Unearthed Arcana WOTC still can't get the backgrounds right in the new FR book.

[Necropolitan]

I think the general idea is that the most ‘fitting’ background shouldn’t give the highest bonus, else that would be the only thing we’d ever see in play. It’s to reward those that spend some time to build a character rather than go with the most obvious choice.

A better option would be to have multiple Backgrounds that could be the best one instead of having the best Monks be Sailors then.

 

[Marandahir]

When you are talking about mechanics this means a 2 point decrease in your primary ability and the loss of a feat that synergizes with your class abilities and replacement with a Feat that is of little value for your class.

Constitution is not nearly as important as Dexterity for numerous reasons. the PHB even says explicitly that Dexterity and Wisdom are the primary abilities of Monks and when you get down to it, Wisdom is not as important as Dexterity.

No they are not sky blue.

There are 16 backgrounds in the PHB. For a Monk Acolyte and Sage are number 12th and 13the out of 16 respectively. If Sailor is gold, Wayfarer is Sky Blue, Guide is Blue, Scribe is Purple and Criminal is yellow, Acolyte and Sage are red or "F" or whatever.

The two backgrounds that make the most sense thematically for a Monk are among the worst you can choose.

Exactly, and this is why they should not have mechanics like ASIs or feats attached to backgrounds, the backgrounds are there for story and having these elements gets in the way of the story hook.

Different CharOps guides will rate differently. I was using an example, not saying it's what the fandom agrees on. But I'm suspicious of the the idea of these two backgrounds for Monks being colored Red - both increase Wisdom, and that's half of your main class toolset palette.

But in either case, Constitution is critical for any character, and most players are not shooting for 18 in their main stat and 16 in their secondary stat at 1st level with everything else at 0 or -1 modifier.

And most players are not trying to make their background and known skills line up precisely and specifically with their top two ability scores. Nature is a critical Druid skill, but most Druids don't prioritize Intelligence, but it's still an Intelligence skill because it's a Knowledge skill. And that's OKAY. The Druid might want to have Intelligence as a 12 or something just to give a little bit of a benefit for that skill.

 

[SteveC]

The Background system was one of the things that really put me off of 5.5E. You went from a "choose a Background that reflects fun roleplay details" to "pick an option from a small list of applicable ones for your character that give you a powerful benefit, but make that background not necessarily reflect the character you have in mind."

This is one of the things that Pathfinder 2 got right: I can find a ton of different options to build a character on that makes me feel like they are unique. If I had to guess, there will be some rule about ASI's for Backgrounds that will be retroactively applied to existing Backgrounds.

 

[Marandahir]

They do say this explicitly for ability score increases though, on page 38 of the 2024 PHB:

"If you’re using a species from an older book, ignore those increases and use only the ones given by your background."

They also have Custom Background in the 2024 DMG.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I think the general idea is that the most ‘fitting’ background shouldn’t give the highest bonus, else that would be the only thing we’d ever see in play. It’s to reward those that spend some time to build a character rather than go with the most obvious choice.

i think as a rule of thumb i think (most) people just don't like it when there are 'clearly more optimal' combinations, especially with a build choice which is meant to represent a narrative trait, it makes them feel like they're loosing out either way if they have to pick between character fidelity and mechanical synergy.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Sounds about par for the course ...

 

[Marandahir]

Sounds about par for the course ...

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Oakies, I disagree but this made me chuckle, thank you.

 

[Weiley31]

Easy fix, but Ido understand the headscatching bout it

 

[FrogReaver]

The Background system was one of the things that really put me off of 5.5E. You went from a "choose a Background that reflects fun roleplay details" to "pick an option from a small list of applicable ones for your character that give you a powerful benefit, but make that background not necessarily reflect the character you have in mind."

I mean… that’s a problem no matter how backgrounds are implemented, unless you make them have no mechanical impact, which I’ve been a proponent for, but I always got a lot of pushback with that idea.

 

[SlyFlourish]

How they implemented backgrounds is one of the big failings of D&D 2024. Luckily, its a very easy fix by defaulting to the "Backgrounds and Species from Older Books" guideline on page 38 of the PHB, which lets you choose your own ability modifiers and origin feat. It speeds things up even further by using the "Creating a Background" guidelines on page 55 of the 2024 DMG.

So instead of choosing a background and fumbling around with it, the player can:

• Choosing a standard array of 17 14 14 12 10 8.
• Choose two skill proficiencies
• Choose a tool proficiency
• Choose an origin feat
• Choose either an extra 50 GP or a potion of healing
• Choose a background of their choice based on flavor without taking any of features listed above

That's my own 2024 house rule. Not only does it give players greater flexibility over their background but it speeds up character building since you don't have to cross-reference your background skills with your class skill.

More here: Build Characters Quickly in D&D 2024