or a glass reliquary holding a spark of light from a lantern archon).
Reason for Leaving
For some reason or another, you found yourself walking the world of mortals. Work with your DM to decide why you left the myriad paradises of the upper planes and what drew you to wander the Prime or roll on the table below.
| d6 | Reason for Traveling |
|---|---|
| 1 | I was tasked by a Solar to hunt down a great evil. |
| 2 | I witnessed the tragedies that plague the people of the Prime and I seek to make their lives better. |
| 3 | I broke a cardinal rule of the plane and have been banished. The only way to return is to regain my honor. |
| 4 | I was left in the care of a celestial guardian and want to find my birth parents. |
| 5 | My home plane bores me. I seek new and greater thrills. |
| 6 | I am chasing someone important to me who left the upper planes and did not return. |
Feature: Planar Knowledge
Hailing from a place beyond the boundaries of the Prime Material Plane, you know more about the inner workings of the cosmos than most. When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore regarding a specific plane or its denizens, if you do not know that information, you can recall a means of obtaining such knowledge. For these times, you typically know of a place, person, text, or item that contains information regarding that plane or its inhabitants. Your DM may rule that the knowledge is kept secret or that it is very hard to obtain, such as being in an arcanaloth's collection or only revealed to people deemed worthy by an angel.
Alternate Feature: Planar Recognition
Your time on the upper planes has left its mark on you, and this might be recognized by certain other creatures. Celestials will react favorably to your presence and will grant you and those you travel with food, water, and/or rest should they have such things available unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. Fiends on the other hand will consider you a prime target for their schemes and will often act to harm or undermine you if it is in their power to do so without inconveniencing themselves. Though ultimately what the fiend's actions are up to the DM, these acts may be something such as getting you in trouble with the local guards, tampering with your equipment, or feeding you misinformation.
Suggested Characteristics
Denizens of the upper planes carry the spark of their homeland in their hearts wherever they go, and this spark drives them to vanquish evil and uphold the ideals of compassion and justice, leaving the world a better place than they found it. They usually have a natural magnetism and charisma that allows them to speak with conviction and confidence, but they will also often find themselves bewildered by the morality and ethics of many residents of the Prime.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Helping those around me, especially those in need, is something that gives my life purpose. |
| 2 | I get homesick often, especially when looking upon religious artwork or architecture that depicts or mimics the upper planes. |
| 3 | I constantly compare the many wonders of my homeworld to the comparatively bland landscapes of the Prime. |
| 4 | The people of this plane often use idioms, metaphors and jokes that I do not understand. |
| 5 | I often fail to read social clues and will ask inappropriate questions. |
| 6 | I always expect the worst from those around me. |
| 7 | My time in the upper planes has made me consider my opinion to be far more important than my mortal peers. |
| 8 | I am a very flirty person, even with people I have no attraction to. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Temperance. I must keep my mind and body pure from the temptations of this plane. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Compassion. We are all one people and we need to start treating each other that way. (Good) |
| 3 | Wanderlust. The Prime is a menagerie of strange creatures and beautiful places, and I wish to see them all. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Justice. This world is filled with evil that goes unpunished far too often, and I will purify it. (Lawful) |
| 5 | Balance. I must bring harmony to the mortal plane and help its people understand their place in the cosmos. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Love. I want nothing more out of life than the affection of someone close to me. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My family is extremely important. Through my actions, I must bring them honor. |
| 2 | Life is a journey and the Prime is my first step. |
| 3 | My birth parents are from this plane. I must seek them out and learn where I truly come from. |
| 4 | I am deeply in love with someone from this world. It is my honor and my duty to see them safe. |
| 5 | I seek to find a way to become a true celestial. |
| 6 | I have been dishonored and I must prove that I belong in the upper planes |
| d8 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I will put myself in harm's way to save people, even total strangers. |
| 2 | I consider the denizens of the Prime to be beneath me. |
| 3 | I have a deep attraction and curiosity to demons and darker powers. I mean, who wouldn't want to taste the forbidden fruit? |
| 4 | Hailing from a place where evil and malicious intent are nearly non-existent, I find myself trusting others far too often. |
| 5 | I secretly find all things that are not divine in nature to be repulsive. |
| 6 | I constantly seek the approval of my celestial peers and hold their opinions above all others. |
| 7 | I have a need to help each and every person that asks me for it. I simply can't say no. |
| 8 | I love getting into dangerous and life-threatening situations, it just gets my blood flowing. After all, what's life without a little danger? |
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