DND Backgrounds

Crafting Your Character’s History

You’re sitting at the gaming table, dice in hand, ready to breathe life into your new Dungeons & Dragons character. But before you roll that first d20, you need to answer a crucial question: Who is your hero, really? Enter D&D backgrounds – the secret ingredient that transforms a mere collection of stats into a living, breathing adventurer with a past worth telling.

Imagine your character as the protagonist of their own novel. Their class might be the genre, but their background? That’s the rich backstory that makes readers – or in this case, your fellow players – invest in your hero’s journey. Was your character a street-smart urchin who learned to survive in the shadowy alleys of a bustling city? Or perhaps a sage, spending years poring over ancient tomes in a secluded library? Maybe they were a hardened soldier, battling on the front lines of a great war.

Each of these backgrounds sets the stage for a unique hero with their own skills, experiences, and motivations. They’re not just flavor text – they’re the narrative fuel that powers your character’s choices and shapes their destiny in the game world. But here’s where it gets really interesting: backgrounds in D&D aren’t just for storytelling flair. They pack a serious punch when it comes to gameplay. From extra skills and tool proficiencies to unique features that can turn the tide of an adventure, your chosen background can give you an edge when the dice start rolling. It’s like having an ace up your sleeve, one that’s perfectly in character for your hero to play.

What Are D&D Backgrounds?

At their core, D&D backgrounds are the prologue to your character’s epic saga. They represent your hero’s life before they took up the mantle of adventurer. Think of them as the origin story in a superhero movie – the formative experiences that shaped your character before they became the hero (or anti-hero) they are today.

Backgrounds answer the burning questions that bring depth to your character:

• Where did your hero come from? Were they born in a glittering palace or in the grimy backstreets of a metropolis?
• What did they do before adventuring? Did they apprentice with a master craftsman or learn the art of deception in a thieves’ guild?
• What skills did they pick up along the way? Can they smooth-talk their way past guards or decipher ancient runes?
• Who do they know, and who knows them? Do they have contacts in high places or informants in the criminal underworld?

These aren’t just idle questions. Your answers form the bedrock of your character’s personality, motivations, and abilities. They give you a launchpad for roleplaying and provide hooks for your Dungeon Master to weave your personal story into the larger campaign narrative.

Key Components of Backgrounds

Every background in D&D comes with a toolkit to help you flesh out your character’s past and bring it to bear on their present adventures. Let’s break down what you get:

1. Skill Proficiencies: Each background grants proficiency in two skills. These represent abilities your character honed in their previous life. A Charlatan might be a master of Deception and Sleight of Hand, while a Sage could excel at Arcana and History. These proficiencies give you a bonus on relevant skill checks, making your character naturally good at tasks related to their background.
2. Tool Proficiencies or Languages: Depending on your background, you might gain proficiency with certain tools or the ability to speak additional languages. An Artisan might know how to use smith’s tools or woodcarver’s tools, reflecting their craft. A Sage or Acolyte might speak several languages, ancient or modern, showcasing their learning or religious training.
3. Starting Equipment: Your background determines some of the gear you start with, items that reflect your character’s past life. A Soldier might have a military rank insignia and a trophy taken from a fallen enemy. An Entertainer could start with a musical instrument and colorful clothes. This equipment isn’t just for show – it can provide useful tools for roleplay and problem-solving in your adventures.
4. Feature: This is where backgrounds really shine. Each one comes with a unique feature that gives your character special perks or abilities. The Criminal’s “Criminal Contact” lets them call on the aid of their underworld connections. A Noble’s “Position of Privilege” can open doors in high society. These features aren’t just flavor – they’re powerful tools that can help you navigate social situations, gather information, or find help when you need it most.
5. Suggested Characteristics: To help you roleplay your character, backgrounds come with tables of personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. You can roll on these tables or choose options that appeal to you. A Hermit might be quiet and introspective, with a bond to the place where they lived in seclusion. A Sailor could be brash and loud, with a flaw for drinking too much. These characteristics aren’t set in stone, but they provide a great starting point for developing your character’s unique personality.

How Backgrounds Shape Your Character

Your chosen background isn’t just a label – it’s a springboard for creativity. It gives you built-in hooks for your character’s personality and motivations, helping you answer the all-important question: “What would my character do in this situation?”

Let’s look at a few examples:

• A Noble background might mean your character is always trying to prove themselves outside their family’s shadow. Perhaps they’re driven to show they’re more than just a title, leading them to take risks or champion causes beneath their station. Or maybe they’re constantly aware of their family’s reputation, torn between upholding it and forging their own path.
• An Outlander background could make your hero feel out of place in bustling cities, preferring the call of the wild. This could manifest as discomfort in crowded places, a tendency to sleep under the stars even when beds are available, or an uncanny ability to read nature’s signs. Your Outlander might be the first to spot danger in the wilderness – or the first to long for open spaces when the adventure takes too long in town.
• A Sage background might drive your character to seek out knowledge at every turn, sometimes to their detriment. They might be unable to resist exploring an ancient ruin or poring over a mysterious tome, even when it’s clearly dangerous. This thirst for knowledge could be their greatest strength – or their fatal flaw.

These elements add depth to your character, making them feel like a real person with a history, rather than just a collection of stats. They provide instant roleplaying hooks and help you make decisions in character. When faced with a challenge, you can ask yourself, “How would someone with my background approach this?” The answer can lead to rich storytelling moments and memorable gameplay.

Popular D&D Backgrounds

While the Player’s Handbook offers a wide array of backgrounds, some have become fan-favorites due to their versatility and interesting features. Let’s dive into a few of these popular choices and see what makes them tick.

Acolyte: The Faithful Servant

The Acolyte background is perfect for characters with a spiritual bent. Maybe you served as a temple assistant, trained in a secluded monastery, or were raised from childhood by a religious order. This background gives your character a deep connection to the divine and a unique perspective on faith and spirituality.

What you get:

• Skill Proficiencies: Insight and Religion
• Languages: Two of your choice
• Feature: Shelter of the Faithful (you can perform religious ceremonies and find help at temples or shrines of your faith)

Acolytes often make great clerics or paladins, but don’t let that limit your creativity. Imagine an Acolyte rogue, using their religious knowledge to pose as a priest while pulling off heists. Or consider an Acolyte barbarian, whose rage stems from religious fervor. The possibilities are endless.

The Acolyte’s feature, Shelter of the Faithful, can be a lifesaver in urban adventures. Need a place to hide? Your local temple might offer sanctuary. Need information? The priests might have ears in places you’d never expect. This background turns every religious institution into a potential ally, adding a new dimension to your adventures.

Criminal: The Shadowy Past

For those who like to walk on the wild side, the Criminal background offers a life of intrigue and danger. Your character might be a reformed thief trying to make amends, a reluctant smuggler forced into one last job, or even a wrongly accused innocent with underworld connections. This background adds a layer of grit and street smarts to any character.

What you get:

• Skill Proficiencies: Deception and Stealth
• Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, thieves’ tools
• Feature: Criminal Contact (you have a reliable criminal contact in any city you visit)

The Criminal background can add depth to any class. Picture a Criminal wizard who uses their street smarts alongside their arcane knowledge, blending magic with good old-fashioned burglary. Or imagine a Criminal paladin, constantly wrestling with their oath and their shadowy past. The tension between who they were and who they’re trying to be can lead to fantastic roleplaying moments.

The Criminal Contact feature is incredibly versatile. Need to fence some loot? Your contact can help. Looking for information on the local underworld? Your contact has their ear to the ground. This feature turns every city into a web of potential allies and opportunities, perfect for characters who like to operate in the shadows.

Soldier: The Veteran Warrior

For characters with a military background, the Soldier offers a wealth of combat experience and tactical know-how. Your character might be a retired officer, a disillusioned grunt, or a specialist like a scout or medic. This background brings the weight of military service to your adventuring career.

What you get:

• Skill Proficiencies: Athletics and Intimidation
• Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)
• Feature: Military Rank (you have a military rank from your career as a soldier)

The Soldier background isn’t just for fighters and paladins. Imagine a Soldier wizard who learned magic as part of a special arcane unit, or a Soldier bard who kept troop morale high with rousing war songs. The discipline and structure of military life can add interesting layers to any class.

The Military Rank feature can open doors in unexpected places. You might be able to requisition equipment from friendly military outposts, command respect from local militias, or even take charge in chaotic situations. It’s a feature that shines in both social interactions and tactical scenarios.

Customizing Your Background

While the Player’s Handbook offers a solid selection of backgrounds, D&D is all about creativity. Don’t feel confined by the options presented – the game encourages you to craft a background that perfectly fits your character concept.

Building a Custom Background

Creating your own background is easier than you might think. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Choose two skill proficiencies that reflect your character’s past experiences.
2. Choose two from: tool proficiencies, languages, or a mix of both.
3. Select appropriate starting equipment that tells a story about your character’s history.
4. Craft a unique feature that fits your character’s past. This should provide a specific benefit without being overpowered.
5. Develop personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws that bring your background to life.

For example, let’s say you want to create a “Refugee” background:

• Skill Proficiencies: Survival and Insight
• Tool Proficiency: One artisan’s tool of your choice
• Languages: One of your choice
• Equipment: A small knife, a token from your homeland, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch with 5 gp
• Feature: Survivor’s Instinct (You have an uncanny knack for finding safe shelter in hostile environments)

Remember, the goal is to create a background that enhances your character concept and fits seamlessly into your DM’s world. Always work with your DM to ensure your custom background is balanced and appropriate for the campaign.

Tweaking Existing Backgrounds

If you like an existing background but want to put your own spin on it, that’s perfectly fine too. With your DM’s approval, you can:

• Swap skill proficiencies for ones that better fit your concept
• Trade tool proficiencies for languages (or vice versa)
• Choose different starting equipment that aligns with your character’s story
• Adjust the background feature to better suit your character or the campaign setting

For instance, you might take the Noble background but replace the History proficiency with Nature if your character was more interested in the family’s rural estates than courtly politics. Or you could tweak the Outlander’s Wanderer feature to focus on urban environments instead of the wilderness, creating a sort of “Urban Nomad” variant.

The key is to work with your DM to ensure your customized background enhances the game without unbalancing it. Remember, backgrounds are meant to add depth to your character and create roleplaying opportunities, not to provide mechanical advantages.

Integrating Backgrounds into Your Campaign

Backgrounds aren’t just for character creation – they’re a goldmine for storytelling throughout your campaign. Whether you’re a player or a Dungeon Master, leveraging backgrounds can add depth and excitement to your adventures.

Using Background Features

Each background comes with a unique feature that can open up exciting roleplaying opportunities. As a player, don’t forget about these abilities – they’re not just perks, but narrative tools that can drive the story forward in unexpected ways.

For example:

• A character with the Sage background might use their Researcher feature to uncover crucial lore about an ancient artifact the party discovered.
• An Entertainer could use their By Popular Demand feature to secure free lodging for the party in a hostile town, winning over the locals with a stirring performance.
• A character with the Urchin background might use their City Secrets feature to find a hidden shortcut through a city during a high-stakes chase.

Dungeon Masters, encourage your players to lean into these features. Create scenarios where these abilities can shine, allowing each character’s unique background to contribute to the group’s success.

Tying Backgrounds to the Plot

As a DM, you can weave elements from character backgrounds into your campaign to create a more immersive and personalized experience. Here are some ideas:

• The Noble’s family connections might become central to a political intrigue plot. Perhaps a rival house is plotting against the character’s family, drawing them into a web of courtly schemes.
• An Urchin’s knowledge of the streets could be key to navigating a dangerous city. Their old contacts might provide crucial information about an underground cult the party is investigating.
• The Soldier’s old war buddies might show up as allies or antagonists. An old comrade-turned-mercenary could be working for the villain, creating a morally complex confrontation.
• A Sage’s academic rival might reappear as a competitor in a race to uncover an ancient secret, adding personal stakes to the quest.

By incorporating these elements, you make the players feel that their character choices matter, deepening their investment in the story. It transforms the background from a static piece of history into a living part of the ongoing narrative.

Backgrounds and Character Development

A well-chosen background isn’t just about where your character came from – it’s about where they’re going. As your campaign progresses, your character’s relationship with their background might evolve, creating opportunities for rich character development.

Character Growth and Backgrounds

As characters adventure and grow, their perspective on their past might change:

• A Criminal might struggle to leave their past behind, grappling with the temptation to fall back on old habits when times get tough. Or they might embrace their skills for a greater good, using their underworld knowledge to take down corrupt officials.
• An Acolyte could have a crisis of faith after witnessing the horrors of the wider world, leading to soul-searching and a redefinition of their beliefs.
• A Hermit might grapple with their newfound fame as a hero, torn between their desire for solitude and their duty to help others.

Encourage players to think about how their characters’ pasts influence their present decisions and future aspirations. How does their background shape their reactions to the challenges they face? How might their outlook change as they gain new experiences?

Backgrounds in Multiclassing

When a character multiclasses, their background can provide narrative justification for the new abilities they gain:

• A Noble Fighter might take levels in Wizard to reflect their scholarly upbringing, finally finding time to pursue the arcane studies they neglected in their youth.
• An Outlander Ranger could multiclass into Druid, deepening their connection to nature as they embrace the mystical side of their wilderness expertise.
• A Charlatan Rogue might take levels in Bard, using their gift for deception to become a masterful performer and storyteller.

The background serves as a bridge, making character progression feel natural and grounded in the story. It provides a foundation for explaining why your character is branching out into new areas of expertise.

DND Backgrounds

Backgrounds in D&D are far more than just a collection of skills and trinkets – they’re the spark that ignites unforgettable characters and stories. By embracing the rich potential of backgrounds, both players and DMs can create deeper, more immersive gaming experiences.

Remember, the best background is one that inspires you to dive deep into your character’s psyche and motivations. It should provide a launchpad for roleplaying, offer hooks for the DM to integrate your character into the world, and evolve along with your character’s journey.

So go ahead, pick a background that speaks to you, or craft your own. Let it inform your character’s choices, relationships, and growth. Use it to add color to your roleplaying and depth to your storytelling. Your character’s legendary tale is waiting to be told, and their background is the first chapter in that epic saga.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to D&D, taking the time to flesh out your character’s background will pay dividends in richer roleplaying experiences and more engaging adventures. So embrace your character’s past, and let it guide you into a future filled with excitement, challenge, and growth. After all, in D&D, it’s not just about where you’re going – it’s about where you’ve been that makes the journey truly unforgettable.