Backgrounds

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Intro=

## 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? 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.

## Customizing a Background

You might want to tweak some of the features of a background so it better fits your character or the campaign setting. To customize a background, you can replace one feature with any other one, choose any two skills, and choose a total of two tool proficiencies or languages from the sample backgrounds. You can either use the equipment package from your background or spend coins on gear as described in chapter 5. (If you spend coins, you can't also take the equipment package suggested for your class.) Finally, choose two personality traits, one ideal, one bond, and one flaw. If you can't find a feature that matches your desired background, work with your DM to create one.

List=

## Overview

You 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 from among those listed in appendix B or those specified by your DM, and work with your DM to detail the nature of your religious service. Were you a lesser functionary in a temple, raised from childhood to assist the priests in the sacred rites? Or were you a high priest who suddenly experienced a call to serve your god in a different way? Perhaps you were the leader of a small cult outside of any established temple structure, or even an occult group that served a fiendish master that you now deny.

* **Skill Proficiencies**: Insight, Religion
* **Languages**: Two of your choice
* **Equipment**: A holy symbol (a gift to you when you entered the priesthood), a prayer book or prayer wheel, 5 sticks of incense, vestments, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

## Feature: Shelter of the Faithful

As an acolyte, you command the respect of those who share your faith, and you can perform the religious ceremonies of your deity. You and your adventuring companions can expect to receive free healing and care at a temple, shrine, or other established presence of your faith, though you must provide any material components needed for spells. Those who share your religion will support you (but only you) at a modest lifestyle.

You might also have ties to a specific temple dedicated to your chosen deity or pantheon, and you have a residence there. This could be the temple where you used to serve, or a temple where you have found a new home. While near your temple, you can call upon the priests for assistance, provided the assistance you ask for is not hazardous and you remain in good standing with your temple.

## Suggested Characteristics

Acolytes are shaped by their experience in temples or other religious communities.
Their study of the history and tenets of their faith and their relationships to temples, shrines, or hierarchies affect their mannerisms and ideals. Their flaws might be some hidden hypocrisy or heretical idea, or an ideal or bond taken to an extreme.

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## Overview

You 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. It’s a useful talent, and one that you’re perfectly willing to use for your advantage. You know what people want and you deliver, or rather, you promise to deliver. 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

## Favorite Schemes

Every charlatan has an angle they use in preference to other schemes. Choose a favorite scam or roll on the table below.

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## Feature: False Identity

You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established acquaintances, and disguises that allow you to assume that persona.
Additionally, you can forge documents including official papers and personal letters, as long as you have seen an example of the kind of document or the handwriting you are trying to copy.

## Suggested Characteristics

Charlatans are colorful characters who conceal their true selves behind the masks they construct.
They reflect what people want to see, what they want to believe, and how they see the world.
But their true selves are sometimes plagued by an uneasy conscience, an old enemy, or deep-seated trust issues.

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Entertainer (Proficiencies: Acrobatics, Performance, Disguise Kit, and Musical Instrument x1, PHB p130)
Folk Hero (Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Survival, Artisan's Tools x1, and Land Vehicles, PHB p131)
Gladiator (Proficiencies: Acrobatics, Performance, Disguise Kit, and Unusual Weapon x1, PHB p130)
Guild Artisan (Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion, Artisan's Tools x1, and Languages x1, PHB p132)
Guild Merchant (Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion, Navigator's Tools x1, and Languages x1, PHB p132)
Hermit (Proficiencies: Medicine, Religion, Herbalism Kit, and Languages x1, PHB p134)
Knight (Proficiencies: History and Persuasion, Gaming Set x1, and Languages x1, PHB p135)
Noble (Proficiencies: History and Persuasion, Gaming Set x1, and Languages x1, PHB p135)
Outlander (Proficiencies: Athletics, Survival, Musical Instrument x1, and Languages x1, PHB p136)
Pirate (Proficiencies: Athletics, Perception, Navigator's Tools, and Water Vehicles, PHB p139)
Sage (Proficiencies: Arcana, History, and Languages x2, PHB p137)
Sailor (Proficiencies: Athletics, Perception, Navigator's Tools, and Water Vehicles, PHB p139)
Soldier (Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation, Gaming Set x1, and Land Vehicles, PHB p140)
Spy (Proficiencies: Deception, Stealth, Gaming Set x1, and Thieves' tools, PHB p129)
Urchin (Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Disguise Kit, and Thieves' Tools, PHB p141)

EE=

* Caravan Specialist (**Animal Handling, Survival, Land Vehicles**, and **Languages** x1, Elemental Evil)
* Earthspur Miner (Skill: **Athletics, Survival, Dwarven** and **Undercommon** **Language**, Elemental Evil).
* Harborfolk (Proficiencies: **Athletics, Sleight of Hand, Water Vehicles,** and **Gaming Set x1**, Elemental Evil)
* Mulmaster Aristocrat (Proficiencies: **Deception, Performance, Artisan's Tools x1**, and **Musical Instrument x1**, Elemental Evil)
* Phlan Refugee (Proficiencies: **Insight, Athletics, Languages x1**, **Artisan's Tools x1**, Elemental Evil)

SCAG=

* City Watch (Proficiencies: **Athletics,** **Insight**, and **Languages x2,** SCAG p145)
* Clan Crafter (Proficiencies: **History,** **Insight**, **Artisan's Tools,** and **Languages x1,** SCAG p145)
* Cloistered Scholar (Proficiencies: **Languages x2,** **History,** and **choose one** from Arcana, Nature, or Religion, SCAG p146)
* Courtier (Proficiencies: **Insight,** **Persuasion**, and **Languages x2**, SCAG p146)
* Faction Agent (Proficiencies: **Languages x2,** **Insight,** and **choose one** mental skill appropriate your faction, SCAG p147)
* Far Traveler (Proficiencies: **Insight,** **Perception**, **Musical Instrument x1,** and **Languages x1**, SCAG p148)
* Inheritor (Proficiencies: **Gaming Set x1, Musical Instrument x1,** **Survival,** and **choose one** from **Arcana**, **History**, or **Religion**, SCAG p150)
* Investigator (Proficiencies: **Insight,** **Investigation**, and **Languages x2,** SCAG p145)
* Knight of the Order (Proficiencies: **Languages x1,** **Gaming Set or Musical Instrument x1,** **Persuasion,** and **choose one** non-investigation Int skill, SCAG p151)
* Mercenary Veteran (Proficiencies: **Athletics,** **Persuasion, Gaming Set x1**, and **Land Vehicles,** SCAG p152)
* Urban Bounty Hunter (Proficiencies: **Choose two** from **Deception**, **Insight**, **Persuasion**, or **Stealth**, and **choose two** from **Gaming Set x1**, **Musical Instrument x1,** or **Thieves' Tools**, SCAG p153)
* Uthgardt Tribe Member (Proficiencies: **Athletics,** **Survival**, **Languages x1,** and **choose one** from **Musical Instrument x1** or **Artisan's Tools x1**, SCAG p153)
* Waterdhavian Noble (Proficiencies: **History,** **Persuasion**, **Languages x1,** and **choose one** from **Gaming Set x1** or **Musical Instrument x1,** SCAG p154)

RoD=

* Cormanthor Refugee (Proficiencies: **Nature, Survival, Elven Language**, and **Artisan's Tools x1**, RoD)
* Gate Urchin (Proficiencies: **Deception, Sleight of Hand, Thieves's Tools**, and **Musical Instrument x1**, RoD)
* Hillsfar Merchant (Proficiencies: **Insight, Persuasion, Land Vehicles**, and **Water Vehicles**, RoD)
* Hillsfar Smuggler (Proficiencies: **Perception, Stealth, Forgery Kit**, and **Languages x1**, RoD)
* Secret Identity (Proficiencies: **Deception, Stealth, Disguise Kit,** and **Forgery Kit**, RoD)
* Shade Fanatic (Proficiencies: **Deception, Intimidation, Forgery Kit**, and **Netherese Language**, RoD)
* Trade Sheriff (Proficiencies: **Investigation, Persuasion, Thieves' Tools,** and **Elven Language**, RoD)

CoStrahd=

* Black Fist Double Agent (Proficiencies: **Deception, Insight, Disguise Kit,** and **choose one** from **Artisan’s Tools** or **Gaming Set**, CoStrahd)
* Dragon Casualty (Proficiencies: **Intimidation, Survival, Draconic Language**, and a **Tool** based on your Origin, CoStrahd)
* Haunted One (Proficiencies: **Exotic Language x1,** and **choose two** from among **Arcana**, **Investigation**, **Religion**, and **Survival**, Curse of Strahd p209)
* Iron Route Bandit (Proficiencies: **Stealth, Animal Handling, Gaming Set x1,** and **Land Vehicles**, CoStrahd)
* Phlan Insurgent (Proficiencies: **Stealth, Survival, Land Vehicles**, and **Artisan's Tools x1,** CoStrahd)
* Stojanow Prisoner (Proficiencies: **Deception, Perception, Thieves' Tools**, and **Gaming Set x1**, CoStrahd)
* Ticklebelly Nomad (Proficiencies: **Nature, Animal Handling, Herbalism Kit**, and **Giant Language**, CoStrahd)

Planes=

* Dissenter (Proficiencies: **none**, **Special Background Feature,** Plane of Amonkhet p11)
* Initiate (Proficiencies: **Athletics,** **Intimidation**, **Land Vehicles,** and **Gaming Set x1,** Plane of Amonkhet p8)
* Inquisitor (Proficiencies: **Investigation,** **Religion**, **Thieves' Tools,** and **Artisan's Tools x1**, Plane of Innistrad p12)
* Vizier (Proficiencies: **History,** **Religion**, **Artisan's Tools x1,** and **Musical Instrument x1,** Plane of Amonkhet p10)

Other=

* Anthropologist (Proficiencies: **Insight,** **Religion,** and **Languages x2,** Tomb of Annihilation p191)
* Archaeologist (Proficiencies: **History, Survival, Cartographer's Tools** or **Navigator's Tools,** and **Language x1,** Tomb of Annihilation p192)
* Heretic (Proficiencies: **Deception,** **Religion,** and **Languages x2,** Ruins of Mezro p28)