Culture and background

Culture and background are two essential parts of a characters biography in and. The player character, all companions, and many characters in the world have their own culture and background, which defines who they are and where they come from. During character creation, there are a number of options available to customize the Watcher's origin and backstory, each of which has a unique effect on the interactions you have with characters encountered throughout the game, serving as a starting point for your story.

In, during your first quest you will be accompanied by Calisca. She will ask you about your past, about what you did before you fell in with the group. Your answers are taken and inscribed into your character's biography for the rest of the game. You can also choose to not to tell more about your background. .

Culture
Culture is where the character is from. A character's culture greatly influences their social profile, general behaviour, and their way of living. As a trait, it is introduced by living in (or being born to) a particular region or ethnic group, and adapting to their societal norms and standards.

Culture affects almost every part of a character's being, including the clothing they wear, the food they eat, holidays and traditions they uphold, the language they use, how they speak to others, and much more.

As a game mechanic, a character's culture gives them an attribute bonus. The player character's culture is chosen during character creation, and determines what backgrounds are available to them. During gameplay, a character's culture can result in many unique social interactions and dialogue options. For example, bringing favour from another NPC with the same culture, or knowing of a particular custom or cultural idiosyncrasy.

In, together with your class, the culture directly affects the equipment you receive at the start of the game (however Deadfire has no such effect.)

Only about half of the classes are available during character creation, with the remaining being reserved for NPCs and companions.

Background
A background is what the character did (or is currently doing) as a job or profession. A character's background relates strongly to the skills that would required and associated with the background. Generally someone who has a profession in a particular field would develop a natural skill or "knack" for it, so naturally a merchant would be a better negotiator, or an explorer may be more well versed with surviving the wilderness, to give some examples.

After selecting a culture, players may select a background for their character. Backgrounds give an initial skill bonus, and as with culture, they have a similar role-playing impact. Some backgrounds are only available to specific cultures, and some are exclusive to companions.

Background specialization
In, you can further "specialize" your background in a dialog with Calisca after you have found the springberry. First she will ask you about your specific background and then if you didn't say that it isn't her business, she will ask why you left. Calisca will also ask you why you travel with the caravan and what you want to do. This detailed background specialization, also sometimes called personality or simply specific background, carries over to, and is occasionally used in dialogue.

If you say "That isn't your business", Calisca will say "Suit yourself. Can't very well force you to have a personality, can I?"

Companion only backgrounds do not have specializations.

The following is the reason that the player gives for travelling to Gilded Vale: