Feral

Lommán’s Bonanza of Backgrounds: Feral

“I am Tarzan, King of the Apes, mighty hunter, mighty fighter. In all the jungle there is none so great.”
-Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes

Adult Material

The following material contains sexual content, and may not be appropriate for all groups and/or players. Please do not use this material in a game without approval from the GM as well as the other players.

Playtest Version

This material is still in the process of being playtested. It is fully usable as written, but may be refined or changed in later versions. As always, this content should only be used with GM permission.

You were literally raised by animals. You thrive in the wild places and know how to rely on yourself and on nature for whatever you need. Clothing seems like an unnecessary contrivance after spending so much of your life without more than a cloak to keep the wind or rain or blazing sun at bay and to use as a blanket in the cold nights. Over the years you came across bits and pieces of equipment lost by civilized folk which might have sparked curiosity in what sort of creatures make such things. But for whatever reason, you have now come into contact with other humanoids and learned how to speak with them.

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism Kit, Woodcarver’s Tools
Equipment: A rough fur or feather cloak, a kit you are proficient with, a keepsake that reminds you of your adoptive “parents,” and a pouch containing 10 gp worth of precious metal nuggets.

Raised in the Wild

As an infant or toddler, likely earlier than your earliest memories, you ended up helpless in the wild and some group of social animals recognized you as a cub of some sort and supported you as you grew. Your childhood was spent within the pack or pride or troop or herd or flock of the creatures that saved your life. You knew you were different from them, it is obvious, but you were not an outcast. Perhaps your original parents died in some accident. Perhaps you were lost as a town evacuated in advance of a hostile army. Perhaps you were lost to another plane briefly and reappeared in some distant, wild place. You might perhaps want to discover your origins, but to you, the animals who cared for you are your real parents. Choose the type of animal you were taken in by or roll on the following table.

d12	Parent Animal Type
1	Wolves
2	Apes
3	Lions
4	Hyenas
5	Horses
6	Elephants
7	Antelope
8	Giant Squirrels
9	Bears
10	Sheep
11	Ostriches
12	Monkeys

Feature: State of Nature

When you have access to areas of nature (not including farms or other areas subject to consistent working, but including parks that are left to grow on their own) and a climate in which you are comfortable nude or in only simple fur cloaks or the like, you always have a comfortable lifestyle and any natural, wild (untrained) beasts in the area become familiar with you and have a positive or neutral attitude toward you so long as neither you nor companions in your presence accost them.

Suggested Characteristics

If you have a grasp of etiquette, manners, traditional scholastic pursuits and so on, it is entirely due to diligent study upon encountering civilization in some form. More likely you are only vaguely aware of such matters due to observing them in others. Does it bother you that you are often considered crude and uncivilized or do you take pride in your lifestyle and treat it as equal or better to that of city folk? What habits and quirks might you have picked up from the animals who raised you?

d8	Personality Trait
1	I am as blunt and unmannered with my compliments as with my insults.
2	I like to trade lessons with others. I teach them and they teach me.
3	I am studious about language, but reluctant to use it too much in case I do it wrong.
4	I grin when I’m angry. Showing my teeth.
5	I never turn down a meal.
6	I don’t like to sleep indoors.
7	I collect small shiny things. Value doesn’t matter, just now neat they look.
8	I don’t like to see children in danger. Orphans especially.

d6	Ideal
1	Freedom. No person should ever be tamed by another.
2	Simplicity. It is better to wear just your own skin, own just what you carry, and speak just for yourself.
3	Curiosity. Every place has its own ways and things you could learn from them—both skills to attain and failings to avoid.
4	Nature. All these stacked stones and shrouds of fabric are foolishness. Animals do just fine without them.
5	Nonmaterialism. Garments, decorations, fine food, houses…these are all just ornamental facades and say nothing about the person behind them.
6	Might. Others will challenge you. It is best to be the strongest when they do.

d6	Bond
1	“Do not harm the things and creatures which are mine.”
2	I am a lost heir to a noble family, but I must be a great enough hero to impress them when we meet.
3	Animals are just differently shaped people who don’t talk much.
4	Someday I will find the poachers who attacked my family.
5	This society measures strength by wealth and I have to appear strong to protect those I care about.
6	Destruction of nature is a vile crime that must be punished.

d6	Flaw
1	I am exceptionally bad at etiquette and manners.
2	My ideas of social dominance and sexual dominance are highly entangled.
3	Money is a new idea to me. I’m still getting the hang of it.
4	Sex is just a form of emotional hygiene that anyone close with one another ought to be able to do as freely as washing your face or combing your hair.
5	I assume anyone in clothing is untrustworthy until I’ve spoken with them without their coverings.
6	I feel lost and disoriented if I don’t have a tight-knit social group.

Legal Appendix

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System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

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