Background

The Backgrounds described in the Player’s Handbook—and those detailed below—are all found in the campaigns various societies, in some form or another. Some of them are specifically based on regions of Faerûn such as the Sword Coast and the North.

Each of the backgrounds presented here provides proficiencies, languages, and equipment, as well as a background feature and sometimes a variant form. For personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws, most of the backgrounds use a thematically similar background in the Player’s Handbook as their foundation.

Background list

• Backgrounds of Eberron

A few people have put together lists of all the D&D backgrounds available, but mostly they’re a bit disjointed, so I thought I’d spend a few minutes categorising them and then put up that sorted list here.

Players Handbook

1. Acolyte (p.127) Insight, Religion, and Languages +2
2. Charlatan (p.128) Deception, Sleight of Hand, Disguise Kit, and Forgery Kit
3. Criminal (p.129) Deception, Stealth, Gaming Set +1, and Thieves’ tools
4. Entertainer (p.130) Acrobatics, Performance, Disguise Kit, and Musical Instrument +1
5. Folk Hero (p.131) Animal Handling, Survival, Artisan’s Tools +1, and Land Vehicles
6. Gladiator (p.130) Acrobatics, Performance, Disguise Kit, and Musical Instrument +1
7. Guild Artisan (p.132) Insight, Persuasion, Artisan’s Tools +1, and Languages +1
8. Guild Merchant (p.132) Insight, Persuasion, Artisan’s Tools +1, and Languages +1
9. Hermit (p.134) Medicine, Religion, Herbalism Kit, and Languages +1
10. Knight (p.135) History and Persuasion, Gaming Set +1, and Languages +1
11. Noble (p.135) History and Persuasion, Gaming Set +1, and Languages +1
12. Outlander (p.136) Athletics, Survival, Musical Instrument +1, and Languages +1
13. Pirate (p.139) Athletics, Perception, Navigator’s Tools, and Water Vehicles
14. Sage (p.137) Arcana, History, and Languages +2
15. Sailor (p.139) Athletics, Perception, Navigator’s Tools, and Water Vehicles
16. Soldier (p.140) Athletics, Intimidation, Gaming Set +1, and Land Vehicles
17. Spy (p.129) Deception, Stealth, Gaming Set +1, and Thieves’ tools
18. Urchin (p.141) Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Disguise Kit, and Thieves’ Tools

Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

1. City Watch (p.145) Athletics, Insight, and Languages +2
2. Clan Crafter (p.145) History, Insight, Artisan’s Tools, and Languages +1
3. Cloistered Scholar (p.146) Languages +2, History, and one of Arcana, Nature, or Religion
4. Courtier (p.146) Insight, Persuasion, and Languages +2
5. Faction Agent (p.147) Languages +2, Insight, and one mental skill appropriate your faction
6. Far Traveler (p.148) Insight, Perception, Musical Instrument +1, and Languages +1
7. Inheritor (p.150) Gaming Set +1, Musical Instrument +1, Survival, and one of Arcana, History, or Religion
8. Investigator (p.145) Insight, Investigation, and Languages +2
9. Knight of the Order (p.151) Languages +1, Gaming Set or Musical Instrument +1, Persuasion, and one non-investigation Int skill
10. Mercenary Veteran (p.152) Athletics, Persuasion, Gaming Set +1, and Land Vehicles
11. Urban Bounty Hunter (p.153) Choose two from Deception, Insight, Persuasion, or Stealth, and choose two from Gaming Set, Musical Instrument, or Thieves’ Tools
12. Uthgardt Tribe Member (p.153) Athletics, Survival, Languages +1, and one of Musical Instrument or Artisan’s Tools
13. Waterdhavian Noble (p.154) History, Persuasion, Languages +1, and one of Gaming Set or Musical Instrument

Curse of Strahd

Curse of Strahd Backgrounds v1.1 (PDF)

1. Black Fist Double Agent (p.2) Deception, Insight, Disguise Kit, and one of Artisan’s Tools or Gaming Set
2. Dragon Casualty (p.3) Intimidation, Survival, Draconic Language, and a Tool based on your Origin
3. Iron Route Bandit (p.5) Stealth, Animal Handling, Gaming Set +1, and Land Vehicles
4. Phlan Insurgent (p.6) Stealth, Survival, Land Vehicles, and Artisan’s Tools +1
5. Stojanow Prisoner (p.8) Deception, Perception, Thieves’ Tools, and Gaming Set +1
6. Ticklebelly Nomad (p.9) Nature, Animal Handling, Herbalism Kit, and Giant Language

From the core book:

1. Haunted One (p.209) Exotic Language +1, and two of Arcana, Investigation, Religion, and Survival

Rage of Demons

Hillsfar Regional Character Options (PDF)

1. Cormanthor Refugee (p.5) Nature, Survival, Elven Language, and Artisan’s Tools +1
2. Gate Urchin (p.6) Deception, Sleight of Hand, Thieves’s Tools, and Musical Instrument +1
3. Hillsfar Merchant (p.7) Insight, Persuasion, Land Vehicles, and Water Vehicles
4. Hillsfar Smuggler (p.8) Perception, Stealth, Forgery Kit, and Languages +1
5. Secret Identity (p.9) Deception, Stealth, Disguise Kit, and Forgery Kit
6. Shade Fanatic (p.10) Deception, Intimidation, Forgery Kit, and Netherese Language
7. Trade Sheriff (p.11) Investigation, Persuasion, Thieves Kit, and Elven Language

Elemental Evil

Mulmaster Bonds and Backgrounds (PDF)

1. Caravan Specialist () Animal Handling, Survival, Land Vehicles, and Languages +1
2. Earthspur Miner () Skill: Athletics, Survival, Dwarven and Undercommon Languages
3. Harborfolk () Athletics, Sleight of Hand, Water Vehicles, and Gaming Set +1
4. Mulmaster Aristocrat () Deception, Performance, Artisan’s Tools +1, and Musical Instrument +1
5. Phlan Refugee () Insight, Athletics, Languages +1, Artisan’s Tools +1

Plane of Amonkhet

1. Dissenter (p.11) none, Special Background Feature
2. Initiate (p.8) Athletics, Intimidation, Land Vehicles, and Gaming Set +1
3. Vizier (p.10) History, Religion, Artisan’s Tools +1, and Musical Instrument +1

Tomb of Annihilation

1. Anthropologist (p.191) Insight, Religion, and Languages +2
2. Archaeologist (p.192) History, Survival, Cartographer’s Tools or Navigator’s Tools, and Language +1

Plane of Innistrad

1. Inquisitor (p.12) Investigation, Religion, Thieves’ Tools, and Artisan’s Tools +1

Ruins of Mezro

1. Heretic (p.28) Deception, Religion, and Languages +2

Background descriptions

Acolyte

Background ^(PHB-127)

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, if you remain on good terms with it, 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.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I idolize a particular hero of my faith, and constantly refer to that person’s deeds and example.
2	I can find common ground between the fiercest enemies, empathizing with them and always working toward peace.
3	I see omens in every event and action. The gods try to speak to us, we just need to listen.
4	Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude.
5	I quote (or misquote) sacred texts and proverbs in almost every situation.
6	I am tolerant (or intolerant) of other faiths and respect (or condemn) the worship of other gods.
7	I’ve enjoyed fine food, drink, and high society among my temple’s elite. Rough living grates on me.
8	I’ve spent so long in the temple that I have little practical experience dealing with people in the outside world.

d6	ideal
1	Tradition. The ancient traditions of worship and sacrifice must be preserved and upheld. (Lawful)
2	Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
3	Change. We must help bring about the changes the gods are constantly working in the world. (Chaotic)
4	Power. I hope to one day rise to the top of my faith’s religious hierarchy. (Lawful)
5	Faith. I trust that my deity will guide my actions. I have faith that if I work hard, things will go well. (Lawful)
6	Aspiration. I seek to prove myself worthy of my god’s favor by matching my actions against his or her teachings. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	I would die to recover an ancient relic of my faith that was lost long ago.
2	I will someday get revenge on the corrupt temple hierarchy who branded me a heretic.
3	I owe my life to the priest who took me in when my parents died.
4	Everything I do is for the common people.
5	I will do anything to protect the temple where I served.
6	I seek to preserve a sacred text that my enemies consider heretical and seek to destroy.

d6	Flaw
1	I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely.
2	I put too much trust in those who wield power within my temple’s hierarchy.
3	My piety sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess faith in my god.
4	I am inflexible in my thinking.
5	I am suspicious of strangers and expect the worst of them.
6	Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life.

City Watch

Background ^(SCAG-145)

You 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.

You might have been part of the City Watch of Waterdeep, the baton-wielding police force of the City of Splendors, protecting the common folk from thieves and rowdy nobility alike. Or you might have been one of the valiant defenders of Silverymoon, a member of the Silverwatch or even one of the magic-wielding Spellguard.

Perhaps you hail from Neverwinter and have served as one of its Wintershield watchmen, the newly founded branch of guards who vow to keep safe the City of Skilled Hands.

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

Feature: Watcher’s Eye

Your experience in enforcing the law, and dealing with lawbreakers, gives you a feel for local laws and criminals. You can easily find the local outpost of the watch or a similar organization, and just as easily pick out the dens of criminal activity in a community, although you’re more likely to be welcome in the former locations rather than the latter.

Variant: Investigator

Rarer than watch or patrol members are a community’s investigators, who are responsible for solving crimes after the fact. Though such folk a re seldom found in rural areas, nearly every settlement of decent size has at least one or two watch members who have the skill to investigate crime scenes and track down criminals. If your prior experience is as an investigator, you have proficiency in Investigation rather than Athletics.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the soldier background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a member of the city watch.

Your bond is likely associated with your fellow watch members or the watch organization itself and almost certainly concerns your community. Your ideal probably involves the fostering of peace and safety. An investigator is likely to have an ideal connected to achieving justice by successfully solving crimes.

Clan Crafter

Background ^(SCAG-145)

The Stout Folk are well known for their artisanship and the worth of their handiworks, and you have been trained in that ancient tradition. For years you labored under a dwarf master of the craft, enduring long hours. and dismissive, sour-tempered treatment in order to gain the fine skills you possess today.

You are most likely a dwarf, but not necessarily—particularly in the North, the shield dwarf clans learned long ago that only proud fools who are more concerned for their egos than their craft turn away promising apprentices, even those of other races. If you aren’t a dwarf, however, you have taken a solemn oath never to take on an apprentice in the craft: it is not for nondwarves to pass on the skills of Moradin’s favored children. You would have no difficulty, however, finding a dwarf master who was willing to receive potential apprentices who came with your recommendation.

Skill Proficiencies

History, Insight

Tool Proficiencies

One type of artisan’s tools

Languages

Dwarvish or one other of your choice if you already speak Dwarvish

Equipment

: A set of artisan’s tools with which you are proficient, a maker’s mark chisel used to mark your handiwork with the symbol of the clan of crafters you learned your skill from, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 5 gp and a gem worth 10 gp

Feature: Respect of the Stout Folk

As well respected as clan crafters are among outsiders, no one esteems them quite so highly as dwarves do. You always have free room and board in any place where shield dwarves or gold dwarves dwell, and the individuals in such a settlement might vie among themselves to determine who can offer you (and possibly your compatriots) the finest accommodations and assistance.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the guild artisan background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a clan crafter. (For instance, consider the words “guild” and “clan” to be interchangeable.)

Your bond is almost certainly related to the master or the clan that taught you, or else to the work that you produce. Your ideal might have to do with maintaining the high quality of your work or preserving the dwarven traditions of craftsmanship.

Cloistered Scholar

Background ^(SCAG-146)

As a child, you were inquisitive when your playmates were possessive or raucous. In your formative years, you found your way to one of Faerûn’s great institutes of learning , where you were apprenticed and taught that knowledge is a more valuable treasure than gold or gems. Now you are ready to leave your home—not to abandon it, but to quest for new lore to add to its storehouse of knowledge.

The most well known of Faerûn’s fonts of knowledge is Candlekeep. The great library is always in need of workers and attendants, some of whom rise through the ranks to assume roles of greater responsibility and prominence. You might be one of Candlekeep’s own, 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 the Vault of the Sages or the Map House in Silverymoon, 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. You might be one of the few who aid Herald’s Holdfast, helping to catalogue and maintain records of the information that arrives daily from across Faerûn.

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

Feature: Library Access

Though others must often endure extensive interviews and significant fees to gain access to even the most common archives in your library, you have free and easy access to the majority of the library, though it might also have repositories of lore that are too valuable, magical, or secret to permit anyone immediate access.

You have a working knowledge of your cloister’s personnel and bureaucracy, and you know how to navigate those connections with some ease.

Additionally, you are likely to gain preferential treatment at other libraries across the Realms, as professional courtesy shown to a fellow scholar.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the sage background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a cloistered scholar.

Your bond is almost certainly associated either with the place where you grew up or with the knowledge you hope to acquire through adventuring. Your ideal is no doubt related to how you view the quest for knowledge and truth—perhaps as a worthy goal in itself, or maybe as a means to a desirable end.

Courtier

Background ^(SCAG-146)

In 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 the Court of Silverymoon, or perhaps you traveled in Waterdeep’s baroque and sometimes cutthroat conglomeration of guilds, nobles, adventurers, and secret societies. You might have been one of the behind-the-scenes law-keepers or functionaries in Baldur’s Gate or Neverwinter, or you might have grown up in and around the castle of Daggerford.

Even if you are no longer a full-ft edged 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

Feature: Court Functionary

Your knowledge of how bureaucracies function lets you gain access to the records and inner workings of any noble court or government you encounter. You know who the movers and shakers are, whom to go to for the favors you seek, and what the current intrigues of interest in the group are.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the guild artisan background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a courtier.

The noble court or bureaucratic organization where you got your start is directly or indirectly associated with your bond (which could pertain to certain individuals in the group, such as your sponsor or mentor). Your ideal might be concerned with the prevailing philosophy of your court or organization.

Faction Agent

Background ^(SCAG-147)

Many organizations active in the North and across the face of Faerûn aren’t bound by strictures of geography. These factions pursue their agendas without regard for political boundaries, and their members operate anywhere the organization deems necessary. These groups employ listeners, rumormongers, smugglers, sellswords, cache-holders (people who guard caches of wealth or magic for use by the faction’s operatives), haven keepers, and message drop minders, to name a few. At the core of every faction are those who don’t merely fulfill a small function for that organization, but who serve as its hands, head, and heart.

As a prelude to your adventuring career (and in preparation for it), you served as an agent of a particular faction in Faerûn. You might have operated openly or secretly, depending on the faction and its goals, as well as how those goals mesh with your own. Becoming an adventurer doesn’t necessarily require you to relinquish membership in your faction (though you can choose to do so), and it might enhance your status in the faction.

Skill Proficiencies

Insight and one Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma skill of your choice, as appropriate to your faction

Languages

Two of your choice

Equipment

: Badge or emblem of your faction, a copy of a seminal faction text (or a code-book for a covert faction), a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 15 gp

Factions of the Sword Coast

The lack of large, centralized governments in the North and along the Sword Coast is likely directly responsible for the proliferation of secret societies and conspiracies in those lands. If your background is as an agent for one of the main factions of the North and Sword Coast, here are some possibilities.

The Harpers

Founded more than a millennium ago, disbanded and reorganized several times, the Harpers remain a powerful, behind-the-scenes agency, which acts to thwart evil and promote fairness through knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often proficient in Investigation, enabling them to be adept at snooping and spying. They often seek aid from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and innkeepers, rangers, and the clergy of gods that are aligned with the Harpers’ ideals.

The Order of the Gauntlet

One of the newest power groups in Faerûn, the Order of the Gauntlet has an agenda similar to that of the Harpers. Its methods are vastly different, however: bearers of the gauntlet are holy warriors on a righteous quest to crush evil and promote justice, and they never hide in the shadows. Order agents tend to be proficient in Religion, and frequently seek aid from law enforcement friendly to the order’s ideals, and the clergy of the order’s patron gods.

The Emerald Enclave

Maintaining balance in the natural order and combating the forces that threaten that balance is the twofold goal of the Emerald Enclave. Those who serve the faction are masters of survival and living off the land. They are often proficient in Nature, and can seek assistance from woodsmen, hunters, rangers, barbarian tribes, druid circles, and priests who revere the gods of nature.

The Lords’ Alliance

On one level, the agents of the Lords’ Alliance are representatives of the cities and other governments that constitute the alliance. But, as a faction with interests and concerns that transcend local politics and geography, the Alliance has its own cadre of individuals who work on behalf of the organizations, wider agenda. Alliance agents are required to be knowledgeable in History, and can always rely on the aid of the governments that are part of the Alliance, plus other leaders and groups who uphold the Alliance’s ideals.

The Zhentarim

In recent years, the Zhentarim have become more visible in the world at large, as the group works to improve its reputation among the common people. The faction draws employees and associates from many walks of life, setting them to tasks that serve the goals of the Black Network but a ren’t necessarily criminal in nature. Agents of the Black Network must often work in secret, and a re frequently proficient in Deception. They seek aid from the wizards, mercenaries, merchants and priesthoods allied with the Zhentarim.

Feature: Safe Haven

As a faction agent, you have access to a secret network of supporters and operatives who can provide assistance on your adventures. You know a set of secret signs and passwords you can use to identify such operatives, who can provide you with access to a hidden safe house, free room and board, or assistance in finding information. These agents never risk their lives for you or risk revealing their true identities.

Suggested characteristics

d8	Personality Trait
1	I idolize a particular hero of my faction, and constantly refer to that person’s deeds and example.
2	I can find common ground between the fiercest enemies, empathizing with them and always working toward peace.
3	I see omens in every event and action. The gods try to speak to us, we just need to listen.
4	Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude.
5	I quote (or misquote) ancient texts and proverbs in almost every situation.
6	I am tolerant (or intolerant) of other factions and respect (or condemn) the goals of other factions.
7	I’ve enjoyed fine food, drink, and high society among my faction’s elite. Rough living grates on me.
8	I’ve spent so long in a Safe Haven that I have little practical experience dealing with people in the outside world.

The ideal you strive for is probably in keeping with the tenets and principles of your faction, but might be more personal in nature.

d6	ideal
1	Tradition. The ancient traditions of worship and sacrifice must be preserved and upheld. (Lawful)
2	Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
3	Change. We must help bring about the changes the factions are constantly working in the world. (Chaotic)
4	Power. I hope to one day rise to the top of my faction’s religious hierarchy. (Lawful)
5	Faith. I trust that my faction’s goals will guide my actions. I have faith that if I work hard, things will go well. (Lawful)
6	Aspiration. I seek to prove myself worthy of my faction’s favor by matching my actions against their teachings. (Any)

Your bond might be associated with other members of your faction, or a location or an object that is important to your faction.

d6	Bond
1	I would die to recover an ancient relic of my faction that was lost long ago.
2	I will someday get revenge on the corrupt faction hierarchy who branded me a traitor.
3	I owe my life to the Faction Agent who took me in when my parents died.
4	Everything I do is for the common people.
5	I will do anything to protect the Safe Haven where I served.
6	I seek to preserve an ancient text that my enemies consider dangerous and seek to destroy.

d6	Flaw
1	I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely.
2	I put too much trust in those who wield power within my faction’s hierarchy.
3	My devoutness sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess the goals of my faction.
4	I am inflexible in my thinking.
5	I am suspicious of strangers and expect the worst of them.
6	Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life.

Far Traveler

Background ^(SCAG-148)

Almost all of the common people and other folk that one might encounter along the Sword Coast or in the North have one thing in common: they live out their lives without ever traveling more than a few miles from where they were born.

You aren’t one of those folk.

You are from a distant place, one so remote that few of the common folk in the North realize that it exists, and chances are good that even if some people you meet have heard of your homeland, they know merely the name and perhaps a few outrageous stories. You have come to this part of Faerûn for your own reasons, which you might or might not choose to share.

Although you will undoubtedly find some of this land’s ways to be strange and discomfiting, you can also be sure that some things its people take for granted will be to you new wonders that you’ve never laid eyes on before. By the same token, you’re a person of interest, for good or ill, to those around you almost anywhere you go.

Skill Proficiencies

Insight, Perception

Tool Proficiencies

Any one musical instrument or gaming set of your choice, likely something native to your homeland

Languages

Any one of your choice

Equipment

: One set of traveler’s clothes, any one musical instrument or gaming set you are proficient with, poorly wrought maps from your homeland that depict where you are in Faerûn, a small piece of jewelry worth 10 gp in the style of your homeland’s craftsmanship, and a pouch containing 5 gp

Why are you here?

d6	Reason
1	Emissary
2	Exile
3	Fugitive
4	Pilgrim
5	Sightseer
6	Wanderer

A far traveler might have set out on a journey for one of a number of reasons, and the departure from his or her homeland could have been voluntary or involuntary. To determine why you are so far from home, roll on the table below or choose from the options provided. The following section, discussing possible homelands, includes some suggested reasons that are appropriate for each location.

Where are you from?

The most important decision in creating a far traveler background is determining your homeland. The places discussed here are all sufficiently distant from the North and the Sword Coast to justify the use of this background.

Evermeet

The fabled elven is lands far to the west are home to elves who have never been to Faerûn. They often find it a harsher place than they expected when they do make the trip. If you are an elf, Evermeet is a logical (though not mandatory) choice for your homeland. Most of those who emigrate from Evermeet are either exiles, forced out for committing some infraction of elven law, or emissaries who come to Faerûn for a purpose that benefits elven culture or society.

Halruaa

Located on the southern edges of the Shining South, and hemmed in by mountains all around, the magocracy of Halruaa is a bizarre land to most in Faerûn who know about it. Many folk have heard of the strange skyships the Halruaans sail, and a few know of the tales that even the least of their people can work magic.

Halruaans usually make their journeys into Faerûn for personal reasons, since their government has a strict stance against unauthorized involvement with other nations and organizations. You might have been exiled for breaking one of Halruaa’s many byzantine laws, or you could be a pilgrim who seeks the shrines of the gods of magic.

Kara-Tur

The continent of Kara-Tur, far to the east of Faerûn, is home to people whose customs are unfamiliar to the folk of the Sword Coast. If you come from Kara-Tur, the people of Faerûn likely refer to you as Shou, even if that isn’t your true ethnicity, because that’s the blanket term they use for everyone who shares your origin.

The folk of Kara-Tur occasionally travel to Faerûn as diplomats or to forge trade relations with prosperous merchant cartels. You might have come here as part of some such delegation, then decided to stay when the mission was over.

Mulhorand

From the terrain to the architecture to the god-kings who rule over these lands, nearly everything about Mulhorand is a lien to someone from the Sword Coast. You likely experienced the same sort of culture shock when you left your desert home and traveled to the unfamiliar climes of northern Faerûn. Recent events in your homeland have led to the abolition of slavery, and a corresponding increase in the traffic between Mulhorand and the distant parts of Faerûn.

Those who leave behind Mulhorand’s sweltering deserts and ancient pyramids for a glimpse at a different life do so for many reasons. You might be in the North simply to see the strangeness this wet land has to offer, or because you have made too many enemies among the desert communities of your home.

Sossal

Few have heard of your homeland, but many have questions about it upon seeing you. Humans from Sossal seem crafted from snow, with alabaster skin and white hair, and typically dressed in white.

Sossal exists far to the northeast, hard up against the endless ice to the north and bounded on its other sides by hundreds of miles of the Great Glacier and the Great Ice Sea. No one from your nation makes the effort to cross such colossal barriers without a convincing reason. You must fear something truly terrible or seek something incredibly important.

Zakhara

As the saying goes among those in Faerûn who know of the place, “To get to Zakhara, go south. Then go south some more.” Of course, you followed an equally long route when you came north from your place of birth. Though it isn’t unusual for Zakharans to visit the southern extremes of Faerûn for trading purposes, few of them stray as far from home as you have.

You might be traveling to discover what wonders are to be found outside the deserts and sword-like mountains of your homeland, or perhaps you are on a pilgrimage to understand the gods that others worship, so that you might better appreciate your own deities.

The Underdark

Though your home is physically closer to the Sword Coast than the other locations discussed here, it is far more unnatural. You hail from one of the settlements in the Underdark, each of which has its own strange customs and laws. If you are a native of one of the great subterranean cities or settlements, you are probably a member of the race that occupies the placebut you might also have grown up there after being captured and brought below when you were a child.

If you are a true Underdark native, you might have come to the surface as an emissary of your people, or perhaps to escape accusations of criminal behavior (whether warranted or not). If you aren’t a native, your reason for leaving “home” probably has something to do with getting away from a bad situation.

Feature: All Eyes on You

Your accent, mannerisms, figures of speech, and perhaps even your appearance all mark you as foreign. Curious glances are directed your way wherever you go, which can be a nuisance, but you also gain the friendly interest of scholars and others intrigued by far-off lands, to say nothing of everyday folk who are eager to hear stories of your homeland.

You can parley this attention into access to people and places you might not otherwise have, for you and your traveling companions. Noble lords, scholars, and merchant princes, to name a few, might be interested in hearing about your distant homeland and people.

Suggested characteristics

d6	Personality Trait
1	have different assumptions from those around me concerning personal space, blithe ly invading others’ space in innocence, or reacting to ignorant invasion of my own.
2	I have my own ideas about what is and is not food, and I find the eating habits of those around me fascinating, confusing, or revolting.
3	I have a strong code of honor or sense of propriety that others don’t comprehend.
4	I express affection or contempt in ways that are unfamiliar to others.
5	I honor my deities through practices that are foreign to this land .
6	I begin or end my day with small traditional rituals that are unfamiliar to those around me.

d6	Ideal
1	Open. I have much to learn from the kind ly folk I meet along my way. (Good)
2	Reserved. As someone new to these strange lands, I am cautious and respectful in my dealings. (Lawful)
3	Adventure. I’m far from home, and everything is strange and wonderful! (Chaotic)
4	Cunning. Th ough I may not know their ways, neither do they know mine, which can be to my advantage. (Evil)
5	Inquisitive. Everything is new, but I have a thirst to learn. (Neutral)
6	Suspicious. I must be careful, for I have no way of telling friend from foe here. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	So long as I have this token from my homeland, I can face any adversity in this strange land.
2	The gods of my people are a comfort to me so far from home.
3	I hold no greater cause than my service to my people.
4	My freedom is my most precious possession. I’ll never let anyone take it from me again.
5	I’m fascinated by the beauty and wonder of this new land.
6	Though I had no choice, I lament having to leave my loved one(s) behind. I hope to see them again one day.

d6	Flaw
1	I am secretly (or not so secretly) convinced of the superiority of my own culture over that of this foreign land.
2	I pretend not to understand the local language in order to avoid interactions I would rather not have.
3	I have a weakness for the new intoxicants and other pleasures of this land.
4	I don’t take kindly to some of the actions and motivations of the people of this land, because these folk are different from me.
5	I consider the adherents of other gods to be deluded innocents at best, or ignorant fools at worst.
6	I have a weakness for the exotic beauty of the people of these lands.

Guild Artisan

Background ^(PHB-132)

You 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

Guild business

Guilds are generally found in cities large enough to support several artisans practicing the same trade. However, your guild might instead be a loose network of artisans who each work in a different village within a larger realm. Work with your DM to determine the nature of your guild. You can select your guild business from the Guild Business table or roll randomly.

d20	Guild business	Tools	Cost	Weight
1	Alchemists and apothecaries	Alchemist’s supplies	50 gp	8 lb.
2	Armorers, locksmiths, and finesmiths	Tinker’s tools	50 gp	10 lb.
3	Brewers, distillers, and vintners	Brewer’s supplies	20 gp	9 lb.
4	Calligraphers, scribes, and scriveners	Calligrapher’s supplies	10 gp	5 lb.
5	Carpenters, roofers, and plasterers	Carpenter’s tools	8 gp	6 lb.
6	Cartographers, surveyors, and chart-makers	Cartographer’s tools	15 gp.	6 lb.
7	Cobblers and shoemakers	Cobbler’s tools	5 gp	5 lb.
8	Cooks and bakers	Cook’s utensils	1 gp	8 lb.
9	Glassblowers and glaziers	Glassblower’s tools	30 gp	5 lb.
10	Jewelers and gemcutters	Jeweler’s tools	25 gp	2 lb.
11	Leatherworkers, skinners, and tanners	Leatherworker’s tools	5 gp	5 lb.
12	Masons and stonecutters	Mason’s tools	10 gp	8 lb.
13	Painters, limners, and sign-makers	Painter’s supplies	10 gp	5 lb.
14	Potters and tile-makers	Potter’s tools	10 go	3 lb.
15	Shipwrights and sailmakers	Carpenter’s tools	8 gp	6 lb.
16	Smiths and metal-forgers	Smith’s tools	20 gp	8 lb.
17	Tinkers, pewterers, and casters	Tinker’s tools	50 gp	10 lb.
18	Wagon-makers and wheelwrights	Woodcarver’s tools	1 gp	5 lb.
19	Weavers and dyers	Weaver’s tools	1 gp	5 lb.
20	Woodcarvers, coopers, and bowyers	Woodcarver’s tools	1 gp	5 lb.

As a member of your guild, you know the skills needed to create finished items from raw materials (reflected in your proficiency with a certain kind of artisan’s tools), as well as the principles of trade and good business practices. The question now is whether you abandon your trade for adventure, or take on the extra effort to weave adventuring and trade together.

Feature: Guild Membership

As an established and respected member of a guild, you can rely on certain benefits that membership provides, Your fellow guild members will provide you with lodging and food if necessary, and pay for your funeral if needed. In some cities and towns, a guildhall offers a central place to meet other members of your profession, which can be a good place to meet potential patrons, allies, or hirelings.

Guilds often wield tremendous political power. If you are accused of a crime, your guild will support you if a good case can be made for your innocence or the crime is justifiable. You can also gain access to powerful political figures through the guild, if you are a member in good standing. Such connections might require the donation of money or magic items to the guild’s coffers.

You must pay dues of 5 gp per month to the guild. If you miss payments, you must make up back dues to remain in the guild’s good graces.

Suggested characteristics

Guild artisans are among the most ordinary people in the world—until they set down their tools and take up an adventuring career. They understand the value of hard work and the importance of community, but they’re vulnerable to sins of greed and covetousness.

d8	Personality Trait
1	believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can’t help it—I’m a perfectionist.
2	I’m a snob who looks down on those who can’t appreciate fine art.
3	1 always want to know how things work and what makes people tick.
4	I’m full of witty aphorisms and have a proverb for every occasion.
5	I’m rude to people who lack my commitment to hard work and fair play.
6	I like to talk at length about my profession.
7	I don’t part with my money easily and will haggle tirelessly to get the best deal possible.
8	I’m well known for my work, and I want to make sure everyone appreciates it. I’m always taken aback when people haven’t heard of me.

d6	Ideal
1	Community. It is the duty of all civilized people to strengthen the bonds of community and the security of civilization. (Lawful)
2	Generosity. My talents were given to me so that I could use them to benefit the world. (Good)
3	Freedom. Everyone should be free to pursue his or her own livelihood. (Chaotic)
4	Greed. I’m only in it for the money. (Evil)
5	People. I’m committed to the people I care about, not to ideals. (Neutral)
6	Aspiration. I work hard to be the best there is at my craft.

d6	Bond
1	The workshop where I learned my trade is the most important place in the world to me.
2	I created a great work for someone, and then found them unworthy to receive it. I’m still looking for someone worthy.
3	I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today.
4	I pursue wealth to secure someone’s love.
5	One day I will return to my guild and prove that I am the greatest artisan of them all.
6	I will get revenge on the evil forces that destroyed my place of business and ruined my livelihood.

d6	Flaw
1	I’ll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless.
2	I’m quick to assume that someone is trying to cheat me.
3	No one must ever learn that I once stole money from guild coffers.
4	I’m never satisfied with what I have—I always want more.
5	I would kill to acquire a noble title.
6	I’m horribly jealous of anyone who Can outshine my handiwork, Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by rivals.

Variant: Guild Merchant

Instead of an artisans’ guild, you might belong to a guild of traders, caravan masters, or shopkeepers. You don’t craft items yourself but earn a living by buying and selling the works of others (or the raw materials artisans need to practice their craft). Your guild might be a large merchant consortium (or family) with interests across the region, Perhaps you transported goods from one place to another, by ship, wagon, or caravan, or bought them from traveling traders and sold them in your own little shop. In some ways, the traveling merchant’s life lends itself to adventure far more than the life of an artisan.

Rather than proficiency with artisan’s tools, you might be proficient with navigator’s tools or an additional language. And instead of artisan’s tools, you can start with a mute and a cart.

Haunted One

Background ^(COS-209)

You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to bury it and run away from it, to no avail. Whatever this thing is that haunts you can’t be slain with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its toll, isolating you from most people and making you question your sanity. You must find a way to overcome it before it destroys you.

Skill Proficiencies

Choose one of Arcana, Investigation, Religion, or Survival

Languages

Choose one exotic language (Abyssal, Celestial, Deep Speech, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon)

Equipment

Monster Hunter’s pack, one gothic trinket of special significance.

Feature: Heart of Darkness

Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone.

Harrowing event

Prior to becoming an adventurer, your path in life was defined by one dark moment, one fateful decision, or one tragedy. Now you feel a darkness threatening to consume you, and you fear there may be no hope of escape. Choose a harrowing event that haunts you, or roll one on the Harrowing Events table.

d10	Harrowing event
1	A monster that slaughtered dozens of innocent people spared your life, and you don’t know why.
2	You were born under a dark star. You can feel it watching you, coldly and distantly. Sometimes it beckons you in the dead of night.
3	An apparition that has haunted your family for generations now haunts you. You don’t know what it wants, and it won’t leave you alone.
4	Your family has a history of practicing the dark arts. You dabbled once and felt something horrible clutch at your soul, whereupon you fled in terror.
5	An oni took your sibling one cold, dark night, and you were unable to stop it.
6	You were cursed with lycanthropy and later cured. You are now haunted by the innocents you slaughtered.
7	A hag kidnapped and raised you. You escaped, but the hag still has a magical hold over you and fills your mind with evil thoughts.
8	You opened an eldritch tome and saw things unfit for a sane mind. You burned the book, but its words and images are burned into your psyche.
9	A fiend possessed you as a child. You were locked away but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but now you try to keep it locked away.
10	You did terrible things to avenge the murder of someone you loved. You became a monster, and it haunts your waking dreams.

Suggested Characteristics

You have learned to live with the terror that haunts you. You are a survivor, who can be very protective of those who bring light into your darkened life.

d8	Personality trait
1	I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me.
2	I like to read and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness.
3	I spend money freely and live life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die.
4	I live for the thrill of the hunt.
5	I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse.
6	I expect danger around every corner.
7	I refuse to become a victim, and I will not allow others to be victimized.
8	I put no trust in divine beings.

d6	Ideal
1	I try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
2	I’ll stop the spirits that haunt me or die trying. (Any)
3	I kill monsters to make the world a safer place, and to exorcise my own demons. (Good)
4	I have a dark calling that puts me above the law. (Chaotic)
5	I like to know my enemy’s capabilities and weaknesses before rushing into battle. (Lawful)
6	I’m a monster that destroys other monsters, and anything else that gets in my way. (Evil)

d6	Bond
1	I keep my thoughts and discoveries in a journal. My journal is my legacy.
2	I would sacrifice my life and my soul to protect the innocent.
3	My torment drove away the person I love. I strive to win back the love I’ve lost.
4	A terrible guilt consumes me. I hope that I can find redemption through my actions.
5	There’s evil in me, I can feel it. It must never be set free.
6	I have a child to protect. I must make the world a safer place for them.

d6	Flaw
1	I have certain rituals that I must follow every day. I can never break them.
2	I assume the worst in people.
3	I feel no compassion for the dead. They’re the lucky ones.
4	I have an addiction.
5	I am a purveyor of doom and gloom who lives in a world without hope.
6	I talk to spirits that no one else can see.

House agent

Wayfarer’s Guide to Eberron, pp.94–95

You have sworn fealty to a dragonmarked house, one of the mighty mercantile guilds that shapes Khorvaire. If you possess a dragonmark, you’re likely a memeber of one of the influential families within the house, otherwise you’re an outsider who hopes to make your fortune by allying with this great power. Your primary task is to observe, gathering useful information and serving as the eyes of your house. But you could be called upon at any time to act as a hand of the house. Such missions can be dangerous—but they’ll surely be lucrative.

Skill Proficienceies

Investigation, Persuasion

Tool Proficiency

Two tools by house:

• Cannith: alchemist’s supplies and tinker’s tools
• Deneith: one gaming set and vehicles (land)
• Ghallanda: brewer’s supplies and cook’s utensils
• Jorasco: alchemist’s supplies and herbalism kit
• Kundarak: tinker’s tools and thieves’ tools
• Lyrandar: vehicles (sea/air) and navigator’s tools
• Medani: thieves’ tools and disguise kit
• Orien: vehicles (land) and one gaming set
• Phiarlan: disguise kit and one musical instrument
• Sivis: calligrapher’s tools and forgery kit
• Tharashk: thieves’ tools and one gaming set
• Thuranni: poisoner’s kit and one musical instrument
• Vadalis: vehicles (land) and herbalism kit

Equipment

A set of fine clothes, house signet ring, ID papers, and a purse containing 20 gp.

Role

d8	House Agent role
1	Acquisition
2	Investigation
3	Research & Development
4	Security
5	Intimidation
6	Exploration
7	Negotiation
8	Covert Operations

You are always gathering information for your house. But when the barons come to you with a specific mission, what sort of work do you usually do? Choose your role or roll on the table.

Feature: House connections

As an agent of your house, you can always get food and lodging for your friends at a house enclave. When the house assigns you a mission, it will usually provide you with necessary supplies and transportation. Beyond this, you have many old friends, mentors, and rivals in your house and you may encounter one of them when you interact with a house business. As a Lyrandar agent you may know the captain of an airship; as a Ghallanda agent you know a lot of innkeepers and bartenders. The degree to which such acquaintances will be willing to help you out will depend on your current standing in your house.

Suggested characteristics

House agents are a diverse lot. Consider the house you serve and the type of work you do in developing or selecting characteristics.

d8	Personality trait
1	I never let emotion complicate work.
2	I’m always looking to improve efficiency.
3	I share trivia about my house’s business (medicine, ships, warforged).
4	I hold myself, and anyone I work with, to extremely high standards.
5	I never forget an insult made against myself or my house.
6	I’m very excited and enthusiastic about everything my house does.
7	I’m representing my house and take great pride in my personal appearance.
8	I’m critical of monarchies and opposed to any restrictiosn on the houses.

d6	Ideal
1	Common Good. My house serves a vital function, and its prosperity will help everyone. (Good)
2	Tradition. I uphold traditions and bring honor to my family. (Lawful)
3	Innovation. Abandon old traditions and find better ways to do things. (Chaotic)
4	Power. I want to ensure the prosperity of my house and wield its power myself. (Evil)
5	Discovery. I want to learn all I can, both for my house and for my own curiosity. (Any)
6	Comfort. I want to ensure that me and mine enjoy the best things in life. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	My house is my family, and I would do anything for my family.
2	I love someone from another house, but such relationships are forbidden
3	Someone I love was killed by a rival faction within my house, and I will have revenge.
4	I don’t care about the house as a whole, but I would do anything for my old mentor.
5	I believe my house needs to evolve to survive, and I need to lead that change.
6	I am determined to impress the leaders of my house, and to become a leader myself.

d6	Flaw
1	I’m overly concerned with following established procedures and protocols.
2	I’m obsessed with conspiracy theories and worried about secret societies and hidden demons.
3	I believe that my house and bloodline makes me better than everyone else.
4	I’m concealing a secret that could get me driven from my house.
5	I have strong religious beliefs that aren’t shared by others in my house.
6	I’m working for a hidden faction in my house that gives me secret assignments.

Inheritor

Background ^(SCAG-150)

You are the heir to something of great value—not mere coin or wealth, but an object that has been entrusted to you and you alone. Your inheritance might have come directly to you from a member of your family, by right of birth, or it could have been left to you by a friend, a mentor, a teacher, or someone else important in your life. The revelation of your inheritance changed your life, and might have set you on the path to adventure, but it could also come with many dangers, including those who covet your gift and want to take it from you—by force, if need be.

Skill Proficiencies

Survival, plus one from among Arcana, History, and Religion

Tool Proficiencies

Your choice of a gaming set or a musical instrument

Languages

Any one of your choice

Equipment

: Your inheritance, a set of traveler’s clothes, any items with which you are proficient, and a pouch containing 15 gp

Feature: Inheritance

d8	Object or Item
1	A document such as a map, a letter, or a journal
2–3	A trinket (Player’s Handbook chapter 5 or similar)
4	An article of clothing
5	A piece of jewelry
6	An arcane book or formulary
7	A written story, song, poem, or secret
8	A tattoo or other body marking

Choose or randomly determine your inheritance from among the possibilities in the table. Work with your Dungeon Master to come up with details: Why is your inheritance so important, and what is its full story? You might prefer for the DM to invent these details as part of the game, allowing you to learn more about your inheritance as your character does.

The Dungeon Master is free to use your inheritance as a story hook, sending you on quests to learn more about its history or true nature, or confronting you with foes who want to claim it for themselves or prevent you from learning what you seek. The DM also determines the properties of your inheritance and how they figure into the item’s history and importance. For instance, the object might be a minor magic item, or one that begins with a modest ability and increases in potency with the passage of time. Or, the true nature of your inheritance might not be apparent at first and is revealed only when certain conditions are met.

When you begin your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your inheritance right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your inheritance a secret until you learn more about what it means to you and what it can do for you.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the folk hero background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as an inheritor.

Your bond might be directly related to your inheritance, or to the person from whom you received it. Your ideal might be influenced by what you know about your inheritance, or by what you intend to do with your gift once you realize what it is capable of.

Inquisitor

Background ^(PS:I)

Historically, inquisitors were cathar detectives who investigated crimes both mundane and supernatural. They were known for traveling to remote parishes plagued by unexplained murders, and for exposing werewolves living among normal humans. During Avacyn’s absence, when the archangel was trapped within the demonic prison known as the Helvault, the inquisitors led a series of brutal forays into Kessig and the Gavony Moorland.

They executed suspected lycanthropes with little or no proof, and punished accused heretics in unsanctioned trials. With Avacyn’s madness, this savage form of inquisition has become the norm, and inquisitors who still pry into dark mysteries have become a minority.

Skill Proficiencies

Investigation, Religion

Tool Proficiencies

Thieves’ tools, one set of artisan’s tools of your choice

Equipment

A holy symbol, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp

Feature

Legal Authority – As an inquisitor of the church, you have the authority to arrest criminals. In the absence of other authorities, you are authorized to pass judgment and even carry out sentencing. If you abuse this power, however, your superiors in the church might strip it from you.

Suggested characteristics

Inquisitors are often driven by zeal, plagued with suspicion, and haunted by self-doubt. They are all too susceptible to human failings, and their judgment is not always divinely inspired.

d8	Personality Trait
1	It will all go smoothly if everyone just does as I say.
2	Despair is an extravagance we can ill afford.
3	I know the writings of Saint Raban backward and forward.
4	I try to see the bright side in the very worst situations.
5	It helps me feel better when others show sympathy or appreciation for the horrors I’ve endured.
6	I prefer to face evil with a strong group of friends in front of me.
7	I want to see the wicked burn for the evil they’ve brought on us.
8	I feel the sin being purged from me as I help cleanse the world.

d6	Ideal
1	Honesty. The smallest deception paves the way to grievous sin. (Lawful)
2	Piety. Devotion to the angels and the rites of the church is all that keeps the world from destruction. (Good)
3	Order. The laws of Avacyn are meant to preserve the social order—everything in its proper place. (Lawful)
4	Humanity. Human life is to be cherished and preserved against the horrors of the night. (Good)
5	Knowledge. The path to holiness comes through understanding of the world. (Any)
6	Punishment. It is better for the innocent to suffer than for the guilty to escape their due. (Evil)

d6	Bond
1	Thraben is the heart of the world. The cathedral must stand even if the hinterlands are lost.
2	One day, I will claim vengeance against the monster that took my family from me.
3	My weapon is all I have to remember my beloved mentor by.
4	The geist of my beloved speaks to me sometimes.
5	My dear sibling is now a werewolf.
6	A small crossways chapel is my spiritual home.

d6	Flaw
1	I am troubled by the wild rage and bloodlust that lurks in my own heart.
2	I have come to believe that I executed an innocent person.
3	I enjoy the prestige of my position more than service to the angels.
4	I drink to forget the horrors I’ve seen.
5	I might have made a promise to a demon that I can’t keep.
6	I’ll do whatever grim task must be done, for my soul is already lost.

Knight of the Order

Background ^(SCAG-151)

You 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. Faerûn has a wide variety of knightly orders, all of which have a similar outlook concerning their actions and responsibilities.

Though the term “knight” conjures ideas of mounted, heavily armored warriors of noble blood, most knightly orders in Faerûn 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 a ll sorts of folk who are willing to battle and die for the order’s cause.

The “Knightly Orders of Faerûn” sidebar details several of the orders that are active at present and is designed to help inform your decision about which group you owe allegiance to.

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

Feature: Knightly Regard

You receive shelter and succor from members of your knightly order and those who are sympathetic to its aims. If your order is a religious one, you can gain aid from temples and other religious communities of your deity. Knights of civic orders can get help from the community—whether a lone settlement or a great nationthat they serve, and knights of philosophical orders can find help from those they have aided in pursuit of their ideals, and those who share those ideals.

This help comes in the form of shelter and meals, and healing when appropriate, as well as occasionally risky assistance, such as a band of local citizens rallying to aid a sorely pressed knight in a fight, or those who support the order helping to smuggle a knight out of town when he or she is being hunted unjustly.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the soldier background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a knight of your order.

Your bond almost always involves the order to which you belong (or at least key members of it), and it is highly unusual for a knight’s ideal not to reflect the agenda, sentiment, or philosophy of one’s order.

Mercenary Veteran

Background ^(SCAG-152)

As a sell-sword 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. You might have served with a large outfit such as the Zhentarim or the soldiers of Mintarn, or a smaller band of sell-swords, maybe even more than one. (See the “Mercenaries of the North” sidebar for a collection of possibilities.)

Now you’re looking for something else, perhaps greater reward for the risks you take, or the freedom to choose your own activities. 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)

Feature: Mercenary Life

You know the mercenary life as only someone who has experienced it can. You are able to identify mercenary companies by their emblems, and you know a little about any such company, including the names and reputations of its commanders and leaders, and who has hired them recently. You can find the taverns and festhalls where mercenaries abide in any area, as long as you speak the language. You can find mercenary work between adventures sufficient to maintain a comfortable lifestyle (see “Practicing a Profession” under “Downtime Activities” in chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook).

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the soldier background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to s uit your identity as a mercenary.

Your bond could be associated with the company you traveled with previously, or with some of the comrades you served with. The ideal you embrace largely depends on your worldview and your motivation for fighting.

Urban Bounty Hunter

Background ^(SCAG-153)

Before 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’ gui lds 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. The community where you plied your trade might have been one of Faerûn’s great metropolises, such as Waterdeep or Baldur’s Gate, or a less populous location, perhaps Luskan or Yartar-any place that’s large enough to have a steady supply of potential quarries.

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

Feature: Ear to the Ground

You are in frequent contact with people in the segment of society that your chosen quarries move through. These people might be associated with the criminal underworld, the rough-and-tumble folk of the streets, or members of high society. This connection comes in the form of a contact in any city you visit, a person who provides information about the people and places of the local area.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the criminal background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your bounty hunter’s traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a bounty hunter.

For instance, your bond might involve other bounty hunters or the organizations or individuals that employ you. Your ideal could be associated with your determination always to catch your quarry or your desire to maintain your reputation for being dependable.

Uthgardt Tribe Member

Background ^(SCAG-153)

Though you might have only recently arrived in civilized lands, you are no stranger to the values of cooperation and group effort when striving for supremacy. You learned these principles, and much more, as a member of an Uthgardt tribe.

Your people have always tried to hold to the old ways. Tradition and taboo have kept the Uthgardt strong while the kingdoms of others have collapsed into chaos and ruin. But for the last few generations, some bands among the tribes were tempted to settle, make peace, trade, and even to build towns. Perhaps this is why Uthgar chose to raise up the totems among the people as living embodiments of his power. Perhaps they needed a reminder of who they were and from whence they came. The Chosen of Uthgar led bands back to the old ways, and most of your people abandoned the soft ways of civilization.

You might have grown up in one of the tribes that had decided to settle down, and now that they have abandoned that path, you find yourself adrift. Or you might come from a segment of the Uthgardt that adheres to tradition, but you seek to bring glory to your tribe by achieving great things as a formidable adventurer.

See the “Uthgardt Lands” section of chapter 2 for details on each tribe’s territory and its activities that will help you choose your affiliation.

Skill Proficiencies

Athletics, Survival

Tool Proficiencies

One type of musical instrument or artisan’s tools

Languages

One of your choice

Equipment

: A hunting trap, a totemic token or set of tattoos marking your loyalty to Uthgar and your tribal totem, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp

Feature: Uthgardt Heritage

You have an excellent knowledge of not only your tribe’s territory, but also the terrain and natural resources of the rest of the North. You are familiar enough with any wilderness area that you find twice as much food and water as you normally would when you forage there.

Additionally, you can call upon the hospitality of your people, and those folk allied with your tribe, often including members of druid circles, tribes of nomadic elves, the Harpers, and the priesthoods devoted to the gods of the First Circle.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the outlander background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a member of an Uthgardt tribe. Even if you have left your tribe behind (at least for now), you hold to the traditions of your people. You will never cut down a still-living tree, and you may not countenance such an act being done in your presence. The Uthgardt ancestral mounds—great hills where the totem spirits were defeated by Uthgar and where the heroes of the tribes are interred—are sacred to you.

Your bond is undoubtedly associated with your tribe or some aspect of Uthgardt philosophy or culture (perhaps even Uthgar himself). Your ideal is a personal choice that probably hews closely to the ethos of your people and certainly doesn’t contradict or compromise what being an Uthgardt stands for.

Waterdhavian Noble

Background ^(SCAG-154)

You are a scion of one of the great noble families of Waterdeep. Human families who jealously guard their privilege and place in the City of Splendors, Waterdhavian nobles have a reputation across Faerûn for being eccentric, spoiled, venal, and, above all else, rich.

Whether you are a shining example of the reason for this reputation or one who proves the rule by being an exception, people expect things of you when they know your surname and what it means. Your reasons for taking up adventuring likely involve your family in some way: Are you the family rebel, who prefers delving in filthy dungeons to sipping zzar at a ball? Or have you taken up sword or spell on your family’s behalf, ensuring that they have someone of renown to see to their legacy?

Work with your DM to come up with the family you are part of—there are around seventy-five lineages in Waterdeep, each with its own financial interests, specialties, and schemes. You might be part of the main line of your family, possibly in line to become its leader one day. Or you might be one of any number of cousins, with less prestige but also less responsibility.

Skill Proficiencies

History, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies

One type of gaming set or one musical instrument

Languages

One of your choice

Equipment

: A set of fine clothes, a signet ring or brooch, a scroll of pedigree, a skin of fine zzar or wine, and a purse containing 20 gp

Feature: Kept in Style

While you are in Waterdeep or elsewhere in the North your house sees to your everyday needs. Your name a~d signet are sufficient to cover most of your expenses; the inns, taverns, and festhalls you frequent are glad to record your debt and send an accounting to your family’s estate in Waterdeep to settle what you owe.

This advantage enables you to live a comfortable lifestyle without having to pay 2 gp a day for it, or reduces the cost of a wealthy or aristocratic lifestyle by that amount. You may not maintain a less affluent lifestyle and use the difference as income-the benefit is a line of credit, not an actual monetary reward.

Suggested characteristics

Use the tables for the noble background in the Player’s Handbook as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a member of a Waterdhavian family.

Like other nobles, you were born and raised in a different world from the one that most folk know—one that grants you privilege but also calls you to fulfill a duty befitting your station. Your bond might be associated with your family a lone, or it could be concerned with another noble house that sides with or opposes your own. Your ideal depends to some extent on how you view your role in the family, and how you intend to conduct yourself in the world at large as a representative of your house.

Background variants

Below are optional features that you can choose in place of a feature normally granted by your background.

Cult of the Dragon Infiltrator

Variant optional feature ^(HDQ-87)

You have infiltrated the ranks of the Cult of the Dragon. Having spied on the organization for quite some time, you are familiar with its inner workings and customs. You have a second identity as an initiate of the cult, enough of a facade to blend in as a simple grunt or servant.

Dragon Scholar

Variant optional feature ^(HDQ-87)

You have studied dragons and their lore for many years. You can automatically identify locations built or used by dragons and can identify dragon eggs and scales by sight. If you fail an Intelligence check to recall lore relating to dragons, you know someone or some book you can consult for the answer unless the DM rules that the lore is unknown.

Draconic Bond

Variant bond ^(HDQ-87)

As the Cult of the Dragon has grown bolder, its actions have drawn attention. Your character has stumbled into the Cult’s scheme in some manner or has a connection to dragons. The following tables provide you with bonds tailored to the Tyranny of Dragons campaign. Use them in place of or in addition to the ones you selected from (or created for) your background.

d10	Bond
1	Leosin Erlanthar, a wandering monk, once saved your life. He’s sent urgent word for you to meet him in a small town called Greenest. Looks like it’s time to pay off that debt.
2	When an orc raid drove your family from your home, the people of Greenest took you in. Anyone who threatens Greenest is your sworn enemy.
3	Every five nights, you have a strange sequence of apocalyptic dreams. The world is destroyed by cold, choking fumes, lightning storms, waves of acid, and horrible fire. Each time, the dream ends with ten evil eyes glaring at you from the darkness. You feel a strange compulsion to travel to Greenest. Perhaps the answer to the riddle of your dreams awaits you there.
4	Ontharr Frume, a crusading warrior and champion of good, is your friend and mentor. He has asked you to travel to Greenest in search of rumors of increasing dragon activity.
5	You have heard rumors that your close childhood friend, a half-elf named Talis, has been kidnapped by a strange group of dragon cultists. Your investigations into the cult have led you to the town of Greenest. You must save her!
6	Being the grandchild of a renowned dragon slayer is usually a good way to impress people, but just last week a gang of ruffians attack you. You barely escaped with your life, but as you fled, the ruffians told you that the Cult of the Dragon never forgets and always avenges. You’re hoping to lie low in a sleepy little town called Greenest until this blows over.
7	On his deathbed, your father confessed that he had become involved with a group called the Cult of the Dragon. They paid him to smuggle goods across the Sword Coast. Wracked by guilt, he begged you to investigate the cult and undo the evil he may have helped foster. He urged you to begin your search in a town called Greenest.
8	The dragons destroyed everything you hold dear. They killed your family and destroyed your home. Now, with nothing but what you carry on your back and a horrid scar of the near fatal wounds you sustained in the attack, you seek revenge.
9	You and your family were members of the Cult of the Dragon, until your rivals in the cult arranged to wipe you out. Though they slaughtered your kin, you survived, but they think you’re dead. Now is your chance for vengeance! Your hit list consists of three names: a human cultist named Frulam Mondath, a half-orc named Bog Luck, and a half-dragon named Rezmir. You have arrived in Greenest, knowing it’s next on the cult’s list of targets.
10	You have a secret. You once were a gold dragon who served Bahamut. You were too proud and vain, to the point that Bahamut decided to teach you a lesson. You have been trapped in a weak, humanoid body, with your memories of your former life but a dim shadow. You remember only one thing with perfect clarity: Bahamut’s command to go into the world and prove your devotion to the cause of good. If you prove worthy, on your death you will return to his side in your true form.

Gothic Trinkets

Variant trinket ^(COS-209)

When rolling for a trinket, consider using this table, which is designed for a gothic game.

d100	Gothic Trinket
01–02	A picture you drew as a child of your imaginary friend
03–04	A lock that opens when blood is dripped in its keyhole
05–06	Clothes stolen from a scarecrow
07–08	A spinning top carved with four faces: happy, sad, wrathful, and dead
09–10	The necklace of a sibling who died on the day you were born
11–12	A wig from someone executed by beheading
13–14	The unopened letter to you from your dying father
15–16	A pocket watch that runs backward for an hour every midnight
17–18	A winter coat stolen from a dying soldier
19–20	A bottle of invisible ink that can only be read at sunset
21–22	A wineskin that refills when interred with a dead person for a night
23–24	A set of silverware used by a king for his last meal
25–26	A spyglass that always shows the world suffering a terrible storm
27–28	A cameo with the profile’s face scratched away
29–30	A lantern with a black candle that never runs out and that burns with green flame
31–32	A teacup from a child’s tea set, stained with blood
33–34	A little black book that records your dreams, and yours alone, when you sleep
35–36	A necklace formed of the interlinked holy symbols of a dozen deities
37–38	A hangman’s noose that feels heavier than it should
39–40	A birdcage into which small birds fly but once inside never eat or leave
41–42	A lepidopterist’s box filled dead moths with skull-like patterns on their wings
43–44	A jar of pickled ghouls’ tongues
45–46	The wooden hand of a notorious pirate
47–48	A urn with the ashes of a dead relative
49–50	A hand mirror backed with a bronze depiction of a medusa
51–52	Pallid leather gloves crafted with ivory fingernails
53–54	Dice made from the knuckles of a notorious charlatan
55–56	A ring of keys for forgotten locks
57–58	Nails from the coffin of a murderer
59–60	A key to the family crypt
61–62	An bouquet of funerary flowers that always looks and smells fresh
63–64	A switch used to discipline you as a child
65–66	A music box that plays by itself whenever someone holding it dances
67–68	A walking cane with an iron ferule that strikes sparks on stone
69–70	A flag from a ship lost at sea
71–72	Porcelain doll’s head that always seems to be looking at you
73–74	A wolf’s head wrought in silver that is also a whistle.
75–76	A small mirror that shows a much older version of the viewer
77–78	Small, worn book of children’s nursery rhymes.
79–80	A mummified raven claw
81–82	A broken pendent of a silver dragon that’s always cold to the touch
83–84	A small locked box that quietly hums a lovely melody at night but you always forget it in the morning
85–86	An inkwell that makes one a little nauseous when staring at it
87–88	An old little doll made from a dark, dense·wood and missing a hand and a foot
89–90	A black executioner’s hood
91–92	A pouch made of flesh, with a sinew drawstring
93–94	A tiny spool of black thread that never runs out
95–96	A tiny clockwork figurine of a dancer that’s missing a gear and doesn’t work
97–98	A black wooden pipe that creates puffs of smoke that look like skulls
99–00	A vial of perfume, the scent of which only certain creatures can detect