A character’s background represents what the character did prior to becoming an adventurer. Creating a unique background or customizing an existing one from the Player’s Handbook can reflect the particular theme of your campaign or elements of your world. You can also create a background to help a player craft the story they have in mind for their character.
This section describes, step by step, how you can create backgrounds like the ones in the Player’s Handbook, tailored for your world and the heroes in it.
You might alter the Sailor background to reflect a character’s youth on the seas of Greyhawk.
Choose three abilities that seem appropriate for the background:
Strength or Dexterity. These abilities are ideal for a background involving physical exertion.
Constitution. This ability is ideal for a background that involves endurance or long hours of activity.
Intelligence or Wisdom. One or both abilities are ideal for a background that focuses on cerebral or spiritual matters.
Charisma. This ability is ideal for a background that involves performance or social interaction.
Choose one feat from the Origin category. See the Player’s Handbook for examples of Origin feats.
Choose two skills appropriate for the background. There needn’t be a relationship between the skill proficiencies a background grants and the ability scores it increases.
Choose one tool used in the practice of the background or often associated with it.
Assemble a package of equipment worth 50 GP (including unspent gold). Don’t include Martial weapons or armor, as characters get them from their class choices.