How Backgrounds and Origin Feats work in D&D 2024

Character creation in Dungeons & Dragons has modified a little bit bit within the Participant’s Handbook (2024), the primary in a sequence of core rulebook revisions to fifth version D&D. Not a lot, thoughts you, however there are a pair tweaks to the method that make your characters a little bit extra distinctive and switch your character’s backstory right into a mechanical profit.

Our D&D 2024 Backgrounds and Origin Feats information will stroll you thru the most important character creation modifications from D&D 5e.

Background and Origin Feats, defined

For some time, D&D has been working to make it simpler to have your character’s private historical past mirrored by their stats. Within the 2024 guidelines revisions, that’s realized by way of Backgrounds.

Fifth version’s Backgrounds supplied your characters abilities, languages, and your beginning gear. Within the Participant’s Handbook (2024), your Background offers you an Means Rating Improve, an Origin Feat, talent proficiencies, instrument proficiencies, and your tools.

That Means Rating Improve (the identical as if you take the Means Rating Improve feat) helps you to add +1 to a few Means Scores, or +2 to at least one Means Rating and +1 to a different. The Skills you get to select from are decided by the Background and themed to that background — Farmers select from Power, Structure, and Knowledge, for instance. (For languages, by the best way, each character begins with three recognized and Rogues and Rangers decide up extra from their Class options.)

This enhance helps you to customise your character’s background a little bit extra and have it replicate of their present actuality (and their stats). Similar to species (race) above, you possibly can nonetheless use beforehand revealed 5e Backgrounds. For Backgrounds, although, you’ll must do some customization and determine your personal Skills, instrument proficiencies, and Origin Feat. Talking of which…

Origin Feats are tied to Background — every Background has a set Origin Feat. These feats go a little bit additional to cement your character’s backstory and historical past of their stats and mechanics. And it additionally simply makes them a little bit cooler to have a little bit perk proper from the beginning.

D&D 2024 Backgrounds checklist

There are 16 Backgrounds listed within the new PHB:

D&D 2024 Origin Feats checklist

The Origin Feats supplied by your Background are: