A Cut Above Extraordinary – Backgrounds for the Exceptional

When creating a D&D character, your background is one of the selections you make. It defines who you are apart from being an adventurer and provides you with tool/language proficiencies, skill proficiencies and some gear, as well as a feature that only does stuff out of combat(mostly).

In this game, some backgrounds stand out as significantly more useful than others for various reasons. Whether it’s because the background feature is far more useful than most or simply because it gives you a lot of money, its value puts it in a higher class than all those mundane options.

In this article, I will provide a list of all backgrounds that do something particularly cool.

Feylost

Source: Wild Beyond the Witchlight

The equipment granted by this background includes three rolls on the Feywild Trinkets table. Not that this particular list provides anything exceptional, although trinket #68 might be useful, but it’s just the only one that gives you three extra trinkets to start with.

Additionally, choosing this option grants you a Fey Mark. One of the options here is “flowers either bloom or wilt(your choice) in your presence”, and that’s honestly pretty good if you can get your hands on some magical plants or your table uses the “there must be plants in the area” reading of the plant growth spell as opposed to running it RAW(maybe the correct interpretation being in Baldur’s Gate 3 will make people default to it, idk).

Investigator

Source: Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

This is the single most cash-heavy background in the game. In addition to a magnifying glass, you also gain a trinket of your choice from the Horror Trinkets list. This is one of the best trinket tables in the game, and opens up quite a few interesting options.

My default pick is #13, because it’s a spyglass – you know, the thing that costs one thousand gold pieces. One time I played in a game where we were allowed to sell our starting equipment right away, and that’s how my character entered Barovia riding a carriage with an entire aquarium full of spiders, several spare suits of armor and a very big floppa(moorbounder).

Apart from that, you also get to pick a gremishka head that passively detects magic, a lock that requires blood to open or a book that records your dreams while you sleep. Cool stuff.

Special mention to Haunted One for also giving the trinket, but sadly no magnifying glass.

Archaeologist

Source: Tomb of Annihilation

This one gives you “a trinket recovered from a dig site”. It’s not specified whether you roll or choose. There’s nothing particularly impressive on the PHB Trinkets table, but… they didn’t specify any particular table that you need to roll on/choose from. Have fun with your goose egg trinket, I guess.

The Anthropologist background is silly for similar reasons.

Witherbloom Student

Source: Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Your background gives you an expanded spell list containing such gems as:

• cure wounds, it’s terrible but if you’re a Warlock who starts a short rest with slots remaining you might as well cast it.
• lesser restoration
• revivify
• death ward
• antilife shell
• greater restoration

You also gain the Strixhaven Initiate(Witherbloom) feat, which is pretty awesome. Druidcraft is a nice utility cantrip, and “choose one 1st-level druid or wizard spell” means you get to pick between absorb elements, goodberry, shield and the incredibly useful find familiar.

Silverquill Student

Source: Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Your background gives you an expanded spell list containing such gems as:

• dissonant whispers
• silvery barbs
• telepathic bond

You also gain the Strixhaven Initiate(Silverquill) feat, which means thaumaturgy and one bard or cleric spell… unfortunately not that many good options here, maybe healing word or shield of faith?

Quandrix Student

Source: Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

This time, the cool background spells are:

• entangle
• enlarge/reduce, because oversized weapons are cool
• aura of vitality
• control water
• circle of power
• passwall

The Strixhaven Initiate(Quandrix) feat gives you guidance and one 1st-level druid or wizard spell, basically a straight upgrade from Witherbloom’s version.

Prismari Student

Source: Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

The good spells here are wall of fire and conjure elemental, so probably not something you’ll get much use out of in the early game. The Strixhaven Initiate(Prismari) feat gives you prestidigitation and ray of frost, and you can also pick shield.

Lorehold Student

Source: Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

The gems on this list are:

• locate object
• speak with dead
• spirit guardians
• stone shape

Your cantrip options are awful, but you do get shield or find familiar.

Simic Scientist

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

Yay, more spell backgrounds. The good ones here are:

• expeditious retreat
• enlarge/reduce
• wind wall, because blocking objects from passing through in a world where most of your enemies wear clothes and wield weapons is actually very silly
• creation

Selesnya Initiate

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

The good spells here are:

• aid
• plant growth
• speak with plants
• conjure minor elementals

Rakdos Cultist

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

This time, you guessed it, more spells:

• hellish rebuke
• fear
• wall of fire

Orzhov Representative

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

You’ll never guess what makes this one good.

• command
• speak with dead
• spirit guardians
• death ward
• Leomund’s secret chest

Izzet Engineer

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

And this time… more spells!

• unseen servant

• heat metal
• rope trick
• glyph of warding
• conjure minor elementals
• animate objects
• conjure elemental

Gruul Anarch

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

Do you like animals? Of course, we all love 16 velociraptors.

• shatter
• conjure animals

Golgari Agent

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

This one is my favorite spell-giving background for obvious reasons.

• entangle
• spider climb
• animate dead
• giant insect
• cloudkill

Dimir Operative

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

This background is awesome, especially if you’re going to spend a lot of time in tier 1.

• sleep
• pass without trace
• meld into stone
• modify memory

Boros Legionnaire

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

This time it’s just aid, wall of fire and death ward.

Azorius Functionary

Source: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

The final Ravnica background. This one gives command and counterspell.

Mage of High Sorcery

Source: Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

First, you get the Initiate of High Sorcery feat, which gives you two free 1/day casts of spells from a limited list. Solinari is the best of the bunch, but you may want a different one if you need a feat with a prerequisite.

The trinket list contains a broken wand, mending exists. Nothing too incredible on this list, but it’s nice.

Knight of Solamnia

Source: Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

Proficiency bonus times per long rest, gain advantage on a weapon attack roll and deal an extra d8 damage on a hit. Additionally, trinket #5 is so vague it’s absurd. Someone was insulting Vecna on social media and I defended him, so he gave me his hand and eye as thanks – that’s a meaningful favor, right?

Rune Carver

Source: Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

The Rune Shaper feat gives you free casts of some decent spells like goodberry.

Giant Foundling

Source: Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

Proficiency bonus times per long rest, deal a bit of extra damage on a hit with a melee or thrown weapon and possibly apply a minor debuff.

Wildspacer

Source: Astral Adventurer’s Guide

You gain the Tough feat. Your background also makes you say you had a “harrowing encounter” and escaped with your life. I suggest selecting a high-CR monster.

You can then state that the encounter was pretty recent and you’re tracking the monster down or something. Boom, free potential beholder encounter at level 1! Cast fog cloud and default kill it! This is enough XP to take a 1st-level party to level 3.

Astral Drifter

Source: Astral Adventurer’s Guide

You gain the Magic Initiate(Cleric) feat. You also met a god and got some information.

Concluding Thoughts

Spell-giving backgrounds are obviously worth many times more than other backgrounds, but apart from that we have the huge cash piles and feat backgrounds. The latter tend to not even be “overpowered” since you either gain a bit of extra HP or get better at being a martial(and martials need all the help they can get).

Have I missed any particularly interesting backgrounds? If so, let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and until next time!