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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 6340362" data-attributes="member: 2629">My big problem with tying story to mechanics (as we do by saying you get certain skills for having a certain background) is that people will look to the mechanics before the story.  If Acolyte gives great skills to complement a Barbarian, then you'll see a plethora of former acolytes turned barbarian, even though that should be a rarity.  In 4E, themes created similar problems.Of course, if you have enough backgrounds, then there are multiple options to get a great combinatation of mechanics for your PC, and this problem is somewhat diminished... but in the early days, I worry that it'll be a bit annoying.I think my preference would have been to split backgrounds into two parts: 1.) Themes that grant mechanics (skills, training with tools, etc...), and 2.) Role playing backgrounds that give the backstory, role playing benefits (like the hobo's secret, the soldier's rank, etc...), and a few more story hooks.  That would result in more sensical story points without people forcing in the backgroup thatgives them the best mechanical advantage.</blockquote>