Criminal 5e Background Guide

Published on December 18, 2024

Explore the Criminal background in D&D 5e, its benefits for agile and roguish characters, and how it can boost your arcane caster’s effectiveness.

A Rogue with the Criminal background watches a crime scene from above.

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What Is the Criminal Background in D&D?

The Criminal is a DnD 5e background that represents a character who has lived on the wrong side of the law, relying on cunning, dexterity, and street smarts to survive. Whether you were a burglar, smuggler, or enforcer, your past has honed your affinity for the shadowy corners of society. This background suits characters who embrace a morally gray outlook on life but also works for those seeking redemption.

How Does the Criminal Background Work?

The Criminal background offers the following features:

Ability Scores: Receive a +2 bonus to one ability and +1 to another, or a +1 bonus to all three: Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence.
Feat: Alert. This feat grants a bonus to Initiative rolls equal to your Proficiency Bonus and allows you to swap your Initiative with one willing ally.
Skill Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand and Stealth.
Tool Proficiency: Thieves’ Tools.
Equipment:
- Option A: Two daggers, thieves’ tools, a crowbar, two pouches, traveler’s clothes, and 16 GP.
- Option B: 50 GP for a more customizable loadout.

Let’s break down the benefits:

Ability Scores: This is a great distribution of ability score improvements for a wide variety of builds. A Dexterity and Constitution boost is perfect for martial characters focusing on Ranged or Finesse weapons. You could also choose to boost Intelligence and Constitution for casters that rely on Intelligence for their spellcasting ability. Some niche martial/spellcasting subclasses, like the Arcane Trickster or a Dexterity-focused Eldritch Knight may even opt to boost each ability score by 1.

Alert Feat: This has got a substantial upgrade in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. The bonus to Initiative equal to your Proficiency Bonus actually is a bit of a debuff, because you won’t have the previous +5 bonus until level 13. But, the big upside if you can swap your Initiative with a willing ally. When you’re in a party of 4 or 5 adventurers, at least one is bound to have a higher roll than you, which can aid in going first if you’ve got a big spell to drop. When you’re a Rogue, going first may actually be detrimental to your goals because you may not have an opportune Sneak Attack target, so swapping Initiative with a Fighter in your party could help ensure you’ve got an ally within 5 feet of an enemy.

Sleight of Hand and Stealth Proficiencies: Both skills here are excellent for any characters. Sleight of Hand helps with pickpocketing or lockpicking, while Stealth keeps you hidden from baddies. Perfect for Rogues, but also useful on just about any build.

Thieves’ Tools: While always useful, Thieves’ Tools have been give a definititive mechanical function in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. These now allow you to pick locks and disarm traps with a DC 15 check. Seeing as this background also provides proficiency in Sleight of Hand, you’ll even get Advantage on the roll.

What Type of Character is the Criminal Background For?

For Monks, Rogues, and Rangers, the Criminal background is another natural choice. It offers boosts to Dexterity and Constitution, which are crucial for these agile builds’ weapon attacks, damage, AC, and Stealth. Interestingly, it also offers a chance to boost Intelligence and Constitution, which makes it perfect for Artificers and Wizards.

While comparable to the Charlatan background, the Criminal background grants the Alert feat, which makes it a good choice for characters who want a boost to their effectiveness in combat rather than their skill versatility. It also provides proficiency in Stealth instead of Deception, so it’s an excellent pick for characters that want to do more sneaking than talking.

Which 5e Classes Make the Most of the Criminal Background?

The color code below has been implemented to help you identify, at a glance, how good the Criminal 5e background is for a specific class/subclass.

Red : Isn’t going to contribute to the effectiveness of your character build at all
Orange : Situationally good, but a below-average option otherwise
Green : A good option
Blue : A great option, you should strongly consider this option for your character
Sky Blue: An amazing option. If you do not take this option your character would not be optimized

Artificer: You can boost Intelligence and Constitution, on top of a useful feat in Alert. This also offers solid skill proficiencies, as you may find Sleight of Hand useful when tinkering with small clockwork creations.

Barbarian: Without a Strength boost, there's not much here for a Barbarian.

Bard: Without a Charisma boost, there's not much here for a Bard.

Cleric: Without a Wisdom boost, there's not much here for a Cleric, though it could be a thematic pick for a Trickery Domain Cleric.

Druid: Without a Wisdom boost, there's not much here for a Druid.

Fighter: You can +2 Dexterity and +1 Constitution, which is a solid base for a more agile-minded Fighter. The extra skill proficiencies help round out your skill set outside of combat, and the Alert feat is always useful when it's time to roll Initiative.

Monk: You can +2 Dexterity and +1 Constitution, so Monks will be happy with this initial bump. Plus you get bonuses to Stealth, Sleight of Hand, and the Alert feat, making this an excellent choice for Monks who are filling the roll of Rogue in an adventuring party.

Paladin: Without a Charisma or Strength boost, there's not much here for a Paladin.

Ranger: Boosting Dexterity and Constitution is solid, as are the Alert feat and Stealth proficiency. Overall an excellent pick for a Ranged or Finesse weapon-focused Ranger.

Rogue: The perfect background for a Rogue. You can +2 Dexterity and Constitution. Plus, the Alert feat goes well with the Rogues' need to strategize their Sneak Attack targets in combat. You also get proficiency with Stealth, Sleight of Hand, and Thieves' Tools, all of the Rogues favorite things! Arcane Tricksters may even want to +1 Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence, as it allows you to start off with 16 (+3) in all of your relevant abilities if you're using point buy.

Sorcerer: Without a Charisma boost, there's not much here for a Sorcerer.

Warlock: Without a Charisma boost, there's not much here for a Warlock.

Wizard: Wizards will love the ability to boost Intelligence and Constitution, plus they get the Alert feat which can help them go first in Initiative and drop a huge spell before their enemies get a chance to spread out. Plus, Stealth and Sleight of Hand make your Wizard more versatile if magic is out of the question. Overall and an excellent background. Wizards may even want to +1 Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence, as it allows you to start off with 16 (+3) in all of your relevant abilities if you're using point buy.

Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. He is a Adamantine best-selling author of Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery on DMs Guild and is a contributing author at D&D Beyond. Follow Mike on Twitter.

Criminal 5e Background Guide

What Is the Criminal Background in D&D?

How Does the Criminal Background Work?

What Type of Character is the Criminal Background For?

Which 5e Classes Make the Most of the Criminal Background?

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Mike Bernier