Expanding 5E D&D Background Characteristics — Sailor

Salutations, nerds! And hello, sailor. That’s right, I’m offering expanded personal characteristics for the Sailor background for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons as suggested by the unassailable pattern of alphabetical order. Let’s pull anchor and set sail for traits to suit your next 5E D&D character!

Fluff like 5E D&D background characteristics is the game too

From the 5E D&D Basic Rules: Fleshing out your character’s personality — the array of traits, mannerisms, habits, beliefs, and flaws that give a person a unique identity — will help you bring him or her to life as you play the game. Four categories of characteristics are presented here: personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. Beyond those categories, think about your character’s favorite words or phrases, tics and habitual gestures, vices and pet peeves, and whatever else you can imagine.

Technically inspiration in 5E D&D is presented as a rule Dungeon Masters can use as a reward for players who remain true to their characteristics. Even though these characteristics don’t include mechanical benefits along the same lines as most class features these components of characters are still a part of the game with implications during play.

“If you’ve got a copy of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden you’ll find a whole bunch of character hooks and secrets in the introduction to inspire your characters’ motivation. Likewise resources like the Heroic Chronical in Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount and This Is Your Life sections in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything can really help develop fun and intriguing ideas for motivation of your adventurers.“ — 5 Sources of Motivation for 5E D&D Adventurers

d8 — Personality Traits

1. I’ve got a sea superstition for every occasion and they are godsworn serious.
2. I keep trinkets from every stop I’ve been in and a story about every one.
3. I like to at least find out how to say the naughty words in the local language of every port.
4. Tattoos make for an excellent travel keepsake.
5. I’m always playing with a length of rope, tying and untying knots to keep my hands busy.
6. If it’s too quiet I start singing shanties under my breath.
7. Being too far inland gives me vertigo.
8. No matter how long I’ve been off ship I still check the market for fruit first thing when I arrive.

d6 — Ideal

1. Exploration. I always want to know what’s around the next bend. (Chaotic)
2. Profit. There’s one reason to do a dangerous job and the reason is coin. (Neutral)
3. Independence. Each ship keeps its own laws and the mainland can only enforce theirs if they can catch us first. (Chaotic)
4. Control. I am fierce and quick of wit and those I encounter will bend to me. (Evil)
5. Fate. As long as the sea favors me I will reach my destination safely. (Any)
6. Ambition. The longer the odds the better. We’ve always won out before. (Chaotic)

d6 — Bond

1. We had an injured albatross seek shelter on our deck once and I nursed her back to health. I know her when I see her and consider her a good omen.
2. There’s an unflattering shanty about me and I always worry someone’s recognized me when I hear it.
3. I led a mutiny once when I realized our captain was leading us into a situation to die. My crewmates thanked me for it but my reputation took a hit.
4. I started sailing chasing after a missing parent who may or may not know I exist.
5. My life’s work is an atlas of the seas. I’ve charted a goodly area of space personally.
6. I carry a memento of a shipwreck I alone survived. I’m still unsure what caused it.

d6 — Flaw

1. I have trouble cleaning up my language for polite company.
2. I judge people based on how well they would survive at sea.
3. I have a huge reluctance to do anything I’m not getting paid for up front.
4. If it passes through my mind it comes out of my mouth, even if it’s a terrible idea.
5. I might be a little too quick to shed blood, especially if it’s not mine.
6. I’m not going to admit this out loud but I have a hard time reading. I can sound out words given the time but passing signs don’t register to me unless they have pictures.

For me, at least the suggested features in the book are always incredibly inspiring so hopefully you found something in all of this that’s inspired you as well. Let us know in the comments, connecting with us on Facebook or tweeting us @Nerdarchy. Feel free to comment or tweet me @Pyrosynthesis too and of course, stay nerdy!

*Featured image — Sailor is one of the background options for characters found in the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook. The Ixalan block of Magic: The Gathering expansions explores concepts surrounding the golden city of Orazca and includes the Brazen Coalition faction, a pirate tribe where this Sailor of Means comes from. A 5E D&D player can get a lot of mileage from the MTG multiverse. Theros is one of the MTG settings officially represented in 5E D&D too, which we’ve explored quite a lot not to mention the free Plane Shift supplements, which includes the Ixalan setting. There’s also Curriculum of Chaos, the Strixhaven book we shared lots of details about after attending a press briefing. [Art by Ryan Pancoast]

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