Simic Hybrid characters in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition bring a unique blend of biological adaptation and fantastical evolution to the game.
Choosing the right background can greatly enhance your role-playing experience, allowing you to delve deeper into the essence of a Simic Hybrid character.
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 Simic Hybrids
5. 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 Simic Hybrids have experienced some of the most horrific atrocities known to any living creature.
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.
Simic Hybrids have been subjected to magical transfers where various animal traits have been combined with their current form.
These practices aren’t explicitly known, but it is undeniable that their effects can alter a specimen to the extent of madness. Your Haunted One Simic Hybrid is one of those surviving specimens.
4. Knight of the Order
Skill Proficiencies – Persuasion, plus one among Religion, Nature, History, and Arcana, as appropriate for your knight’s order
Tool Proficiencies – One type of gaming set or a musical instrument
Languages – Choose one
Equipment – A seal representing your place or rank in the order, a set of traveler’s clothes, a banner, a signet, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Knight of the Order?
Knight of the Order gives your Simic Hybrid Knightly Regard, meaning you and your party will receive food, healing, shelter, and, at times, physical aid.
Not all Symic Hybrids end up going to war. Some of them venture out into the world to join Knight Orders, serving a collective to accomplish a goal and vanquish whatever foes they have.
3. Simic Scientist
Skill Proficiencies – Medicine, Arcana
Languages – Choose two
Equipment – A set of common clothes, a glass bottle of unidentified slime, a vial of jellyfish stingers, a vial of seaweed, a vial of fish scales, a vial of acid (derived from digestive juices), a flask of oil (made from blubber), a bottle of squid ink, a book of research notes, a Simic insignia, and a pouch with 10GP (Azorius 1-zino coins).
Why the Simic Scientist?
Simic Scientists have the Clades and Projects, Researcher, and Simic Guild Spells features.
Clades and Projects tells you which clade you belong to, which is a group of other researchers working toward a common goal.
Researcher allows you to recall or learn information regarding magical and scientific facts. You also know where to find information if you don’t know it, but that might come at a cost.
You can have various spells (up to 5th-level spells) added to your spell list, most of which cause physical alterations to others or yourself, like displaying characteristics of amphibians, fish, or other water-dwelling creatures.
| Spell Level | Spell |
| Cantrip | Druidcraft, Acid Splash |
| 1st | Jump, Expeditious Retreat, Detect Poison and Disease |
| 2nd | Enlarge/Reduce, Enhance Ability, Alter Self |
| 3rd | Wind Wall, Water Breathing, Gaseous Form |
| 4th | Polymorph, Freedom of Movement |
| 5th | Creation |
Simic Hybrids may already have been altered by magic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t become a Simic Scientist.
Whether you were once a Simic Scientist, became one after your alteration, or just studied their sciences, there are various ways to build a Simic Hybrid.
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 Simic Hybrid Library Access, granting you entry to libraries of vast knowledge and ways to navigate through bureaucratic connections.
Simic Hybrids don’t always go to war; in fact, some will escape or start researching everything there is to learn about their experiments and progress to greater knowledge about the Multiverse itself.
1. Soldier
Skill Proficiencies – Intimidation, Athletics
Tool Proficiencies – Vehicles (land), One type of gaming set
Languages – None
Equipment – A trophy you took from a fallen enemy (a piece of a banner, dagger, or broken blade), a set of common clothes, a deck of cards or a set of bone dice, an insignia of rank, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Soldier?
Soldiers receive the Military Rank feature, allowing you to exert your rank and impose authority over soldiers lower than you.
This authority can grant you and your party access to fortresses, encampments, simple equipment, and horses.
Much like the Warforged, Simic Hybrids were created to be warriors, excelling at killing and adapting to situations, making Soldier an excellent background for them.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, when choosing backgrounds for your Simic Hybrid in D&D 5e, seek options that highlight their unique blend of humanoid and bioengineered traits.
Backgrounds such as Haunted One, Simic Scientist, or Soldier can deepen your character’s connection to their origins and augmentations, while the Cloistered Scholar or Knight of the Order backgrounds can provide intriguing contrasts to their nature.