D&D 5E Racial Backgrounds

[dream66_]

I was inspired by the human centric thread,

Has anyone thought about racial backgrounds, not like "Elf" as a background but like "Treespeaker" as a background only elves can take, help show that these races don't think like humans, then the bonds, and flaws will all be elfie things.

Dwarves could have multiple different military backgrounds, and elves could have these druidic style backgrounds.

I think if I could get a good list I would go so far as to restrict all the backgrounds in the PHB to being human only, they are human way of thinking about things, alien races don't think like we do, don't have the same jobs, don't live like us.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Definitly i could see things like;

Dwarf's Miner background
Elf's Spellfilcher background
Halfling's Gardener background
etc...

 

[jrowland]

Backgrounds are easily hackable. The Skills are easy enough, but the trick is making a meaningful, yet not OP, trait that is on par with existing traits. I think the best approach to any Background hack is to come up with the traits first, then fit the skills and fluff rather than the other way around (well, start with the concept first, of course)

I had a Player who wanted a "Torturer" background (he was reformed, but it was his background). This was during the playtest, but I just told him whenever it comes to extracting information, any checks are at ADV/DIS (whichever is more advantageous to him). On paper this seems better than most traits (granting ADV/DIS) but its such a narrow application that I felt it was justified. In play it wasn't overly unbalanced and basically meant he always got the most info out someone...

 

[Cernor]

I think if I could get a good list I would go so far as to restrict all the backgrounds in the PHB to being human only, they are human way of thinking about things, alien races don't think like we do, don't have the same jobs, don't live like us.

The backgrounds in the PHB were made specifically to work with every race, so I think you'd be stretching suspension of disbelief to limit them to only humans. What's to stop a dragonborn from growing up in a religious community, reflected by taking the acolyte background? Why can a dwarf not be a hardened criminal? Can a half-orc not have a previous career as a gladiator (variant entertainer background)? Or a tiefling who grew up alone as a street urchin?

 

[dream66_]

The backgrounds in the PHB were made specifically to work with every race, so I think you'd be stretching suspension of disbelief to limit them to only humans. What's to stop a dragonborn from growing up in a religious community, reflected by taking the acolyte background? Why can a dwarf not be a hardened criminal? Can a half-orc not have a previous career as a gladiator (variant entertainer background)? Or a tiefling who grew up alone as a street urchin?

Because I want to show how alien the other races are, having different ideals flaws and bonds and then rewarding players for roleplaying those gets the players to think about the fact elves are not humans with pointy ears.

 

[Paraxis]

The ideals flaws and bonds are not tied to the backgrounds, sure they give suggestions but that is just it only suggestions.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Aren't all Dwarfs essentially Miners? And don't all Halflings enjoy a good bit of weeding? What I mean is, Adventurers are atypical, whatever their race. Their background allows the players to give them colour and a reason to have them metaphorically don the spandex and cape and get out into the world. I mean, most races, left alone in their own communities, are pretty racist, let's face it. It takes an atypical example to willingly mix with all those foreign types with their pointy ears/stupid beards/callous disregard for footwear...
A Dwarf miner may be racially accurate but to me the more interesting character would be an atypical Dwarf who spends his days down t'pit but loves to sing and play the lute at night, much to the disappointment of Fatherdwarf McOldphart, or an atypical Halfling whose lack of a green thumb was the source of mockery from the Toejam clan until one day she saw the sea and fell in love with the ocean blue.
They have got to have a reason to be Adventurers - maybe their non-racially-correct traits is what gives them that impetus.
Of course, they should still be played as that race - the whole party groans when the Dwarven entertainer starts to sing the two hour Dirge of Darkdeep AGAIN; the Halfling can't help herself from stopping for a smoke every half an hour; the Gnome who was orphaned in a freak wheelbarrow/lychee incident and grew up ragged and alone in the human city but who is just so unrelenting cheerful All The Time that even the Paladin's fists itch ("coo, it's a nice comfy web, this. I'd've loved a bed as soft as this when I was a nipper in Dickensian Nightmare City. I expect the Giant Horny Spider will attend to it's carnal needs soon enough, but for now, let's look on the bright side, chums").

 

[Thyrwyn]

Because I want to show how alien the other races are, having different ideals flaws and bonds and then rewarding players for roleplaying those gets the players to think about the fact elves are not humans with pointy ears.

I think backgrounds are a phenomenal tool that can be used to add flavor and depth to a campaign. I would argue, however, that it is not their race that makes elves, dwarves, etc... So alien, it is their culture. I plan on using backgrounds to reflect cultural differences, not racial ones.

Would a soldier from a dwarven kingdom have different skills and ideals than one from medieval England? Sure, but wouldn't they both have different skills and ideals than one from feudal Japan.

I also wouldn't limit them by race - you want to play a human that was raised by Elves and take the Elven Treesinger background? Go for it. An Elf that grew up as an urchin in a medieval human city? OK. Those characters would both have different ideals and viewpoints than their so-called 'racial norms'.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature (actually, all literature) often uses the 'adopted outsider' as a trope, because it is a useful tool to give the audience a means of exploring an alien culture from a familiar perspective. The works of CS Friedman and C. J. Cheryl come to mind, but also classics like "Last of the Mohicans" and "Captains Courageous".

This also gives the world crafter a means of changing the racial trappings without changing the race. In my last campaign, a 4e Pirate-themed setting placed in a vast archipelago, the elves were reflavored as one of the colonial powers and were modeled on Imperial China, the humans were indigenous tribesmen with a Polynesian flair, the Gnomes were akin to the colonial Dutch, the Hobgoblins/Goblinoids worshipped a vast pantheon of gods with a Hindi feel, but focused on pain and suffering...

I would suggest that instead of trying to force your players to play a certain way, try finding ways to make them want to play that way. If you make racial/cultural outlooks interesting and engaging, then your players will want to explore them, too.

 

[dream66_]

I think backgrounds are a phenomenal tool that can be used to add flavor and depth to a campaign. I would argue, however, that it is not their race that makes elves, dwarves, etc... So alien, it is their culture. I plan on using backgrounds to reflect cultural differences, not racial ones.

Would a soldier from a dwarven kingdom have different skills and ideals than one from medieval England? Sure, but wouldn't they both have different skills and ideals than one from feudal Japan.

I also wouldn't limit them by race - you want to play a human that was raised by Elves and take the Elven Treesinger background? Go for it. An Elf that grew up as an urchin in a medieval human city? OK. Those characters would both have different ideals and viewpoints than their so-called 'racial norms'.

I would suggest that instead of trying to force your players to play a certain way, try finding ways to make them want to play that way. If you make racial/cultural outlooks interesting and engaging, then your players will want to explore them, too.

Well, yes, I really should have been more clear that they are cultural not racial, but even still, a elf raised in human society shouldn't think like a human. This isn't last of the mohicans, as native american humans and European humans are both human thus many orders of magnitude closer than humans and elves.

 

[the Jester]

I actually once (in 2e) ran a game where each race had a specific list of classes they could be, sort of riffing on the old Basic "race = class" thing.

Elves, for instance, couldn't be rangers, but had their own hunter class. I don't think I still have my notes from that game, but it was pretty interesting.

I like the idea of certain race- or culture-specific backgrounds, though I think all the PH ones are sufficiently broad to apply to most cultures and probably all races in some circumstances. However, I do think race and culture are inherently connected in D&D, because the different races have different biologies, lifespans and physical traits. I think something like darkvision can drastically change the nature of a culture, as can being heavier or lighter per volume of body size.

I can totally see culture-specific backgrounds, too; if the culture consists of nomadic herders, they will probably have several backgrounds that more 'civlized' folk wouldn't.