Character Backgrounds

Campaigns often decide where characters are going. What lies ahead. What trials they’ll face as their role as a hero expands. The future. Therefore things like character backgrounds are the most influential part in determining where they have been. The past. Before they became a hero of destiny. Were they a Grey Warden? A lowly fishmonger?

Your character did not spring from nothing. Just like real life,
culture and upbringing shaped their personality and attributes.
In Dragon Age you pick a background to represent
these facets of your character and to determine your race.
You should read over the following section and then pick
the background you find most appealing or suitable for your
character concept. The descriptions of the backgrounds will
also give you a better sense of the setting and help you place
your character within it. Choosing a background modifies
your character in several ways. These are spelled out in each
description, but generally include the following:

• An increase to one or more of your abilities.
• One or more ability focuses.
• Determination of your race (dwarf, elf, human, or Qunari).
• Determination of your class choices.
• The languages you can speak and read.

Example

Now that Kate has rolled her abilities, it’s time to pick a
background. She is drawn to city elf because of the injustice
of elves’ treatment, and this works well with her character
concept. She’s already thinking about how growing up in
an alienage explains her character’s poor Constitution.
The background increases her character’s Dexterity by 1,
making it an impressive 4. She can choose one of the two
offered focuses, and settles on Perception (Seeing). She
notes that she speaks the Trade Tongue, the most common
language of Ferelden. She then must choose a class and has
the option of playing a warrior or a rogue. With her character’s
high Dexterity, she’s leaning toward rogue, but wants
to read over the classes before deciding for sure. Lastly, she
rolls on the city elf background table twice to get two more
benefits. She gets a +1 to her Perception, which brings it up to four, and gainst another focus, Dexterity (Bows)

As noted previously, backgrounds have limits on race and
class of character. For example, you can’t have a Dalish background unless you’re an elf. Of course, rare exceptions might exist. For example, a human raised by a Dalish band might have a background similar to Dalish elves. Unique backgrounds might also be possible in some campaigns, such as Shale, the golem from Dragon Age: Origins. Players wanting to play such unusual concepts should talk to their GMs to customize an existing background or come up with their own using the guidelines provided at the beginning of this section.

Available Backgrounds

Ander Survivor
Apostate
Antivan Wayfarer
Avvar
Chasind Wilder
Circle Mage
City Elf
Dalish Elf
Dwarf Duster
Escaped Elven Slave
Fereldan Craftsman
Fereldan Freeman
Fereldan Noble
Free Marcher
High-Born Dwarf
Low-Born Dwarf
Nevarran Adventurerer
Orlesian Commoner
Orlesian Exile
Orlesian Noble
Orlesian Student
Qunari Beresaad
Qunari Saarebas*
Rivaini Merchant
Seheron Convert
Surface Dwarf
Tal-Vashoth
Tevinter Altus
Tevinter Laetan
Tevinter Soporati
Waking Sea Raider