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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arial Black" data-source="post: 7492951" data-attributes="member: 6799649">Actually, it's 'chosen' by the barbarian's game mechanics. Mainly because players don't have the right to invent new mechanical abilities for themselves (Yeah, my 1st level fighter can cast 9th level spells actually! It's on page 15 of my backstory between 'women fall instantly in love with me' and 'ruler of the multiverse'!), they can only use their backstory to explain what the game mechanics already allow them to do. Erm, as silly as the example is...yeah...! Bearing in mind that the PC must already have at least one rogue level (or in a class which grants the Sneak Attack special ability) in order to be able to use their backstory to explain that ability...yeah.Sure, I'd rather the player come up with a less silly explanation....but in the end I recognise that it's their PC and they can explain the abilities they have how they want.As this player's DM, my role is to check that the character sheet is accurate, game mechanics-wise; so no adding abilities the game mechanics don't grant you. I would also look at their 'explanation' for how they acquired their backstabbing ability, and see how I can fit it into my game.I could decide that anyone can get backstab powers by doing the exact same thing....but I'm pretty sure that would be both broken and absurd. So I would either secretly invent some other agent that is actually the source of that ability (a fey guardian? The PC was bamboozled into believing that the ritual granted that ability but it was a practical joke and the PC could do it all along?), or just ignore it and get on with the game, knowing for a fact that this backstory in no way FORCES me to give those properties to dragons, urine, silver, boots, full moons, oaths of office or towns that no longer exist.</blockquote>

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