No matter where you travel, enquiring eyes follow you wherever you go. Noble lords, scholars, and merchant princes alike are eager to hear stories of your distant home country.
Far traveler backgrounds provide a compelling means of playing characters from locations far off from the North and Sword Coasts. Your journey could have begun for various reasons – both deliberate and unexpected!
Characteristics
No matter where your origin lies, people of every kind notice when you walk into an inn or are ambassadors from faraway empires. Nobles, scholars, and commoners alike often gravitate toward your exotic presence, which might open doors for others born nearby or close them off further – this could be good or bad, depending on how it plays out!
As opposed to many inhabitants of Dungeons & Dragons’ world, you were born far away from where you now reside. Perhaps your homeland was one of Mulhorand’s desert empires, Evermeet’s legendary elven islands, or maybe even some remote region deep within the planes; your departure could have been voluntary or involuntary, probably as an escapee fleeing persecution or an adventurer seeking adventure in distant lands.
At first glance, this background gives your character a starting wealth of 10gp jewelry and 5gp in equipment – this amount will depend on the campaign setting or Dungeon Master’s homebrew world – but if you plan to use it within an established neighborhood make sure that they start with sufficient wealth. Using this background in a based world ensures this wealth starts appropriately for all characters involved.
People living on the Sword Coast and elsewhere in the North often avoid traveling more than a few miles from where they were born, while you were born in an obscure part of the North that most residents have never even heard of! Though they might know your name through gossip or stories.
To find your home nation, roll on this table to determine whether your homeland fits this background. It discusses possible lands and potential reasons that would justify living there. The Ever Meet makes an excellent starting point as it is where the sky ships sail with their brilliant southern light; few residents there realize how powerful even small amounts of halruaan can be!
Skills
As a far traveler, you possess many skills that will open doors. Your familiarity with some of the languages and cultures of your new home makes you an intriguing figure who might attract the interest of nobles, priests or anyone looking for more knowledge about your native land.
One of the critical aspects of the far traveler 5e background is its versatility – offering proficiency across all skill categories and providing access to an arsenal of tools. Furthermore, this background gives you some essential equipment that will aid your journey: an inaccurate map of your homeland, a musical instrument or gaming set created using traditional materials from it, a piece of jewelry worth ten gp, and five gp in a cash pouch.
An Acolyte background is an intriguing choice for far traveler 5e bards, as it grants proficiency in Insight and Religion skills and provides equipment that shows your service to a god – holy symbols or prayer books, sticks of incense, vestments, etc. This background would make an excellent fit for bards looking to spend time visiting temples to spread the word of a particular god or join sinister cults.
If you want to upgrade your bard’s battle-readiness, consider enrolling in either College of Lore or Swords as subclasses. Their additional abilities will enable them to support your party and be more valuable when combat occurs.
An Anthropologist background can also be an excellent way for bards who wish to make themselves useful on the battlefield, providing you with communication abilities between non-humanoids that you don’t speak and your party, saving them from social faux pas and giving them some valuable feats such as Adept Linguist feat. Furthermore, other skills may be useful, such as Mercenary Veteran, which provides helpful weapon proficiencies, and skills like Adept Linguist feat.
Feats
Far Traveler 5e provides the ideal setting for characters who have immigrated from their homelands voluntarily or unwillingly. A table allows players to select an action to follow for this background.
Eyes of the Dark, Minor Illusion, and Prestidigitation can all be accomplished using this background. Furthermore, this background grants your character access to an abundance of starting gold and equipment depending on their homeland; there is even a chart in SCAG that details which grounds provide which starting equipment.
Far Traveler 5e can make for an excellent backdrop in Toril-based campaigns. This region features Evermeet, known for being home to commonplace magic. Elf halruaans from this area often travel into Faerun to assist with society and cultural development; however, many are on the run from their elven governments for various reasons.
Backgrounds
D&D 5e’s far traveler background allows you to play a character who has wandered far from his/her homeland voluntarily or out of necessity, whether voluntary or forced. When selecting this background, identifying where your homeland lies is paramount – here, we discuss places sufficiently distant from North and Sword Coast regions to justify its use.
No matter where your origins lie, you have an inherent connection to each place you have visited and a sense of wonder that makes others curious about you and can provide opportunities for opening doors that would otherwise remain closed – including hearing about where your homeland may lie. In particular, Lords, scholars, and merchant princes might appreciate attending more about this aspect of your character.
Suppose you belong to one of Waterdeep’s noble families. In that case, chances are you have connections to the City Watch, an elite police force tasked with keeping its citizens safe from thieves and unlawful nobility. Meanwhile, those from Evermeet are likely unfamiliar with your homeland, most likely only knowing it through legend.
Folk heroes often find themselves embroiled in adventures that surpass their expectations, which can be both an intimidating and exhilarating experience – providing an ideal opportunity to display the strength of character within your character.
Beyond these obvious benefits, your knowledge of foreign languages also opens up additional doors for you. It can make communicating easier with locals and even give you an edge during battles!
As with any background, this one comes with additional perks based on where your character comes from, such as starting gold and equipment that corresponds with their location. This can be especially helpful for characters hailing from weak economies where extra gear might not always be available through treasure chests, dungeons, and other adventures. Likewise, this background offers additional skills, including Insight and Perception, which may be helpful on long travel journeys.
