DnD Custom Background help.

[KyleG]

I would like to ask your advice on creating a basic custom background. I cant quite find one that fits, nor any luck typing in words to find a custom one that fits.
Therefore below i have the backstory idea and i just need a feature and expected proficiency.

Scholar come soldier.
A life (5-10 years) of scholarly studies travelling from library to library piecing together the history of the world that was...eg. more a classical historian (gods) than a more modern one (last 500 years).
His wife (who incidentally does likewise but tracing/collecting old texts on magic and magical events) dies.
He then commits to a time (3-5years) in the military to drive down the pain. Scout? Interrogator? Corpsman?...not sure. Nor am i sure of what rank he may have held by the end of his tenure.
Do i just go soldier background? Sage? This guy becomes an assassin (targeting those responsible for his wifes death) which im hoping to get a chance to roleplay.

PS. Im also creating a "what if" character from the wife, as if he was the one who died. She spends the 3-5years post incident learning how to fight more physically (Think Jennifer Garner in Peppermint)...and i have no idea where to start with her background either but expect she would end up as a fighter battlemaster or samurai?

[Zhorn]

So going by PHB 125, i'd use the two backgrounds from Sage and Soldier and smash them together into a custom background:

Feature: Researcher (from Sage)
A larger portion of the character's life was dedicated to this, so they'd have far more experience in this area. Plus if they'd joined the military as a way of repressing their emotional state, then I don't see them being more than a rank and file type considering that almost any job requires a degree of passion and ambition for your work in order to get ahead of your peers.

Specialty: Scout or Quartermaster (from soldier)
They are a by-the-books type, good at reading past clutter and chaos to see structure and systems. Be it reading enemy lines and movements, to sorting an cataloging military equipment, a good way to bury your own thoughts is to get lost in the thinking and ordering of other things and people.

Skills: History and Athletics (half and half)
history and research because that was the predominant focus of their backstory, and Athletics because a more recent military career should have them in above average physical condition.

Tools and Languages: 1 language (from sage) and vehicles(land) (from Soldier).
The land vehicle proficiency could also fit with a sage background, as there would have been a lot of travelling and it's fair to assume not all of it would be on foot.

Equipment: use the soldier's equipment since it reflects the most recent lifestyle.

[TerryHerc]

So going by PHB 125, i'd use the two backgrounds from Sage and Soldier and smash them together into a custom background:

Zhorn's advice is fantastic. Mashing together existing backgrounds is an easy way to get a fresh new take on a character option.

If the character is for your game (as an NPC) then feel free to mash as much as you want. If it's for a game another person is running, I suggest having them review and approve your background choices. This will help ensure it is fair and balanced, compared to the other characters in the game.

[KyleG]

Thanks guys. Have done and works at ok.

[Jay R]

My general approach is that 3/4 of the skill points from first level go to the older life, and the rest (plus any other levels) go to the new one.

I'm currently running a gnome illusionist from an artificer clan. Since he was raised by an artificer clan, he has 4 point in Knowledge(Science and Engineering) and 4 in Craft(Mechanics), but he will never increase those.

In general, I use knowledge skills to represent an earlier non-adventuring life.

[Zhorn]

Jay R raises an interesting question also, are we talking system specific or a general approach?
I'm assuming 5e, at a guess Jay R is using 3.5/pathfinder?

[AMFV]

I would like to ask your advice on creating a basic custom background. I cant quite find one that fits, nor any luck typing in words to find a custom one that fits.
Therefore below i have the backstory idea and i just need a feature and expected proficiency.

I am uncertain as to if this is a specific system or not, but I'll give some generalized advice on account of where we are.

Scholar come soldier.
A life (5-10 years) of scholarly studies travelling from library to library piecing together the history of the world that was...eg. more a classical historian (gods) than a more modern one (last 500 years).

In most D&D systems this is probably best represented by your choice of knowledge skills. Possibly even a feat if you have one to commit to this (I personally probably wouldn't, maybe in Pathfinder where I have more to burn, but certainly not in standard D&D where there aren't that many feats). If you're in pre-3E, then you're probably talking a pip in some noncombat proficiency, if you're in pre-2e, you're probably talking something written in your backstory.

His wife (who incidentally does likewise but tracing/collecting old texts on magic and magical events) dies.

Emphasis mine.

This is big, and you're kind of glossing over it. This prompts a career change, this is the most significant moment in your character's life. So how does she die? Does she trip and fall on the way to the library, is it cancer, does she get poisoned by a jealous husband, is she murdered by enemies? That more than anything is going to matter here.

If she's killed in a violent way, then I'd look at his tenure in the military as a sort of training to get revenge, he's trying to get the skills to do that, since he'd know that as a scholar he'd be lacking them. If she died in some other way then maybe this was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Or was it something he'd wanted to do but had forgone to do the scholarship thing?

You have to think about the character's past aspirations and frame-of-mind here as well. But once you have those you can proceed.

He then commits to a time (3-5years) in the military to drive down the pain. Scout? Interrogator? Corpsman?...not sure. Nor am i sure of what rank he may have held by the end of his tenure.

His role probably would have more to do with his set of skills than anything else. His rank would have to do with his degree of talent and the mortality rate in his unit.

Do i just go soldier background? Sage? This guy becomes an assassin (targeting those responsible for his wifes death) which im hoping to get a chance to roleplay.

Ah, there you go! I'm not too sure on the mechanical importance of the backgrounds. I would decide based on how the character handles things. If he's still a scholar at heart and is still using that skillset in his assassinations I would pick that one. If he's kind of left that behind in most senses I'd go the other way.