Background: Nomad

[zeek0]

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I like crafting backgrounds best, as I think they require less work and offer up more character distinction than even classes. So, here's my Nomad. It's versatile, as I condense a large number of possible expressions in a singular background. Let me know your critiques or comments!

[B]Background: Nomad[/B]
Nomads are people which have no single place to call home. Many travel with an entire community and carry with them rich cultures, but some travel in much smaller groups or alone. Nomads are seldom fully welcomed by larger, more static societies, which view them as outsiders and fear their otherness. But tinkers, itinerant healers, and theatre troupes are seldom turned away.

Skill Proficiencies: Insight
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: A set of travelling clothes including cloak, a staff, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp

Nomadic Type
Unconnected as you are to any greater society, you survive by alternative means. Your lifestyle is characterized by your activities, which determines a second proficiency provided by this background. Below are examples; you may work with your DM to create a different nomadic type as needed.
d10 – Nomadic Type
1 – Pastoralist (Animal Handling) 6 – Crafter (Expert Craftsman*)
2 – Hunter-g atherer (Survival) 7 - Healer (Medicine)
3 – Performer (Performance) 8 – Merchant (Persuasion)
4 – Raider (Athletics) 9 – Prophet (Religion)
5 - Con Artist (Deception) 10 – Chronicler (History)
*An expert craftsman chooses one type of artisan’s tools. You gain proficiency with those tools and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check that uses those tools.

Feature: Worldly
Your unceasing travel of the world has allowed you to glean insights and connections into settlements you travel to. Work with your DM to determine where you have travelled in your past, if only generally. When you visit a settlement you have visited before, you know one person sympathetic to you with local information and who can point you toward a good place to stay a night.

When you visit a settlement you have not visited before, you may spend 10 minutes observing the new location. If you do, the DM provides you with one important observation about the location’s culture. You may only glean one new piece of information each day.

Suggested Characteristics:
Nomads are continually at the outside of larger society, which separates them from many conventional social norms and customs.

d8 Personality Trait
1 - I am slow to trust people that are not members of my social group.
2 - I place no stock in wealthy or well-mannered folk. High-minded values and ideas teach you nothing about the world as it is.
3 - I’m full of witty aphorisms and have a proverb for every occasion.
4 - I travel incessantly because no place could bear to keep me for very long.
5 - I never feel satisfied in one place for long, and I quickly feel the need to move on.
6 - I don’t mind fleecing someone if they don’t know the true price of what they seek.
7 - I feel that I must share my gifts with all places in the world, not just one land or kingdom.
8 - I enjoy travelling to new lands and making new friends over a flagon of ale.

d6 Ideal
1 - Tradition. The long standing traditions of my people must be honored and upheld. (Lawful)
2 - Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it. (Good)
3 - Creativity. The world is in need of new ideas and bold action. (Chaotic)
4 - Loyalty. I do not give my word of friendship easily, but when I do it is for life. (Any)
5 - Live and Let Live. Meddling in the affairs of others only causes trouble. (Neutral)
6 - Retribution. Those that have wronged me in the past will suffer in the way that I have suffered. (Evil)

d6 Bond
1 - I would do anything for the members of my nomadic community.
2 - I suffer awful visions of a coming disaster and will do anything to prevent it.
3 - I will bring down terrible wrath on the evildoers who destroyed my family.
4 - I am on the run from a greater power than myself, and if I stop moving then they might find me.
5 - I have been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question.
6 - No one else should have to endure the hardships I’ve been through.

d6 Flaw
1 - I’ll never fully trust anyone other than myself.
2 - I turn tail when things look bad.
3 - If there’s a plan, I’ll forget it. If I don’t forget it, I’ll ignore it.
4 - I believe that my profession is the most important craft to pursue, above all other ideals.
5 - I disdain the laws of other societies, and I have no compunctions against breaking them at a whim.
6 - I am deeply mistrustful of the members and customs of other societies.

An updated version of this homebrew lies in my signature. Let me know if you have any questions!

[The Ship's dog]

This is almost exactly what I want for my Goliath Fighter/Ranger MC, shame I'm playing in AL.

One question though, why is retribution the evil choice?

[Ninja_Prawn]

The background seems fine. The concept is pretty close to the Hermit and Outlander ones from the PHB (nomad and hunter-gatherer are both sub-options of outlander), but your flexible skill implementation is nice (though probably unnecessary from a mechanical perspective).

One question though, why is retribution the evil choice?

Revenge is an evil motivation. Whether it's a Roaring Rampage, eye-for-an-eye squabbling or a dark plot to destroy someone, the intent is always to inflict injury for your own personal satisfaction. It can be played sympathetically in fiction, especially if it's a minor blip for an otherwise-good character that they apologise for, but it's still a Bad Thing to do.

[zeek0]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that it is similar to other backgrounds, but felt that at least the feature needed ammending for this archetype.

One question though, why is retribution the evil choice?

The differences between revenge, vengeance, and retribution are subtle, but I believe that none of them are wholly good. In any of these, one is motivated from within by a need to cause strife to another because of a perceived wrong. This in contrast to being motivated from without, such as by justice or truth.

If you are asking why it is attached to this background: itinerant populations are removed from society, and thus might suffer great wrongs. And retribution aligns with the popular conception I have of itinerant cultures in Europe. Such conceptions, for good or ill, end up coloring my homebrew.