Bard looking for an Optimal background

[Atalius]

Hi all, I'm making a Bard who's main 3 skills he focuses on are Performance, Occultism and Athletics. I have Versatile Performance I use Performance to Intimidate. I will be getting Polymath Muse and Maestro Muse. Can anyone think of a good background I could take advantage of? My stats are:

Str 12 (+2)
Dex 16 (+2)
Con 12 (+2)
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 18 (+1)

(Brackets indicate level 5 boost)

[Deadmanwalking]

Entertainer would obviously work fine. As would Fortune Teller, Gladiator, or Martial Disciple.

It really depends on what theme and Skill Feat you're most interested in. If you wanted a Skill Feat in Diplomacy or Deception, the list expands quite a bit.

[Edge93]

I'd go with the background that, well, fits your character. Beautiful thing about PF2 Backgrounds is that you really don't need to optimize them, the closest is that if you want a particular non-key stat at 16 and your key stat at 18 then you want a background that can boost both your key stat and that one.

[Edge93]

Now I kinda wanna make a Bard with the Warrior Background who became like a traveling rock/metal music minstrel after serving in a war. He uses the Quick Repair feat from the background to maintain his poor abused instrument, and he knows how to jack someone up if need be. XD

[Markov Spiked Chain]

I'm expecting to see a lot of Laborers, Field Medics, and Farm Hands. But maybe there's a gem in the background skill feats I'm missing.

[First World Bard]

Markov Spiked Chain wrote:

I'm expecting to see a lot of Laborers, Field Medics, and Farm Hands. But maybe there's a gem in the background skill feats I'm missing.

At one of my GenCon tables, half of us (3 of 6) were Field Medics. I took that background for my Druid because the actual backstory fit better than Laborer or Farm Hand. :)

We'll see if the Lost Omens book has other compelling backgrounds.

[Albatoonoe]

I'd say you should brainstorm the character backstory and work from there. Another way to look at background selection is that it gives your character an appropriate, maybe even unexpected, flavor ability from their upbringing. That happened with one of by standby characters, Iron Redd, that was a Barbarian brawler from a noble background.

In PF2, picking up the noble background is actually an interesting ace up the sleeve of a guy that otherwise solves all his problems with punching. Really, I wouldn't worry too hard about it.

[NielsenE]

Scholar could be a interesting fit -- you want occultism, but its not an attribute you're investing in, so the free assurance in it is pretty useful. It would require moving one of your boosts around though. But moving the Con to either Int or Wis if that's an option are pretty solid options.

[Doompatrol]

Gladiator, acrobatics and athletics are the standard called upon adventuring skills.

Cat fall is one of the best skill feats in the game. It goes from letting you jump off walls without penalty to letting you fall off mountains without issue.

Maybe consider boosting wisdom instead of strength. It's your will and default initiative stat. Can always pick up hefty hauler