Deeper Backgrounds

The decision of a character background is not necessarily a complicated one; the player simply selects from the available background options to reflect their character’s life before adventuring. While this is a good method for determining a character’s backstory, some players might want more insight into their character’s early life or family.

## Using Deep Backgrounds

The player rolls on the tables in this section to determine their character’s family background, homeland, major childhood event, influential associate, relationships, and drawbacks. Each element of the player’s background adds options to the final list of ability boosts, skills, feats, and other options that their background can grant. The player writes these options down as they build their character’s background. At the end of the process, they select the following from among the options written down.

* Two ability boosts, each to a different ability score.
* Training in a Lore skill.
* One skill feat (or possibly another feat or piece of equipment). If the player chooses a skill feat, they become trained in its prerequisite skill, or one of its possible prerequisite skills if it has multiple (such as Quick Identification). If the random results include a feat that isn’t a skill feat and the player selects that feat, they don’t gain training in a skill. If they choose a piece of equipment instead of a skill feat, the entry indicates what skill training, if any, they receive.

### Rerolling and Selecting

The players don’t have to be bound by any results from the following tables. Depending on how your group wants to use deep backgrounds, players can reroll any result they don’t like, or even select a specific option from a table that fits their emerging vision of their character. However, if you allow players to reroll or directly select options (and potentially even if you don’t), you might want to exclude options that grant feats other than skill feats; these options are unusual enough that they might put too much pressure on players to select only these options.

## Generating Deep Backgrounds

As a player, follow the steps below to generate your character’s deep background.

### Step 1: Family Background

The word family means something different to everyone. You might have a biological family, adopted family, stepfamily, or any other kind and combination you choose; family bonds come in all types.

* If you grew up with no family, you had to learn to survive on your own. Add a Strength ability boost and a Constitution ability boost to your options.
* If you grew up with one or two family members, your closeness to them made you highly aware of their feelings, and you. Add an Intelligence ability boost and a Wisdom ability boost to your options.
* If you grew up with three or more family members, you had to mediate family conflicts and negotiate a crowded home. Add a Charisma ability boost and a Dexterity ability boost to your options.

### Step 2: Homeland

Where you grew up is highly formative. Roll on the following table to determine the nature of your homeland.

### Step 3: Major Childhood Event

During your childhood, you were influenced by a significant event that helped shape the person you became. Roll on the table below to determine the type of event that shaped you.

### Step 4: Influential Associate

You may have had several people who played key roles in developing their skills and personality, but one likely stands out as the most influential. Use one of the results below as a template to develop an NPC in deeper detail. Work with your GM to determine the current fate of this NPC and whether you can still call upon the NPC for aid.

### Step 5: Relationships

This aspect of background generation determines the relationships you have with the other PCs and why your character might choose to adventure with them. This step is best performed when the entire group is sitting together and can generate and discuss these connections with each other. You should select another character and roll on the first table to generate an inspiring connection, then determine a different character and roll on the second table to generate a challenging connection. You might choose these characters randomly, or the group might decide that each character has an inspiring connection with the character of the player sitting to the left and a challenging connection with the character of the player sitting to the right.

Other players can reject a relationship connection they don’t feel fits with their vision of their own character; in this case, pick another character or a different relationship. Even though you and the other characters share a connection, only you add the skill feats from the relationships you roll to your background options.