Character creation in Dungeons & Dragons has changed a little bit in the Player’s Handbook (2024), the first in a series of core rulebook revisions to 5th edition D&D. Not much, mind you, but there are a couple tweaks to the process that make your characters a little more unique and turn your character’s backstory into a mechanical benefit.
Our D&D 2024 Backgrounds and Origin Feats guide will walk you through the biggest character creation changes from D&D 5e.
Background and Origin Feats, explained
For a while, D&D has been working to make it easier to have your character’s personal history reflected by their stats. In the 2024 rules revisions, that’s realized through Backgrounds.
Fifth edition’s Backgrounds provided your characters skills, languages, and your starting gear. In the Player’s Handbook (2024), your Background gives you an Ability Score Increase, an Origin Feat, skill proficiencies, tool proficiencies, and your equipment.
That Ability Score Increase (the same as when you take the Ability Score Increase feat) lets you add +1 to three Ability Scores, or +2 to one Ability Score and +1 to another. The Abilities you get to pick from are determined by the Background and themed to that background — Farmers choose from Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom, for example. (For languages, by the way, every character starts with three known and Rogues and Rangers pick up more from their Class features.)
This boost lets you customize your character’s background a little more and have it reflect in their current reality (and their stats). Just like species (race) above, you can still use previously published 5e Backgrounds. For Backgrounds, though, you’ll have to do a little customization and figure out your own Abilities, tool proficiencies, and Origin Feat. Speaking of which…
Origin Feats are tied to Background — each Background has a set Origin Feat. These feats go a little further to cement your character’s backstory and history in their stats and mechanics. And it also just makes them a little cooler to have a little perk right from the start.
D&D 2024 Backgrounds list
There are 16 Backgrounds listed in the new PHB:
| Background | Ability Score improvements | Skill Proficiencies | Origin Feat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acolyte | Charisma, Intelligence, Wisdom | Insight, Religion | Magic Initiate (Cleric) |
| Artisan | Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength | Investigation, Persuasion | Crafter |
| Charlatan | Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity | Deception, Sleight of Hand | Skilled |
| Criminal | Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence | Sleight of Hand, Stealth | Alert |
| Entertainer | Charisma, Dexterity, Strength | Acrobatics, Performance | Musician |
| Farmer | Constitution, Strength, Wisdom | Animal Handling, Nature | Tough |
| Guard | Intelligence, Strength, Wisdom | History, Persuasion | Alert |
| Guide | Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom | Arcana, History | Magic Initiate (Druid) |
| Hermit | Charisma, Constitution, Wisdom | Medicine, Religion | Healer |
| Merchant | Charisma, Constitution, Intelligence | Animal Handling, Persuasion | Lucky |
| Noble | Charisma, Intelligence, Strength | History, Persuasion | Skilled |
| Sage | Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom | Arcana, History | Magic Initiate (Wizard) |
| Sailor | Dexterity, Strength, Wisdom | Acrobatics, Perception | Tavern Brawler |
| Scribe | Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom | Investigation, Perception | Skilled |
| Soldier | Constitution, Dexterity, Strength | Athletics, Intimidation | Savage Attacker |
| Wayfarer | Charisma, Dexterity, Wisdom | Insight, Stealth | Lucky |
D&D 2024 Origin Feats list
The Origin Feats provided by your Background are:
| Feat | Description |
|---|---|
| Alert | Initiative Proficiency. When you roll Initiative, you can add your Proficiency Bonus to the roll. Initiative Swap. Immediately after you roll Initiative, you can swap your Initiative with the Initiative of one willing ally in the same combat. You can’t make this swap if you or the ally has the Incapacitated condition. |
| Crafter | Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with three different Artisan’s Tools of your choice from the Fast Crafting table. Discount. Whenever you buy a nonmagical item, you receive a 20 percent discount on it. Fast Crafting. When you finish a Long Rest, you can craft one piece of gear from the Fast Crafting table, provided you have the Artisan’s Tools associated with that item and have proficiency with those tools. The item lasts until you finish another Long Rest, at which point the item falls apart. |
| Healer | Battle Medic. If you have a Healer’s Kit, you can expend one use of it and tend to a creature within 5 feet of ourself as a Utilize action. That creature can expend one of its Hit Point Dice, and you then roll that die. The creature regains a number of Hit Points equal to the roll plus your Proficiency Bonus. Healing Rerolls. Whenever you roll a die to determine the number of Hit Points you restore with a spell or with this feat’s Battle Medic benefit, you can reroll the die if it rolls a 1, and you must use the new roll. |
| Lucky | Luck Points. You have a number of Luck Points equal to your Proficiency Bonus and can spend the points on the benefits below. You regain your expended Luck Points when you finish a Long Rest. Advantage. When you roll a d20 for a D20 Test, you can spend 1 Luck Point to give yourself Advantage on the roll. Disadvantage. When a creature rolls a d20 for an attack roll against you, you can spend 1 Luck Point to impose Disadvantage on that roll. |
| Magic Initiate | Two Cantrips. You learn two cantrips of your choice from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard spell list. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this feat’s spells (choose when you select this feat). Level 1 Spell. Choose a level 1 spell from the same list you selected for this feat’s cantrips. You always have that spell prepared. You can cast it once without a spell slot, and you regain the ability to cast it in that way when you finish a Long Rest. You can also cast the spell using any spell slots you have. Spell Change. Whenever you gain a new level, you can replace one of the spells you chose for this feat with a different spell of the same level from the chosen spell list. Repeatable. You can take this feat more than once, but you must choose a different spell list each time. |
| Musician | Instrument Training. You gain proficiency with three Musical Instruments of your choice. Encouraging Song. As you finish a Short or Long Rest, you can play a song on a Musical Instrument with which you have proficiency and give Heroic Inspiration to allies who hear the song. The number of allies you can affect in this way equals your Proficiency Bonus. |
| Savage Attacker | You’ve trained to deal particularly damaging strikes. Once per turn when you hit a target with a weapon, you can roll the weapon’s damage dice twice and use either roll against the target. |
| Skilled | You gain proficiency in any combination of three skills or tools of your choice. Repeatable. You can take this feat more than once. |
| Tavern Brawler | Enhanced Unarmed Strike. When you hit with your Unarmed Strike and deal damage, you can deal Bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 plus your Strength modifier instead of the normal damage of an Unarmed Strike. Damage Rerolls. Whenever you roll a damage die for your Unarmed Strike, you can reroll the die if it rolls a 1, and you must use the new roll. Improvised Weaponry. You have proficiency with improvised weapons. Push. When you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can deal damage to the target and also push it 5 feet away from you. You can use this benefit only once per turn. |
| Tough | Your Hit Point maximum increases by an amount equal to twice your character level when you gain this feat. Whenever you gain a character level thereafter, your Hit Point maximum increases by an additional 2 Hit Points. |