Rules edition: This guide uses the 2014 Half-Orc, Cleric, and background rules. Under those rules, a background supplies skill and tool proficiencies, equipment, and a feature; it does not grant ability-score increases or a feat. The 2024 rules handle backgrounds differently.
Choose a background for the character’s past
A background explains what your Half-Orc Cleric did before adventuring and what connections they bring to the party. It does not determine their domain, deity, alignment, or personality. Decide what changed and why this character now travels with the group. The Half-Orc’s ancestry need not imply a military history, a violent past, or a redemption story.
Acolyte: temple service and religious contacts
Acolyte grants Insight and Religion, two languages, and the Shelter of the Faithful feature. It fits a character who served a temple or faith community before taking up adventuring. Acolyte does not require you to be a Cleric; you can have performed rites, maintained a temple, or supported worshippers before receiving divine power. Work with the DM to decide which religious communities recognize you and what help the feature can provide.
Soldier: training and a chain of command
Soldier grants Athletics and Intimidation, a gaming set, land-vehicle proficiency, and Military Rank. Athletics can support physical challenges, while Intimidation may suit some social scenes. Military Rank connects the character to a former organization; it does not provide a combat bonus or guarantee that every soldier will obey. Decide whether the Half-Orc served in an army, a town guard, a militia, or a mercenary company, and what their rank means in the campaign.
Folk Hero: a community that remembers
Folk Hero grants Animal Handling and Survival, artisan’s tools, land-vehicle proficiency, and Rustic Hospitality. It works for a character whose actions earned trust in a small community. The feature can create allies and places to rest, but villagers do not have to risk their lives for the character. This background can make the Cleric’s local ties relevant when the party returns home or needs help from ordinary people.
Outlander: wilderness experience
Outlander grants Athletics and Survival, a musical instrument, a language, and Wanderer. The feature helps the character recall terrain and find food and fresh water when the environment permits. It does not automatically locate a safe route, bypass a hazard, or find food where none exists. Choose the character’s homeland and the reason their travels brought them into the party’s story.
Connect background skills to the Cleric
Clerics already choose two class skills from a list that includes History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion. Avoid paying for a proficiency twice: if your chosen background grants a skill you already have from class, the 2014 rules let you choose a different proficiency of the same kind, working with the DM. Acolyte’s Insight and Religion may overlap with your Cleric selections, while Soldier and Folk Hero can add skills the class does not offer.
Backgrounds can be customized with DM approval. If the published combination does not fit the concept, the 2014 rules allow the player and DM to adjust proficiencies and features. Your choice should give the table useful story hooks, not force a character into a fixed trope.
Keep 2024 character creation separate
In the 2024 rules, backgrounds are part of character origins and provide ability-score options and an Origin feat. When adapting an older 2014 background for a 2024 character, use the official compatibility guidance rather than carrying over the 2014 background unchanged or combining both versions’ benefits.
For the 2014 class and species build, see the separate Half-Orc Cleric build-and-play guide.
