D&D 5E Random Lifestyle and Background Tables

[Hriston]

Hi,

I've put together some tables for randomly generating a D&D 5E character's background. They're based on a mash-up of the Secondary Skills table on p 12 of the AD&D 1E DMG and the Social Class tables on p 82 of the 1E UA. The procedure is to generate a lifestyle first and then roll on the appropriate subtable for a background. This is not meant to be descriptive of general setting demographics, but rather to describe the background of a typical adventurer in a particular setting.

d100​	Lifestyle
01-10​	Poor (could be Wretched or Squalid at the player's discretion), see subtable
11-20​	Modest, see subtable
21-55​	Comfortable, see subtable
56-87​	Wealthy, see subtable
88-00​	Aristocratic, see subtable

Poor subtable

d100​	Background
01-16​	Charlatan
17-22​	Criminal
23-24​	Entertainer
25-53​	Folk Hero
54-69​	Hermit
70-81​	Outlander
82-83​	Sailor
84​	Soldier
85-00​	Urchin

Modest subtable

d100​	Background
01-02​	Acolyte
03-18​	Charlatan
19-24​	Criminal
25-26​	Entertainer
27-52​	Folk Hero
53-68​	Hermit
69-79​	Outlander
80-81​	Sage
82-83​	Sailor
84​	Soldier
85-00​	Urchin

Comfortable subtable

d100​	Background
01-03​	Acolyte
04-06​	Entertainer
07-45​	Folk Hero
46-67​	Guild Artisan
68​	Noble
69-92​	Outlander
93-95​	Sage
96-98​	Sailor
99-00​	Soldier

Wealthy subtable

d100​	Background
01-04​	Acolyte
05-09​	Entertainer
10-57​	Folk Hero
58-89​	Guild Artisan
90​	Noble
91-94​	Sage
95-98​	Sailor
99-00​	Soldier

Aristocratic subtable

d100​	Background
01-04​	Acolyte
05-60​	Folk Hero
61-68​	Noble
69-72​	Sage
73-89​	Sailor
90-00​	Soldier

 

[DND_Reborn]

Great job! I miss those tables and glad you made this.

I can't see some of the backgrounds (like Folk Hero under Aristocratic...) but most of it looks good.

 

[Hriston]

Yeah, full disclosure, these tables are going to give you a nearly 42% chance of having the Folk Hero background, so unless you're okay with playing one, I wouldn't recommend using them.

There are a few reasons why Folk Hero ended up being so prevalent on my tables.

First is that it's the "commoner" background. It isn't like the other backgrounds aren't also meant to represent heroes, but I think it's called out in the name in order to distinguish it from the concept of a commoner that's explicitly not a hero. And of course the common folk are the largest segment of society, so adventurers are bound to be drawn from their ranks heavily. The Folk Hero's presence even in the Aristocratic lifestyle is related to this in that it's meant to represent something like the "great landed gentry" that appears on the original UA table, which I took to mean large wealthy landowners who are nonetheless common rather than noble. Bilbo Baggins comes to mind as a character who, while maybe not aristocratic, is certainly wealthy, but who has no title and is a common citizen.

Secondly, Folk Hero has a wide range of practical proficiencies which overlap heavily with those of Guild Artisan and Outlander, among others, so when looking at the skills represented on the DMG table, I could see Folk Hero fitting many of them along with the more obvious choices.

Third, Folk Hero also covers the concept of unskilled laborers like farmers and miners, thus the shovel in its equipment list, so at the end of the day, it covers a lot of territory.