Background Abilities

The master weapon smith. The prestigious planar sage. The renowned concert pianist. The most amazing chef. These are things that we want in the world in which we adventure, and possible even things that we wish for our characters to be or aspire to. In the SRD these aspects of a character were handled by skills, but they are conspicuously absent in the revised skill writeups on the previous pages.

This absence is not an accident. In many cases, these abilities just serve to round out a character’s history or personality, and either can’t be used outside of downtime between adventures or only provide fluff to round out the story and deepen immersion. And even when they do open new paths or provide direction during an adventure, they are not the combat or fantastic utility options that are more closely associated with character class and level. Because of these factors, there's no compelling reason to make people pay for these background abilities with character class and level based advancement resources.

While these background abilities could just be handwaved, and are in many games, this is a pretty unsatisfying solution for a lot of players. So instead we break them away from the level and class system to provide them for those games that want them without asking players to sacrifice their level based benefits in exchange. The rules below will help you determine what sort of background things you can practice, how good you are at them, and how you can acquire new ones.

Why Aren’t These Skills?

While there are many reasons to restrict the previous skill abilities to characters of at least a certain level, there are basically no reasons to restrict non-magical non-combat abilities in a similar way. There are in fact several reasons not to do so. These background abilities do not scale up in “fantastic” in the same way as other skills do without problems. Perform could be made to scale nicely, but steps all over the bard class in doing so. Knowledge is just a check to see if you read up on something during downtime previously and not functionally different from visiting a library in many respects. To scale it up would make it a divination based “learn secrets” skill that is outside of our focus here. Craft might scale acceptably well if you could make magical items, but access to that system is currently controlled by feats and class features and reworking it to not need those or make them redundant is outside of the scope of this work. Profession just doesn’t scale up at all, as there aren’t really any fantastic uses of being a barkeep or sailor.

So direct conversion to scaling skills is unpalatable for one reason or another, but leaving them in the skill system as non-scaling (and thus low level) abilities causes other problems. While you can just let people spend skill points on them in low level games and not worry about the lack of scaling, it fails in higher level games because the character winds up giving up high end abilities in exchange for these very low end ones. It is a poor trade in the long run, and not one that makes sense to write into the system in such a way unless you want to allow characters to intentionally hobble themselves.

Even if the value or conversion problems were solved, these background abilities also have the potential for tremendous bloat in skill format. Craft, knowledge, perform, and profession are not just one skill each, but a collection of individual skills that are each invested in separately. Craft and knowledge might be similar in many cases, but are likely to have a number of exceptions and alternate cases based on the specific specialty. Perform is extremely problematic, because we could write a single skill for wind instruments and stringed instruments but it would be a great disservice to the differences between instrument types in the folklore and source material. And that’s before we get to the open ended nature of the profession skill. There are just too many permutations of these skills to write up and not enough worth in doing so.

But a more compelling reason than the mechanical concerns is the story one. If these background abilities are tied to level in the same way as the other skills are then they are also tied to combat ability (the alternative, where levels are not a measure of combat ability but of some other thing is not considered here, because so much of the rest of the game assumes combat is the function of level or CR). Tying them to level means that sages with incredibly specialized knowledge never need protection or bodyguards, master crafters can not be kidnapped and held against their will, and every exquisitely trained butler also knows kung fu because they all must possess sufficient levels to qualify for their level of skill in a background ability. It is a straightforward reduction in the amount of stories that can be told, and we don’t get any new stories in exchange. By breaking these background abilities away from character level or CR, you can have both helpless sage and powerful sage stories as you need them for your games.

Overview

Each background ability is grouped into a type with similar abilities. Each of the studies represents a collection of book knowledge, for example, while each artisanal background ability represents training in tools and the ability to create. Though they are grouped into types for conceptual and mechanical reasons, each background ability must be acquired separately. The individual background abilities follow the general rules presented here as well the any special rules associated with their type.

Each individual background ability possessed by a character has a grade associated with it that indicates how well the character can perform at it. This grade determines whether or not you need to make a check to complete a particular task, what your bonus on the check is, and how much more or less you can expect to earn should you work in the field during your downtime. The grade is generally advanced through the investment of downtime and an attribute check, though exceptions for higher leveled characters exist.

Types

Artisanal

Artisinal background abilities represent acquired skill and knowledge aimed at the creation of a set of objects or creation from a set of materials. As there are many different materials and types of things to make, there are many different artisanal background abilities in the world, and some may be more common in certain cultures.

A character that possesses an artisanal background ability makes checks when attempting to create an item within their specialty. Generally a roll is only required when attempting to create items of a higher quality, as the bonuses are structured to allow the creation of grade appropriate items by taking 10.

If a character fails a background check with an artisanal ability by less than 10 points, they have instead crafted an object of a lower grade. Grade II artisans attempting to create masterwork items don’t simply create junk when they fail the check they simply create a standard version of the item. They lose no materials other than fuel (if appropriate) and time; they may re-attempt the item by spending half as much as the normal creation time reworking it. Failing a background check by more than 10 indicates that the item is unusable and that half of the material used in its construction is damaged beyond salvage.

List of Artisanal Background Abilities

The following list provides a number of example artisanal background abilities as well as their time to improve, but it is by no means complete. The actual options available in game will depend on the campaign setting and culture.

Artisanal Ability	Base Training Time
Alchemist	5 years
Armorsmith	2 years
Baker	6 months
Blacksmith	1 year
Bookbinder	2 years
Bonewright	1 year
Bowyer	1 year
Carpenter	2 years
Chef	1 year
Clothier / Tailor	1 year
Glassblower	2 years
Jeweler	3 years
Potter	6 months
Stonewright	1 year
Tanner	6 months
Weaponsmith	2 years
Weaver	6 months
Woodwright	1 year

Linguistic

Linguistic background abilities represent acquired skill and vocabulary in a language. As there are a wide variety of creatures and cultures in the world, so too are there many languages to study and learn. Knowledge of the spoken words does not grant any ability to read or write the language however, and neither does literacy grant any ability to speak the language conversationally and understandably.

A creature that possesses the minimum grade in the spoken or written form of a language they is minimally proficient in it. They fail to understand almost all idioms and have a limited, if very functional, vocabulary. A creature that possesses a grade above the minimum is fluent in the language. While they may still miss the meaning of some idioms they otherwise converse or read and write in the language freely and have a large vocabulary. A creature that has attained the maximum grade in a spoken language is almost a native speaker of that language. Their accent is basically undetectable, they understand all but the most obscure or out of date idioms, and their vocabulary covers most of the topics in the language (though it may exclude technical jargon or obscure words that native speakers would need assistance with anyway). Note that some languages do not have a maximum spoken grade achievable by non-native speakers. These languages are spoken by beings with sufficiently different vocal apparatuses or conceptual frameworks as to make passing as a native speaker imposible.

The base training time to learn a language depends on the level of immersion of the learner. Taking a course in the language or other very part time work on the language carries a 2 year training time, but may include both the written and spoken forms. Living and working where the language is used by the majority of people carries a 6 month training time for the spoken language if the character does not attempt to use the language at home or with their friends, and a 3 month training time if the character does attempt to primarily use the language. Living and working with a written language does not help as much as it does with the verbal form, and the times are doubled from those listed above. The time required to learn the written form of a language may be reduced by one half if the character has a higher grade in the written form of a language that used the same writing type.

List of Languages

The following list provides a number of example languages, but it is by no means complete. The actual options available in game will depend on the campaign setting.

Language	Spoken		Written
Language	Min Grade	Max Grade	Type	Min Grade	Max Grade
Abyssal	III	—	Infernal Logograph	III	—
Aquan	III	—	Elemental Syllabary	II	IV
Auran	III	—	Elemental Syllabary	II	IV
Celestial	III	—	Celestial Alphabet	I	III
Common	I	II	Common Alphabet	I	II
Draconic, High (Secret)	III	—	Draconic Logograph	III	—
Draconic, Low	I	III	Draconic Syllabary	I	III
Druidic (Secret)	II	IV	Druidic Logograph	III	IV
Dwarven	I	III	Dwarven Alphabet	I	III
Elven	II	IV	Elven Syllabary	II	IV
Giant	I	II	Dwarven Alphabet	I	III
Gnome	I	II	Dwarven Alphabet	I	III
Goblin	I	II	Dwarven Alphabet	I	III
Gnoll	I	II	Common Alphabet	I	III
Halfling	I	II	Common Alphabet	I	III
Ignan	III	—	Elemental Syllabary	II	IV
Infernal	III	—	Infernal Logograph	III	—
Orc	I	II	Dwarven Alphabet	I	III
Sylvan	I	II	Elven Syllabary	II	IV
Terran	I	II	Elemental Syllabary	II	IV
Undercommon	I	II	Common Alphabet	I	II

Occupational

Occupational background abilities represent a combination of academic and practical ability in fields that do not fit in one of the other types. It is a catch-all category that contains actors, clerks, farmers, torturers, valets, and many other skill sets that simply don’t fit well into the other groupings and don’t need or benefit from special rules.

Note that unlike the artisanal or studies background ability types, some of the occupational background abilities have maximum grades less than IV. There are no Grade IV innkeepers, for example, as the skill set simply doesn’t support that level of refinement. The maximum grade of any particular occupational background ability is listed in its entry

List of Occupational Background Abilities

The following list provides a number of example professional background abilities as well as their time to improve, but it is by no means complete. The actual options available in game will depend on the campaign setting and culture.

Profession	Grade II Earnings / Retainer (Average Per Week)	Training Time	Maximum Grade
Actor	5 sp	3 years	IV
Bartender/Innkeeper	1 gp	6 months	III
Barrister¹	5+ gp	4 years	IV
Butler	5 sp	6 months	IV
Carpenter	1 gp	1 year	IV
Clerk¹	1+ gp	6 months	III
Cook¹	5 sp	6 months	IV
Courtesan	5 sp	3 months	IV
Farmer	5 cp	1 year	III
Fisherman	8 cp	1 year	IV
Groom	5 sp	6 months	III
Laborer	3 cp	—	II
Lumberman	2 GP		III
Janitor/Maid	8 SP		III
Miner	2 GP		III
Musician	2 GP		IV
Painter¹	2 GP		IV
Porter	6 SP		II
Rancher	5 cp	2 years	III
Runner	1 GP		IV
Sailor	1 GP		IV
Scribe	2 GP		IV
Sculptor¹	2 GP		IV
Servant	8 SP		III
Shepherd	2 SP		III
Torturer	2 G		IV
Valet	15 SP		IV
Wagon Master	1 GP		III
Requires a specialization, like a particular topic, location, religion, material, style, etc.

Proficiencies

Proficiencies are background abilities that consist of knowledge and training in the proper way to wield a weapon or wear a suit of armor. While weapon and armor proficiencies are technically combat related and are handled by the class system, they are also extremely non-magical abilities that anyone of any level can potentially pick up with enough practice, which is a good fit with the other background abilities. The ability to wield them well is still strongly tied to level of course.

To acquire a new proficiency, you simply spend the time required for each grade and make the appropriate checks. If you meet the prerequisites of a proficiency, you may skip the earlier grades and simply put in the time needed based on the final grade. For example, if you possessed a +2 base attack bonus and proficiency in a similar martial weapon you could skip Grades I and II when attempting to learn an exotic weapon. You would only need to put in the time and rolling that advancing from Grade II to Grade III requires.

Unlike other background abilities, the time required to learn a new weapon or armor proficiency is directly related to your base attack bonus. Characters with more physical combat training and experience simply learn these things more quickly.

BAB +0: 8 days
BAB +1: 6 days
BAB +2: 4 days
BAB +3: 3 days
BAB +4: 2 days
BAB +5: 1 day
BAB +6: 6 hours
BAB +7: 4 hours
BAB +8: 3 hours
BAB +9: 2 hours
BAB +10: 1 hour

List of Proficiencies

Individual Armor Proficiencies

Weapon proficiencies are granted individually (or by group if the optional Unearthed Arcana rules are in use) while armor proficiencies are granted as a group to for purely historical reasons. If you would prefer to grant individual armor proficiencies instead of group proficiency, this system will support it nicely.

Simple weapons are treated as Grade I proficiencies.
Martial weapons are treated as Grade II proficiencies.
Exotic weapons are treated as Grade III proficiencies.
Siege weapons are treated as Grade II or Grade III proficiencies, depending on the complexity of the equipment.
Light armors are treated as Grade I proficiencies
Medium and heavy armors are treated as Grade II proficiencies.
Exotic armors are treated as Grade III proficiencies.
Light shields are treated as Grade I proficiencies.
Heavy shields are treated as Grade II proficiencies.
Tower shields are treated as Grade III proficiencies.

Studies

Studies are background abilities that represent a collection of facts, procedures, or other knowledge gained in a particular topic from scrolls, books, or tutoring. This pool of knowledge may be used to draw up plans for physical objects like homes or catapults, to successfully navigate a bureaucracy or legal system, to amuse or delight guests at a dinner party, or perform similar exploits within the field of study.

Each study that a character takes must be specialized within the field; examples of these specializations are listed with the various fields of study. Planar studies, for example, may be specialized in the elemental plane of earth or the abyss. Characters are treated as if they possess a background ability grade 2 less than their specialty in closely related specialties. If a character had a Grade III study in the elemental plane of earth, for example, they would be considered to have a Grade I study in all of the other elemental planes.

Making Things Up

In some games it will be acceptable for a player with a study to embellish answers to questions within their field if the DM doesn’t have anything more concrete prepared. For example, the player may invent new NPCs who have more information on the subject or make up the mating habits of a tendriculous. Unless the player states a different intent in these situations these answers are treated as the actual truth, so far as the character knows anyway. The character could be wrong of course, as sometimes the things in books can be wrong, but this should be rare in games that allow this. Engaging players in helping to flesh out the game is a great thing, but letting them do it only to later make them wrong on a regular basis only encourages them to stop trying and ask the DM for what they know.

When a character has studied a particular topic, they gain a lot of information about the subject and related subjects that the player may not possess directly. This is represented mechanically by the ability to roll a background ability check to determine if they previously learned about the topic and can recall it at the time. A character with a study in a topic does not need to make checks to recall information about a topic within their specialization unless the information is more advanced their current Grade in the field. A character with Grade II studies in architecture, for example, does not need to make a check to draw up the plans for a cottage or a castle made with traditional local materials but they would need to make a check if the plans called for solid gold walls. Similarly, a character with Grade III studies in the astral plane does not need to make a check to remember the existence and function of color pools, though they would need to make checks to recall anything about the social habits of an astral dreadnaught.

A character who fails a check either never studied the particular topic or fails to recall information about it. If the check was made for a topic one Grade above that possessed by the character, however, the character knows where they can go to find the information, whether it is in a library or a visit to a particular person.

List of Studies

The following list provides a number of example studies, but it is by no means complete. The actual options available in game will depend on the campaign setting and culture.

Arcane (Specializations: by wizardly tradition)
Architecture (Specializations: Aqueducts and Canals, Buildings, Bridges, Fortifications)
Customs and Traditions (Specializations: By culture and/or country)
Engineering (Specializations: Land Vehicles, Sea Vehicles, Siege Equipment)
Folklore (Specializations: By culture and/or country)
Geology (Specializations: Caverns, Flatlands, Mineralogy, Mountains)
Geography (Specializations: By continent, region, or plane)
History (Specializations: By continent, region, or plane)
Law (Specializations: By culture and/or country)
Nature (Specializations: By climate and region)
Nobility and royalty (Specializations: By culture and/or country)
Religion (Specialization: By pantheon or deity)

Grades

Uninitiated

Any field in which you have no experience or training is one in which you are considered uninitiated. Most creatures in the world are uninitiated in a given profession, and do not possess a grade. They have no training and very little experience with a profession, and pretty much fail at any serious attempt. They may make checks for the background ability on a case by case basis as approved by the DM. These checks often come with a -5 penalty and take twice as long.

Grade I

Grade I often goes by other names, including "apprentice" and "hobbyist", and represents an extremely minor level of training and ability in the field. This level of skill is not particularly impressive and can be acquired by anyone with enough time on their hands, but it is actual familiarity in the background ability. Creatures with this level of ability have some formal training or a fair amount of experience, but aren't consistent or skilled enough to be considered a full practitioner in their field. They may make checks against for their background ability with a +0 bonus.

Advancement to Grade I requires the listed time.

Grade II

Grade II is also referred to as "journeyman" or “professional” grade, and represents a completed training and generally competent level of ability in the field. Most of the creatures in the world who work in a background day in and day out have this level of skill. Their work is consistently acceptable, as would be expected of someone who possesses both experience and a full course of training. They may make checks for their field with a +10 bonus.

I can't be a Grade II Chef?

These rules are designed to mimic the hit and miss nature of background abilities. There are some things that some people just don't get, and as a result they don't get to be great at them. And while it is random and somewhat unfair to simply deny people some background abilities in this way, it's not a particularly large problem because the game is not about these things. You being a poor cook even though you gave it your all doesn't get in the way of you being an adventurer, so the parts where this isn't as fair don't make a large impact in a game.

Still, if it's really important for your character to be a professional chef or a master planar sage you can simply elect to invest a skill point into the background ability temporarily, assuming you have sufficient level. It's a bit of a power hit, but worth it for many people. This option is described later on.

Advancement to Grade II requires 2x the listed time for Grade I advancement. At the end of the time, you roll a d20 and add your relevant attribute modifier for the profession. If the result is 16 or better, you reach Grade II. If it is not, you may put in another 1x the listed time and make the check again. If that check also fails, you may not acquire Grade II in that profession.

Grade III

Grade III is the master grade. These are those individuals with exceptional skill, and are often those who have dedicated themselves single-mindedly to their field. Their work is consistently exceptional or masterwork quality. They may make checks for their profession with a +20 bonus.

Advancement to Grade III requires 8x the listed time spent working at the profession. At the end of the time, you roll a d20 and add your relevant attribute modifier for the profession. If the result is 19 or better, you reach Grade III. If it is not, you may put in another 4x the listed time and make the check again. If that check also fails, you may not acquire Grade III in that background ability.

Grade IV

A character with Grade IV in a background ability is a grand master and at the pinnacle of the ability. Individuals who achieve this grade are extremely rare. Their work is near flawless, often being a work of art in addition to masterwork. They receive a +30 bonus to checks made for their background ability, and almost never fail at any task within their field.

Advancement to Grade IV requires 20x the listed time Grade I time. At the end of the time, you roll a d20 and add your relevant attribute modifier for the profession. If the result is 22 or better, you attain Grade IV. If it is not, you may put in another 10x the listed time and make the check again. If that check also fails, you may not acquire Grade IV in that background ability.

Checks

Background checks are made when attempting to complete a task associated with your background ability. The basic mechanic of the check is to roll 1d20 + your Grade bonus + your key attribute bonus, and compare that value to the task DC. Task DCs are determined by your DM, and are expected to follow the guidelines below.

Task Difficulty	Examples	DC
Standard	General knowledge in the field, standard item creation, task a practitioner in training might be able to complete	10-15
Challenging	Specialized knowledge in the field, masterwork item creation, task a competent practitioner in training might be able to complete	20-25
Exacting	Rare or obscure knowledge in the field, flawless item creation, task a master practitioner in training might be able to complete	30

When two practitioners of a background ability have a competition, the checks are simply opposed. While generally the higher check wins, if a 3rd party is judging the affair other biases and bribes may need to be taken into account.

Background checks and published skill DCs

The bonuses given here are largely compatible with the DCs of published knowledge, craft, profession, and perform checks. So if you don't want to change the DC in a published adventure or an SRD task, you don't have to. Grand masters will succeed almost always without rolling in these cases, but this is intentional as they can do that in most cases relevant to their field.

Starting Characters

Initial Background Abilities

A character may begin play with one Grade II artisanal, studies, or professional background ability of their choice, so long as they succeed on the necessary acquisition check. If they fail they instead have a Grade I background ability, and may retry the acquisition check after investing sufficient time. They may advance this background ability additional grades based on the time available between their starting age and the start of the campaign, at the DM’s discretion. The character must still pass all appropriate checks to advance the background ability as normal.

Characters never begin play with weapon or armor proficiencies other than those granted by their class.

Bonus Languages

For each bonus language that a character is entitled to, they may select a language from the list and gain Grade II competency in that language. They must select spoken and written languages separately, however. If they desire, they may sacrifice a Grade II language to gain 2 langauges at Grade I, or to promote and existing Grade II language to Grade III.

Background Ability Advancement by Skill Point

Skill points from class levels may be used to acquire Grades in a skill without spending the requisite training time or passing an advancement check, with some limitations. No more than 4 skill points may be invested in this way at any given time, and no more than 2 per character level. Any skill points invested in a background skill are refunded to the creature when they gain two levels or after a period of time equal to the normal investment time for the grade that was acquired, whichever comes first. The refunded skill points may be invested in skills as normal at that time, or in additional background abilities if the creature has not already met the background ability investment limtes for their level.

The following table below shows how far a background skill is advanced when a skill point is spent based on the value of that skill point. As the skill points of higher level characters are more valuable, higher level characters may advance to higher grades or skip some entirely when investing their skill points in background abilities.

Level or CR	Starting Grade
Level or CR	Uninitiated	Grade I	Grade II	Grade III
1	—	—	—	—
2	Grade I	—	—	—
3	Grade I	Grade II	—	—
4	Grade II	Grade II	Grade III	—
5	Grade II	Grade III	Grade III	Grade IV
6	Grade II	Grade III	Grade III	Grade IV
7	Grade III	Grade III	Grade IV	Grade IV
8	Grade III	Grade III	Grade IV	Grade IV
9	Grade III	Grade IV	Grade IV	Grade IV
10	Grade III	Grade IV	Grade IV	Grade IV
11+	Grade IV	Grade IV	Grade IV	Grade IV

Immediate Interrupt Acquisition

Acquisition in the middle of the story is traditionally accompanied by a phrase along the lines of “I was waiting to surprise you guys, but I’ve been training in that for a while now”. It is a straightforward ret-con of the past, and an acceptable one because the gain is accounted for by the initial reduction in character power and the chance that it won't actually be used.

A character may withhold 1 skill point from assignment to a skill or background ability if they wish, spending the point in the middle of the game to instantly benefit from them. While this assignment is generally done in a background skill, it may also be used for any skill which is not currently at its rank maximum. If assigned to a background ability the skill point is refunded as normal after the time investment is completed, at which time it may again remain in holding so long as the character does not have another skill point in holding already. If the character gains a level before assigning this skill point, they must spend all newly acquired skill point as part of the normal level up process.

Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Background Abilities

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