Improved Backgrounds by Dr. Damion “Doc” Meany
Whether a natural gift, or honed through years of practice, you have a talent for producing works in a particular medium. With your keen eye and steady hand you create images of the world around you, either precise reflections or wild reinterpretations depending on how your creativity guides you. Perhaps this art is motivated by abstract notions and high minded philosophy like beauty and truth. Perhaps you simply do it because you find it easy and it allows you collect a paycheck.
How did you come by your talent? Is it natural, hard work, or perhaps even divinely inspired? What medium(s) do you work in? Do you truly enjoy your creative outlets or do you see them as a means to an end? Have you ever sold a piece of art to someone, or do you keep them? Perhaps even destroy them once you no longer have a need for them? And why take up adventuring when you could likely sell art and live comfortably? Do you feel the need for some greater inspiration? A means to reinvigorate your creative soul?
Skill Proficiencies: Perception. Choose one from: Deception, History, Insight, Investigation, or Persuasion.
Tool Proficiencies: Choose two from: Calligrapher’s Supplies, Glassblower’s Tools, Jeweler’s Tools, Mason's Tools, Painter’s Suppliers, Potter’s Tools, or Woodcarver’s Tools.
Languages: You may trade one of your Tool Proficiency picks for any one Standard Language of your choice.
Equipment: A set of Tools with which you are proficient; a quill and ink; bound sketch book half full of images; a set of Traveling Clothes; and a pouch with 15gp.
Given time and supplies, you can faithfully reproduce the likeness of any creature, person, object, or location you have seen recently. While it might not always be perfect, anyone who knows or is familiar with the subject of your work will find the image similar enough to recognize. Additionally, when in a city, you may be able to utilize your artistic abilities to gain an audience with wealthy or influential patrons if they are familiar with your work and, by extension, use your talents to earn a Comfortable Income during downtime. In more distant areas of the world, you may be able to take steps to gain this sort of access by seeking out and taking commissions to build a local reputation.
Successful artists are inspired or animated by a creative spirit, and are passionate about what they do. Regardless of their overall philosophy, they tend to be very opinionated about the ideals represented and embodied in their art, and often see themselves as romantic or tragic figures.
| Personality Traits | |
| d8 | Personality Trait |
| 1 | I frequently hold up my hands as though to capture a moment of time “in frame”. |
| 2 | I become bashful and incapable of coherent speech when people compliment the quality of my work. |
| 3 | I can find beauty in the contrasts of any tableau, no matter how bleak. |
| 4 | My thought process can be erratic and often I will blurt out allusions or loose associations, which often seem to have very little to do with the matter at hand. |
| 5 | Emotion and feeling are more important to me than cold, hard facts. |
| 6 | My talents have afforded me a taste of the finer things in life. I prefer them to common comforts. |
| 7 | I have a tendency to become captivated by things and must recreate their likeness. |
| 8 | I critique other people’s actions as though they were art. |
| Ideals | |
| d6 | Ideal |
| 1 | Beauty. My gifts allow me to bring joy to all who see it. (Good) |
| 2 | Nihilism. Those I have created for in the past are self absorbed fools. Why should I not use my talents to twist their perceptions. (Evil) |
| 3 | Honor. Faithfully recording a moment allows it to be experienced by everyone. (Lawful) |
| 4 | Originality. Subverting expectation and creating something new is the highest form of art. (Chaotic). |
| 5 | Truth. The greatest art shows the truth in all things, even if if it difficult or unwelcome. (Neutral) |
| 6 | Creation. The act of creation has the spirit of the divine. (Any) |
| Bonds | |
| d6 | Bond |
| 1 | I have a mentor who taught me everything I know. I would be nothing without them. |
| 2 | I have a very generous patron. I fear they might have designs on more than just my artworks. |
| 3 | I create art so that I can provide for the needs of my loved ones. |
| 4 | One of my greatest works has been plagiarized. I must set the record straight and claim the credit I deserve. |
| 5 | I aspire to someday create the world’s greatest masterpiece. I need only find a muse. |
| 6 | I heard about an uncompleted work of a great master that I long to uncover. |
| Flaws | |
| d6 | Flaw |
| 1 | I am my own greatest critic, a perfectionist and full of doubts. As such, I rarely see any project through to the end. |
| 2 | I'm brutally honest when it comes to both other people's creations and their actions. |
| 3 | I am frustrated by the lack of beauty in the world and the ever-present ugliness. |
| 4 | I doodle and sketch on any and every surface I can get my hands on. |
| 5 | I'm too quick to trust those who express interest in the things I've created. |
| 6 | I sometimes let bad things happen just so I can see the how the drama will unfold. |