Backgrounds

Backgrounds represent how you grew up and what you did before training to become the main character that you've become.

Animal Handler

Maybe you grew up on a farm, or maybe you just always had a way with animals. Regardless, you've now got a beastly companion that follows your every move. Is it a good boi doggo? A trusty falcon? Or perhaps some more exotic beast?
Ability Score Boost: Wisdom or Charisma
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Life Sciences]
Bonus Feat or Ability: You gain the Beast Handler feat and the beast begins play with 3 levels of Beast. You can take Combat Beast Master and Fierce Beast Master any time you gain a feat, regardless of if the feat list allows it or not.

Artisan

Sculptor? Painter? Welder of strange mechanical contraptions that sit in lawns? Your art has gotten you known, and has made you some money too.
Ability Score Boost: Dexterity or Intelligence
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Art] or Mechanics
Bonus Feat or Ability: Roll a bonus contact, and roll a Business contact

Athlete

Whether or you were a track and field star or an olympic gymnast in training, your past in athletics has left its mark on you - probably physically as well.
Ability Score Boost: Strength or Constitution
Bonus Skill: Acrobatics, Climb, Endurance, or Jump
Bonus Feat or Ability: You gain Conditioning as a bonus feat and roll a random Injury.

Calengil Shotgunner

RESTRICTION: Calengil Only
You've been drilled all your life on the use and maintenance of shot-weapons, either by parents who wanted you to know it or by government-mandated training regiments run by some of the more militaristics Dominions.
Ability Score Boost: Dexterity or Intelligence
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Technology] or Mechanics
Bonus Feat or Ability: As a move action, you can: change a shot-weapon’s choke between Standard, Full, or Open; or alter the area of effect of the shotgun - it must still hit 4 squares, but they can be in any arrangement as long as all squares are directly adjacent (not diagonally). You reload Calengil shot-weapons one step faster. Standard actions become move actions, move actions become swift actions, swift actions become free actions. When reloading weapons with an internal magazine, this means that you can reload them as a swift action.

College Educated

You went to college. Congratulations, enjoy your diploma. And probably some debt too.
Ability Score Boost: Intelligence or Wisdom
Bonus Skill: Any Knowledge skill
Bonus Feat or Ability: Scholarly as a bonus feat

Criminal Past

You spent your early life involved in various criminal enterprises, either through familial or non-familial ties.
Ability Score Boost: Choose Any
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Business] or Knowledge [Culture (Your Species)]
Bonus Feat or Ability: Roll a bonus contact, this contact always has the Criminal add-on.

Entertainer

Maybe you had a band in college. Maybe your school band went all-state. Regardless, you define your younger years by your involvement with the musical arts. Heck, maybe were a stand up comic.
Ability Score Boost: Dexterity or Charisma
Bonus Skill: Endurance or Knowledge [Culture (Your Species)]
Bonus Feat or Ability: You gain Musician as a bonus feat and you can use comedy in place of an instrument.

Help Desk

You did your time on the dreaded Tier 1 Support Line. While this is called Help Desk, this could represent any high-volume customer service job. You either learned to roll with the punches and keep yourself going, or you actually learned some tech stuff from it before you rose into a less-stressful job.
Ability Score Boost: Constitution or Intelligence
Bonus Skill: Endurance or Use Computer
Bonus Feat or Ability: You gain Gearhead, Shake It Off, or The Gift as a bonus feat.

Inconspicuous

You spent your early years learning how not to stand out. Whether this was intentional or not is up to you. Too smart at school and got bullied for it, so you learned to stay quiet? Middle child in a large family? Lived in a dangerous area and didn't want to attract gang attention?
Ability Score Boost: None
Bonus Skill: Deception AND Stealth
Bonus Feat or Ability: You don’t stand out in any way from the majority of your kind, but consequently this lets you blend in and use this to your advantage. You gain a +2 untyped bonus on Deception, Persuasion, and Stealth checks when within 2 squares of at least two other members of your species, or species similar enough to you that you can pass yourself off as one of them or they you. If you are successfully disguised as another species, then you count your species as that species for the purposes of this training while disguised. In addition, you gain a +2 untyped bonus on attacks of opportunity made while flanking and +4 damage vs opponents who are either unaware of you or who don't consider you a threat.

Lore-Keeper

RESTRICTION: Proximan only
You were raised to be your family's lore-keeper, a sort of historian for your family. You are a rare breed, a member of the only magical talent found naturally among the Proximan people.
Ability Score Boost: Intelligence or Wisdom
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Culture (Proximan)] or Knowledge [History (Proximan)]
Bonus Feat or Ability: Choose a spirit type for Spirit Binds. You are considered bound to that spirit, can manifest its sign, suffer the influence of that spirit, and can use its Automatic Power, but you gain no additional bonuses. If you have the Magic [Spirit Bind] specialization, then whenever you choose a new granted power you can choose from this this spirit or the one you selected with that Specialization (at level 19 you receive both Ultimate Powers).

Magical Family

This magic has been passed down the $YourFamily line for generations! Consequently you're trained from a very young age in the finer points of magical lore and the importance of maintaining the proverbial masquerade of non-magicalness.
Ability Score Boost: Intelligence or Wisdom
Bonus Skill: Deception or Knowledge [Arcana]
Bonus Feat or Ability: Choose one Magic Feat that you meet the prerequisites for at the end of level 1 character creation. You cannot choose Magery Training, High-Power Magic Training, or Technomage Training.

Military Brat

At least one of your parents was in the military, and boy did that shape your childhood.
Ability Score Boost: Strength or Charisma
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Civics] or Profession [Military]
Bonus Feat or Ability: You gain Military Man as a bonus feat and retain this feat even if you are not starting out in the military. You cannot lose this feat unless you really, really try.

One of the Masses

Your past doesn't stand out in any particular way. Your schtick isn't what you know, but rather who you know.
Ability Score Boost: Choose Any
Bonus Skill: Choose one aside from Dimensional Induction Skills, Magery, Nanite Control, Psionics
Bonus Feat or Ability: Roll two bonus contacts. You gain a bonus contact point at every level.

Out in the Wilds

Whether it was years of backpacking with your family, or a prior career as a game warden, mountain steward, or trailkeeper, your past out in the wild has given you useful skills.
Ability Score Boost: Constitution or Wisdom
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Life Sciences] and Survival
Bonus Feat or Ability: You can rest anywhere without penalty, and in any weight of armor. Your skills at wilderness survival have taught you how to rest in nature. You can fabricate makeshift shelters without having to roll any skill check.

Religious Devotee

You define your past based on your religious endeavors.
Ability Score Boost: Wisdom or Charisma
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Culture (Religion's Originating Species)]
Bonus Feat or Ability: You gain Priestly Devotion as bonus feat.

Upper Class Upbringing

You grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth. Pinky out, you filthy rich person. On the upside, you've got a sweet pad to run away to.
Ability Score Boost: Intelligence or Charisma
Bonus Skill: Knowledge [Art], Knowledge [Business], or Knowledge [Culture (Your Species)]
Bonus Feat or Ability: You a single safe house as if you had the Luxury Safe House feat. You pay nothing for this safe house and you can use it as much as you want, however you must pre-define its location at character creation. You can take the feat again if you want the full usage of it - you still do not have to pay anything for the specific safe house you gain from this background.