|
Given how personal a background is to a character and that most GMs who are running 1E APs converted to 2E are also converting the traits to backgrounds, has anyone given any thought to just letting the players write their own backgrounds using the published material as a guide? Seems like it would be more productive than to "force" the players to pick from an existing list.
|
Anything is possible as long as it is GM-approved.
However, I think the best would be for the GM to check with the player what they want from their background and why, and then the GM creates the Background they find most fitting.
Now, as long as they keep to the usual Background model of: choice between two relevant ability boosts, free ability boost, Trained skill with a first level feat and Trained Lore, I believe that the doors of broken combo will stay reasonably shut.
|
|
That's kind of what I mean. With the standard model we have, if the players follow that, I cannot imagine any combos that would be problematic. So, it seems like the easiest solution is to just use the trait/backgrounds text from the AP and let the player layer on whichever Stat boost and skill feat they want. As long as the choices match the narrative, two players could even select the same background by name, but have slightly different mechanical benefits. Seems more efficient than the GM spending a lot of time trying to guess which stats to apply and hoping those align with what the player/s envision for their character
Seems like it would be more productive than to "force" the players to pick from an existing list.
100% Agree. I never make my players pick campaign traits from a particular campaign's Player's Guide for example. I also don't force them into coming from the area as well. I had a player with a cool concept for a Red Mantis Assassin (eventually becoming one that is) for Carrion Crown. I tied his slowly unfolding background to a certain "night guy" in or below Caliphas framed for something.
The Player's Guide of any given campaign is most likely for folks who just want to jump in, may not know much about the setting, or just a springboard of ideas to help spark a concept, while giving the player an idea on the theme of a campaign.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Given how personal a background is to a character and that most GMs who are running 1E APs converted to 2E are also converting the traits to backgrounds, has anyone given any thought to just letting the players write their own backgrounds using the published material as a guide? Seems like it would be more productive than to "force" the players to pick from an existing list.
In my opinion, this rule should have been added to the GMG (at least) or even the PHB.
Right now, there's no much point in backgrounds. Most people I have seen either choose a background that suits them in terms of attributes and then invent something to justify it or try to find all the 5/6 backgrounds that fit their character and take the best one mechanically.As a GM, I never use my character's backgrounds unless they take a background which is on the Player's Guide to this AP (as they are in general thematically linked to the campaign and a good way to give interesting information/quest hooks). If a character has a specific backstory, I'll take it into account in my campaign. The character doesn't need to have a background that is tied to its story, it's redundant in my opinion.