Tortles, sturdy and resilient, their choice of backgrounds setting the stage for a truly unique journey filled with wisdom and strength.
Get ready to navigate through untamed wilderness, protect ancient secrets, and carve your path through the sands of time as we unveil the optimal backgrounds for your Tortle in D&D 5e.
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 Tortles
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 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.
Tortles are known to be wanderers, but they are seldom seen and enjoy keeping their wisdom to themselves. So, those who do set foot in civilized cities have come a long way and are there for a reason.
4. Fisher
Skill Proficiencies – Survival, History
Languages – Choose one
Equipment – A set of traveler’s clothes, a favorite fishing lure or oiled leather wading boots, a fishing tackle, a net, and a belt pouch with 10GP.
Why the Fisher?
Harvest the Water can be vital in a water-based campaign, especially if you make it more like Outlander in the sense that you can fish for food from bodies of water.
Tortles tend to live close to water, mainly living peacefully with other creatures, though some use their knoweldge of the waters to become adept fishermen. Whether for their own enjoyment or to feed them is entirely up to the Tortle.
3. Sage
Skill Proficiencies – History, Arcana
Tool Proficiencies – None
Languages – Two you choose
Equipment – A set of common clothes, a letter from a dead colleague posing a question you haven’t been able to answer, a bottle of ink, a small knife, a quill, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Sage?
Sages have the Researcher feature, allowing them to effortlessly recall information and lore.
If they do not know the information, they will know where to find it, such as in a university, scriptorium, or some other place of knowledge.
However, some knowledge is extremely difficult to obtain and can take a long time to unlock or force you to perform questionable actions.
Tortles are ancient beings who use their wisdom and connection to the flow of magic to study, unravel greater mysteries of existence, and understand where to find the knowledge they seek.
2. Acolyte
Skill Proficiencies – Religion, Insight
Tool Proficiencies – None
Languages – Choose two
Equipment – One holy symbol (gift to you when you entered the priesthood), a set of common clothes, a prayer book or prayer wheel, 5 sticks of incense, vestments, and a pouch with 15GP.
Why the Acolyte?
Acolytes receive the Shelter of the Faithful feature, granting you access to resources of temples and sanctuaries sharing your faith.
This allows you to receive free healing, food, and stay, though you’ll have to compensate them for any materials used in spells.
Tortles are old creatures, treading parallel to the laws of nature, respecting it, and at times devoting themselves to gods who share their perspective of the world.
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.
Tortles seldom stay near civilization and often grow old near water or dense forests and live off the land.
Final Thoughts
Whether immersing oneself in the natural world as an Outlander or delving into ancient tomes as a Sage, players have a diverse array of choices to shape their Tortle characters’ identities.
These backgrounds not only provide mechanical advantages but open different narratives throughout a campaign.