All PHB DND 5e Backgrounds Official List & Chart
DND aka Dungeons and Dragons is a role-playing game that allows users to bring visions and imagination into real-life characters that have the potential to survive in such a challenging and competitive environment. It is quite evident by the name, that the game is based in a dragon world filled with challenges, secrets, and treasures. We list all the dnd 5e backgrounds, making it easier to locate your background from the list below.
| Name | Source | Languages | Page | Tools | Skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acolyte | PHB | Any two | 119 | None | Insight, Religion |
| Criminal | PHB | None | 121 | Gaming set, Thieves | Deception, Stealth |
| Charlatan | PHB | None | 120 | Disguise kit, Forgery kit | Deception, Sleight of Hand |
| Entertainer | PHB | None | 122 | Musical instrument, Disguise kit | Acrobatics, Performance |
| Folk Hero | PHB | None | 123 | Artisan's tool, vehicles (land) | Animal handling survival |
| Guild Artisan | PHB | Any One | 124 | Artisan's tool | Insight, persuasion |
| Hermit | PHB | Any One | 126 | Herbalism Kit | Religion, Medicine |
| Noble | PHB | Any One | 127 | Gaming set | History, Persuasion |
| Outlander | PHB | Any One | 128 | Musical Instrument | Athletics, Survival |
| Sage | PHB | Any Two | 129 | Navigator's tools, vehicles | Arcana, History |
| Sailor | PHB | None | 131 | Navigator's tools, vehicles (water) | Athletics, Perception |
| Soldier | PHB | None | 132 | Gaming set, vehicles (land) | Athletics, Intimidation |
| Urchin | PHB | None | 133 | Disguise kit, Thieves’ tools | Sleight of Hand, Stealth |
| City Watch | SCAG | Any Two | 145 | None | Athletics, Insight |
| Clan Crafter | SCAG | Any One | 145 | Artisan's Tools | History, Insight |
| Cloistered Scholar | SCAG | Any Two | 146 | None | History, Choose 1: Arcana, Nature, Religion |
| Faction Agent | SCAG | Any Two | 147 | None | Insight, Special (Choice) |
| Far Traveler | SCAG | Any One | 148 | Musical Instrument x10, Gaming Set x1 | Insight, Perception |
| Inheritor | SCAG | None | 150 | Musical Instrument x1, Gaming Set x1 | Survival, Choose 1: Arcana, History, Religion |
| Investigator | SCAG | Any Two | 145 | None | Insight, Investigation |
| Knight of the order | SCAG | Any One | 151 | Gaming set x1, Musical Instrument x1 | Persuasion, Special (choice) |
| Mercenary Veteran | SCAG | Any One | 152 | Gaming Set x1, Ground Vehicle | Athletics, Persuasion |
| Urban Bounty Hunter | SCAG | None | 153 | Choose 1: Gaming Set x1, Musical Instrument x1, Thieves Tools | Choose 2: Deception, Insight, Persuasion, Stealth |
| Uthgardt Tribe Member | SCAG | Any One | 153 | Choose 1: Artisan's Tools, Musical Instrument x1 | Athletics, Survival |
| Waterdhavian Noble | SCAG | Any One | 154 | Choose 1: Gaming Set x1, Musical Instrument x1 | History, Persuasion |
| Black Fist Double Agent | COS (AL) | None | 02 | Disguise kit, and choose one from artisan's tools x1, gaming set x1 | Deception, insight |
| Dragon Casualty | COS (AL) | Draconic | 03 | Special (See page) | Intimidation, survival |
| Iron Route Bandit | COS (AL) | None | 05 | Gaming set x1, land vehicles | Animal handling, Stealth |
| Phlan Insurgent | COS (AL) | None | 06 | Artisan's tools x1, Land vehicles | Stealth, survival |
| Stojanow Prisoner | COS (AL) | None | 08 | Gaming set x1, thieves' tools | Deception, perception |
| Ticklebelly Nomad | COS (AL) | Giant | 09 | Herbalism kit | Animal handling, nature |
| Caravan Specialist | EE (AL) | Any one | 02 | Land Vehicles | Animal handling, survival |
| Earthspur Miner | EE (AL) | Dwarvish, Undercommon | 03 | None | Athletics, Survival |
| Harborfolk | EE (AL) | None | 04 | Gaming set x1, Water vehicles | Athletics, sleight of hand |
| Mulmaster Aristocrat | EE (AL) | None | 05 | Artisan's tools x1, musical instrument x1 | Deception, performance |
| Phlan Refugee | EE (AL) | Any one | 06 | Artisan's tools x1 | Athletics, insight |
| Cormanthor Refugee | RoD (AL) | Elvish | 05 | Artisan's tools x1 | Nature, Survival |
| Gate Urchin | RoD (AL) | None | 06 | Musical instrument x1, thieves' tools | Deception, sleight of hand |
| Hillsfar Merchant | RoD (AL) | None | 07 | Vehicles (land), vehicles (water) | Insight, Persuasion |
| Hillsfar Smuggler | RoD (AL) | Any one | 08 | Forgery kit | Perception, Stealth |
| Secret Identity | RoD (AL) | None | 09 | Disguise kit, forgery kit | Deception, Stealth |
| Shade Fanatic | RoD (AL) | Netherese | 10 | Forgery kit | Deception, Intimidation |
| Trade Sheriff | RoD (AL) | Elvish | 11 | Thieves' tools | Investigation, Persuasion |
External Homebrew Backgrounds
We list all the external 5e homebrew backgrounds in alphabetical order, making it easier to locate your background from the list below.
Backgrounds From A To E
| A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abyssdweller | Balloon Mage | Cattle Rustler | Dandy | Earthling |
| Adept | Banker | Changeling | Dark Lord | Elysium Knight |
| Adopted | Barmaid | Child of Ares | Demonologist | Employee of Royalty |
| Adventurer | Battlesmith | Chronicler | Denizen | Endless Soul |
| Adventuring Royalty | Beggar | City Guard | Detective | Engineer |
| Afflicted | Bereaved | City Worker | Diplomat | Envoy |
| Air Acrobat | Bodyguard | Clone | Disciple of the Obscure | Eternal One |
| Alchemic Construct | Bounty Hunter | Combat Medic | Disgrace | Evil Cultist |
| Alchemist | Butler | Confederacy of Feuding Houses | Disowned Noble | Ex-Blood Doll |
| Alcoholic | Conscript | Divine | Executioner | |
| Alcoholic Scientist | Construct | Doctor | Exile | |
| Amnesiac | Cook | Dog of the Military | Exiled Ruler | |
| Ancient Cultist | Courtesan | Dragon Trained | Experiment | |
| Ancient One | Crazed Hermit | Drow Breeding Slave | Explorer | |
| Antiquarian | Crusader Nation | Drunken Bum | ||
| Apothecary | Cursed | Duelist | ||
| Arcana Spy | ||||
| Arcane Augmented | ||||
| Arcane Dominion | ||||
| Archaeologist | ||||
| Armed Escort | ||||
| Arranged Marriage | ||||
| Artist | ||||
| Arvoreen Keeper | ||||
| Aspirant | ||||
| Astronaut |
Backgrounds From F To L
| F | G | H | I | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmer | Gladiator | Hellborn | Idol Follower | Librarian |
| Feral Child | Gypsy | Inquirer | Lone Survivor | |
| Firefighter | ||||
| Fourth Wall Breaker |
Backgrounds From M To W
| M | P | R | S | U & W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Master Inquisitor | Prospector | Reaver | Salesman | Urban Vigilante |
| Mercenary | Psychic | Scavenger | Writer | |
| Metal Worker | Seeker Of A Lost Life | |||
| Monster | Shadow Thieves Guild Member | |||
| Monster Hunter | Slave | |||
| Mystic | Slayer | |||
| Spy | ||||
| Squire | ||||
| Student Of Magic |
What are 5E Backgrounds in DND?
In simple words, the DND 5e background is your character’s history and experiences. Later in the article, we discussed certain elements that are required in character-making and one of the important ones being race, class, and equipment.
D&D Backgrounds are a set of skills and expertise that come with the character’s top 3’s (race, class, equipment). It helps evaluate what a character is professional at. For example, a character with a background of a criminal is most likely to be a spy with confidential information about popular profiles, have a secretive personality, and be an expert in carrying heists with tools used for theft. Your background provides you with language/tools, proficiencies, and features.
Backgrounds provide your character with a backstory and the motivation to master those pre-existing skills. Let’s move forward to studying each of the elements that your background gives.
🟢 Language: Languages a character can speak add depth and say a lot about them. This is such a powerful move to incorporate into a game that adds realism to the character’s personality overall. Most of the backgrounds come with one language only, but others with multilingual.
🟢 Proficiencies: Each character’s background provides them with 2 skills that they are naturally good at and highly talented in that area. It varies from background to background, but shapes your character to the next level. Some backgrounds might give you the same skills like guild artisan and guild merchant. It could be a weapon proficiency, skill, or tool. Proficiencies are an important part of your gameplay and influence your game level.
🟢 Tools: Characters are given tools and weapons based on their background.
Sample DND 5e Backgrounds
In the below provided d&d 5e backgrounds list, which is officially mentioned in the player’s handbook. There are thirteen backgrounds. If you want more backgrounds than you can check above list.
Who is the 👨💼 Dungeon Master?
There’s always a master of the game or a judge and thus, DM aka Dungeon Master fulfills the responsibility of being one. The dungeon master is in charge of managing the characters and making sure that players are following the rules of the game. They narrate the story and assign levels to the players based on their difficulty. Players are obliged to follow their instructions without a second thought.
Character – Making in DND
Creating characters is an integral part of this game on which the whole game stands. Players are supposed to create characters according to their likings and preferences. There are so many customization options available to produce a strong character with reliable abilities and strengths. Character-making sounds fun but yet the players have to be very smart with it since your whole game depends on your character.
How to create a Character?
To answer the question of “how to create a character” is quite simple. Visualize a character that reflects your characteristics or whatever you imagine when you hear the word “hero”. Once you’re done with the difficult part, now moving on to the creative part. Choose the race, class, and background of your character. Next, select weapons, personality traits, and abilities. At last, write a short description and give a name to your character.
Customizing your own Background
This might sound fake, but it’s true. Players can create a background of their own. Creating your own background from scratch can be a fun experience and can help players explore the unseen side of DND which requires creativity and innovation.
Here are a few steps to creating your own background:
🟢 Come up with a concept: This is an important step and probably the time-consuming one. Brainstorm which kind of character you want to create. If you have a keen interest in fantasy or action-based characters, then this might be the easiest step for you. Have a visualized idea of your character and follow the next options wisely that reflect their background and personality traits.
🟢 Choose tools/skills: Ask yourself what kind of tools would suit your character on the basis of their background and upbringing. It would be completely pointless to give your character a gaming set if they grew up in a forest. Having know-how of herbalism and survival hacks would go perfectly with their background.
🟢 Select any 2 languages: Think of 2 languages that your character must have learned growing up or their training, this can depend on their race and culture.
🟢 Give them a feature: Give your character a unique feature. The feature should reflect their past experiences and how they helped shaped their personality since a feature symbolizes expertise in a specific area.
🟢 Backstory: At last, give your character a nice backstory. Talk about what really inspired you to create a character like them. Highlight their skills, background, talents, and other expertise. Keep it short but effective and engaging.
Final Words
At last, we would highly encourage everyone to explore the 5e backgrounds in DND to get a clearer picture of the game. You will understand more clearly once you experience it with your own hands. We’ve tried to incorporate all the backgrounds so you guys don’t miss out on anything.
Frequently Asked Questions Of D&D 5E Backgrounds
Yes, players are allowed to create their own characters with different backgrounds, skills, and tools. Check out the steps required for creating new characters.
Although each and every background is unique in its own way, if we compare all of them, then Acolyte and the entertainer have to be the star of the show.
It depends on the DM, but you must have a solid reason for bringing out such a massive change since it’s the core part of your character.
No, but with DM’s permission it is possible. Convincing him is like winning at life.
Last updated: January 3, 2024