When Dungeons and Dragons dropped its newest version of fifth edition, backgrounds saw one of the biggest overhauls. This solved a major problem for D&D - namely, the biological determinism baked into races that decide your stats - but the bandaid was far from perfect. Now that Wizards of the Coast has released its second wave of official backgrounds, the flaws are becoming more obvious.
But, hey, at least the latest book has fixed some existing issues, too.
Ability scores
Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn, the next book up on the DnD release schedule, includes 18 new backgrounds. Well, new might be relative, because there's a lot of crossover with the options found in the Player's Handbook.
12 of those 18 backgrounds offer the same three DnD stats increases as an existing background, for example. Here lies problem number one: with only six ability scores to mix and match, backgrounds are going to start feeling repetitive. DnD backgrounds with new stat spreads will either fill an untapped niche, or they'll offer a seriously sub-optimal selection of ability scores.
In the case of Heroes of Faerûn, both of those things have come to pass. First, let's talk about what D&D did right.
The Player's Handbook had a glaring lack of optimal background picks for Strength-based martial characters like the Barbarian 5e. A background that could buff both Strength and Constitution was in dismally short supply. Now, Heroes of Faerûn includes four backgrounds that cater to these two ability scores - and not every Barbarian has to be a Farmer.
On the other end of the scale, we have the Mythalkeeper. Select this background, and your ability score options are Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. That's all the spellcasting modifiers, and I can't think of any great DnD character builds that need you to buff two - let alone three - of these at once.
At best, you could argue that any spellcaster benefits from the protection that a high Wisdom score brings. Or maybe you could justify it as a way to fuel the ultimate Skill Monkey build. However, you do so at the expense of Constitution and Dexterity, the two stats that actually keep you alive.
Origin feats
Same-y (or even - gasp - suboptimal) stats could be forgiven if the background's attached origin feat was strong enough. As more backgrounds are published, feats will become an increasingly important way to differentiate between them, as the skill and tool proficiencies on offer are less crucial for strong builds.
Here, Wizards has gone for a 50/50 split of old and new. Nine of the backgrounds have origin feats ripped from the Player's Handbook, tried-and-tested but not overly spicy. The rest have entirely new feats, as well as level-four feats that form a unique progression chain for that background.
The delivery here is…bumpy, to say the least. A major portion of the new origin feats are agonizingly situational and, at times, illogical.
One of the worst offenders is Cult of the Dragon Initiate, a feat tied to the Dragon Cultist background. Said background buffs your Dexterity, Constitution, and/or Intelligence, but it offers you an ability that relies on your Wisdom score for its potency. It's a Magic action that, if your target fails a Wisdom save against you, causes them to become Frightened. You also have a once-per-rest ability that lets you gain Inspiration when you Frighten a creature - but good luck if your Wisdom score is low. It's situational, and it doesn't make much sense for the background.
The Harper Agent feat is a little better, but it's still situational. Its main perk is that it allows you to distract enemies up to 30 feet away with the Help action, rather than five feet. The trouble is that most of the DnD classes have better things to do on their turn than use the Help action on someone else. Action economy is precious, and with many other ways to give players advantage in D&D, Help is often a last resort.
Not every new origin is disappointing, though. Spellfire Spark (attached to the Spellfire Initiate background) offers a decent free cantrip and the ability to reduce incoming spell damage once per turn. It's only 1d4 of reduced damage, but that could be a life-saver at low levels. Plus, this feat's level-four sibling is a nice increase to radiant damage.
Going forward, feats are what will keep backgrounds interesting - but hopefully future DnD books won't have offerings quite this uneven.
Roleplay potential
Our next conundrum comes from the reason that backgrounds exist in the first place: roleplay. This chunk of rules is literally there to represent your character's origin story, the early start in life that made them who they are today.
On paper, that sounds like the perfect place to gain a character's ability score increase. Of course your lived experiences are more likely to influence your skills than the species you belong to! But there are limitations when a background can only offer three stat boost and their feats cater to specific classes.
We're back at square one again, with the Farmer Barbarian - who always has to grow up on a farm because that's the only way they could be supernaturally strong and tough at the same time. Unless you're willing to handwave some details, the current background system places limits on the storytelling side of character creation.
The answer to that, naturally, is more backgrounds. The new Chondathan Freebooter feat, for example, is clearly meant to be an alternative to the Sailor background, and one that doesn't force you to take the Tavern Brawler feat. Genie Touched offers an entirely different backstory to Sage, but it gives you a different way to pick up the Magic Initiate (Wizard) feat.
But that solution just continues the cycle. More backgrounds means less interesting build options, but fewer backgrounds means restricted roleplaying opportunities. D&D's background system is currently struggling to marry its strategy and its storytelling functions.
I'm not sure what the perfect solution to this problem is. I'm not even sure there is one. All I know is that we can expect to see the new D&D 5e go through its growing pains for a little longer.
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