D&D General Oh Please give me some Happy Backgrounds!!

I played a character, Lilah, who had a happy background, with upper-middleclass parents, a collegiate education into wizardry (with the goal to become a professor of history at the Grey College in the City of Greyhawk. Adventuring was an activity to learn and better herself. I played her in a 3.5e conversion of the Return to the Tomb of Horrors. If I were to 5e, she's be a human evoker wizard with the sage background.

I'm currently playing a young halfling who made friends with an elderly widow in her neighbourhood. When the old lady died, she left most of her property to my PC - including a Ring of Wishes with one charge remaining, but which was tied to a particularly vindictive dao who liked messing with people via wishes. My PC ended up wishing 'that you and I have a long and mutually beneficial friendship', and so a genie pact warlock was born. There was a bit of unpleasantness with the widow's grasping distant cousins that were the excuse to get my PC on the road to where the adventure was, but no angst at all really.

My backup PC was an sorcerer, a noble lady of late middle age whose children were grown and whose older husband from an arranged marriage had recently passed away of natural causes. Relegated to the dower house as her eldest son took over the title, and with free time to pursue her own interests for the first time in decades, she began to explore her magical talents as a hobby. The road to adventure started when she hit the road to travel to another town where her daughter and newborn grandchild live.

I kinda have a preference for PCs who are relatively ordinary people who end up adventuring partly by accident. That CAN involve tragic backstories, but doesn't need to. Besides, I kinda like having friendly NPCs in my background that can make appearances during the game. Sole-survivor loner orphans make that a bit hard,\.

Hawkeye in the MCU had a pretty sweet home life. He went out and fought aliens and cyborgs all the time.

Nothing wrong with "hero with a tragic and/or dark backstory", but I still push against the claim that "happy, content people are less likely to put themselves into dangrous occupations".

Firefighters, police, military, underwater welders, snow crab fishers... HMMMMMM

Bae'zel said:

Hawkeye in the MCU had a pretty sweet home life. He went out and fought aliens and cyborgs all the time.

Nothing wrong with "hero with a tragic and/or dark backstory", but I still push against the claim that "happy, content people are less likely to put themselves into dangrous occupations".

Firefighters, police, military, underwater welders, snow crab fishers... HMMMMMM

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That's a point too. Peter Parker, despite the death of Uncle Ben at the beginning, has a very loving home. That's pretty much why he fights.

Ms. Marvel is another good example. The Fantastic Four all have very healthy relationships. Superman. Depending on which Green Lantern you want to look at. Wonder Woman has a pretty healthy childhood. Not every PC has to have Batman level trauma in their background.

"My family is just poor, nothing else too it. Yeah, adventuring is a gamble with my life, but it only takes one big haul to put my sisters through school and set my parents up in a better neighborhood."

Seramus said:

"My family is just poor, nothing else too it. Yeah, adventuring is a gamble with my life, but it only takes one big haul to put my sisters through school and set my parents up in a better neighborhood."

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Right. The California gold rush is a perfect example of that. The death rate for those pan handlers was absolutely shocking. I've seen estimates around 1 in 12. :boggle: That's INSANELY risky.

Dang, I was kinda hoping for new D&D 5 backgrounds.

Harvest King/Queen:
You won your home town's or village's Harvest Festival peagant contest, you were voted the most beautiful, eloquent, skilled and/or educated. Your parents could never have been more proud of you. Wether it was hard work for you or you were just coasting through life, you are now confident you are meant for more. But what more could your hope to achieve if you stay here? The world is out there, and it's time to see what it can offer for you, and to show the world what you have to offer!

• Ability Scores: Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma
• Skill Proficiency: Diplomacy
• Choose two proficiencies from the following skills or any tool: Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Medicine, Nature, Performance, Survival
• Feat: Lucky

Morrus said:

Wanderlust and happiness are not mutually exclusive. You can have a happy childhood but decide to spend a year travelling Europe.

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You are comparing travelling in Europe to going dungeon crawling? Been watching too much GB News?

Bagpuss said:

You are comparing travelling in Europe to going dungeon crawling? Been watching too much GB News?

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Those are your words, not mine. I illustrated that wanderlust and happiness are not mutually exclusive concepts.

Never minding people who voluntarily join the army/navy.

Can we please put this idea to bed?