Starfield is here and there are a lot of ways to customize your character. In Starfield, choosing a Background provides you with three Starting Skills and an additional backstory for your character as well as affecting some dialogue and interactions.

All Starfield Backgrounds

Starfield allows you to choose a Background early into the game, right after customizing your character's appearance. Here are all of the Backgrounds you can pick.

Beast Hunter

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.

  • Fitness
    • “In space, the greatest commodity is oxygen, and the increased lung capacity gained by a regular physical fitness regimen is essential to survival.”
  • Ballistics
    • “Centuries of conflict have proven that when it comes to threat elimination, few things stack up to the reliable power of combustion.”
  • Gastronomy
    • “Access to brand new worlds means access to brand new ingredients, and there is almost no limit to the delicious foods and drinks a talented chef can prepare.”

Bouncer

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.

  • Boxing
    • “Once considered a ‘sport of kings', boxing is still practiced as a recreational competitive activity, but its combat applications can't be denied”
  • Security
    • “While the standardized digital locking mechanism is renowned for its security, any code can be broken with the proper training.”
  • Fitness
    • “In space, the greatest commodity is oxygen, and the increased lung capacity gained by a regular physical fitness regimen is essential to survival.”

Bounty Hunter

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.

  • Piloting
    • “As more people journey into space, the number of those certified to effectively pilot various types of spacecraft has increased dramatically”
  • Targeting Control Systems
    • “Missile weapons are favored because they can lock onto an enemy ship, but an intimate knowledge of tracking systems can make them even more effective.
  • Boost Pack Training
    • “Specialized training and innovations in personal mobility systems have allowed for unfettered exploration on alien worlds”

Chef

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.

  • Gastronomy
    • “Access to brand new worlds means access to brand new ingredients, and there is almost no limit to the delicious foods and drinks a talented chef can prepare.”
  • Dueling
    • “Considered by many to be a lost art, close attacks with a melee weapon can often be deadlier than ranged combat when carried out by a skilled practitioner.”
  • Scavenging
    • “There are those who can find just about anything, and their success is usually dependent on knowing how, and where, to look.”

Combat Medic

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.

  • Pistol Certification
    • “Considering the popularity of the personal sidearm in the Settled Systems, familiarity with such weapons is often considered essential.”
  • Medicine
    • “Only through advancements in medical training and technology has humanity been able to withstand the galaxy's many dangers.”
  • Wellness
    • “By embracing an active lifestyle and good nutrition habits, one may improve their overall sense of health, and even gain prolonged life expectancy.”

Cyber Runner

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.

  • Stealth
    • “For a combatant who values discretion above all else, the ability to approach a target while undetected and kill with a silenced weapon is as terrifying as it is effective.”
  • Security
    • “While the standardized digital locking mechanism is renowned for its security, any code can be broken with the proper training.”
  • Theft
    • “While not entirely honorable, and certainly not legal, it is nonetheless occasionally necessary to discreetly remove property from someone's person.”

Cyberneticist

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.

  • Medicine
    • “Only through advancements in medical training and technology has humanity been able to withstand the galaxy's many dangers.”
  • Security
    • “While the standardized digital locking mechanism is renowned for its security, any code can be broken with the proper training.”
  • Lasers
    • “Personal laser weapons are in widespread use across the Settled Systems, and specialized training can greatly increase their effectiveness.”

Diplomat

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.

  • Persuasion
    • “In the Settled Systems, the nuanced ability to listen and discuss can often accomplish far more than simply shooting first and asking questions later.”
  • Commerce
    • “In the Settled Systems' free market economy, almost anyone with the right skillset can open and run a successful business.”
  • Wellness
    • “By embracing an active lifestyle and good nutrition habits, one may improve their overall sense of health, and even gain prolonged life expectancy.”

Explorer

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.

  • Lasers
  • Astrodynamics
    • “Advanced technology is one thing, but it takes skill, patience, and a little bit of love to coax even more capability out of a ship's grav drive.”
  • Surveying
    • “Humanity now has access to untold alien worlds, and the ability to decipher all that data while on the ground has become an essential skillset.”

Gangster

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.

  • Shotgun Certification
  • Boxing
  • Theft
    • “While not entirely honorable, and certainly not legal, it is nonetheless occasionally necessary to discreetly remove property from someone's person.”

Homesteader

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.

  • Geology
    • “Newly discovered minerals mined from alien planets and moons have directly led to some incredible technological advancements”
  • Surveying
  • Weight Lifting
    • “Weight training can significantly increase one's ability to carry weapons and equipment, both in space and on the ground”

Industrialist

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.

  • Security
  • Persuasion
  • Research Methods
    • “By skillfully employing both new and time tested methods, a researcher may complete projects faster and even gain unexpected insights.”

Long Hauler

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.

  • Weight Lifting
  • Piloting
  • Ballistic Weapon Systems
    • “While there have been significant advancements in ship-borne weaponry, sometimes the simplest tool is the most effective”

Pilgrim

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.

  • Scavenging
  • Surveying
  • Gastronomy

Professor

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.

  • Astrodynamics
  • Geology
  • Research Methods

Ronin

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.

  • Dueling
  • Stealth
  • Scavenging

Sculptor

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.

  • Medicine
  • Geology
  • Persuasion

Soldier

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.

  • Fitness
  • Ballistics
  • Boost Pack Training

Space Scoundrel

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.

  • Pistol Certification
  • Piloting
  • Persuasion

Xenobiologist

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.

  • Lasers
  • Surveying
  • Fitness

[FILE NOT FOUND]

Oddly, there's no information on file about your past life. Clerical oversight? Deletion by some powerful unknown faction? Or was there just nothing of note to mention? Whatever the reason, your past is known only to you. What's important is the here and now, and the path you're about to forge.

  • Wellness
  • Ballistics
  • Piloting