For players diving into the whimsical world of D&D 5e, selecting the perfect background can be just as crucial as choosing a character class.
Kender, known for their playful and mischievous nature, require backgrounds that complement their unique personalities and enhance their role-playing potential.
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 Kender
5. 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’re 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.
Kender often end up in destinations far away from their homes, being regarded as foreign and garnering many looks, both for their unique appearance and otherworldly skills.
4. Criminal
Skill Proficiencies – Stealth, Deception
Tool Proficiencies – Thieves’ tools, One type of gaming set
Languages – None
Equipment – A set of dark common clothes, including a hood, a crowbar, and a pouch with 15GP.
Why the Criminal?
Criminals have the Criminal Contact feature, where you have a contact who acts as your liaison to a vast network of criminals.
You can easily get messages to and from your contact at great distances, and you also know the local messenger, seedy sailors, and corrupt caravan masters who can deliver messages for you.
Kender are quite similar to Gnomes, sharing some of their qualities, one being improved stealth and the knack for theft (if they wanted to steal).
3. Mercenary Veteran
Skill Proficiencies – Persuasion, Athletics
Tool Proficiencies – Vehicles (land), One type of gaming set
Languages – None
Equipment – A gaming set of your choice, an insignia of your rank, a uniform of your company (traveler’s clothes in quality), and a pouch with the remainder of your last wages (10GP).
Why the Mercenary Veteran?
Mercenary Veterans have the Mercenary Life feature, letting you identify mercenary companies, find places where mercenaries abide, and get mercenary work between adventures.
Kender might not be the best fighters, but in mercenary bands, one attribute stands out from the rest: fearlessness.
Surprisingly, Kender are exceptionally fearless, even more so than many other races, which allows them to push through difficult situations, even if it seems impossible to get through.
2. Cloistered Scholar
Skill Proficiencies – History, plus one among Religion, Nature, and Arcana
Tool Proficiencies – None
Languages – Choose two
Equipment – The scholar’s robes of your cloister, a borrowed book on the subject of your current study, a writing kit (a pouch with a small penknife, folded parchment, a bottle of ink, and a quill), and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Cloistered Scholar?
Cloistered Scholar gives your Kender Library Access, granting you entry to libraries of vast knowledge and ways to navigate through bureaucratic connections.
Kender have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and adventure, which drives many of them to various different worlds in the Material Plane to find the information they seek.
1. 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.
Like normal Gnomes, Kender excel in stealth, and some choose to become Faceless to gain a greater advantage or even hide themselves from their comrades to conceal their true identity.
Final Thoughts
Backgrounds such as the Far Traveler, Mercenary Veteran, or Criminal can provide rich roleplaying opportunities, while the Cloistered Scholar or Faceless backgrounds offer unique perspectives and skills that can enhance your Kender’s adventures.
Choose a background that resonates with your character’s personality and backstory, and watch as they bring a vibrant and unforgettable presence to your tabletop adventures.