If you’ve spent a bit o’ time on me blog in the past, you know that I’m a big fan of rewarding players for the choices they make at character creation. What good are things like trinkets, language choices, inventory items, and background features on a character sheet if there’s no utility built into the game for them? I see these types of things as opportunities to build special moments into a game for each individual player.

One thing I’m particularly fond of is giving players special insights into knowledge checks based on what skill proficiencies they choose, then allowing them to share whatever they wish with other party members (or hoard the knowledge for themselves, if they so desire).

If the character chooses proficiency in Intelligence (History), I also like to provide a minimal amount of information, based on a skill floor – calculated the same way Passive Wisdom is calculated, only for History instead. “Passive History,” for lack of a better term, which is: 10 + Intelligence modifier + proficiency modifier.

For instance, a 1st level wizard with an Intelligence score of 15 and proficiency in History would have a skill floor (Passive History) of 15. As such, the knowledge that character would start with – without needing to make a skill check – would be the easy and medium difficulty entries, read concurrently, because the knowledge stacks:

“Phandalin was once a quiet mining town, recently resettled. Of all the spiritual faiths in Faerûn, only those who venerate Tymora (the Goddess of Luck) have settled in the town, establishing a shrine to serve the spiritual needs of the local residents (the Shrine of Luck).

The destruction of old Phandalin is mentioned in some temple records as part of the orc invasions that devastated the region in 951 DR, the Year of the Empty Hourglass. It is said that faithful refugees who sought shelter in nearby monasteries ultimately suffered the same terrible fate as Phandalin.”

For any information past that, the character would need to make a successful Intelligence (History) check to recall information for the Hard (DC 20) and Very Hard (DC 25) difficulty entries.

Providing this type of information during a session zero might give a player something to chew on prior to the beginning of the game, as well as take one small item off your plate as the Dungeon Master when the characters dispense the lore to other characters as the game progresses.

So, there’s 15 backgrounds in the 2024 Players Handbook. Let’s do one of these for each background! I like a challenge, and I need to dial into something if I’m going to get back on track with writing frequent blog posts.

First up: the Acolyte.

An acolyte’s knowledge of Phandalin and its hinterlands would likely be sourced from temple annals, the teachings of religious elders, pilgim accounts, and stories from survivors seeking refuge at the temple.

Intelligence (History) – Acolyte Background (Phandalin Lore)

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