Background: Doctor

You are a well-trained and studied healer. Your knowledge of anatomical science allows you to cure diseases, mend injuries, and nurse the ailing back to health, even if you lack the ability to cast healing magic. Your talents might bring you fame and renown, or you might be regarded with suspicion by the common people.

When you choose this background, work with your DM to determine the role and prominence of doctors in the campaign. Is knowledge of nonmagical madicine common or rare? Are you one of many members of a respected medical association, or are you one of a rare few individuals educated in medicine? Were you self-taught, apprenticed to a village healer, or educated at a medical academy?

Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, herbalism kit

Equipment: A piece of doctor's equipment (a scalpel, a pouch of aromatic herbs, or a small mirror), a healer's kit, a token of appreciation given to you by a patient, a set of traveler's clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

Specialty

As a doctor, you are likely trained in one particular field of medicine. Roll a d8 or choose one of the following options from the table below to determine your specialty.

d8 Specialty 1 Apothecary 2 Battlefield medic 3 Dentist 4 Folk healer d8 Specialty 5 Herbalist 6 Nurse 7 Surgeon 8 Veterinarian

Feature: House Calls

Your talents make you highly sought after, particularly in regions or communities with little access to medicine. Those who recognize you as a doctor may request your services, and may offer you a reward in return, should you choose to provide them. You might be able to receive free or discounted food and lodging or gain access to normally off-limits locations by leveraging your position as a healer, if your services are needed.

Suggested Characteristics

Doctors are defined by their ability to heal the sick, an ability which shapes their personalities and characteristics in many ways. All doctors are united by their desire to heal, although some view this ability as a means to an end rather than a gift in itself.

d8 Personality Trait 1 I am sympathetic to anyone in pain. 2 I have a tendency to become focused on my work to the exclusion of everything else. 3 When someone is injured, I will drop all other responsibilities to tend to them. 4 I have seen too much horror to be affected by scenes of suffering. 5 I am skeptical of magic, instead trusting in science. 6 I like to explain my theories of medicine to anyone who will listen. 7 I am constantly taking note of potential signs and symptoms in the people I meet. 8 I take every opportunity I can get to wash my hands.

d6 Ideal 1 Empathy. All I care about is the relief my skills bring to others. (Good) 2 Change. Those who seek to cure must be as adaptable as those who seek to harm. (Chaotic) 3 Respect. The sick and dying deserve to be treated with dignity. (Good) 4 Greed. Those in need of my services will pay through the nose to get them. (Evil) 5 Efficiency. I must not let emotions cloud my ability to do my job. (Lawful) 6 Preservation. Life must be preserved by any means. (Any)

d6 Bond 1 I'll always remember the place where I learned my medical skills. 2 Nothing is more important than my patients. 3 I am working on a cure for the plague that decimated my home. 4 Someone I loved died of an illness. I want to spare others from that same fate. 5 I am compiling my medical discoveries in a series of tomes, which I hope will educate future generations. 6 I have a terminal disease and am trying to find a cure before it's too late.

d6 Flaw 1 I am haunted by the memories of every patient I could not save. 2 I use hard drink to numb myself to stress. 3 I am disgusted by the body's potential for filth and disease. 4 I once made a mistake that cost a patient their life. I must make sure that no one finds out. 5 I have a tendency to see my patients as opportunities rather than people. 6 I am hesitant to injure others, even in self-defense.

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