1,000 Bonds Project

Simply list new bonds suitable for D&D 5E backgrounds. Not all will be appropriate to every character, but for those designing new backgrounds this thread could help provide inspiration. The bonds can be common or exotic, generic or specific.

I'll start!

1. I am responsible for, and travel with, an infant child; a relative whose family is no more.

2. I do not know my true name. I go by an alias, but seek to discover the secrets of my own past.

3. I swore an oath that I would never kill, and try my best to incapacitate or capture my foes.

4. The old patchwork vest is all you have left to remember your father by and you treasure it; likewise, you have a respect for tokens of remembering that others may not understand.

5. The statue at your home is actually your petrified sibling who you've sworn to restore to flesh.

6. Your tattoo signifies your membership in a secret fraternity of knights you presumed had all been killed off except for you.

7. I suffer from an exotic illness which forces me to eat or drink something unusual every day.

8. The birthmark on my forehead marks me as the resolution of an ancient prophecy. Whether or not that is true, people around me certainly seem to believe it.

9. I have been convicted of a crime I did not commit, and am a fugitive from my own land.

Bonded Beginnings

I really like this idea. Will hopefully post some here regularly as a personal project. Format will be a short sentence similar to 5e's with some extra fluff as the whims take me. My word choices are meant to be fairly general, so that you can specify the exact relationship with your bond/s.

10. Your significant other is in charge of a settlement or town.

Think mayor, chief/chieftess, or even royalty. How do they handle your adventuring career? Are there any unique dangers they face you can protect them from?


11. Your parent/s sold their soul/s to a devil or other such being in order to save you from a childhood illness or life threatening event.

How soon is payment due? Is there a loophole, such as a great sum of gold, or personal achievement you can undertake to save them? Or a task, such as finding another innocent to take their place?


12. A close relative is a high ranking member of a local group, such as the thieves guild or a temple.

Do they help open doors for you, or nettle you constantly to help their cause? Do they want you to join them? Why are you special enough to deserve their attention? Is the group secret or open?


13. You were recently cursed by some spellcaster, and still suffer it's effects.

This bond turns into whatever relationship you had with the one that cursed you. Did you deserve it, or believe that you were wronged? Is your curser someone in/famous or new to the area. This one is no fun if you quickly pay to cure it and move on, unless you let the DM constantly re-curse you.

14. Twins? Pfft, I'm a quintuplet!

Are you all identical? Do you all act the same, or is there some pattern to your differences? 5 Heads hath Tiamat. How did your community react to the event? Do you get along with your siblings, or bicker an fight at every meeting?

15. I am driven by nightly dreams about a mysterious figure who repeats an ominous phrase.

16. It pains me to admit it, but I am an alcoholic. If I visit an inn or tavern, I drink until I pass out.

17. Something from my childhood made me afraid of the dark. To this day, I struggle to enter a cave or other dark, enclosed space.

Missed a day, so a few more.

18. I have a faithful dog companion, who brings me all the joy in the world, and am saddened whenever I have to leave them behind.

19. My best friend will never walk again because of a battle I provoked. I choose my fights with much greater care now.

20. A loved one is a werewolf, and I will go to any lengths to protect them and their secret.

21. Once, when I nearly died, I had visions of the Nine Hells flash before my eyes. Now I seek to atone for whatever sin may have committed.

22. I hate someone, hate them so much it spreads to their family and friends. I won't kill them, but if there's any way I can make them suffer, I will.

23. I was resurrected after my untimely death, but whoever paid for the ritual remains a mystery to me, and I'm a LONG ways from home.

24. I have no memories beyond a few years ago. Flashes of my past sometimes flicker forth in battle, and I hunger to know who I was.

25. I was abandoned by my loved one on our wedding day, since they've I've given up on finding lasting happiness, preferring letting my passions run wild in great spurts of activity.

26. My significant other is significantly enough older than me, and people have trouble believing my sincerity.

27. As a child, my twin sacrificed himself to a devil so that I may live, and now haunts my dreams with a motive I've yet to discern.

28. My loved one will die of a slow and painful disease in a year if I don't raise enough gold to save them.

29. My ancestor was quite famous, and I wish to overshadow their legacy with my own.

30. My family has a well very well known and heroic member nearby that everyone admires, and I wish to exceed their fame and create an even greater legacy.

31. Very distinctive scars/tattoos adorn my arms, and I must keep them covered and hidden less their secret leads to my death.

32. By chance I managed to kill an assassin that targeted me. Now I'm always on the lookout for the next attack, and seeking the identity of who paid them.

33. The dead like me, for my body. I'm easily possessed, but also greatly able to perceive any spirit's form and understand their words.

34. I'm engaged to marry into royalty, yet the family won't allow the ceremony until I prove myself worthy and "above the station granted by blood".

35. I have a troublesome tag-along that follows me almost everywhere.

36. My best friend was experimented on by a wizard, and still suffers irregular effects to this day. Sometimes they're quiet deadly. I wish to find a way to cure them.

37. I was raised as the hostage of an enemy clan, where I befriended the enemy clan's heir.

38. My brother is a drunk, and so his wife and children depend on me to bail him out of trouble.

39. My older brother is the heir to our clan, but he is a naive dreamer. I must be loyal to him while ensuring that he doesn't destroy us.

40. I must restore my noble bloodline to prominence after my father's gambling debts reduced our family to poverty.

41. You may never have heard of my village, but it is the most precious place on earth.

42. I have fallen in love with the spirit goddess of the stream near my village, and I must defend it against violation at all costs.

43. How dare you say that about my mother? I will teach you like I taught all those others who have besmirched her morals!

44. I have vivid, repeated visions of someone's death, and though I have never met this person, somehow I know I will.

45. In the east, I see a golden light emerging from the heavens at uncertain intervals. No one else seems to be able to see this light.

46. In his youth, my father ran from a great battle and has lived his life under the insult of 'coward'. I hope to prove this a libel and recapture my family's good name.

47. As a former servant to his majesty's house, I know a secret that could shake the kingdom if it were revealed.

48. I enjoy killing. Though I hide this fact, I adventure in part because I enjoy the spray of blood, the thrill of battle and the taking of life.

49. My mother is a witch, reviled and cast-out by our village. I have always felt it my duty to protect her.