Shadar-Kai are enigmatic and resilient, and their selection of backgrounds unveils pathways of darkness and redemption.
Dive into the five most attractive backgrounds tailored for Shadar-Kai characters in D&D 5e.
Contents
What Are Backgrounds in D&D 5e?
Backgrounds are more than simple stat boosts in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. They reveal where your character came from, why you became an adventurer, and your place in the world.
Before choosing your Background, ask yourself a few questions:
- What was I before I became an adventurer?
- Why did I stop doing what my Background explains and become an adventurer?
- Where did I get the money to buy my starting equipment?
- Where did I learn the skills used in my class?
- What’s different about me compared to others with the same Background?
Best Backgrounds for Shadar-Kai
5. Feylost
Skill Proficiencies – Survival, Deception
Tool Proficiencies – One type of musical instrument
Languages – Choose one among Sylvan, Goblin, Gnomish, or Elvish
Equipment – A set of traveler’s clothes, a musical instrument (choose one), three trinkets (determined by rolling the Feywild Trinkets table), and a pouch with 8GP.
Why the Feylost?
Feylost characters have the Feywild Visitor feature, being visited by a creature of the Feywild whenever they take a long rest or are put in a deep trance.
Visits can last minutes or hours, and you remember each visit upon waking. These visits can bring messages, red herrings, nonsense, and insights controlled by the DM.
Conversations are always held in a language you can understand.
Much like Sea Elves, Shadar-Kai may have once roamed the Feywild, only to fall into evil, being corrupted by Shadowfell’s dark magic and now carrying a mystical link with the Feywild.
4. Haunted One
Skill Proficiencies – Choose two of Survival, Religion, Investigation, or Arcana
Tool Proficiencies – None
Languages – Choose two languages, one of which being an exotic language (Undercommon, Sylvan, Primordial, Infernal, Draconic, Deep Speech, Celestial, or Abyssal)
Equipment – A set of common clothes, a monster hunter’s pack, one trinket of special significance (you may choose one or roll for one on the Gothic Trinkets table), and 1SP.
Why the Haunted One?
Shaped by a Harrowing Event, Haunted One Shadar-Kai have experienced some of the most horrific atrocities known to any living creature, especially because they inhabit Shadowfell.
Their Heart of Darkness fills your eyes with unimaginable horror, noticed by those who speak to you, understanding that you are no stranger to darkness.
Commoners might fear you, but they will also extend a helping hand, at times even fighting alongside you if you were to find yourself standing alone against an enemy.
3. Far Traveler
Skill Proficiencies – Perception, Insight
Tool Proficiencies – One musical instrument or gaming set you choose (most likely something native to your homeland)
Languages – Choose one
Equipment – Set of traveler’s clothes, one gaming set or musical instrument you are proficient with, a small piece of jewelry worth 10GP in the style of your homeland’s craftsmanship, poorly wrought maps from your homeland depicting where you are in Faerûn, and a pouch with 5GP.
Why the Far Traveler?
Far Traveler gives you the All Eyes on You feature, marking you as foreign and garnering attention from everyone, including commoners, scholars, nobles, merchants, princes, and kings.
Shadar-Kai are also known as dark elves by some, commonly found in Shadowfell and traveling far distances to get to the civilized realms, mainly for pillaging, but at times to join adventuring parties for a different life.
2. Faceless
Skill Proficiencies – Intimidation, Deception
Tool Proficiencies – Disguise kit
Languages – Choose one
Equipment – A costume, a disguise kit, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Faceless?
Faceless characters have the Dual Personalities feature, where you have a persona that most of the world knows you by, even your fellow adventurers.
Everything about you is different than your true self, and once you wear your disguise, all similarities of your true self are hidden. Removing your disguise makes you unidentifiable as your disguise.
This means you can change your appearance between your personalities as you wish, one serving as your camouflage and the other to hide.
Note: If someone realizes the connection between your true self and your persona, your deception could lose its effectiveness.
Shadar-Kai are not liked by all, and with Faceless, it becomes easier to disguise yourself from others or even infiltrate an adventuring party with their knoweldge.
1. Outlander
Skill Proficiencies – Survival, Athletics
Tool Proficiencies – One type of musical instrument
Languages – One you choose
Equipment – A trophy from an animal you killed, a set of traveler’s clothes, a hunting trap, a staff, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Outlander?
Outlanders have the Wanderer feature, giving them an excellent memory for geography and maps. Allowing them to always recall the general layout of settlements, terrain, and features around them.
They can also find fresh water and food for themselves and up to five others every day if the land offers water, small game, berries, and other things.
Shadar-Kai may dwell in Shadowfell, but that doesn’t mean their knowledge of the wilderness is lacking, as they know better than anyone how difficult it is to live off scraps provided by the land.
Final Thoughts
Whether embracing the dark allure of the Faceless or the primal instincts of the Outlander, players are presented with a diverse array of choices to mold their Shadar-Kai characters’ identities.
By carefully selecting the most fitting background, players can infuse their Shadar-Kai characters with unique personalities.