Haunted One (Van Richten's)
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft p. 34
Rasgos
Description
You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You've tried to bury it and run away from it, to no avail. Whatever this thing is that haunts you can't be slain with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its toll, isolating you from most people and making you question your sanity. You must find a way to overcome it before it destroys you.
- Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from among Arcana, Investigation, Religion, or Survival
- Languages: Choose two, one of which must be Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon
- Equipment: A monster hunter's pack (containing a chest, a crowbar, a hammer, three wooden stakes, a holy symbol, a flask of holy water, a set of manacles, a steel mirror, a flask of oil, a tinderbox, and 3 torches), one trinket of special significance (choose one or roll on the Horror Trinkets table down below), a set of common clothes, and 1 sp.
Harrowing Event
Prior to becoming an adventurer, your path in life was defined by one dark moment, one fateful decision, or one tragedy. Now you feel a darkness threatening to consume you, and you fear there may be no hope of escape. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.
Harrowing Events:
| d10 | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent people spared your life, and you don't know why. |
| 2 | You were born under a dark star. You can feel it watching you, coldly and distantly. Sometimes it beckons you in the dead of night. |
| 3 | An apparition that has haunted your family for generations now haunts you. You don't know what it wants, and it won't leave you alone. |
| 4 | Your family has a history of practicing the dark arts. You dabbled once and felt something horrible clutch at your soul, whereupon you fled in terror. |
| 5 | An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it. |
| 6 | You were cursed with lycanthropy and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered. |
| 7 | A hag kidnapped and raised you. You escaped, but the hag still has a magical hold over you and fills your mind with evil thoughts. |
| 8 | You opened an eldritch tome and saw things unfit for a sane mind. You burned the book, but its words and images are burned into your psyche. |
| 9 | A fiend possessed you as a child. You were locked away but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but now you try to keep it bottled up. |
| 10 | You did terrible things to avenge the murder of someone you loved. You became a monster, and it haunts your waking dreams. |
Feature: Heart of Darkness
Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone.
Horror Trinkets
Sinister deeds and festering evils take many forms, sometimes as stories and sometimes as physical scars. All manner of talismans, mementos, criminal evidence, mysterious devices, cursed relics, and physical impossibilities might embody just such scars - summaries of terrors in material form. Before you finish making a character, roll once on the Horror Trinkets table for a unique object your character has with them at the start of their adventuring career. These trinkets hint toward various horrific tales and might lead to dreadful revelations or be nothing more than grim keepsakes. At the DM's discretion any of these trinkets might also be a Mist talisman (detailed in chapter 3), a focal item that can lead the bearer through the Mists to a particular Domain of Dread.
Horror Trinkets:
| d100 | Trinket |
|---|---|
| 01 | A picture you drew as a child of your imaginary friend |
| 02 | A lock that opens when blood is dripped in its keyhole |
| 03 | Clothes stolen from a scarecrow |
| 04 | A spinning top carved with four faces: happy, sad, wrathful, and dead |
| 05 | The necklace of a sibling who died on the day you were born |
| 06 | A wig from someone executed by beheading |
| 07 | The unopened letter to you from your dying father |
| 08 | A pocket watch that runs backward for an hour every midnight |
| 09 | A winter coat stolen from a dying soldier |
| 10 | A bottle of invisible ink that can only be read at sunset |
| 11 | A wineskin that refills when interred with a dead person for a night |
| 12 | A set of silverware used by a king for his last meal |
| 13 | A spyglass that always shows the world suffering a terrible storm |
| 14 | A cameo with the profile's face scratched away |
| 15 | A lantern with a black candle that never runs out and that burns with green flame |
| 16 | A teacup from a child's tea set, stained with blood |
| 17 | A little black book that records your dreams, and yours alone, when you sleep |
| 18 | A necklace formed of the interlinked holy symbols of a dozen deities |
| 19 | A noose that feels heavier than it should |
| 20 | A birdcage into which small birds fly but once inside never eat or leave |
| 21 | A lepidopterist's box filled with dead moths with skull-like patterns on their wings |
| 22 | A jar of pickled ghouls' tongues |
| 23 | The wooden hand of a notorious pirate |
| 24 | A urn with the ashes of a dead relative |
| 25 | A hand mirror backed with a bronze depiction of a medusa |
| 26 | Pallid leather gloves crafted with ivory fingernails |
| 27 | Dice made from the knuckles of a notorious charlatan |
| 28 | A ring of keys for forgotten locks |
| 29 | Nails from the coffin of a murderer |
| 30 | A key to the family crypt |
| 31 | A bouquet of funerary flowers that always looks and smells fresh |
| 32 | A switch used to discipline you as a child |
| 33 | A music box that plays by itself whenever someone holding it dances |
| 34 | A walking cane with an iron ferrule that strikes sparks on stone |
| 35 | A flag from a ship lost at sea |
| 36 | A porcelain doll's head that always seems to be looking at you |
| 37 | A wolf's head wrought in silver that is also a whistle |
| 38 | A small mirror that shows a much older version of the viewer |
| 39 | A small, worn book of children's nursery rhymes |
| 40 | A mummified raven claw |
| 41 | A broken pendant of a silver dragon that's always cold to the touch |
| 42 | A small locked box that quietly hums a lovely melody at night, but you always forget it in the morning |
| 43 | An inkwell that makes one a little nauseous when staring at it |
| 44 | An old doll made from a dark, dense wood and missing a hand and a foot |
| 45 | A black executioner's hood |
| 46 | A pouch made of flesh, with a sinew drawstring |
| 47 | A tiny spool of black thread that never runs out |
| 48 | A tiny clockwork figurine of a dancer that's missing a gear and doesn't work |
| 49 | A black wooden pipe that creates puffs of smoke that look like skulls |
| 50 | A vial of perfume, the scent of which only certain creatures can detect |
| 51 | A stone that emits a single endless sigh |
| 52 | A rag doll with two red dots on its neck |
| 53 | A spring-loaded toy with a missing crank |
| 54 | A mason jar containing a harmless but agitated, animate ooze |
| 55 | A black wooden die with 1's on all the faces |
| 56 | A child's portrait with "born" written on the back, along with next year's date |
| 57 | A dagger-sized shark tooth |
| 58 | A finger that's taken root in a small pot |
| 59 | A toolbox containing the remains of a dangerous but broken clockwork arachnid |
| 60 | A pitcher-sized, opalescent snail shell that occasionally, inexplicably shudders or tips over |
| 61 | The logbook of an ice-breaking ship called The Haifisch |
| 62 | A small portrait of you as a child, alongside your identically dressed twin |
| 63 | A silver pocket watch with thirteen hours marked on the face |
| 64 | A woodcut of a wolf devouring its own hind leg |
| 65 | A planchette etched with raven skulls |
| 66 | A moist coral figurine of a lamprey with arms, legs, and a bipedal stance |
| 67 | A bronze fingertrap sculpted with roaring tigers |
| 68 | A pearl necklace that turns red under the full moon |
| 69 | A fossil of a fish with humanoid features |
| 70 | A plague doctor's mask |
| 71 | A paper talisman with smudged ink |
| 72 | A locket containing the smeared image of an eyeless figure |
| 73 | A canopic jar with a lid sculpted like a goat |
| 74 | A jack-o'-lantern made from a small, pale gourd |
| 75 | A single high-heeled, iron shoe |
| 76 | A candle made from a severed hand |
| 77 | A clockwork device that beats like a heart |
| 78 | A blank masquerade mask |
| 79 | A glass eye with a live worm inside |
| 80 | A sheet with two eyeholes cut in it |
| 81 | The deed to someplace called Tergeron Manor |
| 82 | An ornate, wax-sealed crimson envelope that resists all attempts to open it |
| 83 | A mourning veil trimmed in black lace |
| 84 | A straitjacket covered in charcoal runes |
| 85 | A tattered, burlap mask with a crooked smile painted on it |
| 86 | A green ribbon designed to be worn as a choker |
| 87 | Dentures with mismatched, sharpened teeth |
| 88 | A warm, fist-sized egg case |
| 89 | A copper ring with "mine" engraved on the inside |
| 90 | A glass ampoule containing a neon green fluid |
| 91 | An eye patch embroidered with a holy symbol |
| 92 | A severed big toe with a nail that continues to grow |
| 93 | A journal that has been heavily redacted |
| 94 | A glove with a mouth-like design stitched on the palm |
| 95 | An ornate but empty reliquary made of silver and fractured glass |
| 96 | A ceramic figure of a cat with too many eyes |
| 97 | A crumpled paper ticket bearing the words "admit none" |
| 98 | An electrum coin with your face on one side |
| 99 | A shrunken gremishka head that twitches when anyone casts magic nearby |
| 100 | A sunburst amulet with a red stone at the center |
Suggested Characteristics
Characters in a horror-focused campaign might have distinct motivations and characteristics. Use the following tables to supplement your background's suggested characteristics or to inspire those of your own design.
You have learned to live with the terror that haunts you. You are a survivor, who can be very protective of those who bring light into your darkened life.
| d12 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I had an encounter that I believe gives me a special affinity with a supernatural creature or event. |
| 2 | A signature piece of clothing or distinct weapon serves as an emblem of who I am. |
| 3 | I never accept that I'm out of my depth. |
| 4 | I must know the answer to every secret. No door remains unopened in my presence. |
| 5 | I let people underestimate me, revealing my full competency only to those close to me. |
| 6 | I compulsively seek to collect trophies of my travels and victories. |
| 7 | It doesn't matter if the whole world's against me. I'll always do what I think is right. |
| 8 | I have morbid interests and a macabre aesthetic. |
| 9 | I have a personal ritual, mantra, or relaxation method I use to deal with stress. |
| 10 | Nothing is more important than life, and I never leave anyone in danger. |
| 11 | I'm quick to jump to extreme solutions. Why risk a lesser option not working? |
| 12 | I'm easily startled, but I'm not a coward. |
| d12 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Adrenaline. I've experienced such strangeness that now I feel alive only in extreme situations. |
| 2 | Balance. I strive to counter the deeds of someone for whom I feel responsible. |
| 3 | Bound. I've wronged someone and must work their will to avoid their curse. |
| 4 | Escape. I believe there is something beyond the world I know, and I need to find it. |
| 5 | Legacy. I must do something great so that I'm remembered, and my time is running out. |
| 6 | Misdirection. I work vigorously to keep others from realizing my flaws or misdeeds. |
| 7 | Obsession. I've lived this way for so long that I can't imagine another way. |
| 8 | Obligation. I owe it to my people, faith, family, or teacher to continue a vaunted legacy. |
| 9 | Promise. My life is no longer my own. I must fulfill the dream of someone who's gone. |
| 10 | Revelation. I need to know what lies beyond the mysteries of death, the world, or the Mists. |
| 11 | Sanctuary. I know the forces at work in the world and strive to create islands apart from them. |
| 12 | Truth. I care about the truth above all else, even if it doesn't benefit anyone. |
| d12 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I desperately need to get back to someone or someplace, but I lost them in the Mists. |
| 2 | Everything I do is in the service of a powerful master, one I must keep a secret from everyone. |
| 3 | I owe much to my vanished mentor. I seek to continue their work even as I search to find them. |
| 4 | I've seen great darkness, and I'm committed to being a light against it—the light of all lights. |
| 5 | Someone I love has become a monster, murderer, or other threat. It's up to me to redeem them. |
| 6 | The world has been convinced of a terrible lie. It's up to me to reveal the truth. |
| 7 | I deeply miss someone and am quick to adopt people who remind me of them. |
| 8 | A great evil dwells within me. I will fight against it and the world's other evils for as long as I can. |
| 9 | I'm desperately seeking a cure to an affliction or a curse, either for someone close to me for myself. |
| 10 | Spirits are drawn to me. I do all I can to help them find peace. |
| 11 | I use my cunning mind to solve mysteries and find justice for those who've been wronged. |
| 12 | I lost someone I care about, but I still see them in guilty visions, recurring dreams, or as a spirit. |
| d12 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I believe doom follows me and that anyone who gets close to me will face a tragic end. |
| 2 | I'm convinced something is after me, appearing in mirrors, dreams, and places where no one could. |
| 3 | I'm especially superstitious and live life seeking to avoid bad luck, wicked spirits, or the Mists. |
| 4 | I've done unspeakable evil and will do anything to prevent others from finding out. |
| 5 | I am exceptionally credulous and believe any story or legend immediately. |
| 6 | I'm a skeptic and don't believe in the power of rituals, religion, superstition, or spirits. |
| 7 | I know my future is written and that anything I do will lead to a prophesied end. |
| 8 | I need to find the best in everyone and everything, even when that means denying obvious malice. |
| 9 | I've seen the evil of a type of place—like forests, cities, or graveyards—and resist going there. |
| 10 | I'm exceptionally cautious, planning laboriously and devising countless contingencies. |
| 11 | I have a reputation for defeating a great evil, but that's a lie and the wicked force knows. |
| 12 | I know the ends always justify the means and am quick to make sacrifices to attain my goals. |