Backgrounds

[Prince Atom]

I was just looking through my copy of Dragon #286, and back past all the Shannara stuff there's an installment of Silicon Sorcery dealing with Arcanum; specifically, backgrounds.

For those of you unfamiliar with Arcanum or the article in question, each character gets to choose a background. Each background gives the character something distinctive, yet includes a drawback or flaw. For instance, there is the background "Born Under A Sign:"

Your birth was marked by a peculiar astrological event, or possibly a volcanic eruption. For whatever reason, you tend to score critical hits less often, but they are more spectacular.

Benefit: Whenever you score a successful critical hit, roll a d6. On a roll of 1-3 the hit is instead treated as a normal hit, and damage is resolved normally. On a roll of 4-6 the multiplier is increased by 1.

There are other backgrounds, such as "Raised by Snake Handlers," which gives you a +4 to save vs poison, but include a -2 penalty to Cha due to all the bite marks....

What do you think of such backgrounds? I was thinking I'd allow them, but with my approval of each one, in addition to all the other hoopy stuff you get at 1st level; but they can only be taken at 1st level. Sort of like the regional feats from FRCS, but you don't have to sacrifice a feat. Backgrounds are, of course, optional.

Comments?

TWK

 

[Kilmore]

Y'know, I was thinking the same thing. I've always liked the idea of giving characters good backgrounds. That's why I picked up Central Casting as soon as it came out. Several demolished campaigns later, I decided that something a little simpler may be in order. Anyway, here's some generic ideas I came up with.

Adopted: You were raised by people different than those of your heritage. Game effects: You retain the physical benefits of your heritage but also gain the mental and social benefits of your adopted people. The drawback is that you suffer a –1 Charisma hit between both peoples.

Apprentice: You have been trained in a particular Craft, Perform, or Profession skill under a master. Game effects: Select one Craft, Perform, or Profession skill. You gain two extra skill points in that skill and you are allowed to put as many skill points into that skill as you are allowed each level.

Asylum: They locked you up and threw away the key. You’re out now. Whether you escaped or were set free because you seemed normal now is up to the DM. The time you spent in the looney bin has altered your perspective. Note that the care and treatment of the mentally afflicted has grown much better over the centuries. Treatments for insanity in this era include beatings, dunkings, torture, crude lobotomies, and locking away into a building stuffed with other lunatics. Game effects: Any time your character fails a roll for mind affecting effect, you roll a D8.
· 1: You react in a paranoid frenzy. You attack every single person or creature you can reach with your melee weapon, friend or foe, including anyone who enters the spaces you threaten over this turn. You have unlimited attacks, but your frenetic motions inflict 1d6 points of damage to yourself.
· 2: Um... more to come.
Drawback: You probably got thrown into the nuthouse for a good reason. And maybe, if you were sane when you went in, you are not quite the same coming out.


Bad Blood: Half-orcs and more rarely half-elves occasionally have a condition where their emotions may fluctuate wildly from giddy joy to murderous anger, with varying degrees of passion and ennui mixed in as well. This is basically an extreme form of maniac-depression that is most common with mixed race characters. The common theory is that this condition can result from “mixing of the blood”. Game effects: The player and the DM should decide what triggers the emotion change. It is best if the other PC’s find out on their own. Triggers include combat, social situations (especially failed rolls), and romantic encounters, though the players are urged to be creative. Results include:
· 1: Combative
2: Hysterical
3: Nauseated
4: Um... that's all I got so far... but you get the drift.


Fugitive: Somebody’s mad enough at you to come after you. It may be the law, it may be a local lord, or it may be a powerful gang of thugs. You and your DM decide. At any rate, you have spent a number of years on the run, and have learned certain skills in order to survive. You may be relatively safe now, but you should always keep eyes behind your back. Game effects: Hide, Bluff, and Sense Motive become class skills for you, or you gain an additional +2 skill bonus to them if any or all already were. Drawback: You have an enemy, somebody with better resources than you who is tracking you down. You may have given him the slip, but there is always the possibility that he may find you and bring you to what he conceives as justice. Appropriate for: Fugitives can come from just about anywhere, though the nature of the character’s offense should be balanced with his enemy’s reach in the area. For example, if the character is accused of murdering the King of Kasteban, one could expect the kingdom to fling battalions of powerful wizards at the character, which should make the character’s adventuring career short and pathetic.

Note: I like the ideas on each of these, but I think the execution's quite unsatisfactory so far. I was going to work with it more, but the topic came up... BTW, I'm looking for that Dragon now!

Others I haven't defined yet include City Slicker, College, Courtly, Criminal, Farm, Frontier, Magical, Mercenary, Military, Mining, Monastary, Nautical, Port, Prison, Refugee, Religious, Sheltered, Slave, Squire Training, Town, Traveling, University, Victimized, University.

 

[Prince Atom]

Another thought... Dragon #290 has a couple of articles on those social skills we all know and neglect and their use in-game.

What if folk of a particular background knew a common jargon and received a bonus to use it with each other? Some professions could use slang or cant, but jargon is most common.

Just for kicks, jargon is defined as "a set of specialized terms used by a particular profession or vocation. Its main purpose is to allow members of a profession . . . to communicate technical information to one another."

Usually, it uses the Innuendo skill, but folks can also use it to up their fees with Bluff. The DM would have to assign situational modifiers.

So, a common background and a common language allows them to communicate via jargon; of course, differing areas make this harder. If you're a gemcutter from London and you're talking to a gemcutter from Florence in Latin, you don't share much jargon and the Innuendo's gonna be harder to get....

But, on to the backgrounds!

I don't have any idea about City Slickers or what they do, but I'm gonna take a crack at College:

College: You are a member (as a student or instructor) at a certain college. While you have access to that college's resources and can use them to make better-informed decisions, you don't have much experience with the world outside your clique.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on a specific Knowledge skill based on your college. You must pick the Knowledge skill thus modified when taking this background. You may use jargon to communicate with other Collegiates, or cant to confuse and bewilder outsiders and thus inflate your own importance. However, you spend a lot of time closeted with books, and thus suffer a -2 penalty to Charisma when dealing with the outside world.

Your list is good. Wanna take turns, one background each?

TWK