D&D General Mixed Background

[Indagare Nogitsune]

Looking through the backgrounds, one thing that strikes me is there's no option for someone with a mixed background.
What do I mean by mixed?

Many heroes have humble origins, such as being a farmer, before becoming soldiers or whatever.
Some retired soldiers settle in to jobs in town.

How would something like this best be represented?

 

[cbwjm]

Most likely be designing your own background (skills, feats, etc) and then providing a sentence or two rather than a name for the background.

 

[Shiroiken]

Depends on the edition, but since you mention the word "background" specifically, I'll assume 5E. In 2014 rules, you can custom make your own background as part of the default rules. This allows you to easily make whatever background makes sense, no matter how convoluted. In 2024, however, the backgrounds are inflexible, so unless your DM allows you to make a new background, you just have to pick the one closest to your concept.

Personally, as a DM, I allow for flexibility in the background for the 2024 rules. Players can swap one thing around, meaning they can adjust the ability score increase, change a skill, or swap to a different feat. This keeps things interesting without opening the floodgates that fully customized backgrounds would.

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

Depends on the edition, but since you mention the word "background" specifically, I'll assume 5E. In 2014 rules, you can custom make your own background as part of the default rules. This allows you to easily make whatever background makes sense, no matter how convoluted. In 2024, however, the backgrounds are inflexible, so unless your DM allows you to make a new background, you just have to pick the one closest to your concept.

Personally, as a DM, I allow for flexibility in the background for the 2024 rules. Players can swap one thing around, meaning they can adjust the ability score increase, change a skill, or swap to a different feat. This keeps things interesting without opening the floodgates that fully customized backgrounds would.

I hadn't seen the customization in the default 2014 rules (I wouldn't have asked otherwise).

I don't really understand 2024 being inflexible, but then I really don't understand 2024 in general.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Looking through the backgrounds, one thing that strikes me is there's no option for someone with a mixed background.
What do I mean by mixed?

Many heroes have humble origins, such as being a farmer, before becoming soldiers or whatever.
Some retired soldiers settle in to jobs in town.

How would something like this best be represented?

There are multiple ways this might be done, but my thought is that you should be looking at backgrounds in combination with classes -- typically, backgrounds can make certain skills available that aren't available to the class.

The examples you give see, to me, straightforward --

being a farmer, before becoming soldiers -- Fighter 1 with a Farmer background.
retired soldiers settle in to jobs in town. -- Fighter 1 (or whatever) with a Merchant background (yes, the merchant happens "after" the fighting; but it's the combination from the time when you begin playing that is what's relevant.

Hope this helps.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

The narrative of becoming something is supposed to happen through gameplay. If you're a humble farmer who becomes a soldier, your DM should be running you through the soldiering, not relegating it to your backstory.

 

[DEFCON 1]

The narrative of becoming something is supposed to happen through gameplay. If you're a humble farmer who becomes a soldier, your DM should be running you through the soldiering, not relegating it to your backstory.

Nothing like this is actually as black and white as you are making it out to be. You are stating your preferences, not actual rules or facts.

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

There are multiple ways this might be done, but my thought is that you should be looking at backgrounds in combination with classes -- typically, backgrounds can make certain skills available that aren't available to the class.

The examples you give see, to me, straightforward --

being a farmer, before becoming soldiers -- Fighter 1 with a Farmer background.
retired soldiers settle in to jobs in town. -- Fighter 1 (or whatever) with a Merchant background (yes, the merchant happens "after" the fighting; but it's the combination from the time when you begin playing that is what's relevant.

Hope this helps.

The way you put it would work if the character were a Fighter or if either one happened before the character started adventuring. But they aren't mutually exclusive. Basically, in my head, it could be: Farmer -> Soldier -> Merchant -> Class

Now the class could be Fighter, it'd make sense with the background, but people are known to dabble with all sorts of things. Getting interested in magic (or finding oneself suddenly manifesting) gives Wizard or Sorcerer. Becoming more religious could yield Cleric or Paladin (which do work with Soldier). Having to hock wares all day requires a certain Charisma, so Bard is an option. Learning how to make wares to sell is Artificer. Making a deal to help make more sales is Warlock. Hunting down some thieves or hunting sources of merchandise/being willing to sell unaccountably obtained merchandise could yield Ranger or Rogue.

Does this make any sense?

 

[Kobold Stew]

It makes sense, but it's not what D&D provides. The zero-to-hero narrative of most PCs means that you start relatively raw. No level 1 character has all that background. And, with the current rules, all the background gives you is mechanical access to certain features (abilities that can be boosted, a feat, some skills, and a tool). What you do with that -- the story -- is what you make. it. But it doesn't allow the flexibility you want (other games do).

Indeed, the backgrounds (as presented in the PHB 2024) are more about constraints than opportunities, and that's one reason why people don't like them... They say if you are a soldier at level 1 can't normally start off as smart as a scribe -- the scribe will always have the edge. But it also says a scribe wizard can't start off proficient in Athletics -- that's something you'd need to build towards (or be a human with a bonus feat).

The organization of the book reflects this: backgrounds come after class selection -- they are the way you add to the core choice you have made for playing this game. The story that emerges from that is up to you.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

You can always just do it narratively. Pick the background with the mechanics that works best for your class and then just write your tell your table that you were also a farmer for a while.

"Back in my day, 'backgrounds' where descriptions we wrote up for the GM. It had to be at least five pages long and we were all orphans!"