Since Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy setting, you have magic in the same, I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone. How much magic you have to vary a lot. Some worlds in D&D have a ton of magic with lots of people being able to use small spells and little things, like curing a small wound are going to be magically done or lighting a fire, magic might be faster. There are going to be other fantasy worlds where magic is extremely rare. If you have magic, you have way more value to the nations because of what you can do. In either of them, the PC’s (Player characters) who have magic are going to end up being more powerful than most other casters, because, otherwise, those characters would be saving the world, and you’d still be a farmer.

But within magic, there are a number of different ways that you can get magic or use magic. Which, mechanically speaking, are represented by the different classes you can be. A Cleric and Paladin get their magic from their gods whereas a Druid gets it through nature, a Sorcerer just has it, and a Wizard needs to learn it. That doesn’t even touch on the bard who signs theirs (but just kind of have it) and the Warlock who has made a deal for it. If you know you want to be a magic user, picking your class can help determine what sort of background you have because of how you got the magic.

Bard – This magical mischief maker generally gets their spells from their ability to weave word or song in such a way to alter the world around them either for attack or entertainment. A bard is generally going to be someone who has been trained, but not to improve their magic, but their performance ability. I think that the bard is a class that can be generally used for most backstories.

Cleric – The first of our magical classes that gets their magic from the divine. The god that they are worshiping is giving them the powers and has chosen them as special. In particular, they are giving them powers to help people, and while combat might not be their strong point, but healing and aiding other characters is what that character is going to be the best at. With a cleric, your backstory can be anything but you might want to focus more on a religious background and have it something you’ve been a part of for a while, not something that you just picked up.

Druid – The hippy of the magical classes, the druid is all about nature and their attunement to nature. In some ways, I would say that a Druid is a bit like the Cleric in that they get their magic from the divine, but for the Druid their divine is their connection to nature. The Druid is going to be the caster who has the most connections to nature and natural changes in the world. The outlander or hermit backgrounds actually make a lot of sense for a background for the Druid, because you need that strong connection with nature that makes most sense to be gotten on your own. The trick can be connecting back into the group.

Paladin – Our second divine caster, the Paladin is what is know as a half-caster. What that means is that they have a more limited spell selection and a smaller number of spell slots with which to cast spells. What the Paladin does get is some of the healing abilities of the Cleric but much better punching power with their ability to handle weapons. They also get the ability to channel their divine magic into even more damage, at the cost of casting spells, but I still feel like it’s a spell like affect and is part of their magic. For a Paladin, your background can be much more open, because while they do have that divine magic from a god, their devotion to their religion is less strictly guided like a Cleric’s feels, though, they do need to maintain that collection.

Ranger – Another and last half caster, the Ranger pulls a little bit like the Paladin does from the Cleric, but for the Ranger it’s from the Druid. They get some of the connections to nature that the Druid has, but also then gets more focus in their magic for hunting down their enemies. Unlike the Paladin who has extra abilities they can do with their magic, the Ranger is more focused on just using their spells as spells. Their background is generally going to be fairly open, being a scout in the military or being a hermit all make sense, and even some of the more scholarly ones can make sense.

Sorcerer – The natural of the magic world, the bard might just use music, but the Sorcerer just gets magic. And they get amazing control over their magic. The Sorcerer is an interesting class in that they get things called meta-magics and meta-magic points that they can use to improve their spells. This might mean that they can cast them farther or do so silently so it can’t be countered. This allows a player to specialize their character so that their Sorcerer feels different from others. The Sorcerer definitely can come from any sort of background since their magic can be something that just newly manifested. It’s the magic class that you do if you don’t want to be beholden to anyone or anything.

Warlock – If the Sorcerer isn’t beholden to anyone or anything, the Warlock 100% is. They’ve made a pact with some powerful being, fey, elder god, or demon that is giving them their powers. And the Warlocks magic works differently than everyone else’s. They aren’t a half caster, but they aren’t really a full caster. They get invocations that can really make their cantrips much better so they don’t need as many high level spells, which is good, because they don’t get many spell slots. But when they cast a spell it’s always at the highest spot possible. I don’t know that they are that much harder to play than other casters, but how they work makes less sense. They, because they can have just gotten their magic, do have it in common with the Sorcerer that most any background works.

Wizard – Final one and definitely the most iconic. The Wizard has learned magic. You could say that Bard might be considered a bit of that if you consider them learning their craft of storytelling and performance, but for a Wizard, there are Wizard schools and you study and you need a spellbook to be able to prepare spells for the day. But, as a Wizard, you have access to more spells than any other class. Their specializations also makes it easier for them to learn more spells in certain areas, and while other classes can be capped on how spells they know, a Wizard can always add in more spells if they have the time and money to transcribe them into their spell book. A wizard, the Sage background makes the most sense because they’ve spent at least some of their life in school, but that might not be the defining feature for them.

That’s a lot just looking at the classes and how they use magic, I’m going to spend some time coming up here going into more topics on magic such as spell slots and spells known or high or low magic worlds that I touched on that the top of the article. Some of them will be more player focused and others more dungeon master focused. Is there a certain type of caster that you gravitate to?

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One of the most common pitfalls, though, with playing an Outlander is placing them outside of society. That is really more the role of a hermit, while an outlander generally has some connection back to the world, and while their being on the fringes of the world, they are going to know how to interact with the normal society better than a hermit would. As I talked about in the hermit background, having a lone ranger character is far from ideal for a game that is a cooperative storytelling game where players are all part of a group. So when building an outlander, think of why they would be connected into the party, what they might want from the party, or why they would change from being a homesteader to being an adventurer.

The Outlander background also gets the skills of survival and athletics, which make a lot of sense. You have to be strong and smart at survival to live on your own or with very few around you out in the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons. The amount of random encounters and monsters that are roaming around would require you to be knowledgeable  on survival. One interesting thing that the outlander gets is a language of the players choice. This goes against the loan wolf idea, this background gives a nice tie in to some other race that isn’t your own. Why would your High-Elf outlander known dwarven? Why would your halfling guide know undercommon? There’s a story that is built in for you, in some ways, with the language.

So what are some different backstories for the Outlander background?

There is much disappointment in life. Mine was not an exception to that, my parents were killed when I was young, my aunt who took me in soon abandoned me, and I was an outcast in the small town that I grew up in. Things became better when a traveling missionary came through the town preaching about their deity. They took me along with them and gave me a spot to live. All of this happened before I was ten years old. Now a lot of time has passed and it is my turn to spread the word. Things have gone well for the most part, but now I’ve started to hear rumors of issues coming out of my order. That there are those who are subverting it and turning it against everything I was taught. I’ve tried to reach my old teacher to find out more information, but I haven’t been able to get a hold of them. I know that they were off looking for a relic, and their party hasn’t been heard of now in two months. I’m worried that the issues in the order might have set them up for failure, and I need help finding them.

Class: Cleric
Alignment: Neutral Good

A lot of kids see a man putting out a fire, a woman arresting a criminal, or a doctor saving a life and they decide to go into one of those noble professions. I’m less interested in those professions. What peeked my interest as just a small one, was seeing a dragonborn being dragged out of the inn across the street from my parents house. “Savan” was really friendly with us kids and very helpful in the inn and around town. What we didn’t know was that he was actually a pirate known as Estevan Clawfist who was one of the most brutal pirates of all time, and that the crown wanted to capture him. The idea of a double life intrigued me, and he towering half-Goliath who had caught him became someone I idolized. That was the only childish game that I wanted to play, I was the bounty hunter and my friends would be criminals who I brought in. It led to some scuffed knees and a black eye or two, but my desire to become a bounty hunter never changed. When I grew older, I found out how to be one, it was a less glamorous life than it had seemed as a child, but I love the work. Now I have a large bounty, but this gang might be too much for me to bring in by myself.

Class: Fighter/Rogue
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

I was raised as part of a nomadic tribe. We wandered around and were friends with dwarves, humans, and elves alike. Our business was our own until one day a conquering force came in and subjugated us. We were forced to go live in a town and many of the older people just seemed to stop caring and did nothing. Our situation had become dire when I decided to run away. I knew that I could avoid the soldiers and live like I was meant to live roaming in the wilds. I became a guide to smugglers who were helping my people as well as a small uprising against the conquering forces. Some day I hope that what I will do will help my people be able to wander again. Then the soldiers found out where the smugglers were going, and I was on the run again. I’ve found a group to catch on with and now I hope to convince them to help me make a difference.

Class: Ranger/Druid
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

The rich spend money on stupid things. I saw that while growing up. Our village was in the middle of nowhere, but notables would still show up every summer to hunt in our forests. It was good business for the town, otherwise the only other option would have been to move. I met a lot of interesting folks and I saw how they lived and I wanted to live like that. I’d sneak off into the woods while I wasn’t helping at my parents armory and pretend to be a great hunter. On one of those excursions where I had been gone for a few days, it wasn’t that odd for me and it annoyed my parents, I came across a valley that I didn’t know was there. It wasn’t on the normal hunting route or, when I came back into town and looked, on the maps. I’d find somewhere new to hunt, and I quickly went back there again and again. I mapped it out in my head and studied the creatures in there. There were so many exciting creatures there, and as I listened to what the rich were talking about, I realized that I had found a way to make my fortune. I convinced one rich person to hire myself as a guide for a new hunting grounds, and soon my fame spread and I was making good money, but then other hunting guides found my spot. I got mad and left town with my money and realized how quickly money spent. Now I’m on the search for the new best hunting spot so that I can make my money back again.

Class: Rogue/Ranger
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Have you used the Outlander background before? If so, what was your characters story?

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What else can you do with a Hermit? You have an herbalism kit and you get proficiency with both medicine and religion. That in a lot of ways opens up a bunch of different options that I’ll explore below. But having medicine and religion allows you to go away from as nature focused a character, though most often that will be the direction that people lean. Here are some interesting background ideas that I have for a hermit.

I’ve lived a long time, I’ve seen many things. My life was violence, then tranquility, then learning, then fear, I have seen it all. Now I have taken my seat, a place of rest, high above the lands where I can look down. They call me the wise one, though I have just lived more and am not truly wise. Those who seek my advice and knowledge must journey to see me, and I see them long before they get to me. From my vantage point I have watched the world change, and not for the better, I’ve looked into the horizon and seen a coming storm. My time to move has come again, but my body is loath to take up it’s old forms again. I have rested long enough though, when the time comes, I will be ready, so I make my way down the mountain to seek those who can join me in stopping the oncoming storm.

Class: Monk
Alignment: Lawful or True Neutral

On the walls of my hovel hang trophies of a different time. A time where I was not a simple hunter away in the forest, a time where violence tried to consume me whole. I keep them on the walls to remind me of the rage that can consume me, but I do not want to pick them up again. I’ve lived a long while on my own, and life has been peaceful, but now my blood is boiling again. The rage that I have sought to keep in check is spilling out again. My peaceful little world is not something that I can sustain any more, and I do not want to taint it with blood. I pick up my axe from the wall, and I know it is time as it feels right in my hands. I will take my axe, but I will not use it as an all consuming violence, I will instead use it to do what I can to help others. I am the oncoming storm, I pray that I will not break.

Class: Barbarian
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Comments: I really find this concept interesting, playing a character who is fighting against their own nature violence and trying to keep that in balance. Having them go off the deepend and then backing down in a future fight because they are worried it will happen again, that would be an interesting character. There’s also an Incredible Hulk like aspect to it.

I have listened for a long time. I’ve listened to nature, to the voices of the gods on the winds, in the rain, and through the animals. I sought to learn everything that I could from them and to hear the words that they may speak. It was not easy being patient, but that is what I was called to do. Before, when I was at the temple, I was too impetuous and too ready to act and act without thinking, so I was sent out to find patience. I did not find patience at first, I was ready to leave within a day and say that I had found patience. But as I sat and waited, I saw how the trees and grass grew with a focused deliberation, how animals, even though they frolic, did not waste any energy or movement. I finally found patience in year three, but I was not ready to leave, so I stayed, it has been four more years now, and I do not want to leave. But through the winds, the rains, the trees, the animals, the gods have spoken to me. They have told me of a hidden knowledge, more that I must learn that they cannot teach me. So I must return to the temple, and from there I can go seek this knowledge.

Class: Cleric
Alignment: Lawful Good/Neutral

I’ve heard voices in my head for a long time. They talk to me and eventually I was able to understand them. I was young, and what they were saying sounded tempting. They offered power, fame, money, but I didn’t consider the cost. I got those things, but only for a short period of time as what the voices had me do quickly got the attention of those who were stronger than me and able to stop me. I had no choice but to run, the voices weren’t pleased, and they stopped talking to me. I stayed hidden away in hopes that they wouldn’t talk to me again and for a long time they didn’t. My powers stopped as well, but recently they started talking to me again, and I learned that there was something scarier than them out in the world. I had to make a new deal with them, but my powers are back and I guess it’s my job to help save the world or at least warn the world.

Class: Warlock
Alignment: Lawful Evil/Chaotic Neutral

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