Part 3: Backgrounds ☰
Sometimes – perhaps because your background calls for it, or maybe because you decided you wanted your character to have some extra flavor, or possibly the GM wants to add a bit of spice to a room’s contents and description – a situation calls for a couple of extra items, or a token or trinket that adds just a touch of extra life, something to inspire you and get you thinking about your character’s life before they went on their adventures.
The following table contains a list of 100 sample trinkets that can add some flavor to any character, should any player or GM feel the desire to do so. You can roll to decide which trinket(s) your character gets, or simply pick whichever one(s) you like. It is recommended that you have no more than 3.
| d100 | Trinket |
|---|---|
| 1 | A bloody set of dice or deck of cards |
| 2 | A small vial full of several small bones from various animals |
| 3 | The skull of a small animal |
| 4 | A hamster that you swear on your life is not of this world |
| 5 | A broken dagger that sometimes glows slightly |
| 6 | A gift from a former lover |
| 7 | Your favorite toy from your childhood |
| 8 | The deed to your family home |
| 9 | A scrap of cloth from the banner of a country you once fought for |
| 10 | A hand-drawn map of a city you used to live in |
| 11 | A document giving directions to a specific location near a small town, along with a sketch of a peculiar landmark |
| 12 | An inaccurate star chart |
| 13 | A pipe that blows bubbles |
| 14 | A feather from an animal you’ve never seen before |
| 15 | A toy soldier |
| 16 | A map of the known world ripped in half |
| 17 | A necklace of dragon teeth |
| 18 | A lute with 1d4 broken strings |
| 19 | A single cracked die |
| 20 | A small bell with no clapper |
| 21 | A small vial full of a thick, black, viscous fluid |
| 22 | A crystal in a perfect teardrop shape |
| 23 | Your family’s signet ring |
| 24 | A handful of mosaic tiles |
| 25 | A doll that’s in a slightly different position every time you look at it |
| 26 | A vial containing trace amounts of Aetherite |
| 27 | A holy symbol of an unknown god |
| 28 | Your favorite blanket when you were young |
| 29 | A token (lock of hair, scale, etc.) you took from your first Sentient kill |
| 30 | A torn page with unreadable handwriting |
| 31 | A book gifted to you by a relative you only saw once |
| 32 | A doll sewn to look like a little girl with a pin sticking out of the heart |
| 33 | A 7-leaf clover |
| 34 | A wooden toy sword |
| 35 | A Tiny mechanical Beast |
| 36 | A set of marbles |
| 37 | A map of an island marked with an X with the word LIES written across it |
| 38 | A bag of various Sentient teeth |
| 39 | A mask from a play you were once in |
| 40 | An iron pendant in the shape of an upside-down star in a circle |
| 41 | A half-melted wad of wax |
| 42 | A rusty iron key shaped like no key you've ever seen before |
| 43 | A necklace decorated with animal bones |
| 44 | A bloodstained silver whistle |
| 45 | A diary in a language you can’t read |
| 46 | A brooch depicting a family crest you don’t recognize |
| 47 | A coin from a currency you have never seen used |
| 48 | A monster talon tied to the end of a string |
| 49 | A bone flute |
| 50 | A cap that is very fashionable in a country hundreds of miles away |
| d100 | Trinket |
|---|---|
| 51 | A toy monster |
| 52 | An exotic dead bug that you have never seen another member of |
| 53 | A perfect bird skeleton |
| 54 | A heavily-annotated map of the surrounding country |
| 55 | A shard of a sword blade |
| 56 | A Common-Elvish dictionary |
| 57 | A set of bloody cambric undergarments |
| 58 | An unworked stone that is the striking likeness of an old man’s face |
| 59 | A rabbit’s foot |
| 60 | A stick of incense that never loses its sweet smell |
| 61 | A small metal skull |
| 62 | An invitation to a party sent to you by mistake |
| 63 | An intact set of animal jaws |
| 64 | A painting showing the exact and perfect likeness of a Goblin noble |
| 65 | A pearl-handled dagger with an inscription that reads “Never give up without a fight” |
| 66 | A blunted and severely chipped rusty sword |
| 67 | A music box that plays a haunting tune when the handle is rotated |
| 68 | A tiny brass cage and mechanical bird |
| 69 | A bloodstained peace treaty written in Drake |
| 70 | A map depicting an unfamiliar island, annotated in unreadable handwriting |
| 71 | A pouch of various animal parts |
| 72 | A wooden toy your father carved for you |
| 73 | A pair of socks your mother sowed for you |
| 74 | A broken mechanical eye |
| 75 | An iron arrow too large to be fired from any bow you know of |
| 76 | A law officer’s badge snapped cleanly in half |
| 77 | A small pair of magnets that only attract to each other, quite entertainingly |
| 78 | A pair of spectacles with no lenses |
| 79 | A storybook with several pages missing |
| 80 | A flask with your family crest on it |
| 81 | A gold pocket watch stopped at 4:01 with the words “Don’t forget” etched inside |
| 82 | A monster eye suspended in a jar of liquid that you swear you’ve caught looking at you |
| 83 | A small silver pin depicting a pair of crossed arrows |
| 84 | A medallion depicting a snarling wolf |
| 85 | A small panther carved from obsidian |
| 86 | An empty, sweet-smelling bottle |
| 87 | A ripped page of ingredients for a weak alchemical concoction |
| 88 | The rusted claw to a mechanical dragon |
| 89 | Several pages of strange scribbles that impart a growing sense of dread the longer you look at them |
| 90 | A writ of patronage from a long-dead noble |
| 91 | A locket containing a picture of someone you (don’t) know |
| 92 | The hilt to a broken sword from an unknown culture |
| 93 | A decorated snuffbox, the smell of which reminds you of someone you once knew |
| 94 | A rose that has gone several months without water but is still healthy |
| 95 | A wanted poster of someone you used to know |
| 96 | A ceremonial Dwarvish dagger |
| 97 | A set of pliers too rusted to function |
| 98 | The cape of a high-ranking soldier |
| 99 | An intact but withered monster claw |
| 100 | A handful of various military medals |