Backgrounds Archives - Tribality

Tribality Publishing – Level Up Your Background

Brandes Stoddard — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:38:50 +0000

Your Background Is More Than Who You Were We have a new publication on the DM’s Guild, as of last Friday. This is Tribality Publishing’s third DM’s Guild product. Level Up Your Background is written by Brandes Stoddard, with editing by Stephen Cheney and layout by Dave Jumaquio. For some characters, their background represents their lives when they aren’t in the dungeon or out saving the world. It includes aspects of ambitions, their place in society, and their recognized authority. […]

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Advanced Character Backgrounds

Jesse Cohoon — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 12:00:46 +0000

Not all games start at level one. When this happens, the characters are leveled, and maybe, if the GM/ DM is lucky the player might add a sentence or two more to the background to flesh it out more. Unfortunately, these details are often left “on the cutting room floor,” because not everyone wants to craft a unique background for their character, are too busy, or learn about the game at the last minute. Instead of sticking only with the […]

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Expanding the Trinkets table

Jesse Cohoon — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 12:00:55 +0000

The trinkets table is used by a variety of backgrounds to give characters something interesting to have in their possession, but at 100… or even 500 more, sometimes you want something unique that doesn’t quite fit. Why not look to the other character making tables to give you the tools to give you the creative push you need? Tokens vs Trinkets In a previous article series (part 1, part 2), I discussed tokens. Tokens, as described in the article are […]

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The Dungeoneer Background (D&D 5e) Available on DMsGuild

Shawn Ellsworth — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 20:31:51 +0000

Tribality Publishing’s latest release, The Dungeoneer Background, is now available on DMsGuild. A background for Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Yawning Portal, and other dungeon-heavy campaigns. The Dungeoneer background is designed for anyone who is creating a Player Character (PC) for dungeon-filled campaigns, such as Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage or any of the adventures from Tales from the Yawning Portal. The Dungeoneer background also suits a theatre of the mind campaign where you want to create a PC […]

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Exploring the Urchin Background

Kevin Victor Rae — Tue, 05 May 2020 14:00:05 +0000

The Urchin 5e background offers a potential rags-to-riches story and any class can benefit from its skill proficiencies. It also comes with its own adventure hook: how did you get enough money to live modesty for ten days? Was it a gift? A lucky find? The loot from a final crime? That — and the pet mouse (which is awesome) — can help add some interesting depth to your character. Your impoverished life before the beginning of the campaign can […]

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Exploring the Soldier Background

Kevin Victor Rae — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 14:00:30 +0000

The soldier background in 5e offers a great opportunity to do some collaborative worldbuilding with your DM. After all, what is a soldier without an army? Here are some starting questions to help you build the organization before diving into your character’s background: Is this a formal or informal army? Meaning, are you a career soldier, or is it expected that you return to your previous life after your term of service? How does class play into rank? Can only […]

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Exploring the Sailor Background

Kevin Victor Rae — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 14:00:32 +0000

Hellooooo, sailor (background)! The sailor background for 5e is a fun option, offering two useful skills and a great feature to find safe passage on a ship whenever needed. Your mileage may vary based on your campaign setting, but if you’re looking for a nautical good time, check out Seas of Vodari (plug plug plug) — which has a ton of sailor background variants among all kinds of other awesome content! I have always loved stories centered around the ocean […]

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Exploring the Sage Background

Kevin Victor Rae — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 14:00:21 +0000

The Sage background in 5e is one of my favorites. It gives you access to a couple of knowledge skills and some extra languages, but what makes the sage background so exciting is the Researcher feature. You basically know where to get a piece of information on the chance that you can’t recall it. This has huge potential for storytelling. You could have an entire adventure based on trying to get some esoteric answer from a mysterious library! While this […]

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Exploring the Outlander Background

Kevin Victor Rae — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 14:00:04 +0000

The outlander background in 5e fills the role of the person who lived outside of civilization, who have been to the very extremes of the world and seen wonders that no city dweller could dream of. This archetype has room in it for multiple character concepts, from the tribal barbarian to the banished wizard, to a ranger who makes their living trapping and selling furs. This background is one that is more pliable than others – after all, who’s to […]

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Exploring the Noble Background

Kevin Victor Rae — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 14:10:36 +0000

In a standard Dungeons and Dragons world, society is stratified by class that is largely determined by blood. In medieval Europe, the nobility was a very tiny portion of the population, and they generally owned the lands that were worked by the peasant class. Sometimes they even owned the peasants. You get to do some fun world-building with this background, creating a Noble lineage to descend from and the social codes of conduct that regulate the nobility. For each background, […]

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