Background Feats & Parental Skill Modifiers

[Celebrim]

I personally really like this sort of modern 'profession' overlay to the class system, and am working up something like this for my own campaign.

However, in standard campaigns, I'd be slightly worried that the main things people would do with this is speed the time it takes to reach a prestige class.

Since I don't allow prestige classes, that's not a problem to me, but it might effect the balance (HA!) of published prestige classes.

 

[Crothian]

What if we did something like this: Everyone gets one free background feat like you have written. Depending on the background and talking with the DM, up to four of these skills that become class skills you get 2 ranks per skill point spent on them. In addition they get one additional skill point per level. However, every even level they have required ranks. You must increase any combination of those skills by 4 ranks. It adds a nice benefit, but the required ranks would hopefully balance this out.

 

[Fenris]

I second all of the above. In looking at these feats Kaptain, I was afraid that it was giving too many adventuring related skills. I had devised my own set of background skills. This is based upon race and serves to provide the "basics" that a member of the race would know. But it is skewed in favor of professions and crafts rather than adventuring skills. This also gives skill points rather than making skills class skills. But I liked that idea and may yet work it in.

Background Skills by Race


Human:
Knowledge (Local) 2
Any Profession 2
Or
Any Craft 2

Half-Orc:
Knowledge (Local) 2

Gnome:
Knowledge (Local) 2
Pick one of the following:
Craft: Gemcutting 2
Craft: Locksmithing 2
Craft: Cobbler 2

Halfling:
Knowledge (Local) 2
Pick one of the following:
Profession: Brewer 2
Profession: Cook 2
Profession: Farmer 2
Profession: Miller 2

Half-Elf:
Speak Language (Any) 2
Knowledge: Geography 2
Pick one of the following:
Craft: Painting 2
Craft: Sculpture 2 Craft: Calligraphy 2
Perform (Any) 2
Any Profession 2

Dwarf Knowledge: History 2
Profession: Miner 2
Pick one of the following:
Knowledge: Engineering 2
Craft: Blacksmithing 2
Craft: Weaponsmithing 2
Craft: Armorsmithing 2
Craft: Stonemasonry 2

Elf
Perform 2 (Elven Appropriate)
Pick one of the following Knowledge skills:
Knowledge: History 2
Knowledge: Nature 2
Knowledge: Geography 2
Pick one of the follwing Craft skills:
Craft: Painting 2
Craft: Sculpture 2
Craft: Calligraphy 2
Pick any one additional skill not already chosen off the list.

 

[Celebrim]

I personally really like this sort of modern 'profession' overlay to the class system, and am working up something like this for my own campaign.

However, in standard campaigns, I'd be slightly worried that the main things people would do with this is speed the time it takes to reach a prestige class.

Since I don't allow prestige classes, that's not a problem to me, but it might effect the balance (HA!) of published prestige classes.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

The table above is a very good alternative to my idea. Nice job, Fenris!

The adventuring skills provided in my version were so one could play a character from various backgrounds without multiclassing (always a pain, and almost a necessity with 3e), and actually feel like they came from somewhere. I think one could incorporate BOTH my versions and yours if one wanted.

 

[Fenris]

The table above is a very good alternative to my idea. Nice job, Fenris!

The adventuring skills provided in my version were so one could play a character from various backgrounds without multiclassing (always a pain, and almost a necessity with 3e), and actually feel like they came from somewhere. I think one could incorporate BOTH my versions and yours if one wanted.

Kap,
Yes, I also feel that non-multiclassed characters can be a bit narrow. I had not thought of it in those terms. But your background feat is almost like a 0 level class of its own. I can see more where you are coming from with this. And with respect to Crothian's comments about skill points, they would not be too powerful as I had thought at one point because the charcters still have a limited number of skill point, just more ways to spend them now. I need to rethink this whole thing. I may use both after all. I further tweak my system by culture, requiring some of the the skills chosen to be culturally appropriate (weaving in a culture known for it's blankets etc.)

One question I had for you. I really sat and looked at these and a lot of them seemed very similar as far as skills go. But I was working on a table to randomize them. I was doing it by race (not many half-orc professors in my world). But I was worried about saddleing some charcaters with courtesan or a back ground in their field. I want to mix things up a bit but don't want to handicap, or restrict my players too much. Any ideas.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

One question I had for you. I really sat and looked at these and a lot of them seemed very similar as far as skills go.

Well, that's the way AEG wrote them for the most part. I fixed their goofs like Bull (instead of Bluff) or listing Diplomacy twice for the same skill, LOL, but the bulk of it is theirs (except Farmer, my own original addition). I noticed the similarity between the various backgrounds too, but elected not to tinker with that out of sheer laziness and the fact that I couldn't come up with anything better at the time.

I don't know if forcing players to randomly roll their background is a good thing. They should randomly roll it if they want to, but I would let them select one. Otherwise, we're getting back to 1e and similar 70s/80s games that forced random rolls for psionics, etc.