Folk Hero

Folk Hero is a character background with skills and inspirations themed around rescuing others from peril. Wyll, Minsc, and the hireling Danton have this background.

“

You're a champion of the common people, challenging tyrants and monsters to protect the helpless. Saving innocents in imminent danger will make your legend grow.

„

Background features

• Animal Handling Proficiency: Gain Proficiency with Wisdom (Animal Handling) Ability Checks.
• Survival Proficiency: Gain Proficiency with Wisdom (Survival) Ability Checks.

Background goals

Performing certain actions that align with this background rewards Inspiration. These goals can be accomplished by any member of the active party, and Inspiration points are pooled, up to a maximum of 4. Completing an inspiration event also grants experience to characters with this background. While not necessarily all-inclusive, listed below are known events which grant inspiration points.

Location	XP Reward	Name	Description
Act One
Blighted Village	25	The Most Unfortunate Gnome	Rescue the gnome from his fate at the windmill. Chase off or defeat Fezzerk's gang, then use the "Brake" lever to stop the mill and untie Barcus. This is earned after speaking to him.
Campsite	25	The Bard with Nine Lives	Rescue Volo from the Goblin Camp. Despite the description, this inspiration is granted in the camp, if Volo was sent there after saving him.
Emerald Grove	20	A Timely Rescue	Save Findal from the goblins who kidnapped him. Defeat goblins in the Underground Passage, then heal Findal. He must not die as a collateral damage. Findal can be pickpocketed for the Key of the Ancients before healing.
	20	Guardian of the Forgotten	Save the tieflings from the goblin assault. The party must defend the grove when Minthara's forces assault the grove. Mutually exclusive with ⁠Slaughter's Prize and ⁠Camaraderie in Bloodthirst.
	20	Protector of the Small	Save Mirkon from the harpies. Defeat the harpies and ensure that Mirkon survives, then talk to him.
	20	Snake Whisperer	Save Arabella from Kagha and her serpent. The interacting party member must pass any ability check or use any class-based dialogue option to convince Kagha (or Teela, for Druids only, with Speak with Animals active) to release the girl.
Grymforge	30	Breaker of Chains	Save the deep gnomes from Nere and the duergar. Stop Nere from killing the gnomes, then convince Elder Brithvar or Kirgrath to release them.
Overgrown Tunnel	30	Unmasking the Truth	Free the Mask of Regret, one of the Hag's masked thralls. The party must not kill Mask of Regret (bypass them or knock her out). Then, they must kill Auntie Ethel, and speak to the Mask of Regret directly or after a long rest, if she was knocked out.
Shattered Sanctum	25	Fate Worse Than Death	Save Liam from his goblin torturers. Convince Torturer Spike to leave, then pass a Sleight of Hand check to free Liam. If the player character is a Drow or Drow Half-Elf (or disguised as such), Spike goes away without any checks.
	25	Saved by a Thread	Save Smythin from his lethal fall. There is a very tight timing as he is pushed down shortly after any party member reaches the top of stairs X: 305 Y: 0 or X: 288 Y: 0. If Sazza is escorted out the grove before the party reaches this point, Smythin does not appear.
Underdark	30	A Lethal Endeavour	Escort Baelen out of the field of bibberbangs. The party must douse the burning torch to prevent an explosion, then toss Baelen his backpack or a Scroll of Misty Step to escape.
Waukeen's Rest	30	Rescued from the Flames	Save whoever you can from Waukeen's Rest. Despite the description, saving either Florrick or Benryn grants it, even if the other one is still alive and blocked inside.
Act Two
Gauntlet of Shar	75	Damsel No More	Free Nightsong. Only granted if Shadowheart is not in the party. In this case, works for hirelings as well. Mutually exclusive with ⁠Blood Moon, ⁠Cerimonia Alārum, ⁠Cerimonia Compedum, and ⁠Soldier of Fortune.
Last Light Inn	50	A Smile Better Suits...	Offer a hopeful response to Alfira's inquiry. When talking to Alfira for the first time, answer to her question "How do you keep going?" with any available line except "I don't complain constantly." Also, don't mention other tieflings being tortured in Moonrise Towers.
	50	From One Hero to Another	Meet Jaheira and drink the wine she offers.
	50	Helping the Little Guy	Help Mol win the game of lanceboard. This inspiration is granted for using any available method, including rigging the board.
	60	Meeting of Fates	Side with either Isobel or Marcus during the confrontation in Last Light.
Moonrise Towers	50	No Strings to Hold Them Back	Release the gnolls from their enslavement. Mutually exclusive with ⁠Danse Macabre.
	50	Uncommon Recognition	Relate your feats to the bugbear merchant. Must pass any of available ability checks when Lann asks for a proof. The full list of possible options is on his page.
Moonrise Towers Prison	60	Breakout!	Break out and save all of the Moonrise prisoners.
Reithwin Town	60	Power Corrupts	Defeat a major figure in the corrupted town. Must defeat one of the following NPCs: Gerringothe Thorm, Malus Thorm, OR Thisobald Thorm.
	75	Power Corrupts... Absolutely	Defeat all of the major figures in the corrupted town. Must defeat Gerringothe Thorm, Malus Thorm, AND Thisobald Thorm. The order is irrelevant.
	50	Saving the Prodigious	Save Rolan from the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Only takes place if Rolan was convinced to stay in the Emerald Grove in Act One, and survived the goblins' raid if it occured.
	60	Greatness Thrust Upon Them	Find, save & bring Arabella to your camp. Available only if Arabella survived the events of Act One. The party must agree to shelter her in the camp. Fighting the shadows she entangles is not necessary.
Shadow-Cursed Lands	50	Not Another Soul	Keep all Harpers alive during the ambush with the Shadows. Concerns Lassandra's squad near the entrance from Grymforge. None of the Harpers must be killed by the shadows or be consumed by the Shadow curse. The most troublesome one is Karrow who often starts chasing the shadows afar from the light sources.
Act Three
Multiple Locations	170	Innocence Lost	Expose the toy-maker's mischief. Accuse Arfur of donating the dangerous toys. Works regardless of demanding anything else from him. The exact location (either Arfur's Mansion or Sharess' Caress) depends on how the party solved Arfur's argument with the squatters.
House of Hope	220	Freeing the Preyed	Free Hope from captivity. Granted upon breaking Hope's chains with the Orphic Hammer. Whether Hope survives or not in the fight against Raphael, matters not.
Iron Throne	220	Against All Odds	Rescue all thirteen captured Gondians' family members before the turn limit expires. There are 13 hostages total. Twelve of them are locked in cells. Duke Ravengard and Omeluum do not count to earn this inspiration.
Lower City	170	A Bet Is a Bet	Meet with Lakrissa in Baldur's Gate. Only obtained if the party talked with Lakrissa in the Emerald Grove and made a wager with her on reaching Baldur's Gate. This can be arranged strictly before resolving the Save the Refugees quest.
	170	Empathy for the Fallen	Convince the coffin-maker Ulkov Sully to make an exception. Speak to the grieving parents, then pass any of ability checks on Ulkov or pay him.
	220	In Need of a Hero	Successfully rescue all of the Gondians from the Steel Watch Foundry. There are four Gondians in the Main floor (including Zanner Toobin) and five in the Lab level. If the party made a deal with Wulbren Bongle about destroying the foundry, they must also defend Toobin after destroying the foundry against the Ironhand gnomes.
	170	Painted Hero	Obtain your portrait from Oskar. Oskar must be saved from the Zhentarim in Act One and from the ghost in Act Three.
	170	Safeguarding the Songbird	Meet the unflappable Alfira in Baldur's Gate. Alfira must survive the events of Acts One and Two.
	170	Truth Shines Through	Find the true culprit behind the serial murders. Granted upon killing Dolor, either at the Wine Festival or at Figaro's shop.
Murder Tribunal	220	End of the Tribunal	Save Valeria and end the Murder Tribunal. Mutually exclusive with ⁠Death of Innocence, ⁠Liturgy of Blood and ⁠Titles for the Collection.
Rivington	135	Keeping Your Hands Clean	Refuse to cause collateral damage with Wulbren's plan. Granted if the player character refuses to take the Runepowder Bomb on any stage of initial dialogue with Wulbren. Mutually exclusive with ⁠Explosive Artistry.
	135	Securing Hospitality	Save the squatters from being kicked out. Granted after dispatching both Arfur Gregorio and Zenovia Dawg (talking down or fighting) AND talking to Ben afterwards.
	135	Trusting Your Instincts	Take up Valeria's shoddily concluded investigation. Promise Sister Yannis to investigate the double murder after Valeria leaves.
Upper City	220	Chained, Unfortunate Souls	Rescue the vampire spawn from Cazador's lair. Must dissuade Astarion from performing Cazador's ritual (or must not let Cazador complete it), then choose the option to open the cell doors where the spawn are kept. Mutually exclusive with ⁠Rudolph Van Richtover My Dead Body.
	220	Never To Be Chained Again	Defeat Lorroakan and let Nightsong execute her vengeance. This is not granted without the Nightsong alive and present. Mutually exclusive with ⁠The Karsus of Our Times.
Wyrm's Rock Prison	170	Diplomatic Rescue	Save Counsellor Florrick from Wyrm's Rock. Florrick must survive the events of Act One.
Wyrmway	170	Wyrmslayers	Challenge and defeat Ansur, the not-so-immortal sentinel of Wyrm's Crossing.

Cut Background Goals

Soul Warden: Save Nadira from the bugbear assassin.

• While this event is still present in the game, completing it does not seem to award this inspiration.

Liberator: Liberate the enthralled fishermen from the mindflaye

• The enthralled fishermen were a group encountered in the crashed Mindflayer ship during early access but were removed for the release version, making this goal unobtainable.