Noble (Background)

From Player's Handbook, page 135; and Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, page 204.

Overview
You understand wealth, power, and privilege. You carry a noble title, and your family owns land, collects taxes, and wields significant political influence. You might be a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, a former merchant just elevated to the nobility, or a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could be an honest, hard-working landowner who cares deeply about the people who live and work on your land, keenly aware of your responsibility to them.

Work with your DM to come up with an appropriate title and determine how much authority that title carries. A noble title doesn't stand on its own — it's connected to an entire family, and whatever title you hold, you will pass it down to your own children. Not only do you need to determine your noble title, but you should also work with the DM to describe your family and their influence on you.

Is your family old and established, or was your title only recently bestowed? How much influence do they wield, and over what area? What kind of reputation does your family have among the other aristocrats of the region? How do the common people regard them?

What's your position in the family? Are you the heir to the head of the family? Have you already inherited the title? How do you feel about that responsibility? Or are you so far down the line of inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don't embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career? Are you in your family's good graces, or shunned by the rest of your family?

Does your family have a coat of arms? An insignia you might wear on a signet ring? Particular colors you wear all the time? An animal you regard as a symbol of your line or even a spiritual member of the family?

These details help establish your family and your title as features of the world of the campaign.


 * Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion
 * Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set
 * Languages: One of your choice
 * Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a signet ring, a scroll of pedigree, and a purse containing 25 gp

Feature: Position of Privilege
Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to.

Variant Feature: Retainers
If your character has a noble background, you may select this background feature instead of Position of Privilege.

You have the service of three retainers loyal to your family. These retainers can be attendants or messengers, and one might be a majordomo. Your retainers are commoners who can perform mundane tasks for you, but they do not fight for you, will not follow you into obviously dangerous areas (such as dungeons), and will leave if they are frequently endangered or abused.

Variant: Knight
A knighthood is among the lowest noble titles in most societies, but it can be a path to higher status. If you wish to be a knight, choose the Retainers feature instead of the Position of Privilege feature. One of your commoner retainers is replaced by a noble who serves as your squire, aiding you in exchange for training on his or her own path to knighthood. Your two remaining retainers might include a groom to care for your horse and a servant who polishes your armor (and even helps you put it on).

As an emblem of chivalry and the ideals of courtly love, you might include among your equipment a banner or other token from a noble lord or lady to whom you have given your heart — in a chaste sort of devotion. (This person could be your bond.)

Baldur's Gate
(Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus)

The patriars of Baldur's Gate live in the Upper City, where they host grand galas and flaunt cosmopolitan fashions, but are walled off from the poverty and squalor of the less fortunate districts and their neighborhoods. Although they might visit prosperous Bloomridge to try a fashionable restaurant or boutique, or watch a spectacle at the Oasis Theater, the patriars have little reason to venture into the dirtier, more dangerous parts of the city. If they do, it is generally as thrill-seeking tourists or enclosed by a retinue of armed guards, not as friends or neighbors. As a result, many patriars are at once acutely attuned to the nuances of royal courts half a continent away and shockingly ignorant of what life is like for the poor outside their own doorsteps.

This combination of worldly savvy and local blindness characterizes almost all the nobility of Baldur's Gate. As a result, for those who wish to play patriars, the Patriar feature below replaces the Position and Privilege feature of the noble background. Those who wish to use the background's standard feature might have gained their standing in Baldur's Gate from business rather than inheritance.

Baldur's Gate Feature: Patriar
The effects of a Baldur's Gate feature can be used only while the character is in Baldur's Gate — though, at the DM's discretion, they might have applicable effects in situations similar to those in Baldur's Gate.

As a member of one of the elite families of Baldur's Gate, you may pass through city gates without paying tolls, mingle among the Gate's nobility unquestioned, and impress those on the lookout for wealthy patrons. You are welcome in the Upper City and may stay there after dark without being harassed or evicted. Your word is accepted over others' without question, and any corruption among guards or government officials tends to work in your favor, not against you — at least until you make some effort to expose it.

Suggested Characteristics
Nobles are born and raised to a very different lifestyle than most people ever experience, and their personalities reflect that upbringing. A noble title comes with a plethora of bonds — responsibilities to family, to other nobles (including the sovereign), to the people entrusted to the family's care, or even to the title itself. But this responsibility is often a good way to undermine a noble.

Personality Traits

 * My eloquent flattery makes everyone I talk to feel like the most wonderful and important person in the world.
 * The common folk love me for my kindness and generosity.
 * No one could doubt by looking at my regal bearing that I am a cut above the unwashed masses.
 * I take great pains to always look my best and follow the latest fashions.
 * I don't like to get my hands dirty, and I won't be caught dead in unsuitable accommodations.
 * Despite my noble birth, I do not place myself above other folk. We all have the same blood.
 * My favor, once lost, is lost forever.
 * If you do me an injury, I will crush you, ruin your name, and salt your fields.

Ideals

 * Respect. Respect is due to me because of my position, but all people regardless of station deserve to be treated with dignity. (Good)
 * Responsibility. It is my duty to respect the authority of those above me, just as those below me must respect mine. (Lawful)
 * Independence. I must prove that I can handle myself without the coddling of my family. (Chaotic)
 * Power. If I can attain more power, no one will tell me what to do. (Evil)
 * Family. Blood runs thicker than water. (Any)
 * Noble Obligation. It is my duty to protect and care for the people beneath me. (Good)

Bonds

 * I will face any challenge to win the approval of my family.
 * My house's alliance with another noble family must be sustained at all costs.
 * Nothing is more important than the other members of my family.
 * I am in love with the heir of a family that my family despises.
 * My loyalty to my sovereign is unwavering.
 * The common folk must see me as a hero of the people.

Flaws

 * I secretly believe that everyone is beneath me.
 * I hide a truly scandalous secret that could ruin my family forever.
 * I too often hear veiled insults and threats in every word addressed to me, and I'm quick to anger.
 * I have an insatiable desire for carnal pleasures.
 * In fact, the world does revolve around me.
 * By my words and actions, I often bring shame to my family.