Ancestral Aspirant (Occultist Archetype)
Legacy is something that serves as a motivation for many characters. Many wish to leave behind something for future generations, but others may wish to uncover what their own ancestors left behind for them.
The latter come in a few different forms, such as those discovering a forgotten or hidden aspect of their family history for the first time, or nobles devoting their time to obsessing over the greatness of their forebearers.
Where that interest or obsession meets with occult magic, an ancestral aspirant can sometimes result, resulting in occultists that focus above all else on the psychic resonance of their ancestors’ deeds.
While some can come off as being wholly absorbed with just researching and basking in the glory of those who came before, this archetype does give them the tools to instead drawn upon that history to fuel great acts of their very own, joining the annals of their family’s heroics.
Given the focus they have on the most precious heirlooms of their family, they universally start with an implement made from the most expensive jewelry of their noble house, the “family jewels” as it were. This guarantees that they start with power over enchantment first and foremost.
Rather than read the emotions left on objects, these mystic nobles learn to sense similar emotions in others, allowing them to judge their reactions and mood with incredible ease.
What’s more, rather than have otherworldly contacts, these occultists instead draw upon much more mundane information networks, contacting other nobles magically to not only glean secrets but even set up rumor mill campaigns against their foes.
A simple archetype that makes for a more social occultist than most, this option may not always be true nobility, but they can nonetheless offer an edge in the social scene. Being guaranteed to start with the enchantment school does mean that your build is guaranteed to have an arsenal of buffs, debuffs, and control is also worth mentioning, so keep that in mind.
The thing about delving into your family secrets is that you may not like what you find. Anything from an ignoble history to dark secrets to outright villainy, which is a bit cliché, but can also be quite engaging in the right hands.
Having discovered that she is descended from a great iruxi matriarch who was alive before the fall of their people, Madaxhi is determined to find as many relics of her family and of the lizardfolk people as she can, even hiring foreign adventurers to help her reclaim her legacy.
Noticing an oddity in the archives, Alessandro has been looking deep into his family’s history, since they seem to have cropped up out of nowhere nearly a century ago, but were treated as if they had always been there. The more he delves, the more everything seems to revolve around a mysterious deck of cards.
Famed for their ales and other brews, the Boshamm family has a long and storied history, but their origins are less than noble. If it was publicly known that the family was founded by the half-human child of a ginever, a monstrous drink-obsessed carnivore, the clan would suffer under the scandal.
