Backgrounds as presented in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition are a fairly important part of the character creation process. They tell you where your character came from as well as giving you additional mechanical benefits in the form of proficiencies and abilities that have the opportunity to become powerful storytelling tools. But so often I see people recommending the combinations that make the most sense – the Cleric who grew up as an acolyte or the Fighter that was a soldier before he took up the mercenary lifestyle. There are so many rich stories that can be told if you think a little outside the box in terms of your character’s background. This week we look at Serenn, a young Paladin of Vengeance that grew up surrounded by pickpockets and thieves.
Serenn
Tiefling Paladin 1
Armor Class 16
Hit Points 11 (1d10+1)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Speed 30 ft
Alignment neutral good
Languages Common, Infernal
Ability Scores
Strength 15 (+2)
Dexterity 8 (-1)
Constitution 13 (+1)
Intelligence 13 (+1)
Wisdom 12 (+1)
Charisma 16 (+3)
Attacks
Melee Attack: Longword +4 1d8+2 slashing damage, 1d10+2 slashing damage when wielded two-handed
Melee Attack: Whip +4 1d4+2 slashing damage, finesse, reach
Melee or Ranged Attack: Handaxe +4 1d6+2 slashing damage, range 20/60, light, throw
Skills Acrobatics -1 Animal Handling +1, Arcana +1, Athletics +2, Deception +5, History +1, Insight +3, Intimidation +5, Investigation +1, Medicine +1, Nature +1, Perception +1, Performance +3, Persuasion +3, Religion +1, Sleight of Hand -1 Stealth +1 (disadvantage), Survival +1
Equipment longsword, whip, handaxe, explorer’s pack, chain mail, holy symbol, crowbar, a set of dark common clothes including a hood, and a belt pouch containing 15 gp.
Racial Features
Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in the darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Hellish Resistance: You have resistance to fire damage.
Infernal Legacy: You know the thaumaturgy cantrip.
Class Features
Proficiencies
Armor Proficiencies: all armor, shields
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tool Proficiencies: cards, thieves’ tools
Saving Throws: Wisdom and Charisma
Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Stealth
Divine Sense: As an action, you can open your awareness to detect forces of evil and good. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity. Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the Hallow spell. You can use this features 4 times before required a long rest. Completing a long rest restores all uses of this ability.
Lay on Hands: You have a pool of healing and can restore up to 5 hits points. This pool replenishes when you finish a long rest. As an action, you can touch a creature and restore hit points up to the number remaining in your pool, up to the creature’s maximum hit points. Alternatively, you can expend 5 hits points from your healing pool to cure the target of one disease or neutralize one poison affecting it. You can cure multiple diseases and neutralize multiple poisons with a single use of Lay on Hands, expending hit points separately for each one. This feature has no effect on undead and constructs.
Background: Criminal
Criminal Contact: You have a reliable and trustworthy contact who acts as your liaison to a network of other criminals. You know how to get messages to and from your contact, even over great distances; specifically, you know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for you.
Personality Traits: The best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it.
Ideals: Freedom. Chains are meant to be broken, as are those who would forge them.
Bonds: Someone I loved died because of a mistake I made. That will never happen again.
Flaws: An innocent person is in prison for a crime that I committed. I’m okay with that.
History: Serenn’s history is a mess. He was abandoned by his mother when he was born, and probably would have died if not for the local fence that took pity on the baby boy. He was raised as the man’s own son alongside his natural born daughter. He grew up steeped deeply in the criminal culture that surrounded his father’s work. Thieves and pickpockets of every species and background had loosely organized themselves into a guild within the area. His father would help move the goods they brought in. What he didn’t use to enrich the lives of him and his children, he tried to give back to the community and enrich the city. Serenn and Deeta were soon common sights in the city streets, sometimes working with the “guild.”
It wasn’t long before the city got very dangerous. When he was a young man, a group of slavers moved into their section of the city, having taken it by force. A lot of the people that Serenn had grown up with were either forced out of their homes, enslaved, or simply killed. While they had occasionally dealt with a criminal element rougher than the simple pickpocket or second-story man, these slavers were so beyond anything they had dealt with. They were completely unprepared. His father tried to ingratiate himself with the slavers, offering them his services at a deep discount. Instead, they took Deeta. Enraged, Serenn went after them. He caught up with the slaver that had his sister and caught him by surprise. He bashed the man’s head in with a cobblestone, but he didn’t see the man’s backup until it was too late. Deeta was faster – and the dagger that was meant for Serenn slipped between her ribs instead. Serenn killed the second slaver and wept while his sister bled to death in his arms. It was then and there he swore he would become the vengeance on not only these slavers, but become the vengeance for those that were incapable of taking it themselves. A furious power blossomed inside of him as his sister breathed her last breath.
It wasn’t long before the watch came around asking questions about the two dead slavers that were left in the alleyway. His father was hauled away in irons when his sister’s body was found lying in state in the back room. This time, Serenn didn’t weep. He knew his father had given up his freedom so that Serenn could have his. He took what money his father had stashed away from the family, purchased weapons and armor, and left the city under the cover of night. His mission was clear. The path to completing his mission however was not…
Ben Erickson
