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| - Characters who originate on the inner planes often have completely different origins than those from the material plane. Seriously, every single elemental and genie is itself immortal. Every single mephit is also potentially immortal. So backgrounds for mortals from the war-torn material plane don't necessarily fit immortals from the war-ravaged inner planes. Still, many do. The elemental planes have Fallen Nations, some of which even had Royalty, and whose supporters sometimes form a Resistance. They have Apprentices and masters. They have War, and the wars produce Profiteers and Veterans and Refugees. And, of course, complete Amnesia is as common an occurance on the inner planes as it is on the material. But there are also a bunch of things they can do that people from the material plane
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| abstract
| - Characters who originate on the inner planes often have completely different origins than those from the material plane. Seriously, every single elemental and genie is itself immortal. Every single mephit is also potentially immortal. So backgrounds for mortals from the war-torn material plane don't necessarily fit immortals from the war-ravaged inner planes. Still, many do. The elemental planes have Fallen Nations, some of which even had Royalty, and whose supporters sometimes form a Resistance. They have Apprentices and masters. They have War, and the wars produce Profiteers and Veterans and Refugees. And, of course, complete Amnesia is as common an occurance on the inner planes as it is on the material. But there are also a bunch of things they can do that people from the material plane usually can't. Some of these backgrounds are also apppropriate for other nonmaterial creatures, such as fiends. Like the backgrounds in Races of War, many PCs won't want to take a background off a list, and instead will want to write their own. They should get some ability similar in power to these if they do so. Matching the original background to whatever one of these is closest and just handing out the ability is fine. Many PCs, though, will pick one of these backgrounds, either because the player is inspired to put a twist on one of these or is too uncreative to come up with something else, and there's nothing wrong with either.Called Servant
You were minding your own business on your home plane one day, when BAM, you find yourself on the material plane. You try to move, but don't get very far before you run into an invisible force field. There's a mortal nearby who offers to make a deal with you where you'll be let go in exchange for service. You took that, and for some reason stuck around on the Material Plane afterwards. Maybe you were trapped by something, maybe you're hanging about for revenge. Effect: Called Servants can return to their home plane once per ever as a standard action, as long as they are no longer doing whatever task they were called for (PCs should be from the beginning). Knowledge (the Planes) is always a class skill for you, and you get a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks with called creatures called by someone else. You're going to meet people who knew the person who called you, or people opposed to the task you were called to do. Since you may have changed sides since your calling, some of them will like you and some won't, and you won't necessarily know which is which.To Serve in Creation
You were a minion of a genie or other powerful critter of the elemental planes. Now you broke into the material plane and got free. Effect: You have enormous experience in genie culture looking at it from below. You know genie ettiquette extremely well, and so gain a +2 bonus to checks to Bluff genies and to negotiate with bound genies (see the Tome of Fiends). If you were a minion of something other than a genie, you gain these benefits against whoever your masters were, instead of genies. Bluff is a class skill for you no matter what you do.Strange Aeons
You're old. You might only be older than the elf king, or you might be old enough to not trust this newfangled "dirt." The point is, you're old, and you've done a little bit of everything in your past. Where you come from isn't nearly as important as where you've been, and where you've been includes most of the cosmos. Effect: To take this background, you must be immortal. You've picked up a whole bunch of obscure knowledge over your lifetime, and so have the Bardic Knowledge ability of a 1st level core D&D bard. You can also start with as many professions as you want, for free. Also, you at least have an acquaintance in common with half of the important immortal NPCs in the campaign that you haven't met, and know the same people as many of the mortals. Your old friends and enemies will show up during the campaign to beg for your help or thwart you.Planar Rampage
Some foolish mortal mage called you to the material plane, and you broke out of their trap and killed them. Effect: When you were pulled to the material plane, all your cool stuff got left on the other side. So you don't get or need to pick out starting equipment. You start with a club, dagger, or quarterstaff if you don't have natural weapons, leather armor if you need it, and similar trivial equipment. You also have enemies, who happen to like the people you've killed on your way out. You're a generally suspicious person, so you get +2 Sense Motive. Also, Disguise and Hide are class skills for you whatever you do.Eternal Sleeper
You just woke up after a long slumber. Now the world's all different, mortals work metals and all your old friends are gone. Effect: You must be immortal to take this background without a plausible excuse. You share one language in common with modern creatures; all other languages you speak are dead languages. But, since you speak so many dead languages, you gain a +2 bonus on Decipher Script checks, and Knowledge (History) is a class skill for you no matter what you do. Also you may have been in some of the dungeons you will visit back before they were dungeons.
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