Common Backgrounds

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Adventurer
You have adventure in your blood.
1XP: Go to new places, meet new people and live a life of excitement.
2XP: Participate in an unlikely, yet dramatic coincidence.
5XP: Finish an adventure.
Buyoff: Settle down for good.

Murder-Hobo
You probably ought to be locked up somewhere.
1XP: Travel to someplace new.
2XP: Murder the locals and take their stuff.
5XP: Eradicate all of the locals (and take all their stuff).
Buyoff: Gain a title or holding.

Haunted Veteran
The constant wars have made you weary, and now you seek either meaning… or death.
1XP: Another encounter ends in blood.
3XP: You take unnecessary risks in combat.
Buyoff: You finally fight for a worthy cause.

Able Comrade (to whom)
You are a true friend to another character.
1XP: Interact with your comrade.
2XP: Follow your comrade’s advice.
5XP: Defend your comrade from danger.
Buyoff: Sever the relationship.

Shadowy Past
You have a mysterious past with terrible secrets.
1XP: Your past comes up somehow.
2XP: Clues to your past are revealed.
5XP: Your past endangers your present.
Buyoff: Confide your story to another.

Duelist
You duel frequently, perhaps because you are paid to.
1XP: Challenge somebody to a duel.
2XP: Get challenged to a duel.
5XP: Kill in a duel.
Buyoff: Lose a duel.

Good Aligned
You strive to adhere to an unselfish code of conduct.
1XP: Help someone in need without reward.
3XP: Suffer great loss for the greater good.
Buyoff: Change alignment.

Impostor
Whether by necessity or for other reasons, your life is a lie.
1XP: Pass yourself off as something you’re not.
2XP: Lie to yourself or to your friends.
5XP: Your deception survives concerted scrutiny.
Buyoff: Abandon your false identity.

Evil Aligned
You cling to a code of selfishness and spite in order to get by.
1XP: Screw somebody over for your own amusement.
3XP: Ruin somebody for personal gain.
Buyoff: Change alignment.

Romantic (to whom)
You’re involved in a romance with another character.
1XP: Flirt with a romantic interest.
2XP: Have significant positive interaction with your romantic interest. Go on a date, or rescue him or her from danger.
5XP: Develop the relationship to a new level (“first base”, betrothal, etc.).
Buyoff: Break off the romantic relationship.

Rival (to whom)
You’ve got an enemy, or maybe a friend, who keeps one-upping you, whether he knows it or not, driving you to try to best him.
1XP: Talk about how much better you are than your rival.
2XP: Best your rival in some endeavor.
5XP: Your rival gets one over on you.
Buyoff: Let it go, man. Just let it go.

Outsider
You’re obviously not from around here, and it causes you problems.
1XP: Your lack of belonging comes up.
2XP: You are harassed, excluded or ignored due to being an outsider.
5XP: Your outsider position actually gives you an advantage.
Buyoff: Become an accepted member of some group.

Avenger (against whom)
Somebody’s done you wrong and they’re going to get what’s coming to them.
1XP: Fume about your foe and plot your vengeance.
3XP: Attack your wrong-doer’s friends, family, belongings, resources, reputation or person.
Buyoff: Let your enemy go when he or she is at your mercy.

Jester
Whether high-brow or low-brow, clever, bawdy or snarky, you like to get a laugh out of others.
1XP: Entertain those around you with a funny quip.
3XP: Try to get a laugh when it is totally inappropriate.
Buyoff: Pass up a great opportunity to get a cheap laugh.

Glory-hound
You crave the admiration of others.
1XP: Make sure your name and deeds are known by bragging or seeking witnesses.
3XP: Take foolish risks risks to increase or enjoy your fame.
Buyoff: Give the credit that would have increased your glory to someone else.

Human Backgrounds

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Dark Dabbler
You’re embroiled in the study of forbidden knowledge and intelligences from behind the stars.
1XP: Read forbidden texts.
2XP: See forbidden sights.
5XP: Encounter aberrations.
Buyoff: Go insane.

Soldier
Your history as a soldier colors your worldview.
1XP: Tell a relevant war story.
2XP: Civilians don’t live up to military standards.
5XP: The military solution isn’t the right one.
Buyoff: Abandon your military traditions.

Guilder (Specify)
You’re a member of a guild.
1XP: Interact with other members of your guild.
2XP: Advance in your guild hierarchy.
5XP: Come into conflict with the guild.
Buyoff: Leave the guild.

Cultist
You’re a member of a secret group with strange rituals and a hidden agenda.
1XP: Observe the rituals of the cult.
2XP: The cult gives you a mission.
5XP: The cult’s interests conflict with your own.
Buyoff: Leave or be banished from the cult.

Persona Non Grata
You’ve been kicked out of your guild, cult, army, or other organization.
1XP: Your fall from grace comes up.
2XP: Interact with your former organization.
5XP: Work against your former organization.
Buyoff: Be accepted back into your organization.

Dwarven Backgrounds

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Devoted Descendent (Ancestor)
You have a particular ancestor to whom you pay homage, like a patron saint.
1XP: Pray to you ancestor for guidance.
2XP: Discover new facts about your ancestor’s life.
5XP: Build a suitable shrine or monument to your ancestor.
Buyoff: Abandon faith in your ancestor.

Clan Exile
You’ve been expelled from your clan for some reason, though it doesn’t lessen the hold that the clan holds over you.
1XP: Your status as an outcast comes up.
2XP: Interact with your former clan.
5XP: Work against your former clan.
Buyoff: Be accept back into your clan.

Orc-Bane
Man, do you hate orcs and goblins!
1XP: Attack one or more orcs or goblins.
3XP: Kill all of the orcs and goblins you see.
Buyoff: Show mercy to an orc or a goblin.

Seeker of Lost Glories
Your clan has fallen far and has lost much, perhaps routed from their under-mountain home by a dragon or a demon.
1XP: Reminisce about the clan’s glory days.
2XP: Take a major step toward recovering your clan’s status.
5XP: Suffer a major setback in your progress.
Buyoff: Reestablish your clan’s prominence.

Obsessive Collector (item)
There is a class of material item that brings you comfort, and you seek to acquire fine samples of them whenever you can.
1XP: Gain another item for your collection.
3XP: Gan another item for your collection at the expense of others.
Buyoff: Give away your collection.

Elven Backgrounds

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Bearer of Sorrow
You are witness to the inevitable decline of the natural world, the elven world, as it is pushed back by the forges, picks and axes of the short-sighted humans and obsessive dwarves. None can fully understand your passion, or your grief.
1XP: Turn down an offer to join in revelry.
2XP: Something of natural beauty is destroyed, lost, ruined or corrupted.
5XP: Question the point of it all and fail to act when it is most important.
Buyoff: Your grief turns to hatred with an act of violence, murder, destruction and spite. You must buy the Bearer of Wrath Background, even if you’ve taken it before.

Bearer of Wrath
You refuse to simply witness the senseless ravaging of the natural world, the elven world, as it is razed by the forges, picks and axes of the verminous humans and destructive dwarves. None can fully understand your frustration, or your rage.
1XP: Ruin the merriment of others with tales of spite and woe.
2XP: Destroy, ruin or corrupt non-elven works, structures or communities.
5XP: Sabotage your own success with an act of pettiness or violence when it is most important.
Buyoff: Sacrifice something of the natural or elven world to save a non-elf person, work, structure or community.

Elven Ingénue
Used to the ways of the natural world, you are frighteningly naive about more urban or temporal matters.
1XP: You are confused by some new custom or technology from the non-elven world.
2XP: Your simple nature and lack of experience gets you or others into trouble.
5XP: You are taken advantage of by a more worldly character.
Buyoff: Become worldly and cynical.

Manhunter
You’ve taken to hunting humans for fun or profit.
1XP: Hunt a human.
3XP: Prolong the hunt by letting your human prey temporarily escape.
Buyoff: Help a human escape from others.