Acolyte 5e
You have spent your life in the service of a temple to a specific god or pantheon of gods. You act as an intermediary between the realm of the holy and the mortal world, performing sacred rites and offering sacrifices in order to conduct worshipers into the presence of the divine. You are not necessarily a cleric—performing sacred rites is not the same thing as channeling divine power.
Choose a god, a pantheon of gods, or some other quasi-divine being, and work with your DM to detail the nature of your religious service. The Gods of the Multiverse section contains a sample pantheon, from the Forgotten Realms setting. Were you a lesser functionary in a temple, raised from childhood to assist the priests in the sacred rites? Or were you a high priest who suddenly experienced a call to serve your god in a different way? Perhaps you were the leader of a small cult outside of any established temple structure, or even an occult group that served a fiendish master that you now deny.
Source: Player’s Handbook
Tool Proficiencies: None
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: A holy symbol (a gift to you when you entered the priesthood), a prayer book or prayer wheel, 5 sticks of incense, vestments, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 15gp
Features
Shelter of the Faithful: As an acolyte, you command the respect of those who share your faith, and you can perform the religious ceremonies of your deity. You and your adventuring companions can expect to receive free healing and care at a temple, shrine, or other established presence of your faith, though you must provide any material components needed for spells. Those who share your religion will support you (but only you) at a modest lifestyle.
You might also have ties to a specific temple dedicated to your chosen deity or pantheon, and you have a residence there. This could be the temple where you used to serve, if you remain on good terms with it, or a temple where you have found a new home. While near your temple, you can call upon the priests for assistance, provided the assistance you ask for is not hazardous and you remain in good standing with your temple.
Suggested Characteristics
Acolytes are shaped by their experience in temples or other religious communities. Their study of the history and tenets of their faith and their relationships to temples, shrines, or hierarchies affect their mannerisms and ideals. Their flaws might be some hidden hypocrisy or heretical idea, or an ideal or bond taken to an extreme.
Acolyte Personality Traits
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I idolize a particular hero of my faith, and constantly refer to that person's deeds and example. |
| 2 | I can find common ground between the fiercest enemies, empathizing with them and always working toward peace. |
| 3 | I see omens in every event and action. The gods try to speak to us, we just need to listen. |
| 4 | Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude. |
| 5 | I quote (or misquote) sacred texts and proverbs in almost every situation. |
| 6 | I am tolerant (or intolerant) of other faiths and respect (or condemn) the worship of other gods. |
| 7 | I've enjoyed fine food, drink, and high society among my temple's elite. Rough living grates on me. |
| 8 | I've spent so long in the temple that I have little practical experience dealing with people in the outside world. |
Acolyte Ideals
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tradition. The ancient traditions of worship and sacrifice must be preserved and upheld. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good) |
| 3 | Change. We must help bring about the changes the gods are constantly working in the world. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Power. I hope to one day rise to the top of my faith's religious hierarchy. (Lawful) |
| 5 | Faith. I trust that my deity will guide my actions. I have faith that if I work hard, things will go well. (Lawful) |
| 6 | Aspiration. I seek to prove myself worthy of my god's favor by matching my actions against their teachings. (Any) |
Acolyte Bonds
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I would die to recover an ancient relic of my faith that was lost long ago. |
| 2 | I will someday get revenge on the corrupt temple hierarchy who branded me a heretic. |
| 3 | I owe my life to the priest who took me in when my parents died. |
| 4 | Everything I do is for the common people. |
| 5 | I will do anything to protect the temple where I served. |
| 6 | I seek to preserve a sacred text that my enemies consider heretical and seek to destroy. |
Acolyte Flaws
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely. |
| 2 | I put too much trust in those who wield power within my temple's hierarchy. |
| 3 | My piety sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess faith in my god. |
| 4 | I am inflexible in my thinking. |
| 5 | I am suspicious of strangers and expect the worst of them. |
| 6 | Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life. |
Should You Be an Acolyte?
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
The Player’s Handbook backgrounds all share some problems, namely that they don’t stack up well against other backgrounds printed more recently that come with feats. Acolyte is no exception, but has even larger problems beyond a suspect feature in Shelter the Faithful- its skills aren’t great, it gets only bonus languages, and while its equipment package is somewhat interesting, it can’t make up for the larger issues.
Features: Shelter the Faithful
Shelter the Faithful as a feature may be about as narrow as a background feature can get; you get a tiny financial saving when staying at temples dedicated to those who share your faith. D&D isn’t always staying in one place, and there are often a myriad of religions out there, none of which may tie to your faith. Pilgrims are a common type of acolyte character, somebody who is spreading the gospel out in the world where their religion isn’t that well established, and in those circumstances, this does literally nothing.
Even when you do benefit from it, the total net outcome is gold savings and the potential of healing services should they not require pricey reagents. Healing services usually equate to gold- and gold isn’t enough for a background feature, even in the rare instances where you’re regularly getting Lesser Restorations for free.
Skills, Equipment, and Other Proficiencies
Insight is a fine enough skill that gives you insight into motivations and general vibes, but religion is the kind of skill I’d expect to use a handful of times per campaign. When it does come up, its not typically pushing events forward, instead offering background lore or puzzle hints.
Languages aren’t nearly enough, either- language barriers aren’t a common roadblock DMs lean on as they’re binary problems with usually uninspiring solutions. Even in a world with multiple commonly spoken languages, the whole of the party usually covers as many languages as they need from their species, and two other languages of your choice won’t regularly matter, especially when stacked against tool or other unique proficiencies.
I do think the equipment section has some unique items that can pop up from time to time; incense tends to pop up as a niche tool for making fragrance or creating a small amount of smoke, and the prayer book or wheel is a unique object you can either write with perform basic rituals within a performative fashion. You can always just buy these, though.
Seek Guidance Elsewhere
The tables are a great place to start for character-building, but I wouldn’t advise taking anything else from Acolyte. Acolyte isn’t justifying its purpose on your sheet. You’ll want to customize this using the Background Customization rules if you really are committed to being an Acolyte.
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