How Backgrounds Work in D&D 5e (And Which One to Pick)

26 March 2026

A background represents your character’s life before they became an adventurer. Were you a soldier? A criminal? A traveling performer? A failed acolyte? Your background answers that question — and it gives you concrete mechanical benefits on top of the roleplay hooks.

Ask your DM which rulebooks you’re using. The 2024 Player’s Handbook makes backgrounds a bigger part of character creation than the 2014 version did.

Backgrounds in the 2024 Player’s Handbook

The revised PHB includes 16 backgrounds (new names and packages compared to the 2014 list). In broad strokes, each background gives you:

• Ability scores: three abilities are tied to that background. You either assign +2 to one and +1 to another among those three, or +1 to all three—so your stats reflect where your character “trained,” not which species they are.
• Skill proficiencies, tools, languages — as listed for that background.
• An origin feat — a feat chosen from a short list tied to the background (and Human species can take an extra origin feat on top of that in 2024 rules).
• Equipment — starting gear appropriate to the story.

Personality prompts may be streamlined compared to the long tables in older books; check your PHB for the exact lists.

What a background gave you (2014 Player’s Handbook & SRD)

If you’re building with 2014 rules or the free SRD, every background typically provides:

1. Two skill proficiencies — specific skills you add your proficiency bonus to.
2. Tool or language proficiencies — some give tool proficiencies, some give extra languages, some give both.
3. Starting equipment — a specific set of gear to start with (plus extra gold, or an alternative starting package).
4. A background feature — a unique, non-mechanical (or light-mechanical) benefit that helps in social or exploration situations.
5. Personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws — roleplaying prompts you can use as inspiration for how your character acts.

The classic 2014 PHB backgrounds

Acolyte

Skills: Insight, Religion
Languages: Two of your choice
Feature: Shelter of the Faithful — you and your party can receive free healing and care at temples of your faith.

Good for: Clerics, Paladins, anyone with a religious backstory.

Charlatan

Skills: Deception, Sleight of Hand
Tools: Disguise kit, forgery kit
Feature: False Identity — you have a fabricated second identity with documents, an established history, and contacts.

Good for: Rogues, Bards, or anyone playing a con artist.

Criminal

Skills: Deception, Stealth
Tools: Thieves’ tools, one type of gaming set
Feature: Criminal Contact — you have a reliable contact in the criminal underworld who can give information.

Good for: Rogues, Rangers, anyone with a dark or gritty backstory.

Entertainer

Skills: Acrobatics, Performance
Tools: Disguise kit, one type of musical instrument
Feature: By Popular Demand — you can always find a place to perform (and get free room and board in exchange).

Good for: Bards, Monks, anyone who was a performer.

Folk Hero

Skills: Animal Handling, Survival
Tools: Artisan’s tools (one type), land vehicles
Feature: Rustic Hospitality — common folk will shelter you and keep your presence quiet.

Good for: Fighters, Barbarians, Rangers, or anyone from a rural or working-class background.

Guild Artisan

Skills: Insight, Persuasion
Tools: Artisan’s tools (one type)
Languages: One of your choice
Feature: Guild Membership — your guild provides support, legal aid, and lodging.

Good for: Any class with a crafting or trade background.

Hermit

Skills: Medicine, Religion
Tools: Herbalism kit
Languages: One of your choice
Feature: Discovery — you made a great discovery during your solitude. Work with your DM on what it is.

Good for: Druids, Wizards, Clerics, or anyone with a contemplative past.

Noble

Skills: History, Persuasion
Tools: One type of gaming set
Languages: One of your choice
Feature: Position of Privilege — people assume the best of you; high society gives you welcome access.

Good for: Paladins, Bards, Warlocks, or characters from wealthy families.

Outlander

Skills: Athletics, Survival
Tools: One type of musical instrument
Languages: One of your choice
Feature: Wanderer — excellent memory for terrain; you can always find food and water for yourself and up to 5 others.

Good for: Rangers, Barbarians, Druids, or characters raised outside civilisation.

Sage

Skills: Arcana, History
Languages: Two of your choice
Feature: Researcher — if you don’t know something, you know where to find out. You always know who to ask.

Good for: Wizards, Artificers, Clerics, or any knowledge-focused character.

Sailor

Skills: Athletics, Perception
Tools: Navigator’s tools, water vehicles
Feature: Ship’s Passage — you can secure free passage on ships (in exchange for some work).

Good for: Any class with a seafaring or coastal background.

Soldier

Skills: Athletics, Intimidation
Tools: Land vehicles, one type of gaming set
Feature: Military Rank — soldiers from your former army respect your rank; you can invoke it for favours.

Good for: Fighters, Paladins, Barbarians, Rangers.

Urchin

Skills: Sleight of Hand, Stealth
Tools: Disguise kit, thieves’ tools
Feature: City Secrets — you know the hidden paths through cities. Moving through populated areas at twice normal speed.

Good for: Rogues, Monks, or anyone who grew up on the streets.

How to choose your background

Don’t optimise. Pick what fits.

The mechanical difference between backgrounds is small — two skill proficiencies you might have gotten from your class anyway. The more important question is: what was your character doing before they became an adventurer?

If your class already gives you Stealth, the Criminal’s Stealth proficiency is wasted — look for backgrounds that give skills your class doesn’t cover.

Think about roleplay gaps. The background feature and the personality traits are where backgrounds shine. A Noble character can walk into a palace that a Commoner can’t. A Sage character knows who to ask when they don’t know something.

Talk to your DM. Background features are often highly setting-dependent. Shelter of the Faithful means more in a religious city than in a dungeon. Your DM can also help you customise a background if nothing in the list fits perfectly.

A note on personality traits

The ideals, bonds, flaws, and personality traits listed in backgrounds are starting suggestions. You’re not required to use them — they’re prompts. Some players roll for them randomly; others write their own. Use whatever helps you picture who your character is.