Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Backgrounds by a Factor of Three

I know, it’s crazy. Nerditor Doug wrote so many of these but now I’ve taken over, at least for this one. Backgrounds in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons have so many criteria so we get to see how they all stack up. But like usual we are going to look at the backgrounds and evaluate them three different ways and see which of these fan created backgrounds you want to add to your 5E D&D game.

Backgrounds at D&D Beyond

Before getting started it’s important to note you can create homebrew content for private use and share your homebrew content publicly at DDB at no cost — there’s no subscription required to access these services. However if you want to add any of the homebrew backgrounds mentioned below or any other homebrew content you come across to your 5E D&D collection you must subscribe at the Hero Tier or above. There’s a lot you can do at DDB for free. Check out what you can do here.

The DDB homebrew collection uses several statistics to track entries. Views shows how many eyeballs any particular homebrew creation received, Adds shows the number of times a creation was added to someone’s collection and Rating is an upvote/downvote system. Since there are over 7,931 backgrounds in the collection I’m going to share the top 10 highest rated, most viewed and most added selections and to see what’s out there along with any crossover between these three lists.

Top 10 highest rating backgrounds

1. Monster. This one is very exciting. Having a unique character concept is always a lot of fun and this monster background allows you to play as a humanoid who was once a full blow monster. Imagine being a kobold and due to a foolish move or a stupid human being tuned into a diminutive creature. The ideas for this are endless.
2. Thrall. How many times as adventurers have we let servants of powerful beings live because we play good characters? With Thrall you can play one of those rescued servants. Perhaps you have a story of being inspired by an adventurer who is famous in your world.
3. Actual Criminal. This one is amusing and a parody of a common 5E D&D playstyle. It was made for humor value and I do not believe it is presented in a way to replace the Criminal background by giving skill proficiencies in lying and avoiding consequences. Go read this one — it is worth the chuckle out loud.
4. Doctor. This is one of the two background concepts I feel 5E D&D lacks as having a healer of some kind is necessary for survival. Not all people can afford to pay for magical healing at a temple so it takes those willing to study the body to help those in dire need.
5. Feytouched. Having characters familiar with the powerful fey and how their world operates is crucial to being able to survive in that landscape. A background unrelated to the more sylvan races only gives us more options for diverse characters.
6. Alchemist. The concept of this one is great. Though it could fall under Guild Artisan perhaps you do not want to belong to a guild. Conceptually being trained in alchemy is great if your Dungeon Master will allow you to mix potions, poisons or other alchemical reagents. However this background needs trimming as it offers two skills, two tools and two languages. This is outside the normal limit of four so I would either cut the languages completely or allow you to have alchemist supplies and your choice of another tool or language.
7. Dual Soul. This concept is another I have seen explored over the years in a variety of ways. It can be a struggle to have to minds or souls sharing a body and struggle to get along. It can also be hilarious way to explain every time you roll poorly by blaming it on the struggle of working together. This background certainly needs either work or a DMs permission as it says to have two character sheets to split between the two souls and it could easily be exploited. Of the proficiencies, tools and languages each soul is supposed to get one of each and can only be used when that one is in charge of the body. Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma can change depending on who controls the body but your Strength, Dexterity and Constitution remain constant, which is another thing that can be exploited. I love this one conceptually but would need to write an entire post on just this concept to explore how I would do it in my games.
8. Bounty Hunter. I had a player in my first 5E D&D game who was a bounty hunter by trade. I am not sure what their background actually was though it might have been Criminal. Eventually the character opened a bounty hunting business and the player managed this whenever we had downtime. Conceptually I like this but the usual problem with these are is simple. Are you going to be skilled enough without a class to be good enough to track down anything but commoners and kids? Characters typically get four from among skills, tools and languages. This one only provides three so I would add a language of choice. It is fitting for a traveler to communicate with those around them. The feature is rather odd and I would just attribute this to belonging to a group or organization that might be able to shelter you or pass along information so long as it does not cause them harm.
9. Abandoned to the Wilds. This one is super close to Outlander but offers far more choices. No offense to the creator but I would recommend taking Outlander instead of this but you and your DM can make your own decisions. All in all other than some serious selection of skills I do not see anything else that is an issue.
10. Farmer. This was my first concept for backgrounds lacking in 5E D&D. While it is great to be able to set apart from the common folk for the hero who wants to truly be one of them there are no real options. Heck, the closest thing is the Folk Hero and they have already done something to elevate themselves. The features are a little strong on this one but it could easily be replaced with common folk recognizing you and willing to take you in and feed you should you need a roof over your head even for just a night.

Top 10 most viewed backgrounds

1. Pirate. Here is another I feel an existing background covering what this should do. Sailor fits and it is up to you if you were a sailor on a merchant ship, pirate or something else. This is another homebrew background offering too much mechanically. It has two each of skills, tools and languages. I would trim off the languages as the tools work for me.
2. Feytouched.
3. Monster.
4. Wanderer. This option fits nicely into the life of an adventurer never truly feeling ready to settle down. The proficiencies are off giving you five instead of the normal four so I would trim off the sailors tools, which is not a legit tool set anyway. The feature is so vague to really give you anything so I feel it would need to be more concrete and offer some roleplaying feature fitting within the confines of 5E D&D.
5. Chef. This option is very popular for any foodie or after the release of the chef feat. Having played in an RPG with a heavy food theme this is one that would stand out. Knowing some foodies there can be an easy appeal to venture into D&D worlds and see what new creations can be made like maybe Bullette Mignon? As written this background needd to be toned down for sure. I would offer two skills from the selection of four plus cooks utensils and either another tool or language of choice. The features are a little strong and can easily be replaced by a feature allowing you either to cook for information or a place to stay for the night or maybe even a chance to know contacts who can get you in places or get you information.
6. Monster Hunter. This is literally the Haunted One background exactly save for the feature, which conveys your competence to everyone in a city that you can be trusted.
7. Alchemist.
8. The Inheritor. I saw the name here and thought this was going to be something where you start with a magic item but thankfully it is not. This is a great background option and mixes well with a lot of 5E D&D flavors. I love options that give people power without the need for actual training. Cleric, sorcerer and warlock are the clear standouts here. But add this background into the mix and you can have any class just gifted straight to a character and boom — instant jump into a campaign.
9. Dual Soul.
10. Abandoned. See Abandoned in the Wilds above. This is another one Outlander kind of covers and feels like someone’s specific story. While the skills are balanced unlike above the feature is vague and not all that helpful. I would suggest taking Outlander and calling it good enough.

Top 10 most added backgrounds

1. Thrall.
2. Bounty Hunter.
3. Feytouched.
4. Monster.
5. Doctor.
6. Alchemist.
7. Farmer.
8. Amnesiac. The appeal of not knowing who you are or where you come from has reached many players across many different games. This background gives you that choice. Now you can discover who you are over the course of the game.
9. Chef.
10. Blacksmith. Playing a character on Thursdays who is a Forge Cleric worshipper of Moridin and being a fan of Forged in Fire this is one that certainly appeals to me. This is another one that could easily be wrapped in Guild Artisan but if you do not want to belong to a guild what are your options? Looking at the mechanics of this it gives proficiency with all hammers, which I would take to mean weapon proficiencies, which no background should do. I would make the change to either a language or tool of choice. The feature of this is also weird. It should be available to anyone with crafter’s tools if the DM is playing with this kind of option. Changing this to a simple contact who was impressed with work you did could be reasonable enough.

There you have it. Some not so great backgrounds but also some really fantastic background options that might better fit a unique character, playstyle or campaign you want to run. I know a few of these are at the top of the list for me and I am interested in adding into my own personal homebrew library, what about you?

Thanks for reading. Until next time, stay nerdy!

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