Three suggestions for interesting mentors

When he says jump, you jump! Your mentor is the person who made you who you are. They helped train you, they taught you the basic abilities of your class, or perhaps they gave you the confidence to become who you are today, or are destined to become.

There are various reasons for your character to have a mentor, and not all of them are voluntary. You might have been handed over to the monks as a baby, and grew up under Mother Kikamore’s spiritual guidance. Maybe your parents used to toss you into the training yard of the town’s marshal every afternoon, to be taught how to “be a man”. Perhaps you had a personal, secret friend – a fey-like being who appeared before you every full moon, whispering things that opened your eyes to unknown worlds.

Your mentor is or was the one responsible for making you the person you are today. But the real question is about tomorrow. They taught you most or even everything you need to become a 1st level adventurer. Do you still need their assistance, perhaps for several more levels, until you’ve “mastered” your profession? Do they consider your apprenticeship complete? Are they happy with your decision to leave them? Your relationship with your mentor was a huge part of your upbringing; now that you’re out in the world, it might become more complicated, not less

Includes a new background for 5e, Protégé.