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<blockquote data-quote="Dr_Ruminahui" data-source="post: 5098808" data-attributes="member: 81104">(Above quote editted for clarity)And I think that you've basically focused in on the issue here - that you have a tool that works equally well as a role playing &quot;benefit&quot; and as a mechanical &quot;benefit&quot;.Take for example the shaman I made.&nbsp; He's an adult trapped in a 8 year old's body (he's human, but I'm using the gnome race to represent this).&nbsp; As such, I thought bluff would be an appropriate skill - he would have gotten very good at pretending to be a kid.&nbsp; However, bluff isn't on the Shaman's skill list.&nbsp; Now, I could have just blown my first level feat on it, but looking through the backgrounds, the &quot;Cursed&quot; Birth background let me take it, and&nbsp; fit well into my character concept.&nbsp; I did, however, choose that background specifically because it gave &quot;bluff&quot;, and I could easily have worked the idea of the background into my character without the mechanical benefit of getting a relevant skill without having to spend a feat for it.Now, is the fact that the rules let me do this a good thing?&nbsp; I can easily see how opinions could vary, even on the exact facts I gave.&nbsp; I'm not even sure - I mean, I certainly was glad not to &quot;waste&quot; my only feat at first level on what is essentially a role playing buff, but I can see the danger of essentially allowing characters to choose whatever background they want simply for the mechanical benefit.Or to sum up, I think this is definite YMMV territory.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dr_Ruminahui, post: 5098808, member: 81104"] (Above quote editted for clarity) And I think that you've basically focused in on the issue here - that you have a tool that works equally well as a role playing "benefit" and as a mechanical "benefit". Take for example the shaman I made. He's an adult trapped in a 8 year old's body (he's human, but I'm using the gnome race to represent this). As such, I thought bluff would be an appropriate skill - he would have gotten very good at pretending to be a kid. However, bluff isn't on the Shaman's skill list. Now, I could have just blown my first level feat on it, but looking through the backgrounds, the "Cursed" Birth background let me take it, and fit well into my character concept. I did, however, choose that background specifically because it gave "bluff", and I could easily have worked the idea of the background into my character without the mechanical benefit of getting a relevant skill without having to spend a feat for it. Now, is the fact that the rules let me do this a good thing? I can easily see how opinions could vary, even on the exact facts I gave. I'm not even sure - I mean, I certainly was glad not to "waste" my only feat at first level on what is essentially a role playing buff, but I can see the danger of essentially allowing characters to choose whatever background they want simply for the mechanical benefit. Or to sum up, I think this is definite YMMV territory. [/QUOTE]

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