Advanced Backgrounds

Backgrounds in D&D and other ttrpgs are a great way to help a player flesh out a characters past, but in D&D5E in particular these backgrounds end up in the spot of "choose them at the beginning and never touch them again". I don't really like this, and as a human whose experiences have shaped your life dramatically, you shouldn't either. In order to make these backgrounds more worthwhile we need to have tie in mechanics that can be referenced frequently in game, and bonuses for each background that help make your character feel unique in a mechanical sense in addition to the in-game fiction. To accomplish this we will use the Advanced Backgrounds mechanic from the Grim Hollow Campaign Guide by Ghostfire Gaming. Here I will go through the primary stuff related to this mechanic to get you going using the Advanced Background system, but I will leave the nitty gritty out but can provide it on request to each player(I also think this is one of the great things from the book and you should buy it).

Professions

While your background may say "Academic", what does that really mean? Are you a MD, Ph.D., Graduate Student, or a "facebook academic"(to use a modern example)? We can answer this question in game by having Professions. These are just specific subfields within the overarching background that give you a special ability in addition to some bonuses like types of housing, money, or allies. Also, as you increase your skill in your profession, you increase your profession rank, which is just a measure of whether you're an undergraduate, a graduate, postdoc, or Ph.D. to once again use a modern example. Your profession rank provides more benefits when doing tasks related to that profession, as shown by the profession dice. Think of this as an extra dice you can roll if you are good at something. See the table to the right for how ranks and dice relate.

Talents

Talents are what you're especially good at. In our world you may be a mechanic, affording you the standard skills of a mechanic, but you personally may have a talent for working with engines. The same applies to these Advanced Backgrounds. When you choose a background you can choose a talent from the corresponding list, and that talent will provide you with extra benefits, usually based on your profession dice. Each time you gain a rank in your profession you can choose another talent. A list of the available Talents are available here. 

Changing Profession

Of course you can change your profession, life never goes how we plan it. In game, you can seek out a teacher, go to school, have a party member teach you, etc. over a period of time and you can gain ranks in different professions. All the Talents, proficiencies, abilities and more from your original profession remain after switching, and you can begin gaining more. Your characters can always learn and grow.

List of Backgrounds:

• Academic(Antiquarian, Archivist, Physician)
• Aristocrat(Courtier, Envoy, Noble)
• Clergy(Inquisitor, Preacher, Priest)
• Common Folk(Villager, Entertainer, Merchant)
• Criminal(Charlatan, Cutthroat, Burglar)
• Militarist(Guard, Mercenary, Soldier)
• Outlander(Beast Hunter, Pioneer, Explorer)
• Seafarer(Sailor, Dockworker, Seagatherer)

Profession Rank	Profession Dice
1	1d4
2	1d6
3	1d8
4	1d10

Sometimes a profession ability asks you to make a skill check of a particular difficulty, or the GM will assign a difficulty to the task. The difficulties are outlined in the table below.

Difficulty	DC
Easy	10
Medium	15
Hard	20
Very Hard	25
Impossible	30