When I started this blog almost two years ago, I only knew a handful of people my age who were parents, and those folks were fairly new. Now I have many peers proud to call themselves Mom or Dad (or in the case of my brother, who carries on the family tradition, Papa). These friends, some old, some new, are amazing people and heroes in their own right. The life-changing and work-intense experience of parenting is now part of who they are as much or more than any career or heritage. It is through watching these people I realized parent could serve as a fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons background.
My awesome nephew Roland.
I’d like to make a disclaimer that the descriptions, traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws below are not representative of any single parent or set of parents. You’re all wonderful.
Without further adieu checkout the background below.
Parent
You have spent years as a primary caretaker of a child or children. You might be their biological parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, family friend, older sibling, or cousin. Somehow you ended up with the responsibility and you have been raising and mentoring them in the ways of the world. The frustrations, celebrations, long hours, and happiness of raising a child are all things you know well.
The age of your children and who looks after them while you adventure is up to you. You might have a score of little ones you adopted and a spouse or partner who looks after them. All your children might be grown and can look after themselves while you adventure. Your temple, a neighbor, or the local thieves’ guild could watch over your children while you adventure. Maybe the unthinkable has happened and you lost your children or they were kidnapped or taken from you in some way. The unique relationships with your children are all yours to determine.
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion
Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A drawing, objects, or craft project your children made for you, an iron pot, a set of bone dice or a deck of cards, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp.
Feature: Get the Dirt
Parents tend to travel in the same circles and easily relate to one another by swapping stories. Anytime you’re in a populated area and find another group of parents at a tavern, hall, temple, or other meeting place, you are able to gather rumors about what’s happening in that area. In addition you can offer to watch another parent’s children during downtime. Any parent who takes you up on this owes you a favor to be repaid later. The worth of this favor depends on the DM’s opinion and how long you watched the other parent’s children.
Suggested Characteristics
As a parent you are a natural leader. You are calm under pressure, understand conflict resolution, and negotiation. Your children give you strength and a reason to keep living and adventuring. Some other adventurers might see having a child as a weakness which enemies can exploit, but you know the truth. Having children gives you a purpose beyond fortune and glory. It gives you something to fight for and a legacy beyond your own deeds.
| d8 | Personality Traits |
| 1 | I find every opportunity to boast about the accomplishments of my children. |
| 2 | I worry about people when they’re in a dangerous situation. |
| 3 | I am always giving advice even when it isn’t asked for. |
| 4 | Talking about bodily functions does not phase me so get used to it. |
| 5 | I am always happy to help resolve personal conflicts between two other people. |
| 6 | I know that working hard is the only way things get done. |
| 7 | I find great joy in the smallest triumphs. |
| 8 | I enjoy playing with children, even those who are not mine. |
| d6 | Ideals |
| 1 | Family. Everything I do is for my children. (Any) |
| 2 | Responsibility. They adults my children become are formed by the examples I set. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Creativity. The only way people grow is by feeling free to express themselves. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Power. People should do as I say because I’m smarter than they are. (Evil) |
| 5 | Protection. Innocent people without power, mut be shielded by those who have it. (Good) |
| 6 | Sincerity. Staying honest will keep you out of trouble in the long run. (Neutral) |
| d6 | Bonds |
| 1 | I know a family recipe that I hope to one day pass to my children. |
| 2 | I would give my life to save any child. |
| 3 | I have promised to take my children on a special vacation to a specific place someday. |
| 4 | There is an expensive house I have my eye on for my family. |
| 5 | My children will all be educated at the same institution where I learned my trade. |
| 6 | My family name must never be disgraced. |
| d6 | Flaws |
| 1 | I push other people into doing things they don’t want to do, but I want them to do. |
| 2 | My home life is so stressful that I often do reckless things to blow off steam. |
| 3 | Whenever others tell stories about their children I must top it with one about my own. |
| 4 | I correct anyone who is doing something that annoys me even a slightest bit. |
| 5 | It is more important for me to win an argument than to be right. |
| 6 | I’d rather give people whatever they ask for, than deny it and disappoint them. |
How about a PDF of this background to take with as well as a PDF of all the backgrounds I’ve created? Links are below.
Parent
All Backgrounds
And if you don’t grab it now, but want to grab it later, these documents will live forever on the Free Game Resources section of this site along with magic items, monsters, D&D fifth edition rules modules, spells, adventures, and more created by yours truly.
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This is a great idea, as it’s the kind of setting investment and RP ties that DMs always want their players to make, instead of loner orphans. One thing, though: the background feature being the ability to schmooze with people of similar background is… just okay. Honestly, it’s a little samey, as plenty of other backgrounds let a character pick up gossip. My suggestion is to say that parent PCs are “Good With Kids”: NPC kids are more likely to warm to a character who’s been around them and knows how to talk to them. I’m thinking of Ripley/Newt in Aliens. She wouldn’t talk to the soldiers, but Ripley’s mom skills got her talking.
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Thanks for the feedback. I thought about that exact feature, but it feels too limited compared to others. How often do you meet NPC kids? If not, does that mean your PC is seeking out kids everywhere to get the benefit of the feature? I thought by adding the second part of the feature, where-in people owe you favors for babysitting, I provided a lot of flexibility and variation for player and DM to determine just how far the benefit can go.
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I like the “good with kids” feature over the parents cop-talk too. I feel like that’s an area that isn’t often taken advantage of in RPGs – talking to the street urchin that saw the robbery from the shadows or the kid that buses trays at the tavern where the murder took place.
Totally unrelated thought, though – this is a HEAVY background that can have a huge effect on lots of gameplay elements. I can say for certain that if I knew there was a child or children depending on me at home somewhere, I would take very, very few risks in combat and be ready to escape if the battle looked to be turning against us. And if I was playing a Good character with a Parent in my party, I would be totally willing to jump in front of the arrow for that person or sacrifice myself so they could escape.
Cool background and props to anyone who wants to run it, but Too Real for my tastes.
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Definitely can get too real with this background, though it’s all about how you play it. For the record I think all the scenarios you outlined make for an interesting story. But there are ways to keep it less real.
What if the person’s children are grown and the PC is older or a longer-lived race like elf or dwarf? The kids don’t need them anymore, but they have enough vigor to adventure. Not all parents are going to play it 100% safe just because they have kids. Some will seek danger and defend the innocent for their children. Think of the service folk out there who put themselves on the line and have kids at home. They’re out there because they’re doing what they think is right.
I understand that not every background is for everyone, but there’s definitely ways to make this work that are less scary if you wanted to do it. I should have outlined that better in the post. Thanks for the heads up, Rudy!!!
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Excellent background. Definitely makes me think of Lone Wolf and Cub, among a few other stories. This definitely fits the precepts of a good background, and could even make for good NPC material. I may even use this for one of my characters soon.
Being a parent, I definitely see where a lot of the details within this background are definitely plausible. Great job!
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Thanks for that. I’m glad a parent approves. Makes me feel like I hit the mark!
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This is really cool. As a parent that also plays D&D I appreciate this. Going to share it with some of my fellow gaming parents.
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