Expanding 5E D&D Background Characteristics — Urchin

Salutations, nerds! I’m onto the Urchin background for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in the unassailable order that is alphabetical. Time to explore expanded personal characteristics for street rats! I’ve had a lot of fun playing 5E D&D characters like this myself and I’ve seen a lot of good urchin characters played as well. Let’s dive in and expand the options for background characteristics, shall we?

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. The best way to make sure I disappear is to follow me in the open.
2. I look around for the exits and valuables in every location I visit.
3. If someone’s sick then I don’t want to be anywhere near them.
4. Genuine kindness is more valuable than gold to me, even if it takes me a while to believe it’s for real.
5. If you start in on me, I find no choice but to break you to make you stop.
6. If I know I can get a free meal somewhere and I never forget where.
7. I’ll always haggle to get paid just a little bit more or pay just a little bit less.
8. I know how to look innocent.

d6 — Ideal

1. Conservation. There’s little I can think of that’s worse than being wasteful. (Neutral)
2. Honor Amongst Thieves. I’ll hide pretty much anyone from the guards. (Chaotic)
3. Charity. It’s not possible to accumulate a certain amount of wealth and still be a good person. (Good)
4. Independence. If I can get out of most situations on my own, I’ll probably be all right. (Any)
5. Survival. As long as you’re still alive you can make it better later. (Any)
6. Friendship. People who really care are in short supply and I treasure them. (Good)

d6 — Bond

1. I have cousins out there somewhere — the only family I have left.
2. I make a point to keep in contact with other street urchins from my home town. They tell me things sometimes.
3. I pulled off something outrageously ambitious at an early age before getting caught. Guards still joke about it to this day.
4. One of my most favorite possessions is an item I stole and the rightful owner is still trying to get back.
5. When I was younger I played lookout for someone I’m pretty sure was a vigilante.
6. A local priest taught me to read and write, and I was able to use these skills to escape the gutter.

d6 — Flaw

1. I always blow my own contributions and accomplishments out of proportion to look important so I won’t get thrown away again.
2. If the coin was left unattended out on the table they were asking for it to be taken.
3. I’m more likely to come back with all my friends than finish a fight right now.
4. I have a different gauge for what qualifies as dirty enough to need a bath.
5. I’m technically not supposed to return to my home town for extreme charges of hooliganry.
6. If I have the chance to safely drink and forget myself for the night, I always overdo it.

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 — Urchin is one of the background options for characters found in the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook. A Conspicuous Snoop from the Magic: The Gathering Core Set 2021 makes fine inspiration for a 5E D&D urchin character with their goblin nose pressed up to the glass looking for whatever comes next and leaning on their fellow goblin urchins to bolster their prospects. Several MTG settings exist in 5E D&D these days like Theros, 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 Zoltan Boros]

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