Origins
The prevalence of each culture can vary between settings and campaigns. Only you know what story you are trying to tell with your character. Only you know the best way to build that character’s origin. Anything is possible in a magical world and all of the cultures and backgrounds presented in this section (as well as those that you might write yourself) are viable options for an adventurer of any class. However, to ensure that your character fits your specific game and setting, you should always have a discussion with your GM about the character options available to you prior to character creation.
Your culture influences those traits that would be learned or developed over time. Your background reflects the path that you have chosen to take, or a path that you have been pulled into, independently of your culture. This grants you things like proficiencies with skills, languages and tools and bonuses to certain mental ability scores to represent the areas of your life that have seen intentional improvement. Finally, your destiny describes your character’s goals and motivations.
Languages
Your culture indicates the languages that your character can speak by default and your background might give you access to one or more additional languages of your choice. Note these languages on your character sheet.
Choose your languages from the Common Languages table, or choose one that is common in your campaign.
- Dwarvish is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a dwarf might speak.
- Elvish is fluid, with subtle intonations and intricate grammar. Elven literature is rich and varied, and their songs and poems are famous among other races. Many bards learn their language so they can add Elvish ballads to their repertoires.
- The Gnomish language, which uses the Dwarvish script, is renowned for its technical treatises and its catalogs of knowledge about the natural world.
- The Halfling language isn’t secret, but halflings are loath to share it with others. They write very little, so they don’t have a rich body of literature. Their oral tradition, however, is very strong. Almost all halflings speak Common to converse with the people in whose lands they dwell or through which they are traveling.
- Humans typically learn the languages of other peoples that they deal with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.
- Orc is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own but is written in the Dwarvish script.
With your GM’s permission, you can instead choose a language from the Exotic Languages table or a secret language, such as thieves’ cant or the tongue of druids.
- Draconic is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.
Some of these languages are actually families of languages with many dialects. For example, the Primordial language includes the Auran, Aquan, Ignan, and Terran dialects, one for each of the four elemental planes. Creatures that speak different dialects of the same language can communicate with one another.
Common Languages
| Language | Typical Speakers | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Varies by Region | Humans | Varies |
| Dwarvish | Dwarves | Dwarvish |
| Elvish | Elves | Elvish |
| Giant | Ogres, giants | Dwarvish |
| Gnomish | Gnomes | Dwarvish |
| Goblin | Goblinoids | Dwarvish |
| Halfling | Halflings | Local Human Script |
| Orc | Orcs | Dwarvish |
Exotic Languages
| Language | Typical Speakers | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Abyssal | Demons | Infernal |
| Celestial | Celestials | Celestial |
| Draconic | Dragons, dragonborn | Draconic |
| Deep Speech | Mind flayers, beholders | — |
| Infernal | Devils | Infernal |
| Primordial | Elementals | Dwarvish |
| Sylvan | Fey creatures | Elvish |
| Undercommon | Underworld traders | Elvish |