diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efdba87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+* text=auto
+*.sh text eol=lf
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a2422fd..e65d728 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ build/
 caddy_data/
 caddy_config/
 pgdata/
+backups/
 frontend/dist/
 *.tsbuildinfo
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/scripts/backup-db.sh b/scripts/backup-db.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b0e842f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/backup-db.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Dumps the Postgres database from the running "postgres" container into ./backups/,
+# in pg_dump's custom format (compressed, restorable with pg_restore — see restore-db.sh).
+#
+# Usage: scripts/backup-db.sh
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
+
+mkdir -p backups
+timestamp="$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)"
+out="backups/dnd_backup_${timestamp}.dump"
+trap 'rm -f "${out}"' ERR
+
+echo "Dumping database into ${out} ..."
+docker compose exec -T postgres sh -c 'pg_dump -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d "$POSTGRES_DB" -F c' > "${out}"
+
+size="$(du -h "${out}" | cut -f1)"
+echo "Done: ${out} (${size})"
diff --git a/scripts/restore-db.sh b/scripts/restore-db.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c37f377
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/restore-db.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Restores a dump produced by backup-db.sh into the running "postgres" container.
+# Destructive: drops and recreates every object in the target database before restoring.
+#
+# Usage: scripts/restore-db.sh path/to/dnd_backup_20260101_120000.dump [-y]
+#   -y   skip the confirmation prompt (for non-interactive/scripted use)
+set -euo pipefail
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
+
+skip_confirm=false
+file=""
+for arg in "$@"; do
+  if [ "$arg" = "-y" ]; then
+    skip_confirm=true
+  else
+    file="$arg"
+  fi
+done
+
+if [ -z "$file" ]; then
+  echo "Usage: $0 path/to/backup.dump [-y]" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+if [ ! -f "$file" ]; then
+  echo "Error: file not found: $file" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "$skip_confirm" = false ]; then
+  read -r -p "This will DROP and recreate every table in the target database. Continue? [y/N] " reply
+  case "$reply" in
+    [yY]|[yY][eE][sS]) ;;
+    *) echo "Aborted."; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+fi
+
+echo "Restoring ${file} ..."
+docker compose exec -T postgres sh -c \
+  'pg_restore -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d "$POSTGRES_DB" --clean --if-exists --no-owner --no-privileges --single-transaction' \
+  < "$file"
+
+echo "Done."