D&D 5E Official complete background list!

[mach1.9pants]

Why would a merchant become a murder ho... *cough* I mean adventurer? They've already worked out that there are far safer ways of re-appropriating wealth.

OK why would a Noble do the same? They are born to wealth so have no need to adventure

 

[The Hitcher]

OK why would a Noble do the same? They are born to wealth so have no need to adventure

The foolish notions of those born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They probably think it will be quaint.

I was just kidding, though - I'm sure adventurers can come from any background at all. The good thing is that it's supper-easy to make up your own!

 

[jadrax]

OK why would a Noble do the same? They are born to wealth so have no need to adventure

A lot of nobles are hard up, because its something you are born too. Merchants on the other-hand is something you do.

That said, we are going to see a lot more backgrounds I think. Apparently Tyranny of Dragons has two more already, and I would not put it past someone to start doing a big fan book of 1001+ backgrounds.

 

[The Hitcher]

To be honest that is a pretty disappointingly short list. There is a real lack of common character types missing too, ie Peasant/Farmer ~ 90% of the population in a medieval milieu, the standard for D&D and FR, the standard campaign. And no, Folk Hero is not the same.

Merchant? Herder?

Backgrounds are a cool thing for 5E but that is a crappily short list IMO

How would a Peasant background differ mechanically from the Folk Hero? I don't see it. Even if you think it would, there's a simple solution:

Make. Your. Own.

Even Basic allows mixing and matching as standard, and it's hardly rocket science to come up with a new Feature if the thirteen in the book don't suit. I doubt many DMs would have an issue with it. (Organised Play is the exception, of course, but if you're doing that then you'd expect it to have a bunch of prescribed stuff that ordinary play doesn't have.)

 

[Li Shenron]

To be honest I also don't like very much the change from "Commoner" to "Folk Hero".

"Commoner" is a place in the world, a society role, and a way to earn your living. It works perfectly both if you use "backgrounds as your past" and "backgrounds as your downtime".

This is the same case for all backgrounds, except Folk Hero, which is defined by a reason (see the "defining event table") why you started adventuring... as if all the others couldn't have a reason as well!!

Because of this the Folk Hero write-up is quite off-key compared to all others. My feeling is that either some playtester protested that "Commoner" felt like an inferior label compared to other backgrounds, or that some designers thought the Rustic Hospitality (previously Salt of the Earth) feature was not sufficiently backed-up by story (as in, why would someone give to a commoner better hospitality than to a noble, a sage, a soldier etc.?).

 

[Li Shenron]

Backgrounds are a cool thing for 5E but that is a crappily short list IMO

To their defense, we haven't really lost the character concepts because those who have apparently disappeared have been simply merged together.

What we have lost, is some of the "features", since after merging they share the same feature. For example, it's likely that the Outlander will have the same feature as the old Guide, but the Bounty Hunter merged with it and lost its unique "Bounty Board" feature. Same probably happened to the Jester, as Entertainer is more likely to re-use the Minstrel feature instead.

 

[GrumpyGamer]

It is very unlikely, but possible that some of these could be from: Hoard of the Dragon Queen appendix A - which is listed as having character creation rules. I expect this is not the case as the list seems very short.

I am a bit disappointed, as I was hoping for more backgrounds.

 

[edhel]

OK why would a Noble do the same? They are born to wealth so have no need to adventure

If you are born a noble, you are privileged, but not necessarily wealthy. It's possible to be from an impoverished family, and you might be the second or the third son who will inherit nothing. Your big brother who inherited the fortune might just give you an armor and kick you out of the door.

EDIT: Oh, and you might be a woman who can't inherit and doesn't just want to become some douche-baron's wife.

 

[Agamon]

It has both types of merchant, Charlatan and Criminal. ;o)

Those work for politician, too. Very versatile.

 

[jgsugden]

Outside of sanctioned play events, I see no reason to bother with looking at the backgrounds. They're just going to be idea fodder for me. I'll ask players to either pick a background from the book or amke up their own, granting 2 skills proficiencies, 0 to 2 non-skill proficiencies/languages, a bit of equipment, and a feature of my choice. For example:

Merchant: History, Investigation, 1 language, proficiency with 1 set of tools of your choice, 'Friends in the Merchants Guild', Equipment: 1 tool set of your choice, Fine clothes, scroll case, signet ring, ink

Nothing in this area is going to throw a PC more out of balance than the random ability score die rolls...