Your party have been working together for a little while at least, and you do not obviously hate each other. (You don’t necessarily regard each other as friends, but you have some sort of working relationship that is generally not hostile. It’s totally fine if you’re actually friends!) If your party were sitting around the table, you would be able to describe your character’s relationships with the person on your left and the person on your right, and their stories would corroborate yours, approximately. You may have relationships with the other characters in the party that you can describe in detail. But at a minimum you must have at least two.

Be prepared to answer at least some of the following questions about the relationship between your character (X) and another character (Y). The answers will be written down and considered well-known among all the characters in the group. Select at least one pair of questions for each other character in the group.

Your character (X)	Another character (Y)
What secret about X did Y learn?	How did Y learn that secret about X?
What grave mistake did X make in their past?	How did Y help X cover up or deal with that mistake?
What difficult situation led X to seek out Y for advice?	What advice did Y give to X regarding the situation?
What important personage was X introduced to by Y?	How does Y know this important personage, and why was introducing them to X necessary?
What misdeed did X perform that Y discovered?	How did Y catch X performing it, and how did Y react to it?
What life-altering mistake did X almost make?	How did Y prevent X from making it?
What life-threatening situation was X recently in?	How did Y save X from that situation?
What item of great importance did X lose, and what did it mean to them?	How and where did Y find that item? Did they return it to X?
Why did X recently borrow a considerable sum of money from Y?	Does Y expect X to repay? If not by money, then how?
What action, that X had been considering for a while, did they finally perform?	How did Y inspire X to finally act upon it?

Regardless of the relationship between your character and others, you may still have additional dark secrets, relationships, or unresolved conflicts above and beyond this minimum. If you want the DM to incorporate that into the ongoing campaign, then be sure to inform the DM.

The DM is prepared to reward players who put effort into their character’s backstory, personality, bonds, flaws, and possible future roleplaying possibilities!

If you are interested in having the 8 in the standard set become an 11 after the DM has reviewed your character, and maybe even a permanent bonus skill or tool proficiency, then this section is for you.

In an effort to promote characters who are not just bundles of common tropes, and may have interesting hidden dimensions, the DM may grant a sufficiently-developed character one additional skill proficiency, tool proficiency, or language. You may select only one of these options. If you choose to claim this bonus in any form, your backstory must explain why you have it.

If you select a tool proficiency, you may select one of the items in the Tools table in the Equipment chapter of the Player’s Handbook. If it weighs less than 10 pounds, and costs less than 50 gp, you may also start with it in your possession.

If you select a skill proficiency, there are some conditions:

• The skill must be tied to one of your lowest 3 ability scores, after racial adjustments.
• The skill may be from your background.
• The skill may be from your race’s permanent skill options.
• The skill may not be Perception.
• The skill may not be on your class list.

Races that get 2 additional permanent skill proficiencies from an unlimited list at 1st level may not choose a skill proficiency, regardless of character class. (e.g. Half-elf, Kenku)

Races that can change skill proficiencies during long rests may not choose a skill proficiency. (e.g. Eladrin, Githyanki, Shadar-kai)

Bards may not choose a skill proficiency, because of the Jack of All Trades class feature, and because all PHB skills are on the Bard class list.