Pentiment: Character backgrounds guide

Pentiment is a narrative and choice-driven game. There are a lot of conversations with various characters, some of which present additional responses. Thankfully, these decisions still let you complete the campaign, so you don’t have to worry about being locked out completely. Here’s our Pentiment character backgrounds guide to help you with the dialogue options you might see while playing the campaign.

Note: We’ll have a Pentiment guides and features hub soon, so stay tuned.

Pentiment character backgrounds guide

The first time you can select your character background in Pentiment is right after leaving the Gertner family inn. Big Jorg (seen in the featured image) will talk to you, and he’ll ask about your experiences:

• Countries/locations you’ve visited – Basel, Flanders, and Italy.
  • Translates dialogue from people from these countries, as well as related references.
• Previous activities – Hedonist, Craftsman, Bookworm, Rapscallion, and Businessmen.
  • Presents thematic dialogue responses. Examples include knowing about the “French disease” (i.e., syphilis) if you’re a Hedonist, or understanding literary pieces if you’re a Bookworm.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Shortly thereafter, Lorenz, the Baron of Rothvogel, will have a chat with Andreas. You’re given more things to pick here:

• University studies – Theology, Imperial Law, and Medicine.
  • Similar to the above, you’ll also see additional possibilities here. For example, having a background in Medicine allows you to determine the severity of someone’s injury.
• Other activities – Latinist, Logician, Orator, Occultist, and Heavens and Earth.
  • You can choose two here. Some examples include deciphering texts related to black magic as an Occultist or having a keen mind as a Logician.

All of these, combined, will present more ways you can respond to other NPCs in conversations. Again, the choices are completely up to you, and these mostly add to the flavor and role-playing aspect. You should still be able to do a full, hassle-free run regardless of your selections.

Note: Additional options will be available in later acts.

Pentiment is available via Steam.