Every story has a beginning. Your character's background reveals where you came from, how you became an adventurer, and your place in the world. Your fighter might have been a courageous knight or a grizzled soldier. Your wizard could have been a sage or an artisan. Your rogue might have gotten by as a guild thief or commanded audiences as a jester.
Choosing a background provides you with important story cues about your character's identity. The most important question to ask about your background is what changed? Why did you stop doing whatever your background describes and start adventuring? Where did you get the money to purchase your starting gear, or,if you come from a wealthy background, why don't you have more money? How did you learn the skills of your class? What sets you apart from ordinary people who share your background?
Keep in mind, as you think about your background, that in many circles "adventurer" is a dirty word. For some it is synonymous with words like scoundrel, villain, wastrel, or cutthroat. Respectable people belong to guilds, or the church, or are born into nobility. Or barring all that, they're salt of the earth till the land for the rest.
The problem with many adventurers is that they are none of that. They're the third child or worse. They can't get into or remain in a guild--too many apprentices already. If they come from nobility its likely that their older brothers and sisters will have already soaked up the inheritance, or they're family might be so far into decline there was none to begin with.
In most cases, well adjusted people don't take to adventuring. You're either out to find a way to keep yourself alive and fed, or you've found yourself in truly unprecedented circumstances: the gods, or fate, or whatever else thrusting you onto a grand stage from which you cannot easily step down.
In the following sections, you'll find a host of options to help you develop your character's background, be it custom created to meet your vision, or one of a number of predetermined examples that provide both concrete benefits and roleplaying suggestions.
Mechanically speaking, all Backgrounds should grant the following benefits:
As a part of a background, a character always gains Proficiency in two skills, as well as a total of two tool or language proficiencies. The later selection will usually be presented as some combination of one tool and one language, but could also be two tool or two language proficiencies, gaining nothing from the other category.
Alterations to Published Backgrounds
Many of the predetermined backgrounds in the following sections have been slightly changed or updated from the original forms in which they were presented in their published products. In most cases this has been done to give them more flexibility, by assigning each background a fixed skill--one which would be the most important skill for that background to function in day to day life--and then the choice of a second skill from a narrow list. Further, and tool proficiencies or additional languages a background gains have been updated to provide a choice from a narrow list of specific choices, or any the player prefers.
As a part of your background, you are generally granted a small combination of bonus equipment to help flesh out your character’s backstory. In general this extra equipment generally consists of a handful of items with no particular mechanical application (such as a noble’s scroll of pedigree or a soldier’s rank insignia), a weapon or set of tools, a set of clothing, and a pouch containing some amount of gold.
Each background grants access to special feature which are often called Ribbon Abilities--something that is not directly combat related and generally not directly mechanical in nature either. These features usually serve to enhance your ability to roleplay character, opening up new opportunities that you might not have otherwise had. Only in extremely specific, niche instances (such a fisherman’s advantage with Fishing tackle, or the Shipwright’s ability to repair extra hull damage to boats) will these abilities have actual interactions with dice rolls.
To simplify, you can assume that all background features essentially come down to one the following options: Backing of a Group, Steady Employment, Uncommon Knowledge, Reputation, or Experience.
Most of the predetermined backgrounds feature a set of tables, referencing Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. These are nonspecific prompts; roleplaying suggestions that you can use to help construct your character's overall persona. It is not mandatory to use the tables, however, and if you have your own ideas about how you want your character to behave, simply write a brief summary of your character’s traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. Try to offer your DM and the other players an idea of how your character will act during play and what they value. Also remember that playing to these character traits is one of the primary ways to earn Heroic Inspiration, so try to make them relevant and appear frequently. If you need some guidelines, consider the following:
¶ Important Terms
Artisan’s Tools. Some backgrounds will reference Any Artisan’s Tool as a proficiency choice. In this case that indicates any tool proficiency other than Disguise Kit, Forgery Kit, Gaming Sets, Musical Instruments, Poisoner’s Kits, or Thieves tools. Land or Water Vehicles might fall under Artisan's Tools, but that is a question you should work out with your DM.
Languages. Some backgrounds will reference being allowed to learn either Standard or Exotic Languages.
The Standard Languages consist of: Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, Giant, Gnomish, Goblin, Halfling, and Orc.
The Exotic Languages consist of: Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Deep Speech, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, and Undercommon.
If you wish to construct your own, personalized background, take the time to ask yourself:
Mechanically speaking, your background should grant you the following features:
You may also choose to substitute either your Tool Proficiency or your Language gained from your background for another option of the other type, if you wish. (Example: Your character was a noble who did not spend their time learning to utilize any sort of trade tools and instead focused on learning languages, you could substitute your Tool Proficiency for a second language. Meanwhile, a peasant who specialized in both blacksmithing and leather working but had little interaction with other cultures could have two Tool Proficiencies but only know how to speak the languages gained from your Lineage.)