Strange Signs (5A)

This is a work in progress.

The Crazed are odd and disquieting, but also have deep insights. You suffer some mental trauma that weakens you, but this is compensated by a gift or ability that makes you exceptional.

Strange Signs, Signs of the Supernatural, and Infirmities are all about disadvantages and compensations you can get from backgrounds.

Alienated

You have problems making yourself understood and understanding others. You suffer disadvantage on Insight and Persuasion checks. You gain proficiency in Arcana History, Intimidation, Nature, Religion, or Sleight of Hand as well as in two sets of artisan's tools, gaming sets, or musical instruments to reflect your background and interests.

Choreomania

You suffer bouts of compulsive, ecstatic dancing. You must dance when casting and preparing spells. You cannot use the Stealth skill. All your spells have somatic components, and these components cannot be removed. If you carry more than 5 lb. times your Strength, wear armor, or use a shield, you suffer disadvantage on all attack rolls and Dexterity ability checks.

You should select a type of Martial Arts Defense. You learn the Mobile feat.

Cyclopean

You have only a single large eye in the middle of your brow.

At 1st level, your eye puts a great demand on your body, consuming enormous amounts of energy. You eat as much as two normal people of your race. You are instantly recognizable because of your eye, and suffer a -10 penalty on all Charisma checks to disguise your appearance. People gathering information about you have advantage.

You have flashes of prophetic vision. You can choose to roll 20 on any one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. You can use this ability once and regain it on a long rest.

Deluded

You believe in something that is false. Select a pretty broad opinion you have that is very controversial. Examples might include that the world is cylindrical, that ageing is a myth, or that a different sun rises each day, not the same old sun.

If you roll a 20 on a Arcana, Deception, History, Insight, Investigation Nature, Perception, Persuasion, or Religion check, your delusions interfere with what you are doing, read the result as if you rolled a 1 instead.

You gain proficiency in one of the skills you risk fumbling on. Your unconventional beliefs appeal to others who are also outcasts, you gain advantage on any Charisma check against an aberration or fey.

Preposterous

You have a vision you believe is true but the world disagrees. No matter what you say, people will not take your words to heart, and your advice goes unheard. You have some oracular vision that is doomed not to be believed. This should be a "doom and gloom" type of prophecy, such as "the world will end in sand". Depending on the style of the game this might be predestined to happen or just an ominous possibility. Some with this strange sign are believed by their closest friends but not by strangers; for the other player characters it is a role-playing decision whether to believe you or not.

You cannot use the Help action and you suffer disadvantage on Charisma checks to convince someone of anything. You absolutely cannot convince an NPC that your vision is true. You can still use Charisma skills to influence peoples attitudes normally. People may well like you, but they don't take your predictions or suggestions seriously.

You can cast Divination once and regain the ability after you finish three long rests.

Jinxed

Destiny constantly hampers you, but also preserves you for future misery.

Up to three times per day you have to re-roll a lucky d20 roll. Normally, this happens when you roll a natural die result of 20, but the GM can invoke this effect at other times, as desired. After three detrimental re-rolls, you need not re-roll any more successful rolls that day. You gain proficiency in a saving throw of your choice and never have to re-roll a successful save.

Follower

Your confidence depends on having others around to emulate and support. You suffer disadvantage on Dexterity checks for initiative. Whenever you cannot perceive an ally within 30 ft., you suffer disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls, and enemies gain advantage on saving throws against spells you cast.

You can use Help as a bonus action or a reaction and can do so at 30 feet range. You must decide to to use this ability before the action you are helping is rolled.

Forthright

You cannot lie or dissemble, and you cannot use the Deceit skill. If asked a question and not prevented from answering (any distraction or a simple say-so from your allies suffices), you will give a honest and exhaustive answer. If an ally tells what you know to be a lie, onlookers who can see your face gain advantage on Insight due to your grimaces.

You gain advantage on Persuasion checks.

Grotesque

You have one or more physical deformities, that clearly mark you as different. While clearly noticeable, your body is fully functional. You might have bird legs, the ears of a donkey, one single leg with a huge foot, your face on your chest and no head, or other similar weird form. Even if you magically change your shape, your deformity remains, adjusted to your assumed shape.

You cannot disguise your identity, and creatures gather information about you have advantage. Humanoid NPCs who are not of good alignment normally start normally with a hostile attitude to you.

You can choose one of the following abilities, as appropriate to your deformity: You add 1d8 to both your long and high jumps, blindsense 10 ft., climb speed 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., scent, or swim speed 30 ft.

Healing Icon

Anyone who touches you is healed. This saps your spiritual energy, forcing you into seclusion to avoid harm.

You learn the Cure Wounds spell and can cast it once as if you used a spell slot of half your level, regaining the ability on a long or short rest.

Your healing powers trigger when you are touched by a living creature, regardless of if you want to or not. Even casual contact can do this to you, which means you need to abstain from touching and have to avoid crowds. Even light crowds count as difficult terrain for you, and dense crowds (those that cost other people additional movement) are impassable. Each foot moved through occupied squares cost an additional foot of movement. You can ignore this limitation, but each round that you do, you lose one spell slot of your choice. In a round when you are grappled or hit by an unarmed or natural attack, you lose a spell slot. A creature can make a melee attack that does no damage to touch you and forcibly trigger this effect. You can only lose one spell slot each round in this fashion. If you run out of spell slots, touch instead inflicts 1d6 points of necrotic damage per round.

A living or undead creature that touches you as outlined above is healed of a number of hit points equal to your level. A creature can only benefit once per round, but several different creatures can be healed in the same round, and you still only lose one spell slot that round. You cannot heal yourself in this fashion, but you can deliberately touch another to give them the benefit as an action, bonus action, or reaction. You can touch another to deliver a touch spell without triggering this ability.

Pacifist

It is against your nature to do violence to other creatures, even simple bugs, requiring an act of will for you to do so. You cannot take attacks of opportunity. When you have more than half hit points, you have disadvantage on attack rolls. This allows you to devote more attention to protecting yourself from the violence of others, giving disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you and giving you advantage on Constitution saves to maintain concentration.

Phantom Arm

You lost one arm in a freak accident. The arm has never re-grown, and no power short of a god’s direct intervention can restore it or make any magic or mechanical replacement function in its place. You cannot wield a weapon or shield in this hand. You cannot wield two-handed weapons. You can ignore the somatic components of spells, and your missing arm functions as a spell focus for you. You learn the Mage Hand cantrip.

Possessed

You are possessed by a spirit that is an Aberration, Celestial, Dragon, Fey, Fiend, or Undead, hereafter called your spirit. Choosing spirit with an outlook similar to yours makes for less conflict, but also less interesting powers.

You and your spirit can communicate mentally. Normally you are in control, but the spirit can attempt to seize control by proposing a course of action. If you refuse to act on this, the spirit inflicts necrotic damage on you equal to your level. Once your spirit inflicts damage this way, it cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

You gain advantage on all Charisma saving throws and on all saving throws against spells and abilities used by creatures of the same creature type as your spirit.

Provocative

Your appearance elicits desire in all creatures, no matter how they try to conceal it. This can desire can be physical or social as the situation and creature warrants. Foes gain advantage on Athletics checks to grapple you. Your provocative nature gives you advantage on Charisma checks. If you abandon a creature you have interacted with, rudely ignore their advances, or fail your very first Charisma check against a particular creature this day, the target of the check feels spurned and its attitude changes to hostile.

Psychography

You are constantly writing messages from sources beyond your ken.

Your hand moves by itself, writing messages or drawing pictures, especially in times of stress. If you have no writing implement, you will mimic writing in empty air. You need not look at your hand or otherwise focus attention to do this, only your hand is involved. One of your hands must constantly be reserved for this and cannot be used to hold a weapon, shield, holy symbol, or other equipment except for a writing tool, with one exception—it can still be used for somatic spell components. You can write in any language, even ones you don't know, but have no special ability to read languages, even text you've written yourself.

By taking a minute to write out a text on a specific topic, you can retry an Intelligence check to recall information with advantage.

Rapturous

You are addicted to magic.

You are poisoned at all times except when under the effects of a spell or concentrating on a spell. You gain advantage on Constitution saves.

Reverse Aging

You perversely age backwards. You begin your career as an ancient, and grow younger as you gain experience. You behave oddly for your age, suffering disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks. In addition you gain benefits and penalties depending on your level. These are not cumulative, use only the effect listed for your level.

At level 1-5 you are old. You suffer disadvantage on Perception checks and your speed is reduced by 5 ft., but gain advantage on Intelligence and Wisdom saves.
At level 6-10 you are middle aged. You gain advantage on Constitution saves.
At level 11-15 you are young adult. You gain advantage on Dexterity saves.
At level 16-20, you become a child. Your speed is reduced by 5 ft., but you gain advantage on Dexterity saves and Wisdom (Perception) checks.

Solipsism

You are only half in this world. Not only do you have a hard time taking the real world seriously, the real world also has trouble interacting with you.

You suffer disadvantage on the Investigation skill and with all tools. You have advantage on skill checks and saving throws to avoid environmental dangers and traps. Environmental dangers and traps suffer disadvantage on attacks against you. This includes spells and magical effects generated by traps or the environment, but not spells cast by creatures that create a dangerous environment. If an Investigation or tool proficiency check would let you avoid a danger created by a trap or the environment, such as an illusion, you do not suffer disadvantage on the check and instead have advantage.

Somnambulism

The line between being asleep and awake is not at all clear to you. You walk around when sleeping, and may fall asleep when walking around.

You suffer bouts of somnambulism both when asleep and awake. Whenever you roll a "1" on an attack roll or skill check, you momentarily fall asleep, move your speed in a random direction, and then wake up. This is in addition to any normal movement for the round. You cannot take any voluntary actions when sleepwalking, but have your normal defenses. You do not trigger attacks of opportunity and can move through enemy occupied spaces, but must end movement in an unoccupied space. If somnambulism would move you into obviously impassible terrain (such as a wall or open pit) you instead move along the edge of that terrain.

You can sleep in armor or on uncomfortable ground at no penalty, and even sleep standing up. Your Wisdom (Perception) skill functions normally while you are asleep.

Squeamish

You cannot stand to see your actions cause the ruin of another’s flesh, spill blood, or cause burns and scars. If you deal hp damage to a target within 30 feet of you, you are frightened of that creature until the end of your next turn. Causing damage to Constructs, Elementals, and Undead do not trigger this reaction.

Your sensitive nature does make you more alert to the needs of the injured, granting you advantage on Wisdom (Medicine) checks. When you use an ability that rolls dice to heal Hit Points, you add one point to each die of healing.

Turmoil

Your inner demons are stronger than the magic of others.

You suffer disadvantage on Wisdom and Charisma saves. When you suffer the Frightened condition, you are afraid of yourself rather than any other creature and can thus move freely, but your speed is halved. When you fail a Wisdom or Charisma save, you become Frightened rather than suffering the normal effect. The duration remains the same. If you are allowed additional Wisdom or Charisma saves in later rounds to negate an effect, you do not suffer disadvantage on these checks and you are always allowed to do such an additional save.

Unassuming

Where others are lions, you are a mouse.

Whenever another creature is using the Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate skills, you cannot use any of these skills at the same time and for the next minute. This applies even if you began your skill use first but are interrupted. You gain advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks.