Olaf the Stout said:
In my latest campaign I brought in the concept of background skills. I gave each player a bonus 10 skill points with which to allocate skills that fit in with their backgrounds. I encouraged these to be spent on things such as Craft:xxx, Profession:xxx and Knowledge:xxx and Perform:xxx skills. If the players gave a good background reason for it I let them use one of their 10 skill points take a rank in some of the more frequently used skills such as Survival, Search, Gather Information, etc.,
I did this because I wanted players to have a few skills that represented what they did before they became an adventurer. At the same time there aren't really that many skill points to go around, especially for classes like Fighter. The end result is that most players put all of their ranks in skills that will be relatively useful to the challenges that they expect to face. Almost no players will put a rank or 2 in Craft:Basketweaving or Profession:Labourer since it will probably never be useful in the game.
By giving them extra skill points to spend on their background, but keeping a tight reign on what skills they spend them on, you can flesh out the characters better without affecting game balance.
Comments? Does anyone else do this or have a similar system?
Olaf the Stout
Excellent! I, too, wrote a "Racial Background Skills" system, which was accepted (but never published by)
The ENWorld Player's Journal, before it became the
ENWorld Gamer, and then went defunct! In it, I gave each PC (4 + INT) skill points, selected from a list based upon PC race, which ALWAYS included Craft, Knowledge, Perform, and Profession, as well as any and all languages spoken by members of that race (as listed in the PHB). They got that many skill points once every twenty years, with all fractions being truncated, in typical D&D style.
I was accused of favoring Elves (actually, the system favors Humans, then Half-Elves & Half-Orcs, who get bonus points), even though I based the skill lists directly off the D&D Racial Descriptions from the PHB & MM. The problem that I ran into was that, since Elves (and Dwarves) begin play at such advanced ages, they get a LOT more skill points, to start...
Personally, I felt that, since the skills were limited by race, and no skill was allowed more than three skill points, that this was good enough. ENWorlders shouted me down! I finally hit upon the solution of requiring each race to take their skills in a strict order... Each time they came to a new skill, they could spend one, two, or three skill points, but they had to spend at least one. Once they had acquired all of their race's "required" skills, they were free to spend the rest as they pleased, including Cross-Racial ("Cross-Class") skills in the Craft, Knowledge, Language, Perform, & Profession skills (but NOT others!).
For instance:
Joey Balboa, average Human "Zero-level" PC, with INT 14, wants to be a Fighter. We roll his age at game start as 17. Thus he will get (4 + 2) skill points, selected from the Humans' skill list. First, he must get Knowledge (Local), and chooses to spend the minimum one skill point, there. Next, Mom & Dad (and Society, in general) force him to learn either a Craft, or a Profession. He decides to take Profession (Herbalist), and put three ranks into it, as five or more ranks will give him a +2 Synergy Bonus on Heal checks, which will prove useful as a Fighter (he can't put more than three in, as he is zero level). Society now being satisfied, he has two more ranks to spend. He could pick up Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering), as Humans are Empire-builders, or any language (as Humans can learn any), but he really wants Knowledge (History), as it covers the tactics used in ancient battles, so he takes that (even though he has to take it "Cross-Class", paying two skill points for one rank). He is now done, and is ready to become a Fighter, and get his (2 + 2) x 4 = 16 skill points for that... or he would be, except that he is fully Human, and thus gets a bonus two skill points! He will spend one on Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering), and another to learn to read, write, and speak Undercommon. Presumably, four of the skill points that he gets for being a Fighter will go into the Cross-Class Profession skill, to give him five ranks. (By the RAW, Fighters can't take Professions, including (Bodyguard). Myself, I would allow him to up his Background Skill as a Class Skill. YMMV.)
So, now we have a Human Fighter who has a Profession (very unusual, among Fighters), who can heal better than normal, who knows something about Architecture, Engineering, and History, as well as the area where he grew up, and also is fluent in Undercommon.
The healing ability will certainly be used. the knowledge skills are easily worked into an adventure (Captain: "Quick men, to the Merlons!" Soldier: "The where, Sir?" Joey Balboa: "To the top, men!"), and Undercommon will come in handy on some trip in the Underdark, no doubt!
Now the Elves & Dwarves, with all of their skill points? They need more skills! Elves Sing & Dance, and live in the trees! They have to spend at least one skill pint, each, on Knowledge (Nature), Balance, Climb, (Survival OR Any Craft OR Any Profession EXCEPT (Miner), which the PHB states they don't do!), Perform (Sing), Perform (Dance), Spellcraft, etc. Once done, they can spend the rest on a load of racial skills, or even cross-class. The Dwarves get a few Professions (Accountant, Brewer, etc.), as well as a few crafts (Armorsmith, Blacksmith, Stonemason, and Weaponsmith being obvious), any Perform, Knowledges such as (Architecture & Engineering, Dungeoneering, History, Local (which covers Humanoids, such as Goblins & Kobolds), Nature (which seems strange, until you remember that it covers Giants!), Nobility & Royalty, and any languages that Dwarves speak. Being dwellers in underground areas, they can also get some Balance & Climb, or Rope Use, the same as the Elves!
All in all, I thought that the freedom of choice, and limits on which skills can be taken cheaply, vs. Cross-Class prices, made it a rousing success! Pretty much any PC can learn a modicum of something, if they want, without having to take a different class to do it! YMMV.
