Character Building

TwoHeadsBarking · Jul 17, 2009

I would just like to emphasize that you don't need to stick to the backgrounds in the books. Just because none of the default backgrounds have the skill you're after as a favored skill doesn't mean you can't create a background that justifies your choice.

Man, I'm not sure if I explained that very well. Maybe an example would clear it up.

Say I wanted a human character with the Heal skill given from his background. None of the backgrounds available to humans in the PHB2 give Heal as a skill. Is this a problem for me? No, because the ones listed in the books are just examples.

stonegod · Jul 17, 2009

hornedturtle said:
How do the backgrounds work? I was thinking about making him an actor (imagine an acting troupe of changelings).

As mentioned, the background traits from the PH2 and AP (currently) give you either a skill as a class skill, a +2 to a skill, or a language. Your can make up the rest of your background as you wish, but you should choose a trait that (1) fits your background idea and (2) makes sense to you mechanically. Gunpowder has the right of it above.

hornedturtle said:
Another thing I'm confused about is the proposed treasure/wealth for a new character. I'm tempted just to make my character lv1 just to avoid parcels.

I assume this is after reading what I wrote on the Character Generation page? I'll post it here again (I made some further clarifications:

As an example, consider Harbinger, a 4th level human Avenger. He can choose three parcels: A parcel earned at level 1, one at level 2, and one at level 3. One valid set of parcels are:

1st: A level 3 item (He chose the n+2 parcel for level 1; 1+2=3)
2nd: A level 5 item (He chose the n+3 parcel for level 2; 2+3=5)
3rd: A level 7 item (He chose the n+4 for level 3; 3+4=7)

In addition, he would receive 412gp: 100gp initially and 312gp representing 1/5th of the cost of a level 1 (360gp), level 2 (520gp), and level 3 item (680gp).

Gunpowder said:
Wow, I just wasted 2 hours on editing my character page to result in a halfway page with all wrong numbers.

I assume you are talking about the Skills and Languages section; the rest of the page seems fine (though partially complete). The key is all the text in the brackets (the "[]") represents values that are optional, but you must remove the []'s for it to work (if you note on the sample sheet, the brackets are not there). So, for example, for the Arcana section, you had

Code:

|ArcanaTrained=5
|RaceBonArcana=[bonus from race]
|FeatBonArcana=[bonuses from feats]
|FeatNameArcana=[name of feats]
|EquipBonArcana=[bonuses from equipment]
|EquipNameArcana=

where it should be:

Code:

|ArcanaTrained=5
|RaceBonArcana=
|FeatBonArcana=
|FeatNameArcana=
|EquipBonArcana=
|EquipNameArcana=

Note, the brackets are removed. Removing them, the template works. Just be sure to remove brackets if you use the original templates.

stonegod · Jul 17, 2009

TwoHeadsBarking said:
I would just like to emphasize that you don't need to stick to the backgrounds in the books. Just because none of the default backgrounds have the skill you're after as a favored skill doesn't mean you can't create a background that justifies your choice.

Man, I'm not sure if I explained that very well. Maybe an example would clear it up.

Say I wanted a human character with the Heal skill given from his background. None of the backgrounds available to humans in the PHB2 give Heal as a skill. Is this a problem for me? No, because the ones listed in the books are just examples.

Yeah, but then you can essentially add any language, skill, or +2 skill bonus to your character. If you go outside the normal backgrounds, I'd want some justification (i.e., if you do take heal, you should mention the years you spent with House Jorasco learning it).

elecgraystone · Jul 17, 2009

When will it be ok to start proposals? There happens to be an item from Dragon Magazine 369 that I wouldn't mind starting out with.

stonegod · Jul 17, 2009

elecgraystone said:
When will it be ok to start proposals? There happens to be an item from Dragon Magazine 369 that I wouldn't mind starting out with.

Its been over a month since it came out on DDI, so its fair game for a proposal.

hornedturtle · Jul 17, 2009

Actually I hadn't read the character creation page at that point and now I have so it makes more sense. Now I just need to figure out what goodies work with my character.

elecgraystone · Jul 17, 2009

stonegod said:
Its been over a month since it came out on DDI, so its fair game for a proposal.

I was kind of asking is it was ok in general to start proposals. I didn't want to jump the gun if there were still transition issues to take care of.

stonegod · Jul 17, 2009

elecgraystone said:
I was kind of asking is it was ok in general to start proposals. I didn't want to jump the gun if there were still transition issues to take care of.

I think everyone has agreed on everything. THe only thing really left it to put the rest of it up on the Wiki (mainly player/DM rewards and the parcel system). So, no problems starting proposals.

In fact... I think I'll make one right now...

ryryguy · Jul 17, 2009

I saw this in the races guide:

Those of the Plains tend towards Battlerager Fighters and Beastmaster Rangers as opposed to Primal classes—though druidism is not unheard of on the Plains, it originated with the orcs and is less common here.

So I tried making a halfling Battlerager and a halfling Beastmaster... and boy, they seem to be pretty bad at those classes. Definitely not particularly good anyway.

Too bad, since those do seem like good thematic choices.

stonegod · Jul 17, 2009

ryryguy said:
I saw this in the races guide:

So I tried making a halfling Battlerager and a halfling Beastmaster... and boy, they seem to be pretty bad at those classes. Definitely not particularly good anyway. Too bad, since those do seem like good thematic choices.

Yeah, that's my interpretation on a thematic not mechanical basis. Feel free to ignore my advice (or change it on the wiki if you want).