Custome background: Fugitive from the Law

[FrancisBean]

I'm posting this under DM help, even though I'm contemplating the background as a player, because I think that's where the most useful feedback will be.

What would be a good way to codify the mechanics of a character background of a fugitive from the law? Think in terms of William H. Bonney (Henry McCarty). Game balance demands that the background feature be enough to offset the fact that there's a price on your head. 5e backgrounds don't really come with drawbacks in any mechanical sense; it's all left to the DM.

I'm attached to the romanticism of playing such a character, so fluff matters. But if the mechanics are too painful, I'll stick to something safer. What sort of mechanics would you suggest for me to sell it to a DM?

[Lord Vukodlak]

Fugitive a the kind of thing that really needs to be worked out as an addition to an existing background with the DM on a case by case basis.

A folk hero might be a Fugitive for whatever earned them their status. And someone with the criminal or pirate background is probably a fugitive somewhere. None of those backgrounds enforce a penalty.

What you suggest, is kinda an enforced adventure hook. The DM has to make your status a problem to balance the feature and maybe he doesn’t want to. Something from a characters past that will impact the campaign should be worked out with the DM.

In my next campaign a fugitive from the law would be sitting pretty free and clear as the campaign will take place in a part of the world torn by centuries of civil war and political instability. The campaign wouldn’t lend its self to a fugitive status being a reoccurring problem.

One of my own characters had a Fugitive status as part of his backstory.

My wizard Nigel a Sage was a fugitive from the law for assisting in arcane research into life extension magic.(in the setting he’s such a thing is outlawed by the church). But all that backstory
was worked out with the DM.

I did find an already made fugitive background.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/backgrounds/3286-fugitive

[Unoriginal]

It sounds like a variant of the Criminal background, except instead of having a contact everywhere you'd have people who are aware of the character's criminal actions (real or not) and react accordingly.

[darknite]

Sounds good as long as the player taking it realizes their character has a definite disadvantage and should accept the consequences if they happen.

[Pelle]

Being a fugitive is more status than a Background, unless you have been it for so long that you have learned more from it (Stealth, Deception, etc) than your previous place in life. If you don't want to make a custom one, running from the Law can work great as a Bond or maybe Flaw with many of the existing backgrounds.

[GlenSmash!]

To be a background I'd want to flesh it out a bit more. Not just a one time fugitive, but a serial prison breaker.

Criminal Variant: Jailbird

Feature: No cage can hold me

Prisons are a second home to you. Still you've escaped more than you can count. When captured by law officials, other Prisoners will recognize you and facilitate in your escape in hopes of riding your wake out of imprisonment. In addition you quickly develop a network of prisoners wherever you are that can provide food and supplies to sustain you and your network until the escape.