parent

UPDATE: The partial background found in this article is a preview. It is fully available as a Pay What You Want product on the DMs Guild in a pretty PDF with art and 14 other ready to roll backgrounds.

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.

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.

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