You have inherited something of great value, more than the value of gold and silver, something that only you have been trusted to have and no one else. This important object that you have inherited might have come from someone close to you, it could your family member or even a friend who has trusted you with this precious object. Or perhaps it was someone else may be your teacher or a mentor.
Although it could be anyone close to you one thing is certain, your inheritance has changed your life and it could be the reason why you decided to go on this journey that has proven to be a life-changing experience for you. But your inheritance can truly be dangerous for you as others might try to take it from you one way or the other.
What is an Inheritor in DND?
You are an inheritor who possesses something of great value but not something related to treasure like gold or silver but something of great importance that’s given to you by someone that you trust and more importantly someone who trusts you to have this object.
The object is of great significance in your life so much so that after it was revealed to you it changed the course of your life. But that’s not all, this certain object is not only important to you but others might be in search of it too and they might try to take it from you, so you have to protect it with your life.
Your Skills: Your skills include Survival and one from among Arcana, History, and Religion.
Your Tool Proficiencies: One of either the Musical Instrument or Gaming Set of your choice.
Languages: You can only choose a single language of your choice.
Equipment: First and foremost, you have your inheritance, a set of traveler’s clothes and with that the tool of your choice and a pouch with 15 GP.
Suggested Characteristics
Personality Traits
| D6 | Personality Traits |
| 1 | You are a hard worker with a simple life, and appreciate a job well done. |
| 2 | You believe you are the chosen one and that your newfound powers mean you have a great destiny. |
| 3 | You are new to the adventuring scene. It can’t be that bad, right? |
| 4 | You are very haughty, believing that your new abilities mean that you are above others. |
| 5 | You are resistant to your destiny and wish things would go back to the way they were before. |
| 6 | You know your powers have a purpose, but really you feel quite homesick. |
Ideals
| D6 | Ideals |
| 1 | Your powers were given to you so you can make changes in this broken world. (Chaotic) |
| 2 | You use your powers to do good in this world and help those that need it. (Good) |
| 3 | What’s the point in powers if you aren’t powerful? You plan to make your enemies kneel before you. (Evil) |
| 4 | This world is in anarchy and you must use your abilities to restore order. (Lawful) |
| 5 | You have a great destiny ahead of you, better go out there and find it. (Any) |
| 6 | Your powers are foreign to you and you are determined to learn how to harness them properly. (Neutral) |
Bonds
| D6 | Bonds |
| 1 | You feel indebted to the being that gave you your powers and wants to sing their praise. |
| 2 | You use your powers to protect those closest to you. |
| 3 | You want to make your family proud by becoming rich and powerful. |
| 4 | You are searching for someone who disappeared when you were young. |
| 5 | You seek revenge on the entity that gave you your powers and ruined your life. |
| 6 | You only want to help those living rough lives, as you’ve been there before. |
Flaws
| D6 | Flaws |
| 1 | You feel untouchable, overestimating your abilities and getting yourself into trouble. |
| 2 | With all of this new knowledge in your head you have a hard time remembering what’s real and what isn’t. |
| 3 | You have a hard time with your powers and sometimes shoot out cantrips without meaning to. |
| 4 | You are horribly embarrassed by your powers and don’t like to use them unless absolutely necessary. |
| 5 | With your powers and your knowledge comes horrible nightmares that you can’t understand. |
| 6 | You feel like a danger to society and don’t want anyone to get too close. |
Feature
Inheritance
One of the most important part of your character is to have some sort of inheritance as the whole existence of this background is based on its Inheritance and there are several ways you can go about having the inheritance. You can either pick a random inheritance or better yet let the DM decide what the inheritance should be but bear in mind that it is important to have a solid background story for the inheritance.
The DM can set it up and decide for you how you can get to know more about the inheritance by sending you on quests and adventures that consist of you trying to save your inheritance from the ones trying to capture it or stop you from knowing the reality of your inheritance.
Now you can let other players know what your inheritance is all about or you can also keep it a secret but first, you will have to decide the inheritance and for that, you can use the table below to check out the possibilities to pick one.
| D6 | Object or Item |
| 1 | A document such as a map, a letter, or a journal |
| 2-3 | A trinket |
| 4 | An article of clothing |
| 5 | A piece of jewelry |
| 6 | An arcane book or formulary |
| 7 | A written story, song, poem, or secret |
| 8 | A tattoo or other body marking |
Why Use Inheritor Background?
Inheritor 5e is one of the most fun background to play around with within D&D just like the Far Traveler and that is because of the possible inheritance and stories behind your inheritance, you can explore quite a lot about the background and it’s just so much fun to play with.
The DM gets to decide how the inheritance would play out with the whole setup of the game and also how you would explore your inheritance. It could be something powerful to have but so would the responsibility to save it be great.
