Backgrounds

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.

Randomized Life Events

Standard Languages

Exotic Languages

Regional Languages

Tika and Artemis: Backgrounds

Tika Waylan and Artemis Entreri both lived their earliest years as street urchins. Tika’s later career as a barmaid didn’t really change her, so she might choose the urchin background, gaining proficiency in the Sleight of Hand and Stealth skills, and learning the tools of the thieving trade. Artemis is more defined by his criminal background, giving him skills in Deception and Stealth, as well as proficiency with the tools of thievery and poison.

Acolyte

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, and work with your DM to detail the nature of your religious service. Appendix B contains a sample pantheon, from the Forgotten Realms setting. 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.

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. Those who share your religion will support you (but only you) at a modest lifestyle. You can request one spell per day from the Spellcasting Services table for free, at a temple of your faith. The only cost paid for the spell is the base price for the consumed material component, if any is required.

Only some faiths are represented by temples large enough to provide this benefit. When playing any given adventure, the available faiths are determined by the season or region in which the adventure is set.

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.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Religious Community

It's said that every faith in the world has a believer in Baldur's Gate. Not only are most established faiths tolerated - even if some of them, including most of the openly

evil faiths, are relegated to the Outer City's Twin Songs neighborhood - but new ones arrive constantly, carried by travelers and proselytizers from far-flung lands. A character with this background might aspire to greater things, not for themselves, but for their faith.

You're tightly connected with the religious community of Baldur's Gate. You know if a deity has a following in the city and any places that faith openly congregates and the neighborhoods those faithful typically inhabit. While this isn't remarkable for most of the city's larger faiths, keeping track of the hundreds of religions newcomers bring with them is no mean feat.

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.

Caravan Specialist

You are used to life on the road. You pride yourself at having traveled every major tradeway in the region, including the best back roads and shortcuts. When traveling these roads, you know where the best inns, campsites, and water sources are located, as well as potential locations of danger such as ambush. Having worked the roads as long as you have, you have made many acquaintances and find it easy to pick up information and rumors floating from town to town. You are skilled with beasts of burden and handling and repairing wagons of all kinds.

Feature: Wagonmaster

You are used to being in charge of the operation and your reputation for reliability has you on a short list when the job is critical. Experience has taught you to rely on your gut. Others recognize this and look to you for direction when a situation gets serious. You are able to identify the most defensible locations for camping. If you are part of a caravan outfit, you are able to attract two additional workers that are loyal to you based on your reputation. You have an excellent memory for maps and geography and can always determine your cardinal directions while traveling.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Outlander feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

Charlatan

You have always had a way with people. You know what makes them tick, you can tease out their hearts' 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. C om m on sense should steer people away from things that sound too good to be true, but com m on sense seem s to be in short supply when you’re around. The bottle of pink-colored 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.

Favorite Schemes

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

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.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Long-Lost Heir

Everybody's always trying to get a leg up on somebody in Baldur's Gate. One group's con artist might be another's revolutionary. Or maybe you're just in it for yourself. In any case, characters with this background have a plan to hit the big time; all they need is audacity and a little time.

You're well-versed in the mannerisms and idiosyncrasies of Baldurian patriars and other nobles, imitating them smoothly enough to convince even the snootiest family heads of your authenticity. You're skilled at posing as the long-lost heir to some imaginary or extinguished patriar lineage.

Because of your skill in passing yourself off as a patriar, you have a Watch token that allows you alone into the Upper City of Baldur's Gate. You might be able to bluff others through with you, or even convince members of the Watch that you're a patriar. However, any true test of your authenticity is likely to reveal your deception.

Suggested Characteristics

Charlatans are colorful characters w ho conceal their true selves behind the m asks 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.

City Watch

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.

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 are 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 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

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.

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 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

As a child, you were inquisitive when your playmates were possessive or raucous. In your formative years, you found your way to one of Faerun'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 Faerun'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 catalog and maintain records of the information that arrives daily from across Faerun.

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 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

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-fledged member of the group that gave you your start in life, your relationships with your former fellows can be an advantage for you and your adventuring comrades. You might undertake missions with your new companions that further the interest of the organization that gave you your start in life. In any event, the abilities that you honed while serving as a courtier will stand you in good stead as an adventurer.

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 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.

Criminal

You are an experienced criminal with a history of breaking the law. You have spent a lot of time among other criminals and still have contacts within the criminal underworld. You’re far closer than most people to the world of murder, theft, and violence that pervades the underbelly of civilization, and you have survived up to this point by flouting the rules and regulations of society.

Criminal Specialty

There are many kinds of criminals, and within a thieves’ guild or similar criminal organization, individual members have particular specialties. Even criminals who operate outside of such organizations have strong preferences for certain kinds of crimes over others. Choose the role you played in your criminal life, or roll on the table below.

(Baldur's Gate) Criminal Origins

Criminals are pervasive in Baldur's Gate. If you wish, you may roll on the Criminal Origins table for an event that began your life of crime.

Feature: Criminal Contact

You have a reliable and trustworthy contact who acts as your liaison to a network of other criminals. You know how to get messages to and from your contact, even over great distances; specifically, you know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for you.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Criminal Connections

No career criminal in Baldur's Gate operates without being aware of the Guild. Some studiously keep a low profile, carrying just the occasional smuggled load in with legitimate merchandise, or only breaking knees when it can plausibly be claimed as an act of personal revenge. Others join up with crews for protection, or with the Guild itself. A few former Guild members have been cast out of the organization due to incompetence or after offending a more powerful member, and now shuffle for scraps to survive.

In Baldur's Gate, crime is just another business. As a result, you can arrange a meeting with a low-ranking operative of nearly any business, patriar family, crew, government institution, or - certainly - the Guild. This operative will hear you out and, at their discretion, take your information or request up their chain of command. These meetings almost always occur in shady venues.

Variant Criminal: Spy

Although your capabilities are not much different from those of a burglar or smuggler, you learned and practiced them in a very different context: as an espionage agent. You might have been an officially sanctioned agent of the crown, or perhaps you sold the secrets you uncovered to the highest bidder.

Suggested Characteristics

Criminals might seem like villains on the surface, and many of them are villainous to the core. But some have an abundance of endearing, if not redeeming, characteristics. There might be honor among thieves, but criminals rarely show any respect for law or authority.

Detective

The grand cities of the North are rife with sleaze, scandal, and skulduggery, giving rise to a gamut of crimes that the traditional City Watch are ill-equipped to deal with. In such cases, the private detective steps from the lamplight to investigate, employing a diverse range of mental and social talents to unravel each mystery..

Feature: Master Sleuth

If you spend ten minutes talking to a stranger, you uncover hidden information about them by studying their mannerisms, tiny scuffs on their clothing, and so forth. At the DM’s discretion, you deduce one of the following pieces of information about them: a recent location they’ve visited, an object they’ve handled, or a person they’ve spoken with.

Suggested Characteristics

Detectives typically have above-normal intelligence, and can seem distant or aloof in the presence of lesser minds. They’re often marginalized to the extent of becoming loners, or have crippling flaws they strive to keep hidden..

Entertainer

You thrive in front of an audience. You know how to entrance them, entertain them, and even inspire them. Your poetics can stir the hearts of those who hear you, awakening grief or joy, laughter or anger. Your music raises their spirits or captures their sorrow. Your dance steps captivate, your humor cuts to the quick. Whatever techniques you use, your art is your life.

Entertainer Routines

A good entertainer is versatile, spicing up every performance with a variety of different routines. Choose one to three routines or roll on the table below to define your expertise as an entertainer.

Feature: By Popular Demand

You can always find a place to perform, usually in an inn or tavern but possibly with a circus, at a theater, or even in a noble’s court. At such a place, you receive free lodging and food of a modest or comfortable standard (depending on the quality of the establishment), as long as you perform each night. In addition, your performance makes you something of a local figure. When strangers recognize you in a town where you have performed, they typically take a liking to you.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Backstage Pass

From the Oasis Theater's spectacular singers and acrobats to the pantomimes and shadow puppeteers of the Wide, Baldur's Gate hosts a colorful array of performers. Good acts can always find ready audiences, and the constant flow of travelers means that both new spectators and new spectacles are always passing through.

You've learned that most of the real business of entertainment (or any other venture) happens behind the scenes. It's easy for you to case what sorts of audiences attend what venue - like how toughs gather at the Blushing Mermaid or how brash patriars congregate at the Helm and Cloak. After a successful performance, you may meet an enthusiastic member of the crowd - someone of an occupation or social class that frequents the establishment. This contact is delighted to talk with you, and to listen.

Variant Entertainer: Gladiator

A gladiator is as much an entertainer as any minstrel or circus performer, trained to make the arts of combat into a spectacle the crowd can enjoy. This kind of flashy combat is your entertainer routine, though you might also have some skills as a tumbler or actor. Using your By Popular Demand feature, you can find a place to perform in any place that features combat for entertainment — perhaps a gladiatorial arena or secret pit fighting club. You can replace the musical instrument in your equipment package with an inexpensive but unusual weapon, such as a trident or net.

Suggested Characteristics

Successful entertainers have to be able to capture and hold an audience’s attention, so they tend to have flamboyant or forceful personalities. They’re inclined toward the romantic and often cling to high-minded ideals about the practice of art and the appreciation of beauty.

Faceless

Being who you are, you could never be a hero. Whether due to your class, your people, your family, or your sins, something about you prevents you from effectively pursuing the path you've chosen. Even so, that doesn't stop you. You've left your old face behind, taking on a new persona, becoming something more.

Characters with the faceless background don a disguise - literally or otherwise - as they adventure. This persona might be dramatic or subtle. In a way, though, many characters have such larger than life personalities. Therefore, this background largely focuses on detailing the hero behind the mask.

Faceless Persona

A faceless character adventures behind the mask of a public persona. This persona is as natural to them as their hidden, true face, but it disguises their identity. Roll on the Faceless Persona table to determine your persona, or work with the DM to create a persona that's unique to your character and suits the tone of your game.

Feature: Dual Personalities

Most of your fellow adventurers and the world know you as your persona. Those who seek to learn more about you - your weaknesses, your origins, your purpose - find themselves stymied by your disguise. Upon donning a disguise and behaving as your persona, you are unidentifiable as your true self. By removing your disguise and revealing your true face, you are no longer identifiable as your persona. This allows you to change appearances between your two personalities as often as you wish, using one to hide the other or serve as convenient camouflage. However, should someone realize the connection between your persona and your true self, your deception might lose its effectiveness.

Suggested Characteristics

A faceless character usually plays their persona - the hero or extraordinary person they are every day. That's all a facade, though, or a part of them expressed to an extreme. To define a persona, feel free to choose characteristics from other backgrounds, particularly folk hero, hermit, or noble. For the person behind the persona, the one who truly strives to be faceless, consider a distinct set of faceless characteristics. As a result, those with this background have two sets of characteristics, one for their persona, and one for their faceless selves.

Faction Agent

Many organizations active in the North and across the face of Faerun 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 Faerun. 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.

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 Faerun, 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 aren'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

Use the tables for the acolyte background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity as a faction agent. (For instance, consider the words "faith" and "faction" to be interchangeable.)

Your bond might be associated with other members of your faction, or a location or an object that is important to your faction. The ideal you strive for is probably in keeping with the tenets and principles of your faction, but might be more personal in nature.

Far Traveler

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 Faerun 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.

Why are you here?

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 Faerun. 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 Faerun 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 Faerun 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 Faerun 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 Faerun, is home to people whose customs are unfamiliar to the folk of the Sword Coast. If you come from Kara-Tur, the people of Faerun 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 Faerun 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 Faerun. 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 Faerun. 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 Faerun 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 Faerun 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 place but 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

Fisher

You have spent your life aboard fishing vessels or combing the shallows for the bounty of the ocean. Perhaps you were born into a family of fisher folk, working with your kin to feed your village. Maybe the job was a means to an end- a way out of an undesirable circumstance that forced you to take up life aboard a ship. Regardless of how you began, you soon fell in love with the sea, the art of fishing, and the promise of the eternal horizon.

Fishing Tale

You can tell a compelling tale. whether tall or true. to impress and entertain others. Once a day, you can tell your story to willing listeners. At the DM's discretion, a number of those listeners become friendly toward you; this is not a magical effect, and continued amicability on their part depends on your actions. You can roll on the following table to help determine the theme of your tale or choose one that best fits your character. Alternatively, work with your DM to create your own fishing tale.

Feature: Harvest the Water

You gain advantage on ability checks made using fishing tackle. If you have access to a body of water that sustains marine life, you can maintain a moderate lifestyle while working as a fisher, and you can catch enough food to feed yourself and up to ten other people each day.

Suggested Characteristics

Fishers succeed only if they spend time at their jobs. As such, most fishers have a strong work ethic, and they admire others who earn their living honestly. Fishers tend to be superstitious, forming attachments to particular fishing lures or special fishing spots. They have a connection to the bodies of water in which they fish, and they think poorly of those whose actions adversely affect their livelihood.

Folk Hero

You come from a humble social rank, but you are destined for so much more. Already the people of your home village regard you as their champion, and your destiny calls you to stand against the tyrants and monsters that threaten the common folk everywhere.

Defining Event

You previously pursued a simple profession among the peasantry, perhaps as a farmer, miner, servant, shepherd, woodcutter, or gravedigger. But something happened that set you on a different path and marked you for greater things. Choose or randomly determine a defining event that marked you as a hero of the people.

Feature: Rustic Hospitality

Since you come from the ranks of the common folk, you fit in among them with ease. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among other commoners, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Social Vengeance

Baldur's Gate is a city badly in need of heroes, and every so often, one rises from among its own. Ordinary people who rise to greatness are beloved in local history, but the popular imagination can turn on such champions almost as quickly as it anoints them.

You've lived your entire life in the Lower or Outer City of Baldur's Gate. You grew up seeing arrogant patriars flaunt their wealth while your hardworking neighbors struggled. As a result, you know how eager commoners in Baldur's Gate are to see any patriar get what they deserve. While in a busy part of the Lower City or Outer City of Baldur's Gate, you can spend 2d10 minutes to convince 1d6 commoners to perform a non-illegal act that inconveniences a member of the Watch or Flaming Fist, a patriar, or some other wealthy looking individual.

(Baldur's Gate) Folk Hero Origins

Folk heroes might rise from a variety of circumstances, or their origins might be a secret as they do their work anonymously. If you wish, you may roll on the Folk Hero Origins table for an event that started you down your heroic path.

Suggested Characteristics

A folk hero is one of the common people, for better or for worse. Most folk heroes look on their humble origins as a virtue, not a shortcoming, and their home communities remain very important to them.

Guild Artisan

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 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.

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.

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

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Professional Courtesy

Numerous guilds and professional associations exist in Baldur's Gate, covering every imaginable trade and discipline from gravediggers to moneylenders.

You're familiar with the city's crews, their territories, and inter-crew politics. Choose one of the three districts of Baldur's Gate: the Upper City, the Lower City, or the Outer City. This is the district where you conduct most of your business. Whenever you need information about something in one of that district's neighborhoods, you can seek out crew members in that area and learn the local gossip. You can also gain unimpeded entry to nearly any bank, guild hall, place of business. workhouse, or crew meeting place in your district.

Variant Guild Artisan: 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 mule and a cart.

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.

Harborfolk

You are one of the hundreds of small-time fishermen and women who haul the bounty of the harbor to the city's markets each morning. You have spent countless days rowing in the waters in and around the city and know them and the other fisherfolk, dockworkers, and port inhabitants better than anyone. Though you have left that life behind, you still visit once in a while.

Feature: Harborfolk

You grew up on the docks and waters of the harbor. The harborfolk remember you and still treat you as one of them. They welcome you and your companions. While they might charge you for it, they'll always offer what food and shelter they have; they'll even hide you if the City Watch is after you (but not if the Hawks are).

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Folk Hero feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

Haunted One

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hermit

You lived in seclusion — either in a sheltered community such as a monastery, or entirely alone — for a formative part of your life. In your time apart from the clamor of society, you found quiet, solitude, and perhaps some of the answers you were looking for.

Life of Seclusion

What was the reason for your isolation, and what changed to allow you to end your solitude? You can work with your DM to determine the exact nature of your seclusion, or you can choose or roll on the table below to determine the reason behind your seclusion.

Feature: Discovery

The quiet seclusion of your extended hermitage gave you access to a unique and powerful discovery. The exact nature of this revelation depends on the nature of your seclusion. It might be a great truth about the cosmos, the deities, the powerful beings of the outer planes, or the forces of nature. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen. You might have uncovered a fact that has long been forgotten, or unearthed some relic of the past that could rewrite history. It might be information that would be damaging to the people who consigned you to exile, and hence the reason for your return to society. Work with your DM to determine the details of your discovery and its impact on the campaign.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: The Real City

While some might think it strange to find hermits in a bustling city, others know that sometimes the most profound solitude exists in the midst of a crowd. Baldur's Gate holds a handful of souls who manage to find isolation amid its tumult.

You know the Baldur's Gate most Baldurians ignore, the dog-eat-dog world of the homeless and unfortunate. You know where to go in the Lower City and Outer City for anonymity. In these slums and alley camps, you can get a damp bed and a bad meal, but also a degree of privacy and no questions asked. Living here isn't comfortable, but it's unlikely anyone will find you - and you can stay as long as you want.

(Baldur's Gate) Hermit Origins

Any number of personal choices or ill-fated circumstances might have led you to turn away from society. You may, if you wish, choose or roll an origin event from the Hermit Origins table.

Other Hermits

This hermit background assumes a contemplative sort of seclusion that allows room for study and prayer. If you want to play a rugged wilderness recluse who lives off the land while shunning the company of other people, look at the outlander background. On the other hand, if you want to go in a more religious direction, the acolyte might be what you’re looking for. Or you could even be a charlatan, posing as a wise and holy person and letting pious fools support you.

Suggested Characteristics

Some hermits are well suited to a life of seclusion, whereas others chafe against it and long for company. Whether they embrace solitude or long to escape it, the solitary life shapes their attitudes and ideals. A few are driven slightly mad by their years apart from society.

Inheritor

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.

Feature: Inheritance

Choose or randomly determine your inheritance from among the possibilities in the table below (if you choose, it must be a non-consumable item found in the Player’s Handbook worth 75 gp or less). Whether you choose to roll randomly or pick your inheritance, you may choose to have your inheritance be entirely mundane or possess a minor magical quirk. If you wish your item to have minor magic quirk, you may choose to either have your inheritance glow with the light of a candle or you may select an option from the “What Quirk Does It Have?” table found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide to determine what quirk it possesses instead.

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 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.

Knight of the Order

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. Faerun 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 Faerun don't restrict their membership to such individuals. The goals and philosophies of the order are more important than the gear and fighting style of its members, and so most of these orders aren't limited to fighting types, but are open to all sorts of folk who are willing to battle and die for the order's cause.

Knightly Orders of Faerun

Many who rightfully call themselves "knight" earn that title as part of an order in service to a deity, such as Kelemvor'sEternal Order or Mystra's Knights of the Mystic Fire. Other knightly orders serve a government, royal family, or are the elite military of a feudal state, such as the brutal WarlockKnights of Vaasa. Other knighthoods are secular and nongovernmental organizations of warriors who follow a particular philosophy, or consider themselves a kind of extended family, similar to an order of monks. Although there are organizations, such as the Knights of the Shield, that use the trappings of knighthood without necessarily being warriors, most folk of Faerun who hear the word "knight" think of a mounted warrior in armor beholden to a code. Below are a few knightly organizations.

Knights of the Unicorn. The Knights of the Unicorn began as a fad of romantically minded sons and daughters of patriarchal families in Baldur's Gate. On a lark, they took the unicorn goddess Lurue as their mascot and went on various adventures for fun. The reality of the dangers they faced eventually sank in, as did Lurue's tenets. Over time the small group grew and spread, gaining a following in places as far as Cormyr. The Knights of the Unicorn are chivalric adventurers who follow romantic ideals: life is to be relished and lived with laughter, quests should be taken on a dare, impossible dreams should be pursued for the sheer wonder of their completion, and everyone should be praised for their strengths and comforted in their weaknesses.

Knights of Myth Drannor. Long ago, the Knights of Myth Drannor were a famous adventuring band, and Dove Falcon hand, one of the famous Seven Sisters, was one of them. The band took its name to honor the great but fallen city, just as the new Knights of Myth Drannor do today. With the city once again in ruins, Dove Falconhand decided to reform the group with the primary goal of building alliances and friendship between the civilized races of the world and goodly people in order to combat evil. The Knights of Myth Drannor once again ride the roads of the Dalelands, and they've begun to spread to the lands beyond. Their members, each accepted by Dove herself, are above all valiant and honest.

Knights of the Silver Chalice. The Knights of the Silver Chalice was formed by edict of the demigod Siamorphe in Waterdeep a century ago. Siamorphe's ethos is the nobility's right and responsibility to rule, and the demigod is incarnated as a different noble mortal in each generation. By the decree of the Siamorphe at that time, the Knights of the Silver Chalice took it upon themselves to put a proper heir on the throne of Tethyr and reestablish order in that kingdom. Since then they have grown to be the most popular knighthood in Tethyr, a nation that has hosted many knighthoods in fealty to the crown.

Please choose a knightly order from Faerun.

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 nation that 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 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.

Member of the Tribe

You’re a member of a lizardfolk tribe, although you’re not necessarily a lizardfolk. You live in the jungles or swamps— or wherever your tribe lives—and you’re a survivor. You’ve managed to make the environment your home, you understand the dangers and the pleasures of that place, you understand your role in the tribe, and you know there’s always someone out there to help you: your tribe is your family.

Role In The Tribe

The tribe has roles for its people. In order for the tribe to survive, you must know and accept your role. To shirk your duties would be to put the lives of your tribe at risk. Choose the role you played in the tribe, or roll on the table below.

Feature: The Tribe

Your tribe is your family. If one of you is in trouble, the whole tribe rises to the challenge. You can go to them when threatened, and they offer shelter and food to you and anyone you vouch for. They help in other ways if possible. Likewise, if they ask for your help, you are bound by the same tribal bonds. To shirk this responsibility is to risk being made an outcast.

Suggested Characteristics

Marine

You were trained for battle on sandy beaches and rocky shores. You have launched midnight raids from swift ships whose names evoke terror in the hearts of your adversaries. The water is your second home, the rain your shelter, and the crashing waves your battle cry.

Hardship Endured

Hardship in your past has forged you into an unstoppable living weapon. This hardship is essential to you and is at the heart of a personal philosophy or ethos that often guides your actions. You can roll on the following table to determine this hardship or choose one that best fits your character.

Feature: Steady

You can move twice the normal amount of time (up to 16 hours) each day before being subject to the effect of a forced march. Additionally, you can automatically find a safe route to land a boat on shore, provided such a route exists.

Suggested Characteristics

Marines are looked up to by other soldiers and respected by their superiors. They are veteran warriors who rarely lose composure on the battlefield. Marines who leave the service tend to work as mercenaries, but their combat experience also makes them excellent adventurers. Though they are self-reliant. marines tend to operate best in groups, valuing camaraderie and the companionship of like-minded individuals.

Mercenary Veteran

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.

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.

Mercenaries of the North

Countless mercenary companies operate up and down the Sword Coast and throu ghout the North. Most are smallsca le opera tions that employ a dozen to a hundred folk who offer secu rity services, hunt monsters and brigands, or go to war in exchange for gold. Some organizations, such as the Zhentarim, Flaming Fist, and the nation of Mintarn have hundreds or thousands of members and can provide private armies to those with enough funds. A few organizations operating in the North are described below.

The Chill. The cold and mysterious Lurkwood serves as the home of numerous groups of goblinoids that have banded together into one tribe ca ll ed the Chill. Unlike most of their kind, the Chill refrains from raiding the people of the North and maintains relatively good relations so that they can hire themselves out as warriors. Few ci tystates in the North are willing to fi eld an army alongside the Chill, but severa l are happy to qu ietly pay the Chill to battle the Uthgardt, ores, trolls of the Evermoors, and other th reats to civilization.

Silent Rain. Consisting solely of elves , Silent Rain is a legendary mercenary company operating out of Evereska. Caring little for gold or fame, Silent Rain agrees only to jobs that either promote elven causes or invo lve destroying ores, gnolls, and the like. Prospective employers must leave written word (in Elvish) near Evereska, and the Silent Rain sends a representative if interested.

The Bloodaxes. Founded in Sundabar nea rly two centuries ago, the Bloodaxes were originally a group of dwarves outcast from their clans for crimes against the teachings of Moradin Soulforger. They began hiring out as mercenaries to whoever in the North would pay them. Since then the mercenary company has broadened its membership to other races, but every member is an exile, criminal, or misfit of some sort looking for a fresh start and a new family among the bold Bloodaxes.

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.

Suggested Characteristics

Use the tables for the soldier background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit 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.

Miner

You are a down-on your luck miner from the mountains who is no stranger to hardship. You have spent a great deal of time living among the dwarves and denizens of the Underdark that also work mines in the area. At this point, you're just as comfortable working underground as above. You know how to read a seam, dicker for supplies with the deep gnomes, party with dwarves, and find your way back to the surface afterwards. Unfortunately, you haven't struck it rich… yet. Although you've come to the city looking for work, the tall peaks and deep mines of the mountains still call to you.

Feature: Deep Miner

You are used to navigating the deep places of the earth. You never get lost in caves or mines if you have either seen an accurate map of them or have been through them before. Furthermore, you are able to scrounge fresh water and food for yourself and as many as five other people each day if you are in a mine or natural caves.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Outlander feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

Noble

You understand wealth, power, and privilege. You carry a noble title, and your family owns land, collects taxes, and wields significant political influence. You might be a pampered aristocrat unfamiliar with work or discomfort, a former merchant just elevated to the nobility, or a disinherited scoundrel with a disproportionate sense of entitlement. Or you could be an honest, hard-working landowner who cares deeply about the people who live and work on your land, keenly aware of your responsibility to them.

Work with your DM to come up with an appropriate title and determine how much authority that title carries. A noble title doesn’t stand on its own—it’s connected to an entire family, and whatever title you hold, you will pass it down to your own children. Not only do you need to determine your noble title, but you should also work with the DM to describe your family and their influence on you.

Is your family old and established, or was your title only recently bestowed? How much influence do they wield, and over what area? What kind of reputation does your family have among the other aristocrats of the region? How do the common people regard them?

What’s your position in the family? Are you the heir to the head of the family? Have you already inherited the title? How do you feel about that responsibility? Or are you so far down the line of inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don’t embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career? Are you in your family’s good graces, or shunned by the rest of your family?

Does your family have a coat of arms? An insignia you might wear on a signet ring? Particular colors you wear all the time? An animal you regard as a symbol of your line or even a spiritual member of the family?

These details help establish your family and your title as features of the world of the campaign.

Feature: Position of Privilege

Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Patriar

The patriars of Baldur's Gate live in the Upper City, where they host grand galas and flaunt cosmopolitan fashions, but are walled off from the poverty and squalor of the less fortunate districts and their neighborhoods. Although they might visit prosperous Bloomridge to try a fashionable restaurant or boutique, or watch a spectacle at the Oasis Theater, the patriars have little reason to venture into the dirtier, more dangerous parts of the city. If they do, it is generally as thrill-seeking tourists or enclosed by a retinue of armed guards, not as friends or neighbors. As a result, many patriars are at once acutely attuned to the nuances of royal courts half a continent away and shockingly ignorant of what life is like for the poor outside their own doorsteps.

This combination of worldly savvy and local blindness characterizes almost all the nobility of Baldur's Gate. As a result, for those who wish to play patriars, the Patriar feature below replaces the Position and Privilege feature of the noble background. Those who wish to use the background's standard feature might have gained their standing in Baldur's Gate from business rather than inheritance.

As a member of one of the elite families of Baidur's Gate, you may pass through city gates without paying tolls, mingle among the Gate's nobility unquestioned, and impress those on the lookout for wealthy patrons. You are welcome in the Upper City and may stay there after dark without being harassed or evicted. Your word is accepted over others' without question, and any corruption among guards or government officials tends to work in your favor, not against you - at least until you make some effort to expose it.

Variant Noble: Knight

A knighthood is among the lowest noble titles in most societies, but it can be a path to higher status. If you wish to be a knight, choose the Retainers feature (see the sidebar) instead of the Position of Privilege feature. One of your commoner retainers is replaced by a noble who serves as your squire, aiding you in exchange for training on his or her own path to knighthood. Your two remaining retainers might include a groom to care for your horse and a servant who polishes your armor (and even helps you put it on).

As an emblem of chivalry and the ideals of courtly love, you might include among your equipment a banner or other token from a noble lord or lady to whom you have given your heart — in a chaste sort of devotion. (This person could be your bond.)

Variant Feature: Retainers

If your character has a noble background, you may select this background feature instead of Position of Privilege.

You have the service of three retainers loyal to your family. These retainers can be attendants or messengers, and one might be a majordomo. Your retainers are commoners who can perform mundane tasks for you, but they do not fight for you, will not follow you into obviously dangerous areas (such as dungeons), and will leave if they are frequently endangered or abused.

Suggested Characteristics

Nobles are born and raised to a very different lifestyle than most people ever experience, and their personalities reflect that upbringing. A noble title comes with a plethora of bonds—responsibilities to family, to other nobles (including the sovereign), to the people entrusted to the family’s care, or even to the title itself. But this responsibility is often a good way to undermine a noble.

Outlander

You grew up in the wilds, far from civilization and the com forts of town and technology. You’ve witnessed the migration of herds larger than forests, survived weather more extreme than any city-dweller could comprehend, and enjoyed the solitude of being the only thinking creature for miles in any direction. The wilds are in your blood, whether you were a nomad, an explorer, a recluse, a hunter-gatherer, or even a marauder. Even in places where you don’t know the specific features of the terrain, you know the ways of the wild.

Origin

You've been to strange places and seen things that others cannot begin to fathom. Consider some of the distant lands you have visited, and how they impacted you. You can roll on the following table to determine your occupation during your time in the wild, or choose one that best fits your character.

Feature: Wanderer

You have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and you can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around you. In addition, you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day, provided that the land offers berries, small game, water, and so forth.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Immigrant Experience

Coming to Baldur's Gate might seem like a good idea for a spectrum of reasons. Profit, excitement, and cosmopolitan opportunities all present tempting prospects, but rarely does one start on the path to Baldur's Gate fully understanding the complex social morass that awaits. You enter the city an outsider, and it's likely that - no matter how long you spend in the city - you'll leave an outsider, if you leave at all.

Even after your short time in Baidur's Gate, you've learned the city holds more walls and gates than those the Watch and Flaming Fist patrols. You are known within the city's immigrant communities. Should you ever need to learn about a foreign land, people, tradition, or history, you know where to find someone with firsthand experience - likely somewhere in the Outer City.

(Baldur's Gate) Outlander Origins

Foreigners of all kinds come to Baldur's Gate daily, drawn by countless reasons from countless lands. The Outlander Origins table provides ideas for bow your character might have come to Baldur's Gate.

Suggested Characteristics

Often considered rude and uncouth among civilized folk, outlanders have little respect for the niceties of life in the cities. The ties of tribe, clan, family, and the natural world of which they are a part are the most  important bonds to most outlanders.

Sage

You spent years learning the lore of the multiverse. You scoured manuscripts, studied scrolls, and listened to the greatest experts on the subjects that interest you. Your efforts have made you a master in your fields of study.

Specialty

To determine the nature of your scholarly training, roll a d8 or choose from the options in the table below.

Feature: Researcher

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Rumor Monger

Baldur's Gate has a modest academic community centered around the libraries of the High Hall and the various temples dedicated to gods of learning and innovation. Lecturers, researchers, and historians all participate with passing scholars from Candlekeep in a lively exchange of ideas, debating and collaborating in book filled halls across the Upper and Lower City. The city is also rife with opportunities for arcane study, although its masters are dispersed across individual wizards' abodes and lack concentrated communities.

Via your personal rumor mill and articles published in Baldur's Mouth, you can surmise a great deal about Baldurians' secrets - who's practicing necromancy, who's involved in spying or smuggling, who would purchase or craft dangerous magical wares without batting an eyelash. Whenever a noteworthy crime or mysterious happening occurs in the city, you immediately have a list of 1d4 suspects who, if they aren't involved, have a strong chance of knowing who is.

Suggested Characteristics

Sages are defined by their extensive studies, and their characteristics reflect this life of study. Devoted to scholarly pursuits, a sage values knowledge highly — sometimes in its own right, sometimes as a means toward other ideals.

Sailor

You sailed on a seagoing vessel for years. In that time, you faced down mighty storms, monsters of the deep, and those who wanted to sink your craft to the bottomless depths. Your first love is the distant line of the horizon, but the time has come to try your hand at something new.

Discuss the nature of the ship you previously sailed with you Dungeon Master. Was it a merchant ship, a naval vessel, a ship of discovery, or a pirate ship? How famous (or infamous) is it? Is it widely traveled? Is it still sailing, or is it missing and presumed lost with all hands?

What were your duties on board — boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run?

Feature: Ship’s Passage

When you need to, you can  secure free passage on a sailing ship for yourself and your adventuring companions. You might sail on the ship you served on, or another ship you have good relations with (perhaps one captained by a former crew mate). Because you’re calling in a favor, you can’t be  certain of a schedule or route that w ill meet your every need. Your Dungeon Master will determine how long it takes to get where you need to go. In return for your free passage, you and your companions are expected to assist the crew during the voyage.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Smuggler's Sense

Baldur's Gate was founded by sailors, and its harbor is still the city's beating heart. Several patriars are descended from captains of yore, the commerce of the Lower City is built on the port, and even the Outer City's rhythms are dominated by the ebb and flow of river trade. Because sailors are as fundamental and ubiquitous to Baldur's Gate as the cobbles on its streets, characters with this background are common.

You're familiar with the docks of Baldur's Gate, the movement of inspectors and tax collectors, the way cargo and coin flows. As a result, it's easy for you to hustle a load of cargo ashore or see such a cargo onto a cooperative ship without attracting suspicion or taxation. You also know the movements of the Gray Wavers - the Flaming Fist harbor guards - and have a sense of how to operate the city's mechanized cranes.

Variant Sailor: Pirate

You spent your youth under the sway of a dread pirate, a ruthless cutthroat who taught you how to survive in a world of sharks and savages. You’ve indulged in larceny on the high seas and sent more than one deserving soul to a briny grave. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town.

If you  decide that your sailing career involved piracy, you can choose the Bad Reputation feature (see sidebar) instead of the Ship’s Passage feature.

Variant Feature: Bad Reputation

If your character has a sailor background, you may select this background feature instead of Ship’s Passage.

No matter where you go, people are afraid of you due to your reputation. When you are in a civilized settlement, you can get away with minor criminal offenses, such as refusing to pay for food at a tavern or breaking down doors at a local shop, since most people will not report your activity to the authorities.

Suggested Characteristics

Sailors can be a rough lot, but the responsibilities of life on a ship make them generally reliable as well. Life aboard a ship shapes their outlook and forms their most important attachments.

Shipwright

You have sailed into war on the decks of great ships, patching their hulls with soup bowls and prayers. You once helped build a fishing vessel that single-handedly saved a town from starvation. You have seen a majestic prow in your dreams that you have not been able to replicate in wood. Since childhood, you have loved the water and have been captivated by the many vessels that travel on it.

Life at Sea

Your life at sea and in port has shaped you; you can roll on the following table to determine its impact or choose an element that best fits your character.

Feature: I'll Patch It!

Provided you have carpenter's tools and wood. you can perform repairs on a water vehicle. When you use this ability, you restore a number of hit points co the hull of a water vehicle equal to 5 x your proficiency modifier. A vehicle cannot be patched by you in this way again until after it has been pulled ashore and fully repaired.

Suggested Characteristics

Shipwrights are resourceful carpenters and designers. They often have a dedicated spot at the local tavern, since shipwrights are invaluable to coastal communities. Some travel with naval fleets and might serve as officers if their temperament suits it. Shipwrights have an affinity for working with their hands and often perform feats of carpentry that others might deem miraculous.

Smuggler

On a rickety barge, you carried a hundred longswords in fish barrels right past the dock master's oblivious lackeys. You have paddled a riverboat filled with stolen elven wine under the gaze of the moon and sold it for twice its value in the morning. In your more charitable times, you have transported innocents out of war zones or helped guide herd animals to safety on the banks of a burning river.

Claim to Fame

Every smuggler has that one tale that sets them apart from common criminals. By wits, sailing skill, or a silver tongue, you lived to tell the story - and you tell it often. You can roll on the following table to determine your claim or choose one that best fits your character.

Feature: Down Low

You are acquainted with a network of smugglers who are willing to help you out of tight situations. White in a particular town, city. or other similarly sized community (DM's discretion). you and you r companions can stay for free in safe houses. Safe houses provide a poor lifestyle. While staying at a safe house, you can choose to keep your presence (and that of your companions) a secret.

Suggested Characteristics

In general, smugglers value survival, and then profit, above other things. One could be a part of a larger organization, or might run a small smuggling vessel of their own. Smugglers live the lies they have told, and they have a natural ability to recall all the falsehoods and half-truths they have ever spouted.

Soldier

War has been your life for as long as you care to remember. You trained as a youth, studied the use of weapons and armor, learned basic survival techniques, including how to stay alive on the battlefield. You might have been part of a standing national army or a mercenary company, or perhaps a member of a local militia who rose to prominence during a recent war.

When you choose this background, work with your DM to determine which military organization you were a part of, how far through its ranks you progressed, and what kind of experiences you had during your military career. Was it a standing army, a town guard, or a village militia? Or it might have been a noble’s or merchant’s private army, or a mercenary company.

Specialty

During your time as a soldier, you had a specific role to play in your unit or army. Roll a d8 or choose from the options in the table below to determine your role:

Feature: Military Rank 

You have a military rank from your career as a soldier. Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and influence, and they defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and requisition simple equipment or horses for temporary use. You can also usually gain access to friendly military encampments and fortresses where your rank is recognized.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: City Guard

Mercenaries, private guards, Watch soldiers, and members of the Flaming Fist number among just a few of the many soldiers on the streets of Baldur's Gate.

You may choose to currently serve in either the Flaming Fist or the Watch. If you do, you have responsibilities related to your post. For as long as you perform these responsibilities, you gain benefits. If you stop performing your responsibilities, though, you lose access to the benefits and might suffer further fallout. Should you lose these benefits, you may regain them by having an unpleasant conversation with your commanding officer and fulfilling your responsibilities for a month.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Loyalty Test

You've had enough dealings with crooked soldiers that you can spot the behaviors common to corrupt guards and military officers a mile away. While awareness of such corruption doesn't equate to evidence of it, and your sense certainly isn't foolproof, your instinct proves a useful starting point when determining who might take a bribe, who might turn a blind eye to a crime, or who might have criminal connections. You can also use this sense to get a feeling about who might fulfill their duties strictly by the book.

Suggested Characteristics

The horrors of war combined with the rigid discipline of military service leave their mark on all soldiers, shaping their ideals, creating strong bonds, and often leaving them scarred and vulnerable to fear, shame, and hatred.

Tavern Regular

You’ve spent your life propping up the bar at your local tavern. This beloved drinking hole was your second home, its patrons your extended family. Here you whiled away the hours, putting the world to right in a bar where everybody knew your name.

Reason for Leaving

Fate tore you from your favorite bar stool, and you emerged blinking into the world outside. Choose a reason for leaving your tavern or roll on the table below.

Feature: On the Tab

You have a knack for avoiding payment for simple amenities. If an item or service is priced at less than 1 gp, you can acquire it for free. In addition, you receive free lodging and food at most cheap inns and taverns, allowing you to live a poor or modest lifestyle for free.

Suggested Characteristics

Tavern regulars are generally friendly souls who are quick to laugh and always ready with a humorous quip or anecdote. Each regular typically has a boorish area of expertise that they’re unqualified to talk about, or a catchphrase they keep repeating.

Tavern Worker

You’ve spent years working in a tavern: pouring drinks for thirsty patrons, mopping floors, preparing food, or waiting tables. Your rough-and-tumble life has been lit by torchlight and wreathed in pipe smoke, but the experience has shaped you into the person you are now: sharp-tongued, thick-skinned, and worldly wise.

Feature: Tavern Tales

Years in the taproom exposed you to myriad tall stories, urban legends, and gossip. Whenever you visit a new locale, there’s a chance you’ll recall some tidbits of local knowledge. The usefulness of this information could vary from knowing where to find the best barber, to remembering which tombstone Captain Walharrow buried his treasure under.

On the DMs discretion, roll a d20 whenever you enter a new location, with higher results gleaning more useful information. If the DM allows it, you can work with your group to determine what the information could be.

Suggested Characteristics

Most tavern workers have seen the best and worse in people. While they often have blunt natures, they also make great listeners and usually have practical advice to offer for common predicaments.

Touched by the Fey

You had an encounter with one of the fey in your past. Maybe you wandered into the Feywild and were lost for 100 years without aging a day. Maybe you spoke with a fey and beat them in a game of riddles, gaining their appreciation and saving your life. No matter the story, it left you marked - and since then you see the world a little differently than everyone around you. You have a more fey perspective that has given you a number of advantages and shaped your life since that moment.

A Fey Encounter

You encountered the fey at some time in your past, and it changed you. This is where we find out your story. Roll on the table below to find out what happened to you, or choose from the options provided.

Feature: Feytouched

You’re known to the seelie and unseelie fey when they encounter you because of the mark you have. Depending on which side you encountered and how that played out, you are welcomed as a friend to one court and are seen as an enemy by the other.

Suggested Characteristics

Urban Bounty Hunter

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' guilds and street gangs. You might be a "velvet mask" bounty hunter, one who blends in with high society and noble circles in order to catch the criminals that prey on the rich, whether pickpockets or con artists. The community where you plied your trade might have been one of Faeru'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.

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 as the basis for your 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.

Urchin

You grew up on the streets alone, orphaned, and poor. You had no one to watch over you or to provide for you, so you learned to provide for yourself. You fought fiercely over food and kept a constant watch out for other desperate souls who might steal from you. You slept on rooftops and in alleyways, exposed to the elements, and endured sickness without the advantage of medicine or a place to recuperate. You’ve survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each.

You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but securely for at least ten days. How did you come by that money? What allowed you to break free of your desperate circumstances and embark on a better life?

Feature: City Secrets

You know the secret patterns and flow to cities and can find passages through the urban sprawl that others would miss. When you are not in combat, you (and companions you lead) can travel between any two locations in the city twice as fast as your speed would normally allow.

(Baldur's Gate) Bonus Feature: Gateguide Connection

Bands of orphans and runaways band together in the Outer City, running after passersby in ragged throngs to plead for scraps. In the Lower City, urchins are often recruited into the lowest echelons of the Guild or pressed into dirty and dangerous work by unscrupulous masters.

Even though you might not be a member of the Gateguides crew, you've associated with enough of them that you know their torch-based code. From the lighting, placement. and type of torch arranged on or near a structure, you can gather a great deal of information about those who live or do business there, particularly if they deal fairly with strangers, have Guild or government connections, or have either helped or denied the Gateguides in the past.

Suggested Characteristics

Urchins are shaped by lives of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better life — and maybe get some payback on all the rich people who treated them badly.

Uthgardt Tribe Member

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" for details on each tribe's territory and its activities that will help you choose your affiliation.

Barbarian Tribes of Faerun

Though this section details the Uthgardt specifically, either it or the outlander background can be used for a character whose origin lies with one of the other barbarian tribes in Faerun.

You might be a fair-haired barbarian of the Reghed, dwelling in the shadow of the Reghed Glacier in the far North near lcewind Dale. You might also be of the nomadic Rashemi, noted for their savage berserkers and their masked witches. Perhaps you hail from one of the wood elf tribes in the Chondalwood, or the magic-hating human tribes of the sweltering jungles of Chult.

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 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.

(Chult) Anthropologist

You have always been fascinated by other cultures, from the most ancient and primeval lost lands to the most modern civilizations. By studying other cultures’ customs, philosophies, laws, rituals, religious beliefs, languages, and art, you have learned how tribes, empires, and all forms of society in between craft their own destinies and doom. This knowledge came to you not only through books and scrolls, but also through first-hand observation — by visiting far-flung settlements and exploring local histories and customs.

Cultural Chameleon

Before becoming an adventurer, you spent much of your adult life away from your homeland, living among people different from your kin. You came to understand these foreign cultures and the ways of their people, who eventually treated you as one of their own. One culture had more of an influence on you than any other, shaping your beliefs and customs. Choose a race whose culture you’ve adopted, or roll on the Adopted Culture table.

Feature: Adept Linguist

You can communicate with humanoids who don’t speak any language you know. You must observe the humanoids interacting with one another for at least 1 day, after which you learn a handful of important words, expressions, and gestures — enough to communicate on a rudimentary level.

Suggested Characteristics

Anthropologists leave behind the societies into which they were born to discover what life is like in other parts of the world. They seek to see how other races and civilizations survive — or why they did not. Some anthropologists are driven by intellectual curiosity, while others want the fame and recognition that comes with being the first to discover a new people, a lost tribe, or the truth about an ancient empire’s downfall.

(Chult) Archaeologist

An archaeologist learns about the long-lost and fallen cultures of the past by studying their remains — their bones, their ruins, their surviving masterworks, and their tombs. Those who practice archaeology travel to the far corners of the world to root through crumbled cities and lost dungeons, digging in search of artifacts that might tell the stories of monarchs and high priests, wars and cataclysms.

Dust Digger

Prior to becoming an adventurer, you spent most of your young life crawling around in the dust, pilfering relics of questionable value from crypts and ruins. Though you managed to sell a few of your discoveries and earn enough coin to buy proper adventuring gear, you have held onto an item that has great emotional value to you. Roll on the Signature Item table to see what you have, or choose an item from the table.

Feature: Historical Knowledge

When you enter a ruin or dungeon, you can correctly ascertain its original purpose and determine its builders, whether those were dwarves, elves, humans, yuan-ti, or some other known race. In addition, you can determine the monetary value of art objects more than a century old.

Suggested Characteristics

Few archaeologists can resist the lure of an unexplored ruin or dungeon, particularly if such a site is the source of legends or is rumored to contain the treasures and relics of wizards, warlords, or royalty. Some archaeologists plunder for wealth or fame, while others consider it their calling to illuminate the past or keep the world’s greatest treasures from falling into the wrong hands. Whatever their motivations, archaeologists combine the qualities of a scrappy historian with the self-made heroism of a treasure-hunting scoundrel.

(Hillsfar) Cormanthor Refugee

You are one of hundreds of refugees that were driven from Hillsfar or that fled the destruction of Myth Drannor and who now shelter in hidden camps under the northern eaves of the Cormanthor Forest. If you up grew in the camps, you have never been to a settlement other than the village of Elventree. As a guest of the elves, you have learned their ways and the ways of the forest. You are also a traumatized, as residual wild magic, energies released by the fall of Thultanar upon Myth Drannor, and the constant fear of raids hunting for non-humans to fight in Hillsfar's Arena have taken their toll on you, as they have on everyone in the camps.

Feature: Shelter of the Elven Clergy

The clerics of Elventree have vowed to care for the Cormanthor refugees. They will help you when they can, including providing you and your companions with free healing and care at temples, shrines, and other established presences in Elventree. They will also provide you (but only you) with a poor lifestyle.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Acolyte feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Hillsfar) Gate Urchin

All traffic into and out of the City of Trade passes through the Hillsfar Gate, making it the ideal place for the destitute to gather to panhandle, busk, gossip, and pick pockets. You grew up on the streets in the shadow of that great steel edifice, which houses both Red Plumes and Guild Mages. Though you may have moved on, you still have friends among them, and that life has had a lasting impact on you.

Feature: Red Plume and Mage Guild Contacts

You made a number of friends among the Red Plumes and the Mage's Guild when you lived at the Hillsfar Gate. They remember you fondly and help you in little ways when they can. You can invoke their assistance in and around Hillsfar to obtain food, as well as simple equipment for temporary use. You can also invoke it to gain access to the low-security areas of their garrisons, halls, and encampments.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Soldier feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Hillsfar) Hillsfar Merchant

Before becoming an adventurer, you were a successful merchant operating out Hillsfar, the City of Trade. Your family operated warehouses, organized caravans, managed stores, or owned a ship and has trade contacts throughout the Moonsea region, as well as up and down the length of the Sword Coast. Perhaps they import ore, uncut gems, untreated furs, or grain into the City of Trade, or they export fine cloth, faceted gems, fine furs, or Dragon's Breath, a brandy-like liquor. Regardless, you've largely given that life up for some reason and have chosen to seek adventure instead. Nevertheless, the training you received then, and perhaps the contacts you made, serve you well as an adventurer.

Choose one of the following features:

Feature: Factor

Although you’ve left the day-to-day life of a merchant behind, your family has assigned you the services of a loyal retainer from the business, a factor, husbanding agent, seafarer, caravan guard, or clerk. This individual is a commoner who can perform mundane tasks for you such as making purchases, delivering messages, and running errands. He or she will not fight for you and will not follow you into obviously dangerous areas (such as dungeons), and will leave if frequently endangered or abused. If he or she is killed, the family assigns you another within a few days.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Noble Knight's Retainers feature.]

Alternate Feature: Trade Contact

You and your family have trade contacts such as caravan masters, shopkeepers, sailors, artisans, and farmers throughout the Moonsea region and all along the Sword Coast. Once per game session, when adventuring in either of those areas, you can use those contacts to get information about the local area or to pass a message to someone in those areas, even across the great distance between the two areas.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Criminal Contact and Researcher feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Hillsfar) Hillsfar Smuggler

Hillsfar is the City of Trade. However, the Great Law of Trade only protects "legitimate" trade, trade that passes through the city's sole gate, which the Red Plumes monitor and tax. And the Great Law of Humanity banishes non-humans from the city altogether. The two Great Laws create great demand and great risk for smugglers, who shepherd illicit goods and non-humans into and out of the city by secret routes. The Rogues Guild tightly controls all of this activity, taking its cut from sanctioned jobs and exacting punishment for independent jobs.

Perhaps you trafficked Dragon's Breath (a brandy-like liquor) to avoid tariffs or contraband to avoid seizure, or maybe you are a human who sympathizes with the non-humans and worked as part of the network of secret routes and safe houses that helps them pass through Hillsfar. Either way, you have contacts in the smuggling community who can help you slip into and out of the city unnoticed, for a price.

Feature: Secret Passage

You can call on your contacts within the smuggling community to secure secret passage into or out of Hillsfar for yourself and your adventuring companions, no questions asked, and no Red Plume entanglements. Because you’re calling in a favor, you can’t be certain they will be able to help on your timetable or at all. Your Dungeon Master will determine whether you can be smuggled into or out of the city. In return for your passage, you and your companions may owe the Rouges Guild a favor and/or may have to pay bribes.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Sailor feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Hillsfar) Secret Identity

Even though you are a non-human, despite Hillfar's Great Law of Humanity, you continue to live in the City of Trade. You do so by maintaining a secret identity, forging documents, and wearing a disguise. Few, if any, know you aren't human.

If you're a halfling or gnome, you pass as a little person or a child. If you're a half-elf, half-orc, or genasi, you disguise your non-human features. Other races use a combination of disguise and concealing clothing to hide.

Your reasons for doing so are your own. Perhaps you're a dissident or the agent of a foreign power. Maybe you have a relationship with someone you cannot bear to leave. Regardless, this way of life has taken a heavy toll on you.

Feature: Secret Identity

You have created a secret identity that you use to conceal your true race and that offers a covering explanation for your presence in Hillsfar. In addition, 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.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Charlatan feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Hillsfar) Shade Fanatic

You grew up at a time when the wizards of Netheril were at war with the elves of Cormanthor. You recall sitting cross-legged hearing the stories of the glorious Thultanthar, also called the Shade Enclave and the City of Shade, and aspired to study there and maybe even did, for a time. Your dreams came crashing down a few years ago when Thultanthar fell from the sky upon Myth Drannor.

You know that there was a Netherese Garrison stationed near Hillsfar and have heard rumors that its downfall came from traitors within the ranks. You remain loyal to Netheril and seek other Shade loyalists and fanatics in the Cormanthor forest and the areas surrounding Hillsfar.

Feature: Secret Society

You have a special way of communicating with others who feel the same way you do about the Shade. When you enter a village or larger city you can identify contact who will give you information on those that would hinder your goals and those would help you simply because of your desire to see the Shade Enclave return in all its glory.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Criminal feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Hillsfar) Trade Sherrif

You are one of the many people that make sure the trade routes are clear at ALL times. You assure that the Great Law of Trade is followed at all costs. You work by yourself or in groups to quell bandits and brigands who might stop trade routes from going through. You investigate potential ambushes and possible rumors as to someone wanting to rob or stop caravans. You are as much an investigator as you are law enforcement.

You are able to go into a town/village around the Hillsfar area and find a contact that is willing to give you information from rumor to fact. This sometimes comes at a cost of a minor bribe of 1-9 silver pieces.

Feature: Investigative Services

You are part of a small force outside of Hillsfar You have a special way of communicating with others and they seem to be at ease around you. You can invoke your rank to allow you access to a crime scene or to requisition equipment or horses on a temporary basis. When you enter a town or village around Hillsfar you can identify a contact who will give you information on the local rumors and would help you simply because of your desire to get answers and information for anyone wanting to disrupt trade.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the soldier feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Mulmaster) Aristocrat

From your hilltop home, you have looked down (literally and perhaps figuratively) on the unwashed masses of Mulmaster for your entire life. Your fur-trimmed robes and training in the visual and performing arts mark you as wealthy and perhaps well-born; you are a member of the City of Danger's aristocracy.

None of your immediate family members sits on the Council of Blades or is even a Zor or Zora…yet. Nevertheless, you are one of Mulmaster's elite, and whether you personally covet a higher standing or not, you are at home in the dance halls where the aristocracy gathers to plot, to scheme, to do business, to discuss the arts, and, above all, to see, and to be seen.

Feature: Highborn

Mulmaster is run by and for its aristoracy. Every other class of citizen in the city defers to you, and even the priesthood, Soldiery, Hawks, and Cloaks treat you with deference. Other aristocrats and nobles accept you in their circles and likely know you or of you. Your connections can get you the ear of a Zor or Zora under the right circumstances.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Noble feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Mulmaster) Phlan Refugee

Gone are the happier days of walking into the Laughing Goblin Inn after a hard day’s labor. Everything has changed, and you are lucky to be alive. Back in Phlan you could count yourself among those street-wise folks who knew when to pay a bribe and who to work with to make a living. Your ability to listen to the winds of change have saved you before, and this time they allowed you to be one of the lucky few who escaped Phlan with something more than just the shirt on your back.

Feature: Phlan Survivor

Whatever your prior standing was, you are now one of the many refugees that have come to Mulmaster. You are able to find refuge with others from Phlan and those who sympathize with your plight. Within Mulmaster this means that you can find a place to bed down, recover, and hide from the watch with either other refugees from Phlan, or the Zhents within the ghettos.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Folk Hero feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Phlan) Black Fist Double Agent

You are an informant for the Tears of Virulence who now lord over Phlan, but are also a double agent for original town guard of Phlan, the Black Fists. For the Tears you’ve been tasked with ferreting out the secrets of Phlan's criminal underworld, insurgency, and the common peoples of Phlan. In exchange for reporting on the activities of dissenters, criminals, and other rebel elements, the Tears of Virulence leave you alone to conduct your affairs in peace.

In reality you work for the deposed Black Fists, sharing misinformation with the Tears of Virulence that often helps the Black Fists and other phlan insurgents.

Since the evacuation of Phlan, you are even busier today than you ever were previously, as the number of dissenters among the refugees grows daily, while you are afforded many opportunities to spy on the peoples of Mulmaster and Elventree, to the pleasure of your contact(s) within the Tears of Virulence.

Feature: Double Agent

You have a reliable and trusty contact within the Tears of Virulence garrison in Phlan to whom you pass information and secrets. In exchange, you can get away with minor criminal offenses within the town of Phlan. In addition, your Black Fists contacts can help you secure an audience with the Lord Regent, the Lord Sage, members of the Black Fists, or deposed nobles and authority figures who are sympathetic to the Phlan refugees and insurgents.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Noble feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Phlan) Dragon Casualty

When the Maimed Virulence descended upon Phlan, you were one of the unfortunate casualties of war. Captured during the initial assault, you have spent the last year of your life as a plaything of a capricious and malevolent overlord.

While many of your fellow prisoners fell to the dragon's insatiable fury over the coming months, you and your fellow "survivors" were spared only for a worse fate as one of the dragon's magical experiments, leaving you and those who survived the torture scarred and disfigured.

What reasons the dragon had for releasing you few survivors, nobody knows. You only fear that those who died under his terrible claw were the lucky ones, and you and your fellow Dragonscarred are doomed for a fate worse than death.

Origin

Prior to the coordinated attack by the Maimed Virulence and her rebel Black Fist supporters, you were once a citizen or visitor to Phlan. While the trauma of your recent ordeal has greatly altered your motivations and perception of the world, your former life still clings to you and colors your mannerisms, behaviors, and outlook on life. Choose one entry on the following table (or roll randomly) to determine your former occupation prior to your incarceration and torture. Your choice determines your tool proficiency from this background.

Disfigurement (Optional)

In addition to extensive scarring, you may choose one of the following options to represent your disfigurement. This disfigurement is purely cosmetic, misshapen, and horrific to look upon.

Feature: Dragonscarred

Over a period of several months you were subject to magical and mundane torture at the claws of Vorgansharax and his minions. These experiments have left you horribly disfigured but mark you as a survivor of the Maimed Virulence.

This affords you a measure of fame and notoriety, for those who know of your harrowing ordeal are keen to hear the tale personally but makes it difficult to disguise your appearance and hide from prying eyes. You can parley this attention into access to people and places you might not otherwise have, for you and your companions. Nobles, scholars, mages, and those who seek to ferret out the secrets of the Maimed Virulence would all be keen to hear your tale of survival, and learn what secrets (if any) you might possess, and/or study your affliction with great interest.

However, you fear that your afflictions are not completely mundane and that the Maimed Virulence may as yet have some nefarious reason for allowing your escape, as your scars burn with acidic fury and seem to writhe beneath your skin at times.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Far Traveler feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Phlan) Iron Route Bandit

The Iron Route, once the primary trade route between Phlan and Zhentil Keep, used to be a site of extensive banditry until the Phlan’s recent occupation. Your time as an erstwhile bandit has given you plenty of experience in the saddle and a knack for acquiring and appraising other people’s mounts, pets, and vehicles among other things. This particular set of skills has become very lucrative for you by working for the underground as a horse thief for a local guild of thieves and other shadowy organizations.

Feature: Black-Market Breeder

You know how to find people who are always looking for stolen animals & vehicles, whether to provide for animal pit fights, or to supply some desperate rogues the means to get away faster on mounts during an illegal job. This contact not only provides you with information of what such animals & vehicles are in high demand in the area, but also offer to give you favors and information (DM choice) if you bring such animals & vehicles to them.

[Note: This is a variant of the Criminal Contact feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Phlan) Phlan Insurgent

The taking of Phlan by Vorgansharax is a clear memory in your mind. You were going about your everyday business when the green dragon's forces spilled out of the sewers and assailed your home. Many of Phlan's citizens, young and old alike, were captured, killed, or offered as tribute to the Maimed Virulence. You, yourself were one of those captured. But, either with the help of adventurers or through your own wits and sheer determination, you escaped.

Rather than flee the region, you've chosen to stay and fight. Finding refuge outside the town and the deadly thicket surrounding it, you strike out against the Tears of the Virulence and their monstrous allies. You've learned to survive in dire and desperate circumstances, with supplies running low and the arrival of reinforcements uncertain. You've grown accustomed to acting under the cover of night, dealing what blows you can to avenge the friends and family you lost within the currently occupied Phlan. You will drive Vorgansharax out, or you die trying.

Origin

Removed from your life as a townsperson, you’ve adapted to rough life in the wilds surrounding Phlan. The trade you practiced still influences your outlook, the manner in which you approach situations, and the way you contribute to the resistance movement against the Maimed Virulence. You can roll on the following table to determine what your occupation was before the fall, or choose one that best fits your character (select from either the general column or the specific column, but not both).

Feature: Guerilla

You’ve come to know the surrounding forests, streams, caves, and other natural features in which you can take refuge--or set up ambushes. You can quickly survey your environment for advantageous features. Additionally, you can scavenge around your natural surroundings to cobble together simple supplies (such as improvised torches, rope, patches of fabric, etc.) that are consumed after use.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Outlander feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

You have given up the life you knew as a citizen of Phlan. However, the Maimed Virulence’s invasion resonates deep inside you. Perhaps you have a few friends or family members who were able to escape with you. Or, perhaps, everyone you held dear either perished or went missing during the fall. You may know of someone who is, against all odds, surviving within the thicket and you long to liberate them from a life of peril within the town.

(Phlan) Stojanow Prisoner

"We need to leave, now!”

Those words still haunt your dreams at night. When everyone was fleeing Phlan, you choose to stay. Whether out of an emotional attachment, or pursuit of riches, you made the decision that would affect the rest of your life.

Food became scarcer for those without connections. You became a beggar and to stay alive you bartered information to any interested party with food or gold to spare. You were good at what you did, and thought you were invincible. That changed when you were captured by the Tears of Virulence, the soldiers of Vorgansharax, the Maimed Virulence, for selling secrets to those bent on overthrowing the dragon. They locked you in the cells of Stojanow Gate. The first weeks you hoped to stay alive. As the weeks turned into months, and the interrogations continued you began to pray for death.

Feature: Ex-Convict

The knowledge gained during your incarceration lets you gain insight into local guards and jailors. You know which will accept bribes, or look the other way for you. You can also seek shelter for yourself from authorities with other criminals in the area.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Courtier feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

(Phlan) Ticklebelly Nomad

You were born into a nomadic tribe that called the Ticklebelly Hills home. You migrated from location to location, living off the land with your tribe. The tribe would seasonally travel south into the Grass Sea and the Giant’s Cairn, north into the Dragonspine Mountains, and even occasionally east across the Stojanow River to the borders of the Quivering forest.

In your migrations, your people have come to know the stone giant tribes that populate the Giant’s Cairn. The dragon cultists came to the hills one day—magic-users wearing purple and riding horrid beasts, black-clad warriors wearing wicked masks, and even soldiers from the nearby town of Phlan. Then the dragon called Vorgansharax arrived and laired in the hills, causing horrid thickets to grow and animals to act unusually. The cultists began raiding nomad camps for victims to offer to the wyrm. Eventually, the dragon moved on to attack Phlan, but life was never again the same for the nomads of the Ticklebelly Hills.

Feature: At Home in the Wild

The wilderness is your home and you are comfortable dwelling in it. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate when out in the wild. This place of rest is secure enough to conceal you from most natural threats. Threats that are supernatural, magical, or are actively seeking you out might do so with difficulty depending on the nature of the threat (as determined by the DM). However, this feature doesn’t shield or conceal you from scrying, mental probing, nor from threats that don’t necessarily require the five senses to find you.

[Note: This feature is a variant of the Folk Hero feature.]

Suggested Characteristics

Ticklebelly nomads only venture into civilization when necessary. You are social within your tribe, with tribes of other nomads, and even with the stone giant tribes that populate the Giant’s Cairn. However, other communities tend to either put you on your guard or put you in a state of wonder. Was it this wonder that enticed you into a life of adventuring? On the other hand, you are fiercely protective of and dedicated to your tribe. Perhaps it was this dedication that led you to venture out; either of your own will or at the behest of your tribe’s leaders.

(Waterdeep) Waterdhavian Noble

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 FaerO.n 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.

Noble Families

House Amcathra. The Amcathras are a Tethyrian family that specializes in horse breeding and training, cattle ranching, wine-making. and weaponsmithing. The family motto is "We trample our troubles." The family has a large villa in the North Ward, on the east side of the High Road between Hassantyr's Street and Tarnath Street.

House Margaster. The Margasters are an llluskan family whose business interests lie in land-based shipping and bulk goods trading. The house also has a quiet history of wizardry. The family motto is "Nothing is beyond our grasp." The Margaster family estate is situated between Stabbed Sailor Alley and Shattercrock Alley in the North Ward.

House Phylund. The Phylunds are a Tashlutar family that captures and sells monsters. Monsters that can't be trained as pets or guard beasts are sold to arenas or harvested for their meat. bones, and skins. The Phylunds sponsor adventuring parties and monster-hunting expeditions, and their motto is "What you fear, we master." House Phylund has an estate on Copper Street, west of the High Road between julthoon Street and Trader's Way in the North Ward.

House Rosznar. Once banished from Waterdeep for smuggling, slavery. and other crimes, this Tethyrian house bas returned and is trying to overcome its dark past and disgraceful reputation by focusing on legitimate business ventures such as wine-making and gem trading. The family motto is "We fly high and stoop swift." Rosznar Villa is situated on ThunderstaffWay between

Copper Street and Shield Street in the Sea Ward, west of the High Road.

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 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.

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Suggested Characteristics

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