Settlers, Tradesmen, and Criminals too
Story backgrounds for Historical D&D
These 18th Century backgrounds were designed to supplement existing 5e backgrounds, and most of their proficiencies were chose to offer new combinations. Other backgrounds from the Player’s Handbook that make sense in a historical setting: Charlatan, Criminal, Entertainer, Hermit, Outlander, Sailor, Urchin.
GMBinder link: Colonial Backgrounds
Lots of inspirations here! Let me list a few:
Frontier (Declan): Fur Trader, obviously! I wanted to make as many of these backgrounds as possible accessible for indigenous characters, and arguably indigenous peoples were much more important in the development of the fur trade than European colonists that ran the Factory outposts.
Turn (Abe): Homesteader represents all of the small farms owned and run by individual settlers who had staked a land claim. However, this could be a risky proposition if your cabbage crop failed…
Turn (Ben): A Career Soldier through and through, Ben Tallmadge historically left a very promising career to fight on the front lines!
Turn (Caleb): The Provincial Smuggler background here is the nautical one of the bunch, delving into the seedy black market trade that thrived in the cracks of colonial society.
Sons of Liberty (Margaret): A lot of ink has been spilled on the Sons of Liberty, but women-run groups like the Daughters of Liberty organized spinning bees and other domestic forms of protest.
Sleepy Hollow (Katrina): Midwives, herbalists, and other Folk Healers often developed a witchy reputation, though medicine of the time was itself crude and folk remedies many have been equally effective, if not moreso…
Hamilton (everyone): Immigrants. They get the job done.
