D&D (2024) RIP, 2014 PHB backgrounds

[Amrûnril]

Something about creating custom backgrounds as the default method just doesn’t sit right with me. Life is about trade-offs. One background might have something you really want, but also something you don’t want. Another background might get rid of the thing you didn’t want from the first background, but doesn’t have the thing you did want. This makes for a significant decision point for the player: which option is more important for my character.

I understand sometimes a player might have a specific design in mind for their character, but there isn’t an existing background that fits the theme. That’s a perfectly valid reason for creating a custom background. But when people are just cherry-picking all the items that they want every time they create a new character, there’s no longer a give-and-take; it all becomes just take. You can’t always get everything you want; sometimes you need to make compromises. But when you CAN get everything you want, that cheapens the decision-making process and renders each choice less meaningful.

But each of the elements is a trade-off in and of itself. Do you want your character to be proficient in Stealth or in Perception? Do you want to increase their Dexterity or their Constitution? Should they speak Dwarvish or Halfling? Those choices are more interesting if you can consider them in their own right rather than being limited to predetermined (and somewhat arbitrary) combinations.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

While I love the idea of the background features giving concrete meat to the backgrounds, basically none of them did anything... except for Outlander's Wanderer, which went the other way and removed half the reason to have Survival as a skill at all. Which is not exactly better.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

While I love the idea of the background features giving concrete meat to the backgrounds, basically none of them did anything... except for Outlander's Wanderer, which went the other way and removed half the reason to have Survival as a skill at all. Which is not exactly better.

Yeah, Outlander is the "you already have these proficiencies, so pick whatever you want" background for druids and rangers I DM for.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Yeah, Outlander is the "you already have these proficiencies, so pick whatever you want" background for druids and rangers I DM for.

Yeah, this is the other half of it. Something like it existing easily lessens the variety in backgrounds (and not every campaign is run with custom backgrounds).

 

[Charlaquin]

Yeah, Outlander is the "you already have these proficiencies, so pick whatever you want" background for druids and rangers I DM for.

Which is funny because you can pick whatever you want with any background anyway.

 

[Malmuria]

The "this is your life" section from Xanathar's is excellent for this kind of thing. In fact, I think background creation should be part of a Session 0 procedure that the whole group follows. Backgrounds should be part of a discussion on the setting and themes for the campaign and the preferences and goals of the players. The example backgrounds shouldn't be expressed as individual "packages" that you can pick up, but rather take the reader through how to express your idea for a character into 5.5's mechanical terms, in coordination with your dm and everyone else at the table.

 

[Kannik]

I noted in the survey that a "wilderness"-type background was missing (which was surprising to me, given how common of a trope it is in fantasy games and fiction).

But I also noted/asked them not to remove the riders from backgrounds as well. Even if the potential reason to remove them is that some groups (many?) forget they exist I recommended they keep them as they help drive RP and the narrative, and as such they are used often in our group to good and flavorful effect. Fingers crossed they add it back in...

 

[Micah Sweet]

Something about creating custom backgrounds as the default method just doesn’t sit right with me. Life is about trade-offs. One background might have something you really want, but also something you don’t want. Another background might get rid of the thing you didn’t want from the first background, but doesn’t have the thing you did want. This makes for a significant decision point for the player: which option is more important for my character.

I understand sometimes a player might have a specific design in mind for their character, but there isn’t an existing background that fits the theme. That’s a perfectly valid reason for creating a custom background. But when people are just cherry-picking all the items that they want every time they create a new character, there’s no longer a give-and-take; it all becomes just take. You can’t always get everything you want; sometimes you need to make compromises. But when you CAN get everything you want, that cheapens the decision-making process and renders each choice less meaningful.

I agree, but I rarely see a player that will accept a down side to any character decision they make if they don't have to. All but one of my players flocked to the Tasha's ASI changes, for example, and it wasn't because they wanted to play a half-orc sorcerer with a 16 CHA.

 

[Eltab]

Adventurers League figured out in short order how to mix-and-match the component parts of a Background. There is even a thread on optimising the choices to get extra GP.

If customised backgrounds are to be the norm, create two dozen that each express a common RPG character, and attach the AL instructions.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I've always hated how in D&D Beyond, they make you either pick a background, or create your own from scratch. They don't make it easy to pick a background and then just change a single element (like a language, tool, or even a skill).

This is basic functionality that I hope they remember to implement when they put in whatever final form 1D&D looks like.