Variant Rule: Mentors Instead of Backgrounds
Instead of treating the Backgrounds in the Player’s Handbook as your character’s history, the Mentor variant treats those entries as individuals whose influence represents a turning point in the character’s past.The process involves picking, or randomly selecting, three different Mentors. Players are permitted to select the same type of Mentor twice, but at least one of the three selections must be of another background.
Example: Bryan imagines that Tomas was in the military for most of his life, so he picks the Soldier to represent the character’s first commanding officer and then picks the Soldier again. Maybe this second Mentor was a heroic example, a grizzled veteran, or a higher-ranking officer Tomas met later in his career. Because he can’t select Soldier again, Bryan decides that after leaving the army Tomas fell on hard times and selects the Urchin.
Step One – Early Years
The first Mentor selected is either someone who had a formative influence on the character’s childhood or who was the first true guide to a young adult. An orphan who lived in squalor may have learned to survive from another Urchin, the daughter of a Soldier may have been expected to learn the basics from an early age, while a young man with ambition might have found work with an Entertainer.After selecting the Mentor, pull up their background entry on the listed page. Your character then receives:
- 1 Language, if applicable
- 1 of the Tool Proficiencies, if applicable)
- 1 of the Equipment options
- 1 suggested Ideal or Bond
- 1 suggested Personality Trait or Flaw
Step Two – Times Change
The second Mentor selected can be anyone that helped the character gain more life experience or survive a harsh world – like the master Guild Artisan a journeyman trains under after their apprenticeship under another Guild Artisan – but it is usually more interesting if they are imagined as the personification of a major life change. This is the time when pirate Sailors can kidnap the child of an Outlander, when the Sage’s student is entranced by the adventures of the Folk Hero, or the disguised daughter of a slain Noble finds herself serving with hardened Soldiers.After selecting the Mentor, pull up their background entry on the listed page. Your character then receives:
- 1 Language, if applicable
- 1 of the Skill Proficiencies
- 1 of the Equipment Options
- 1 suggested Personality Trait or Flaw, whichever wasn’t picked in Step One
Step Three – Prelude to Adventure
The third – and final – Mentor selected is generally the person whose actions, for good or ill, have set the character on the path to where they are at the start of the game. At this point in their life a character might be what their culture considers a young adult with a tumultuous past, but it’s also possible they’re on the wrong side of 30 and about to discover what all that hardship was preparing them for.While connections to and mementos of the past are still with the character, it is the tools of the trade and experiences acquired under their final Mentor figure that will be most fresh when they meet the rest of their party.After selecting the Mentor, pull up their background entry on the listed page. Your character then receives:
- 1 of the Skill Proficiencies
- 1 of the Tool Proficiencies, if applicable
- 2 of the Equipment Options
- 1 suggested Ideal or Bond, whichever wasn’t picked in Step One
- The Feature specific to that background
