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Background: Private Investigator

Yeah, I know there’s already an Investigator variant on SCAG’s City Watch background. But oh well I made a this!

Private Investigator

Many of your kind are either lapsed criminals or lapsed lawmen. Now both types sneer at the mention of your name. To the cops, you’re a crook who catches other crooks. To the cons, you’re a sellout with a get-out-of-jail-free card. But you have and need contacts on both sides. Whatever your distant past, your new vocation defines you. You bring lawbreakers to justice – sometimes by less-than-legal means.

You have an eye for detail, a nose for trouble, and a taste for vice. Why aren’t you part of an official police force? Or – why did you turn a new leaf? Or maybe you have another reason for plying such a dangerous trade.

Skill Proficiencies Investigation, and one of the following: Insight, Perception, Persuasion, or Stealth

Tool Proficiencies Disguise kit, Thieves' tools

Equipment A set of dark common clothes including a long coat, a set of manacles, a pack of smokes, a belt pouch containing 10 gp, a "Wanted" poster (possibly your own), and (choose one) a disguise kit or thieves' tools.

Feature: Shakedown

Sometimes people just won’t talk. You know how to loosen those stubborn tongues.

You can roll Persuasion or Intimidation checks with advantage; but if you fail, your target immediately turns hostile, no matter their usual temperament. You may use this feature a number of times per day equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

The Mark That Got Away

Rare is that PI with the perfect record. Maybe you were still green when you tried to bring them in; maybe you were double-crossed; maybe you brought the perp to trial, but they slipped away on a technicality. Whatever the case, you have that one case you never closed, that one jailbird that you never caged.

d10 Perp

A corrupt CEO

A serial killer

A phantom thief

A spy

A slaver

A smuggler

A con artist

A poacher

A cult leader

A robber baron

Suggested Characteristics

You’re nosy, suspicious, and probably dour. But you have a good excuse for your abrasive tendencies; after all, you’ve seen the worst of people in all walks of life. That changes a person.

d6 Personality Trait

I have a constant melodramatic internal monologue. Sometimes, that internal monologue becomes an external monologue.

I assume everything’s a conspiracy.

I keep a dossier on literally everyone I meet: friends, enemies, family, some strangers.

Sometimes I’ll give a fake name out of habit.

I need to blow my earnings on debauchery between cases. If you don’t, was it really a success?

Never knock when you can look for the back door instead.

d6 Ideal

(Justice) There’s a difference between what’s legal and what’s just. You can’t always do what’s right if you stick too close to the letter of the law. (Good)

(Money) A job’s a job. I just happen to be good at this one. (Neutral)

(Judge, Jury, Executioner) Good and evil’s totally subjective. I’m just here to make sure people get what they deserve. (Chaotic)

(Leverage) It’s nice to have dirt on people. (Evil)

(Thrills) Untangling knots of intrigue is the only thing that breaks through my ennui. (Chaotic)

(Vigilantism) Royals, guards, merchants – they can all be paid off. If you have a problem, you need to take care of it yourself. (Chaotic)

d6 Bond

One of my marks played me for a sap – and I’m still head over heels for them.

I’m in this business to atone for my past mistakes.

One of the jerks I put away escaped some time ago. I caught them once; it’s up to me to do it again.

I used to have a partner. We may have gone our separate ways, but I still hold them dear.

This one cold case gnaws at me every day.

I’ve lost touch with my family… but I still love them. The rift grows steadily wider and more painful, but I have no idea how to close it.

d6 Flaw

I’m gloomy. Irrepressibly, sometimes laughably gloomy.

I’m a slob.

I sneer in the face of authority – even when we’re on the same side.

I avoid forming attachments.

People are guilty until proven innocent.

I ask way too many questions – even when I’m not working.

#d&d 5e #d&d homebrew #5e homebrew #background #private investigator #i spent way too long on this lol #sorry i'm working on like 100 other things #i might plug them here later #if i ever finish them D:#film noir #i always underestimate how much work goes into making a background #it's a whole lot of flavor #no math #generally

Me right now ... and also literally any time I’m asked to do math for any reason whatsoever.

(Link)

#i was told #there would be #NO MATH