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<blockquote data-quote="Epic Meepo" data-source="post: 9479373" data-attributes="member: 57073">I'm reading that same text, and I see no player-facing rules for creating custom backgrounds anywhere on any of the linked pages.Chapter 2 says: &quot;You can choose any of the backgrounds detailed in chapter 4, and your DM might offer additional backgrounds as options.&quot; That's it. Those are the two options covered in the PHB rules: the backgrounds in chapter 4, and whatever backgrounds your DM might offer. Note that it doesn't say what backgrounds the DM might offer and how they get created. It just says they might exist.Chapter 4 then lists the &quot;Parts of a Background,&quot; the same way it lists the &quot;Parts of a Species.&quot; The paragraph immediately preceding &quot;Parts of a Background&quot; states: &quot;Each background includes a brief narrative of what your character’s past might have been like. Alter the details of this narrative however you like.&quot; The &quot;Parts of a Background&quot; section then lists all the mechanical things a background includes. Unlike the previous paragraph, which actually does have explicit rules for changing the narrative of your character's past, this section doesn't provide any rules whatsoever about changing the mechanical details of a background; it simply lists what mechanics are present.That's it. There are no player-facing rules for creating or customizing backgrounds (aside from changing the narrative details of your character's past). There is nothing equivalent to the &quot;Customizing a Background&quot; section from the 2014 PHB anywhere in the 2024 PHB, at all.Sure. And all of the guidelines for doing that will appear in the 2024 DMG. There's no guidance (and there are certainly no rules) in the 2024 PHB about adding or subtracting backgrounds to fit the game setting.No. The text you linked to doesn't say that. There's no mention whatsoever of &quot;freeform backgrounds,&quot; whatever that means, and it doesn't encourage the player to ask their DM for anything. In the text you quoted, there is no indication that the player has any agency in the DM's creation of additional background options. Nor does the text explain how (or why) a DM creates additional background options.If a new player's only exposure to D&amp;D was the 2024 PHB, that player wouldn't even know the concept of custom backgrounds existed in the game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Epic Meepo, post: 9479373, member: 57073"] I'm reading that same text, and I see no player-facing rules for creating custom backgrounds anywhere on any of the linked pages. Chapter 2 says: "You can choose any of the backgrounds detailed in chapter 4, and your DM might offer additional backgrounds as options." That's it. Those are the two options covered in the PHB rules: the backgrounds in chapter 4, and whatever backgrounds your DM might offer. Note that it doesn't say what backgrounds the DM might offer and how they get created. It just says they [I]might[/i] exist. Chapter 4 then lists the "Parts of a Background," the same way it lists the "Parts of a Species." The paragraph immediately preceding "Parts of a Background" states: "Each background includes a brief narrative of what your character’s past might have been like. Alter the details of this narrative however you like." The "Parts of a Background" section then lists all the mechanical things a background includes. Unlike the previous paragraph, which actually does have explicit rules for changing the narrative of your character's past, this section doesn't provide any rules whatsoever about changing the mechanical details of a background; it simply lists what mechanics are present. That's it. There are no player-facing rules for creating or customizing backgrounds (aside from changing the narrative details of your character's past). There is nothing equivalent to the "Customizing a Background" section from the 2014 PHB anywhere in the 2024 PHB, at all. Sure. And all of the guidelines for doing that will appear in the 2024 DMG. There's no guidance (and there are certainly no rules) in the 2024 PHB about adding or subtracting backgrounds to fit the game setting. No. The text you linked to doesn't say that. There's no mention whatsoever of "freeform backgrounds," whatever that means, and it doesn't encourage the player to ask their DM for anything. In the text you quoted, there is no indication that the player has any agency in the DM's creation of additional background options. Nor does the text explain how (or why) a DM creates additional background options. If a new player's only exposure to D&D was the 2024 PHB, that player wouldn't even know the concept of custom backgrounds existed in the game. [/QUOTE]

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