Character Creation: Background

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? The sample backgrounds in this chapter provide both concrete benefits (features, proficiencies, and languages) and roleplaying suggestions.

### Proficiencies

* Each background gives a character proficiency in two skills.
* Skills are described in chapter 7 of the PHB.
* In addition, most backgrounds give a character proficiency with one or more tools.
* Tools are detailed in chapter 5 of the PHB.
* If a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of the same kind (skill or tool) instead.

### Languages

* Some backgrounds also allow characters to learn additional languages beyond those given by race.

### Equipment

* Each background provides a package of starting equipment. If you use the optional rule from chapter 5 to spend coins on gear, you do not receive the starting equipment from your background.

### Suggested Characteristics

* A background contains suggested personal characteristics based on your background.
* You can pick characteristics, roll dice to determine them randomly, or use the suggestions as inspiration for characteristics of your own creation.

### Special Feature

* Each background grants a unique feature, which isn't shown in the tabber below - you'll have to go to the background's page to learn about it. These features are usually situational and rarely used during a play session, but they come in very handy in certain scenarios.

**Background Options**

* Acolyte
* Archaeologist
* Caravan Specialist
* Charlatan
* City Watch
* Cloistered Scholar
* Courtier
* Criminal
* Entertainer
* Folk Hero
* Guild Artisan
* Harborfolk
* Hermit
* Knight of the Order
* Mercenary Veteran
* Noble
* Outlander
* Port Merchant
* Sage
* Sailor
* Soldier
* Starport Smuggler
* Urban Bounty Hunter
* Urchin
* Custom

edit pageYou have spent your life in the service of a temple to a specific god or pantheon of gods.You act as an intermediary between the realm of the holy and the mortal world, performing sacred rites and offering sacrifices in order to conduct worshipers into the presence of the divine.You are not necessarily a cleric; performing sacred rites is not the same thing as channeling divine power. Choose a god, a pantheon of gods, or some other quasi-divine being, and work with your DM to detail the nature of your religious service.
* **Skill Proficiencies:** Insight, Religion
* **Languages:** Two of your choice
* **Equipment:** A holy symbol, a prayer book or wheel, 5 sticks of incense, vestments, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

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edit page**Archaeologist** was a background introduced in Tomb of Annihilation. Archaeologists study ancient cultures by looking at artifacts from the time period. They often travel around, seeking more knowledge.
- **Skill Proficiencies:** History, Survival

- **Tool Proficiencies:** Cartographer's tools or Navigator's tools

- **Languages:** One of your choice

- **Equipment:** A wooden case containing a map to a ruin or dungeon, a bullseye lantern, a miner's pick, a set of traveler's clothes, a shovel, a two-person tent, a trinket recovered from a dig site, and a pouch containing 25 gp

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edit pageYou are used to life on the road. You pride yourself at having traveled every major trade way in the region, including the best backroads and shortcuts. When traveling these roads, you know where the best inns, campsites, and water sources are located, as well as potential locations of danger such as ambush. Having worked the roads as long as you have, you have made many acquaintances and find it easy to pick up information and rumors floating from town to town. You are skilled with beasts of burden and handling and repairing wagons of all kinds.
* **Skill Proficiencies:** Animal Handling, Survival
* **Tool Proficiencies:** Land Vehicles
* **Languages:** One of your choice
* **Equipment:** A whip, a tent, a regional map, a set of traveling clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp.

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edit pageYou have always had a way with people. You know what makes them tick, you can tease out their heart’s desires after a few minutes of conversation, and with a few leading questions you can read them like they were children's books. Common sense should steer people away from things that sound too good to be true, but common sense seems to be in short supply when you’re around. The bottle of pink coloured liquid will surely cure that unseemly rash, this ointment—nothing more than a bit of fat with a sprinkle of silver dust—can restore youth and vigor, and there’s a bridge in the city that just happens to be for sale. These marvels sound implausible, but you make them sound like the real deal.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Deception, Sleight of Hand
* **Tool Proficiencies**: Disguise Kit, Forgery Kit
* **Equipment**: A set of fine clothes, a disguise kit, tools of the con of your choice (ten stoppered bottles filled with colored liquid, a set of weighted dice, a deck of marked cards, or a signet ring of an imaginary duke), and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

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edit pageYou have served the community where you grew up, standing as its first line of defense against crime. You aren't a soldier, directing your gaze outward at possible enemies. Instead, your service to your hometown was to help police its populace, protecting the citizenry from lawbreakers and malefactors of every stripe.
Even if you're not city-born or city-bred, this background can describe your early years as a member of law enforcement. Most settlements of any size have their own constables and police forces, and even smaller communities have sheriffs and bailiffs who stand ready to protect their community.

* **Skill Proficiencies**: Athletics, Insight
* **Languages:** Two of your choice
* **Equipment**: A uniform in the style of your unit and indicative of your rank, a horn with which to summon help, a set of manacles, and a pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageAs a child, you were inquisitive when your playmates were possessive or raucous. In your formative years, you found your way to one of the Reach's great institutes of learning, where you were apprenticed and taught that knowledge is a more valuable treasure than gold or gems.
Perhaps you are staff at such a library, dedicated to the curatorship of what is likely the most complete body of lore and history in all the world. Perhaps instead you were taken in by the scholars of some remote hermitage, and now you have struck out to increase your knowledge and to make yourself available to help those in other places who seek your expertise.

* **Skill Proficiencies:** History, plus your choice of one from among Arcana, Nature, and Religion
* **Languages:** Two of your choice
* **Equipment:** The scholar's robes of your cloister, a writing kit (small pouch with a quill, ink, folded parchment, and a small penknife), a borrowed book on the subject of your current study, and a pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageIn your earlier days, you were a personage of some significance in a noble court or a bureaucratic organization. You might or might not come from an upper-class family; your talents, rather than the circumstances of your birth, could have secured you this position. You might have been one of the many functionaries, attendants, and other hangers-on in a noble's court, or perhaps you worked with one of Port Zigall's many guilds, businesses, or secret societies.
Even if you are no longer a full-fledged member of the group that gave you your start in life, your relationships with your former fellows can be an advantage for you and your adventuring comrades. You might undertake missions with your new companions that further the interest of the organization that gave you your start in life. In any event, the abilities that you honed while serving as a courtier will stand you in good stead as an adventurer.

* **Skill Proficiencies:** Insight, Persuasion
* **Languages:** Two of your choice
* **Equipment:** A set of fine clothes and a pouch containing 5 gp

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edit pageYou are an experienced criminal with a history of breaking the law. You have spent a lot of time among other criminals and still have contacts within the criminal underworld. You’re far closer than most people to the world of murder, theft, and violence that pervades the underbelly of civilization, and you have survived up to this point by flouting the rules and regulations of society.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Deception, Stealth
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of gaming set, thieves’ tools
* **Equipment**: A crowbar, a set of dark common clothes including a hood, and a belt pouch containing 15 GP.

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edit pageYou thrive in front of an audience. You know how to entrance them, entertain them, and even inspire them. Your poetics can stir the hearts of those who hear you, awakening grief or joy, laughter or anger. Your music raises their spirits or captures their sorrow. Your dance steps captivate, your humour cuts to the quick. Whatever techniques you use, your art is your life.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Acrobatics, Performance
* **Tool Proficiencies**: Disguise kit, one type of musical instrument
* **Equipment**: A musical instrument (one of your choice), the favor of an admirer (love letter, lock of hair, or trinket), a costume, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

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edit pageYou come from a humble social rank, but you are destined for so much more. Already the people of your home village regard you as their champion, and your destiny calls you to stand against the tyrants and monsters that threaten the common folk everywhere.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Animal Handling, Survival
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of artisan’s tools, vehicles (land)
* **Equipment**: A set of artisan’s tools (one of your choice), a shovel, an iron pot, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageYou are a member of an artisan’s guild, skilled in a particular field and closely associated with other artisans. You are a well-established part of the mercantile world, freed by talent and wealth from the constraints of a feudal social order. You learned your skills as an apprentice to a master artisan, under the sponsorship of your guild, until you became a master in your own right.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Insight, Persuasion
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of artisan’s tools
* **Languages**: One of your choice
* **Equipment**: A set of artisan’s tools (one of your choice), a letter of introduction from your guild, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

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edit pageYou are one of the hundreds of small-time fishers who haul the bounty of the harbors of the material planes to the city's markets each morning. You have spent countless days rowing in the waters in and around your city, and you know them and the other fisherfolk, dockworkers, and port inhabitants better than anyone. Though you have left that life behind, you still visit once in a while.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Athletics, Sleight of Hand
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of gaming set, vehicles (water)
* **Equipment**: Fishing tackle, dice set, playing card set, or Three Dragon Ante set, a set of common clothes, rowboat, and a belt containing 5 gp

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edit pageYou lived in seclusion — either in a sheltered community such as a monastery, or entirely alone — for a formative part of your life. In your time apart from the clamor of society, you found quiet, solitude, and perhaps some of the answers you were looking for.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Medicine, Religion
* **Tool Proficiencies**: Herbalism kit
* **Languages**: One of your choice
* **Equipment**: A scroll case stuffed full of notes from your studies or prayers, a winter blanket, a set of common clothes, a herbalism kit, and 5 gp

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edit pageYou belong to an order of knights who have sworn oaths to achieve a certain goal. The nature of this goal depends on the order you serve, but in your eyes it is without question a vital and honorable endeavor. Though the term "knight" conjures ideas of mounted, heavily armored warriors of noble blood, most knightly orders in Faerun don't restrict their membership to such individuals.
The goals and philosophies of the order are more important than the gear and fighting style of its members, and so most of these orders aren't limited to fighting types, but are open to all sorts of folk who are willing to battle and die for the order's cause.

* **Skill Proficiencies**: Persuasion, plus one from among Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion, as appropriate for your order
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of gaming set or musical instrument
* **Languages**: One of your choice
* **Equipment**: One set of traveler's clothes, a signet, banner or seal representing your place or rank in the order, and a pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageAs a sellsword who fought battles for coin, you're well acquainted with risking life and limb for a chance at a share of treasure. Now, you look forward to fighting foes and reaping even greater rewards as an adventurer. Your experience makes you familiar with the ins and outs of mercenary life, and you likely have harrowing stories of events on the battlefield. For whatever reason, you're leaving behind the life of a soldier for hire, but your skills are undeniably suited for battle, so now you fight on in a different way.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Athletics, Persuasion
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)
* **Equipment**: A uniform of your company (traveler's clothes in quality), an insignia of your rank, a gaming set of your choice, and a pouch containing the remainder of your last wages (10 gp)

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edit pageYou understand wealth, power, and privilege. You carry a noble title, and your family owns land, collects taxes, and wields significant political influence. You might be a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, a former merchant just elevated to the nobility, or a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could be an honest, hard-working landowner who cares deeply about the people who live and work on your land, keenly aware of your responsibility to them. Work with your DM to come up with an appropriate title and determine how much authority that title carries.
A noble title doesn’t stand on its own — it’s connected to an entire family, and whatever title you hold, you will pass it down to your own children. Not only do you need to determine your noble title, but you should also work with the DM to describe your family and their influence on you.

* **Skill Proficiencies**: History, Persuasion
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of gaming set
* **Languages**: One of your choice
* **Equipment**: A set of fine clothes, a signet ring, a scroll of pedigree, and a purse containing 25 gp

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edit pageYou grew up in the wilds, far from civilization and the comforts of town and technology. You’ve witnessed the migration of herds larger than forests, survived weather more extreme than any city-dweller could comprehend, and enjoyed the solitude of being the only thinking creature for miles in any direction. The wilds are in your blood, whether you were a nomad, an explorer, a recluse, a hunter-gatherer, or even a marauder. Even in places where you don’t know the specific features of the terrain, you know the ways of the wild.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Athletics, Survival
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of musical instrument
* **Languages**: One of your choice
* **Equipment**: A staff , a hunting trap, a trophy from an animal you killed, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageBefore becoming an adventurer, you were a successful merchant operating out of Vendra City, Port Zigall, or some other port city of the Reach. Your family operated warehouses, organized caravans, managed stores, or owned a ship and has trade contacts throughout the Astral Sea. Perhaps they import ore, uncut gems, untreated furs, or grain, or they export fine cloth, faceted gems, fine furs, or Dragon's Breath, a brandy-like liquor. Regardless, you've largely given that life up for some reason and have chosen to seek adventure instead. Nevertheless, the training you received then, and perhaps the contacts you made, serve you well as an adventurer.
* **Skill Proficiencies**. Insight, Persuasion
* **Tool Proficiencies**. Vehicles (land) and vehicles (water)
* **Equipment**. A fine set of clothes, a signet ring, a letter of introduction from your family's trading house, and a purse containing 25 gp.

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edit pageYou spent years learning the lore of the multiverse. You scoured manuscripts, studied scrolls, and listened to the greatest experts on the subjects that interest you. Your efforts have made you a master in your fields of study.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Arcana, History
* **Languages**: Two of your choice
* **Equipment**: A bottle of black ink, a quill, a small knife, a letter from a colleague posing a question you have not yet been able to answer, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageYou sailed on a seagoing vessel for years. In that time, you faced down mighty storms, monsters of the deep, and those who wanted to sink your craft to the bottomless depths. Your first love is the distant line of the horizon, but the time has come to try your hand at something new. Discuss the nature of the ship you previously sailed with your Dungeon Master. Was it a merchant ship, a naval vessel, a ship of discovery, or a pirate ship? How famous (or infamous) is it? Is it widely traveled? Is it still sailing, or is it missing and presumed lost with all hands? What were your duties on board—boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run?
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Athletics, Perception
* **Tool Proficiencies**: Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water)
* **Equipment**: A belaying pin (club), 50 feet of silk rope, a lucky charm such as a rabbit foot or a small stone with a hole in the center (or you may roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5), a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageWar has been your life for as long as you care to remember. You trained as a youth, studied the use of weapons and armor, learned basic survival techniques, including how to stay alive on the battlefield. You might have been part of a standing national army or a mercenary company, or perhaps a member of a local militia who rose to prominence during a recent war. When you choose this background, work with your DM to determine which military organization you were a part of, how far through its ranks you progressed, and what kind of experiences you had during your military career. Was it a standing army, a town guard, or a village militia? Or it might have been a noble’s or merchant’s private army, or a mercenary company.
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Athletics, Intimidation
* **Tool Proficiencies**: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)
* **Equipment**: An insignia of rank, a trophy taken from a fallen enemy (a dagger, broken blade, or piece of a banner), a set of bone dice or deck of cards, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageEvery starport in the Astral Reach has an underbelly, and all underbellies create demand for smugglers, who shepherd illicit goods and criminals into and out of the city by secret routes. In some places, this activity is managed by a local underworld guild, taking its cut from sanctioned jobs and exacting punishment for independent jobs. Either way, you have contacts in the smuggling community who can help you slip into and out of the city unnoticed, for a price.
* **Skill Proficiencies**. Perception, Stealth
* **Languages**. One common language of your choice
* **Tool Proficiencies**. Forgery kit
* **Equipment**. A forgery kit, a set of common clothes, a belt pouch, and 5 gp

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edit pageBefore you became an adventurer, your life was already full of conflict and excitement, because you made a living tracking down people for pay. Unlike some people who collect bounties, though, you aren't a savage who follows quarry into or through the wilderness. You're involved in a lucrative trade, in the place where you live, that routinely tests your skills and survival instincts. What's more, you aren't alone as a bounty hunter in the wild would be: you routinely interact with both the criminal subculture and other bounty hunters, maintaining contacts in both areas to help you succeed.
You might be a cunning thief-catcher, prowling the rooftops to catch one of the myriad burglars of the city. Perhaps you are someone who has your ear to the street, aware of the doings of thieves' guilds and street gangs. You might be a "velvet mask" bounty hunter, one who blends in with high society and noble circles in order to catch the criminals that prey on the rich, whether pickpockets or con artists. As a member of an adventuring party, you might find it more difficult to pursue a personal agenda that doesn't fit with the group's objectives - but on the other hand, you can take down much more formidable targets with the help of your companions.

* **Skill Proficiencies**: Choose two from among Deception, Insight, Persuasion, and Stealth.
* **Tool Proficiencies**: Choose two from among one type of gaming set, one musical instrument, and thieves' tools.
* **Equipment**: A set of clothes appropriate to your duties and a pouch containing 20 gp.

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edit pageYou grew up on the streets alone, orphaned, and poor. You had no one to watch over you or to provide for you, so you learned to provide for yourself. You fought fiercely over food and kept a constant watch out for other desperate souls who might steal from you. You slept on rooftops and in alleyways, exposed to the elements, and endured sickness without the advantage of medicine or a place to recuperate. You've survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each. You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but securely for at least ten days. How did you come by that money? What allowed you to break free of your desperate circumstances and embark on a better life?
* **Skill Proficiencies**: Sleight of Hand, Stealth
* **Tool Proficiencies**: Disguise kit, thieves' tools
* **Equipment**: A small knife, a map of the city you grew up in, a pet mouse, a token to remember your parents by, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

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edit pageYou are unique, a real trend setter. You can't be described by the achievements of those that have already lived. So you'll have to make your own background. You have 8 points to spend on any of the Skill Proficiencies, Tool Proficiencies, or Languages available in D&D. The point cost of gaining any of these traits is listed below. You may also choose equipment up to a total value of 100 gold pieces. You do not keep any unspent gold, you do however start with an additional 15gp. You choices should reflect the type of life your character has lived, and who they have become in the world.
* **Skill Proficiencies:** 3 points
* **Tool Proficiencies:** 1 point
* **Languages:** 1 point
* **Equipment:** (100gp)+15gp

### Feature: Custom

Most importantly is your background's feature, this is where you get to be creative. Work with your DM to come up with an ability your character has access to that connects them to the world; A deck of cards that allows you to tell fortunes, an uncanny sense for nearby secret passages, a familiarity with the fire service so that your fireballs can be put out before they run amok. The feature should reflect your character's story, and give it a mechanical tangibility. It is recommended to look at other backgrounds for a sense of how to scale your feature, and ideas!

## What Do I Write Down?

Several things from this step go on your sheet:

* Write the background you chose in the "Background" blank at the top of your sheet, or in the margin if you don't have such a blank. If you made your own, write "Custom background" instead.
* For the skills your background granted (such as persuasion, acrobatics, or insight), bubble in the box or circle next to each skill.
* If your background gave you any tool, musical instrument, gaming set, vehicle, or language proficiencies, you should note those on your sheet. In the default character sheet, the box for these is in the bottom left corner, but you can write these wherever there is room - perhaps next to where you noted your weapon and armor proficiencies from your class.
* If your background gave you any equipment, write it next to where you put your class weapons and equipment.
* Write down a summary of your background's special feature somewhere on your character sheet, where there is room.

 Classes
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 Worldbuilding