Editing Mysterium (section)

==Backgrounds==

The following are optional new Backgrounds for the Mysterium Campaign setting.

===Cultist of Nightmares===

You were brought up in the Cult of Nightmares or, perhaps, joined them at some point in your life. You may have even been captured by them and decided that compliance was better than being sacrificed to whatever mad gods they worshiped. 

At some point you escaped the cult, perhaps seeing first hand what the Things from Beyond (or the Gods before the Gods as the cult calls them) were and the chaos, destruction, and madness that they caused. You might have escaped with your sanity intact this time but you are not sure if you had had to stay in the cult's hands what would have become of you. 

It is possible that the cult is desperate to have you back, if for no other reason than to sacrifice you for daring to turn your back on them. Or, perhaps, they don't know you are gone or could care less. Either way, you have left that life behind and try your best to make a new life. You may have been roped into the Mysterium completely by accident as a resource for them and their crusade or you might have sought them out to strike back at those who so mistreated you. 

• Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Insight

• Languages: Two of your choosing

• Equipment: A strange carved figure reminiscent of your time in the cult, notes on various places where the cult took you, a set of common clothes and a pouch containing 10gp

'''Feature: Know Thy Enemy'''

You spent years in the Cults that follow the unspeakable horrors form the World of Nightmares. You even have some of your notes still on where they took you and where they operate. Though not all of the locations will pan out, you have a chance to help with some information at least. 

When you and your companions follow a lead to a place tainted by the World of Nightmares, you can make an Arcana check with a +2 bonus to know if this is a place where the Cult of Nightmares operates. This helps you know what to expect. You can also use this ability when spotting someone on the streets that you find suspicious or when finding strange symbols that might be clues to the cult. 

'''Suggested Characteristics'''

After you fled the cults of the Forgotten Ones, you became a loner and have always been skiddish around groups of people. You find it hard to trust people, especially large organizations and you are often uncomfortable and awkward trying to find where you fit in with the Mysterium or even if you fit in at all. It takes you some time to warm up to people though when you find someone who earns your trust, you are quite the loyal friend finding it relieving to find someone who has your best interest at heart instead of that of some twisted "god" from Beyond. 

===Mysterium Operative===

Did you find them or did they find you? It becomes complicated and you aren't even sure of which is which anymore. All you know for sure is that there are times you wish neither had happened and you could forget that the Mysterium, the Forgotten Ones, the World of Nightmares, all of it ever existed. But there is no going back from what you have seen and what you know is out there lurking in the shadows. Now you can only do your best to stop the incursion into your world by these...things. 

As a Mysterium Operative, you are part of the Queen's Eye, an organization that peers into the small and hidden place in the wrorld to root out the impossible alien things known as the Forgotten Ones, the Ancient Sleepers, or the Others from Beyond, and many other charming nicknames. They come from the World of Nightmares, a place that no sane being can hope to visit and survive. And it is your job to beat them back home turning them to go back to that place. 

What their true obsession with your world is and what their alien agendas could possibly be you don't know, the Mysterium doesn't really know, but you do know that these beings are dangerous and that they destroy everything in their wake, even sanity. 

You might have recently joined the Mysterum, have been raised around the organization your entire life, or just recently tracked downa  mystery concerning a relative that was part of this mysterious organization. However you joined, you know that you can't leave and would never be able to turn your back on their crusade if you wanted to knowing what you now know. 

• Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Investigation

• Languages: Two of your choosing

• Equipment: Coin of the Mysterium, a coin made from a purple metal that signifies your membership in the organization; set of common clothes, a parchment notebook for note taking, and a pouch containing 15gp

'''Feature: Initiated into Chaos'''

You might be a new operative, but already you've had more experience than most mortals when it comes to the World of Nightmares and its denizens. You gain a +1 to Saving Throws when faced with fear and madness effects related to the Forgotten Ones.

'''Suggested Characteristics'''

The mission is everything. When it comes to friends, family, and all the rest you must put the crusade to end the usurpers' foothold on your world so that "all the rest" can be safe and know some kind of peace. As a member of the Mysterium, you have one mission above all and sometimes this might make you come across as cold or ruthless. But you are in good company as it is expected of any operative in the Mysterium to be willing to sacrifice whoever they need to in order to stop the Others from Beyond and their alien agenda that can't mean well for your world. 

Keeping your emotions in check can create a bit of feedback, however. When you do allow yourself to let go of control and become emotional then it is an eruption of emotion, be it anger, sorrow, or even joy. It is magnified for not surfacing very often and is pure in its own right. Sometimes you might wish you could have more of these experiences but you are well aware what you have already lost and you know, dropping your guard too much will lead to more of that same loss.