Starfield Character Backgrounds (21)

Character Background in Starfield is the story of your character's life, which happened before the start of the game. You can assign a Character Background to your character during Character Creation and you will not be able to change it during gameplay.

A specific Character Background does not block you from any other game path or gameplay style, but it can make it easier for you to play the way you have planned and add new Background-specific elements, such as additional Background Quest, Background specific dialog options or rewards you receive.

Each Background has 3 Starting Skills, the description of which will allow you to better understand what role you choose in the game.

Character Backgrounds in Starfield

There are 21 Character Backgrounds in Starfield. You can assign a Character Background to your character during Character Creation. Character Backgrounds in Starfield are:

• Beast Hunter
• Bouncer
• Bounty Hunter
• Chef
• Combat Medic
• Cyber Runner
• Cyberneticist
• Diplomat
• Explorer
• Gangster
• Homesteader
• Industrialist
• Long Hauler
• Pilgrim
• Professor
• Ronin
• Sculptor
• Soldier
• Space Scoundrel
• Xenobiologist
• [File Not Found] Secret Background

Beast Hunter Background

From the Ashta of Akila to the Terrormorphs that plague the whole of the Settled Systems, hostile alien life abounds. You've learned the skills to track them, find them, and take them down.

Beast Hunter Starting Skills:

Bouncer Background

You've worked the line at the toughest clubs in the Settled Systems. Back then, you learned that most non-lethal confrontations can be solved one of two ways: a strong right hook, or a more strongly secured door.

Bouncer Starting Skills:

Bounty Hunter Background

Wherever there are wanted individuals, there are those who profit from their capture. And your quarry knows that in the vastness of space, they can run... but they can't hide.

Bounty Hunter Starting Skills:

Chef Background

While the unrefined masses scarfed down Chunks by the shipload, you catered to those with a more... discerning palate. In your kitchen, countless alien species became true culinary masterpieces.

Chef Starting Skills:

Combat Medic Background

Leave it to human beings to fight over something as infinite as outer space. That's where you come in. You've never been afraid to take on the enemy... but you'd much rather take care of your friends.

Combat Medic Starting Skills:

Cyber Runner Background

From Neon to New Atlantis, the megacorps stand as monuments to power, prestige and profit. You've worked both for and against them, on the inside and out, often sacrificing conscience for credits.

Cyber Runner Starting Skills:

Cyberneticist Background

Robots? Mere toys. Neuroamps? Good for parlor tricks. The Colony War may have made implants and upgrades available to veterans, but you once saw a greater future. Humans and machines, as one.

Cyberneticist Starting Skills:

Diplomat Background

The wars are over. Peace now reigns in the Settled Systems. But only because there are those quietly fighting to keep it. Because of you, agreements were signed, words were heeded... lives were spared.

Diplomat Starting Skills:

Explorer Background

They said exploration is a lost art. You didn't listen. As the major factions argued over the space they desperately tried to control, you were busy uncovering the wonders of the Settled Systems.

Explorer Starting Skills:

Gangster Background

You were always disgusted by suckers killing themselves to make an "honest wage." As soon as you were old enough to hold a weapon, you took what you wanted from anyone unlucky enough to have it.

Gangster Starting Skills:

Homesteader Background

The discovery of the Settled System’s many oxygen-rich planets and moons meant humans could live just about anywhere…if they had the know how. You did, and utilized it to great effect.

Homesteader Starting Skills:

Industrialist Background

There was a time when all you wanted to be was a titan of industry, maybe a ship designer or megacorp exec. Thankfully, that skillset never goes out of style in the settled systems.

Industrialist Starting Skills:

Long Hauler Background

Let those other hothead pilots obsess over laser weapons and maneuverability. You’re a space trucker, pure and simple. Pack the cargo, get it there fast, get paid, repeat. Life is simple and good.

Long Hauler Starting Skills:

Pilgrim Background

Wayfarer, wanderer, seeker… transient. You’ve been called many things during your travels, and learned something those others could never understand – the journey IS the destination.

Pilgrim Starting Skills:

Professor Background

You’ve always enjoyed learning, but nothing could compare to the joy of teaching others. As humankind spread throughout the stars, there was never a lack of knowledge to obtain, and you gladly assisted.

Professor Starting Skills:

Ronin Background

Masterless and unbound, you wandered the Settled Systems as a blade for hire. To some, you were a simple mercenary. To others, a hero. And to a select few…a nightmare they could never wake from.

Ronin Starting Skills:

Sculptor Background

With your knowledge of anatomy and skilled, steady hands, you could have become a surgeon. Instead, you followed your heart and created works of art to amaze and inspire.

Sculptor Starting Skills:

Soldier Background

The Settled Systems is no stranger to warfare, and if there’s one thing armed conflict relies on it’s trained warriors with guns and guts. You had both. Simple, bloody work…and you were great at it.

Soldier Starting Skills:

Space Scoundrel Background

Good? Bad? Whose right is it to say? If there’s anything you’ve learned traipsing through the galaxy, it’s this: space may look black, but it’s really one shade of grey.

Space Scoundrel Starting Skills:

Xenobiologist Background

The Settled Systems is home to untold alien species. And while none of them have yet proven sentient, that never deterred you. So you sought out and studied them for whatever gifts they offered.

Xenobiologist Starting Skills:

Secret Background Starting Skills: