All You Need to Know about the Entertainer Background in DnD 5E

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Delight audiences and earn your keep as the Entertainer

Co-authored by Jess Hamlet and Cheyenne Main

Last Updated: December 13, 2024 Fact Checked

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Description & Proficiencies

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Choosing Routines

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Feature

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Choosing Characteristics

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Gladiator Variant

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Background & Classes

The entertainer is a popular background that’s included in the D&D Player’s Handbook. Your character’s background reveals where they came from, how they became an adventurer, and their identity. With the entertainer background, there are tons of roleplaying possibilities for any class and race. Keep reading for all the stats of this background, plus some ideas for how to incorporate it into your character’s class.

What does the entertainer background do?

Entertainers can entrance, entertain, and inspire audiences with their performances, using a routine like acting, dancing, or storytelling to entertain others. Entertainers always find a place to perform, and receive free lodging and food as long as they perform each night.

Section 1 of 6:

Entertainer Description and Proficiencies

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Entertainers thrive in front of an audience and can perform for others. Characters with the entertainer background can use certain routines or talents to entrance, entertain, and inspire others. The art they choose is their life, influencing their personality, goals, and morals. ^{[1]
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- Skill proficiencies: Acrobatics and Performance
- Tool proficiencies: Disguise kits and one kind of musical instrument
- Languages: None
- Equipment: A musical instrument of your choice, an admirer’s favor (like a love letter, lock of hair, or trinket), a costume, and a pouch with 15 gp

Section 2 of 6:

Choosing an Entertainer Routine

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Choose up to 3 routines that your entertainer can perform. A character with the entertainer background is adaptable, using a variety of routines to create an engaging performance. The official Handbook says to “choose one to three routines or roll a d10 using the table below to define your expertise as an entertainer.” ^{[2]
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- 1. “Actor”
- 2. “Dancer”
- 3. “Fire-eater”
- 4. “Jester”
- 5. “Juggler”
- 6. “Instrumentalist”
- 7. “Poet”
- 8. “Singer”
- 9. “Storyteller”
- 10. “Tumbler”

Section 3 of 6:

The Entertainer Feature

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By Popular Demand A character with the entertainer background can perform at inns, theaters, circuses, or any place with a stage. While you’re performing there each night, you receive free modest or comfortable lodging and food. This can allow you to take long rests for free as you travel with your party across the land. ^{[3]
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- In addition, your performance makes you famous wherever you perform. When strangers recognize you in the town, they usually like you more. This may make it easier to persuade them to do things for you.

Section 4 of 6:

Choosing Entertainer Characteristics

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Personality trait Successful entertainers have to be able to capture and hold an audience’s attention, so they tend to have flamboyant or forceful personalities. Roll a d8 or choose a personality trait from the list from the official Handbook below. ^{[4]
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- 1. “I know a story relevant to almost every situation.”
- 2. “Whenever I come to a new place, I collect local rumors and spread gossip.”
- 3. “I'm a hopeless romantic, always searching for that ‘special someone.’”
- 4. “Nobody stays angry at me or around me for long, since I can defuse any amount of tension.”
- 5. “I love a good insult, even one directed at me.”
- 6. “I get bitter if I'm not the center of attention.”
- 7. “I'll settle for nothing less than perfection.”
- 8. “I change my mood or my mind as quickly as I change the key in a song.”
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Bond Bonds represent your connections to people, places, and events in the world. They work similarly to ideals, driving your motivations and goals, but you might gain new bonds over the course of your adventures. ^{[5]
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Research source} Roll a d6 or choose a bond from this list from the official Handbook. ^{[6]
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- 1. “My instrument is my most treasured possession, and it reminds me of someone I love.”
- 2. “Someone stole my precious instrument, and someday I'll get it back.”
- 3. “I want to be famous, whatever it takes.”
- 4. “I idolize a hero of the old tales and measure my deeds against that person's.”
- 5. “I will do anything to prove myself superior to my hated rival.”
- 6. “I would do anything for the other members of my old troupe.”
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Ideal Ideals define what you, as an entertainer, believe in most strongly. They’re the fundamental moral and ethical principles that cause you to act the way you do, and they’re involved in everything, from your goals to your core beliefs. ^{[7]
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Research source} Roll a d6 or choose an ideal from the official Handbook’s list. ^{[8]
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- 1. “ Beauty. When I perform, I make the world better than it was. (Good)”
- 2. “ Tradition. The stories, legends, and songs of the past must never be forgotten, for they teach us who we are. (Lawful)”
- 3. “ Creativity. The world is in need of new ideas and bold action. (Chaotic)”
- 4. “ Greed. I'm only in it for the money and fame. (Evil)”
- 5. “ People. I like seeing the smiles on people's faces when I perform. That's all that matters. (Neutral)”
- 6. “ Honesty. Art should reflect the soul; it should come from within and reveal who we really are. (Any)”
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Flaw Your flaw represents a vice, compulsion, fear, or weakness you have. Ideally, a flaw is anything that someone else could exploit to bring you to ruin or use to make you act against your own best interests. ^{[9]
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Research source} Roll a d6 or choose a flaw from this list from the official Handbook for your character. ^{[10]
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- 1. “I'll do anything to win fame and renown.”
- 2. “I'm a sucker for a pretty face.”
- 3. “A scandal prevents me from ever going home again. That kind of trouble seems to follow me around.”
- 4. “I once satirized a noble who still wants my head. It was a mistake that I will likely repeat.”
- 5. “I have trouble keeping my true feelings hidden. My sharp tongue lands me in trouble.”
- 6. “Despite my best efforts, I am unreliable to my friends.”

Section 5 of 6:

The Gladiator Variant Entertainer

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A gladiator is as much an entertainer as any minstrel or circus performer. They're trained to make the arts of combat into a spectacle for others to enjoy. This kind of flashy combat is your entertainer routine, but you might also have other skills as a tumbler or an actor. ^{[11]
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- Using the By Popular Demand feature, you can perform, eat, and sleep for free in any place that features combat for entertainment, like a gladiatorial arena or a secret fighting club.
- The official Handbook also says you can replace the musical instrument in your equipment package with “an inexpensive but unusual weapon, like a trident or a net.” ^{[12]
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Section 6 of 6:

Entertainer Background and Classes

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Barbarian Barbarians have a boiling reservoir of anger that they use to be protectors of their people and leaders in times of war. ^{[13]
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Research source} Your rage and love for battle might pair best with the gladiator variant entertainer background. As a gladiator, you wander from town to town, engaging in combat to please crowds and feel alive in the chaos of combat.
- Alternatively, you might thrive best in the wilds of your homelands, traveling with your tribe and reenacting the day’s epic battles in the form of song or dance.
Bards weave magic through words and music, which makes them a perfect match for the entertainer background. Bards rarely settle in one place for long, traveling to find new tales to tell and new discoveries beyond the horizon. ^{[14]
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Research source} As an entertainer, you thrive on stories and love to relay them through song, dance, or performance.
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Cleric Clerics live between the mortal world and the distant planes of the gods, embodying the handiwork of their deities. Unlike ordinary priests, clerics are imbued with divine magic. When they take up the adventuring life, it’s usually because their gods demand it. ^{[15]
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Research source} As an entertainer, a cleric might tell stories of their gods or perform sermons as they travel.
- You can also choose a god that represents the kind of art you perform. For example, you might worship Denier, the god of writing, or Milil, the god of poetry and song. ^{[16]
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Druids gain their spells either from nature itself or from a nature deity and are often found guarding sacred sites or watching over natural regions. A druid entertainer might travel the world, performing to ward off spirits or delight audiences with tales of the powerful forces of nature. ^{[17]
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Fighters know the basics of all combat styles and use their training as adventurers. Like with barbarians, the gladiator variant might be the best fit for a fighter. However, you might also use your skills to delight your fellow warriors as you defend your homeland or search for treasures no other fighters have had the opportunity to find. ^{[18]
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Monk Monks harness an energy called ki to create magical effects and channel speed and strength into their unarmed strikes. While some monks live secluded lives, others are sworn to isolation and only emerge as spies or assassins. ^{[19]
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Research source} As an entertainer, you might live as a circus performer, using your skills from the monastery to bring joy to audiences across the land.
- A gladiator variant monk might engage in pit fights for money or join a fight-based monastery that regularly performs shows for the local villages.
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Paladin Paladins swear to uphold justice and righteousness, standing with good against darkness and hunting evil wherever they go. ^{[20]
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Research source} An entertainer paladin might have been a performer with a bad habit they’ve sworn off of to fight for their deity, or you might travel from tavern to tavern, defending others against darkness with their performance.
- A gladiatorial paladin might only fight forces of evil on stage as a visual representation of your holy war against darkness.
Rangers are warriors of the wilderness, stealthily hunting monsters that threaten civilization. ^{[21]
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Research source} As a ranger entertainer, you might perform your hunting skills in front of captivated audiences, perform in the local circus, or use your musical skills as a way to learn about new bounties and sneak into restricted areas.
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Rogue Rogues rely on stealth, skill, and their foe’s vulnerabilities to gain the upper hand in any situation. When it comes to combat, rogues would rather make one precise move than wear down an opponent with a barrage of attacks. As an entertainer, you might use your performances as a front to open doors and charm nobles. ^{[22]
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- You might use this cover to take down people of noble blood or accept money from nobles to assassinate other important figures in the area.
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Sorcerer Sorcerers carry a magical birthright given to them by their bloodline, an otherworldly source, or exposure to cosmic forces. ^{[23]
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Research source} An entertainer sorcerer might use their inborn magic to charm the masses, ultimately seeking those who might answer the mystery of its origin.
- A sorcerer entertainer might also perform in a circus or travel as a poet, writing stories of heroes they come across and seeking to find a way to get rid of their magic.
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Warlock Warlocks seek knowledge hidden in the fabric of the multiverse, making pacts with mysterious supernatural beings to unlock their magical effects. ^{[24]
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Research source} A warlock might have been an entertainer before they swore themselves to an ancient deity, or they might use their performance to seek out knowledge from those they charm.
- A gladiator variant warlock might have broken a deal with a supernatural being and are forced to fight for their entertainment for all eternity.
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Wizard Wizards are supreme magic users, drawing on the magical weave that permeates the cosmos. They live and die by their spells, learning new ones as they experiment and grow in experience. ^{[25]
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Research source} As an entertainer, you might use your performance skills to share your magic with the world or constantly seek out stories of other wizards.
- A wizard might also use their magic to entertain the rich and powerful or create an illusion of grandeur and power to protect themselves.