TLDR The urchin background in DnD 5E is a versatile and mechanically strong choice, providing opportunities for compelling character storylines and presenting the dilemma of choosing between a comfortable home life and adventuring with a party.
Key insights
🌍As an adventurer, you have the choice to make something of yourself or destroy the world, treating yourself as an emotionally damaged blank slate.
🗡️The mechanics of having sleight of hand, stealth, disguise kit, and thief tools make the urchin background quite versatile and useful in various scenarios.
🛡️The urchin background offers guaranteed safe passage through the city, unlike the golgari agent which does not ensure safety.
🌍The Urchin background in DnD 5E opens up interesting plot hooks and possibilities for character backstory.
🎲The urchin background feature is really good and better than the vast majority of backgrounds in the player’s handbook.
Timestamped
📜00:00 The 51st episode of the background series discusses the urchin background in DnD 5E.
👦01:21 Tough upbringing as an orphaned street kid, now an adventurer with emotional baggage.
🎲01:57 Urchin background in DnD 5E provides useful skill and tool proficiencies, equipment, and mechanics, but some items may need to be acquired in-game.
🎭03:21 Urchin background allows for faster travel in cities and has better skill and tool proficiencies compared to Golgari agent, making it a strong choice.
🐚04:43 Traveling quickly is always beneficial in DnD, as it helps avoid penalties and time constraints, and may even help in finding secret black markets.
🎲05:11 Urchin character in DnD 5E values survival, helping others, and prioritizes people over possessions.
🐚06:00 Urchins are not materialistic and could get along with nomadic backgrounds, with potential plot hooks involving their parents and a secret noble identity.
🎲06:36 The urchin background in DnD 5E is versatile and mechanically strong, providing opportunities for compelling character storylines and presenting the dilemma of choosing between a comfortable home life and adventuring with a party.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
What insights can you provide about the urchin background in D&D 5th Edition?
Urchins in D&D 5th Edition are typically shaped by lives of desperate poverty, leading them to be driven by a commitment to those they shared life with [1][3].
This background grants proficiency in Sleight of Hand and Stealth, reflecting the character’s need to be quick and nimble to survive on the streets [7].
Urchins may have grown up alone, poor, and orphaned, lacking guidance or support [5].
They often develop skills through their environment, such as espionage and subterfuge, learned from secretive guilds or hidden communities [2].
The background can be further customized by fleshing out the character’s personality traits, mannerisms, beliefs, and flaws [8].
What are some characteristics of individuals with the Urchin background in D&D 5th Edition?
Individuals with the Urchin background in D&D 5th Edition are shaped by lives of desperate poverty, tend to be driven by a commitment to the people they shared life with, and often have skills in espionage, subterfuge, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth.
What are some possible origins or backstories for characters with the Urchin background?
Some possible origins or backstories for characters with the Urchin background include growing up on the streets alone, being part of a hidden community of rogues, and enduring sickness without access to medicine or a place to recuperate.
What skills or proficiencies does the Urchin background provide in D&D 5th Edition?
The Urchin background in D&D 5th Edition provides proficiency in Sleight of Hand and Stealth skills.