New 5e Backgrounds: The Country Squire and the Dandy

Country Squire

Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Nature

Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)

Equipment: A set of fine country clothes, a riding crop, a gaming set, a belt pouch containing 15 gp.

Feature: Position of Privilege

Thanks to your status among the gentry, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I like to treat others to food and drink to illustrate my gregarious nature.
2	I prefer the fellowship of the working man to that of the nobility.
3	My family has a long and storied family tree, and I won't let anyone forget that fact.
4	I will a tale unfold—and my tales are never brief.
5	I use polished manners to make an impression.
6	There is no deed, true or untrue, that I won't boast of.
7	I go on long, flowery descriptions of the beauty of the countryside.
8	My word is inviolate.

d6	Ideal
1	Familiar Honor. I value my family's good name over my own life.
2	Sublimity. The beauty of nature must be preserved from the march of progress.
3	Tradition. The time-honored ways of the country life must be preserved.
4	Pleasure. Pursuing one's own satisfaction is the greatest good.
5	Modernization. I am fixated on the newest developments.
6	Charity. I believe in improving the lot of my fellow man where possible.

d6	Bond
1	Somewhere out there is my bastard child, to whom I feel duty-bound to secure a prosperous future.
2	I'm trying to pay off my family's outrageous debts.
3	I am engaged to a family friend, but do not love them.
4	I am the patron of the charitable institution.
5	I would move heaven and earth to regain the trust of my long-lost love.
6	My loyalty to the sovereign is unswerving.

d6	Flaw
1	A pretty face is hard to pass by.
2	I never back down from a challenge to my honor.
3	Sometimes the common folk need to be reminded of their natural inferiority.
4	Scandalous rumors follow me wherever I go.
5	I have a weakness for drink and other intoxicants.
6	I have trouble holding onto money; it all goes toward decadent luxuries and creature comforts.

Dandy

Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, one type of musical instrument

Equipment: A set of fine clothes, a walking stick or parasol, a belt pouch containing 15 gp.

Feature: Bunburyism

You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established acquaintances, and

disguises that allow you to assume that persona. Additionally, you can forge documents including official papers and personal letters, as long as you have seen an example of the kind of document or the handwriting you are trying to copy.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I have a witty paradox ready for every occasion.
2	I adore adding new items to my cabinet of curiosities.
3	I'm a snob who looks down about those who can't appreciate the finer things in life.
4	I wield rudeness like a hammer.
5	I use flattery to ingratiate myself with the upper crust.
6	I refuse to be dressed in anything less than the latest fashions.
7	I want to rub the world's nose in its own absurdity.
8	I believe that other people exist to entertain me.

d6	Ideal
1	Classicism. The knowledge and art of the past age must be preserved at all costs.
2	Flaneur. There is no greater thrill than to adventure in the metropolis.
3	Egalitarianism. I fight to show the world that nobility of spirit is not the sole purview of noble birth.
4	Hedonism. Pursuing one's own pleasure is the greatest good.
5	Self-objectification. I present myself to the world as an objet d'art.
6	Aesthetic Charity. I live to brighten the life of the common man through providing entertainment and beauty.

d6	Bond
1	I would do anything to protect my paramour.
2	I'm trying to pay off my outstanding and outrageous debts.
3	I would rather be famous than righteous or holy.
4	I am the patron of an artistic academy or institute of higher learning.
5	I wish to show the world that my rival is unfashionable, uncouth, and coarse.
6	I have a young ward I have sworn to protect.

d6	Flaw
1	A pretty face is hard to pass by.
2	I can resist everything but temptation.
3	Sometimes the common folk need to be reminded of their natural inferiority.
4	Scandalous rumors follow me wherever I go.
5	I have a weakness for drink and other intoxicants.
6	I have trouble holding onto money; it all goes toward decadent luxuries and creature comforts.