Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
Ben Riggs' "What the Heck Happened with 4th Edition?" seminar at Gen Con 2023
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 9209937" data-attributes="member: 2209"><p>4e starting with PH2 had backgrounds to give narrative non-class background specified options with mechanical distinctions such as:</p><p></p><p>Occupation</p><p>Before you became an adventurer, this was the way you earned your keep.</p><p>Artisan: You had a skilled occupation dedicated to a particular craft, such as baking, blacksmithing, carpentry, or cobbling. What did you make? Did you enjoy your work, or was it only a means of supporting yourself? What was your finest creation, and what happened to that item?</p><p>Associated Skills: Athletics, Diplomacy</p><p></p><p>or </p><p></p><p>Farmer: You worked on a farm, learning the ways of the natural world. Did you raise livestock, crops, or both? Did your farm have a specialty? Did you or your family own the farm, or were you a hired hand? Do you miss those days, or were you eager to escape?</p><p>Associated Skills: Endurance, Nature</p><p></p><p>The 1e PH has nothing like that either, you had to wait for the 1e DMG to give you the option for secondary skills.</p><p></p><p>PLAYER CHARACTER NON-PROFESSIONAL SKILLS</p><p>When a player character selects a class, this profession is assumed to be that which the character has been following previously, virtually to the exclusion of all other activities. Thus the particular individual is at 1st level of ability. However, some minor knowledge of certain mundane skills might belong to the player character — information and training from early years or incidentally picked up while the individual was in apprenticeship learning his or her primary professional skills of clericism, fighting, etc. If your particular campaign is aimed at a level of play where secondary skills can be taken into account, then use the table below to assign them to player characters, or even to henchmen if you so desire.</p><p>Assign a skill randomly, or select according to the background of your campaign. To determine if a second skill is known, roll on the table, and if the dice indicate a result of TWO SKILLS, then assign a second, appropriate one.</p><p>SECONDARY SKILLS TABLE</p><p>Dice</p><p>Score Result</p><p>01-02 Armorer</p><p>03-04 Bowyer/fletcher</p><p>05-10 Farmer/gardener</p><p>11-14 Fisher (netting)</p><p>15-20 Forester</p><p>21-23 Gambler</p><p>24-27 Hunter/fisher (hook and line)</p><p>28-32 Husbandman (animal husbandry)</p><p>33-34 Jeweler/lapidary</p><p>35-37 Leather worker/tanner</p><p>38-39 Limner/painter</p><p>40-42 Mason/carpenter</p><p>43-44 Miner</p><p>45-46 Navigator (fresh or salt water)</p><p>47-49 Sailor (fresh or salt)</p><p>50-51 Shipwright (boats or ships)</p><p>52-54 Tailor/weaver</p><p>55-57 Teamster/freighter</p><p>58-60 Trader/barterer</p><p>61-64 Trapper/furrier</p><p>65-67 Woodworker/cabinetmaker</p><p>68-85 NO SKILL OF MEASURABLE WORTH</p><p>86-00 ROLL TWICE IGNORING THIS RESULT HEREAFTER</p><p>When secondary skills are used, it is up to the DM to create and/or adjudicate situations in which these skills are used or useful to the player character. As a general rule, having a skill will give the character the ability to determine the general worth and soundness of an item, the ability to find food, make small repairs, or actually construct (crude) items. For example, an individual with armorer skill could tell the quality of normal armor, repair chain links, or perhaps fashion certain weapons. To determine the extent of knowledge in question, simply assume the role of one of these skills, one that you know a little something about, and determine what could be done with this knowledge. Use this as a scale to weigh the relative ability of characters with secondary skills.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Or wait until Oriental Adventures for non-weapon proficiencies to enter the character sheet and develop your mechanical mastery of the tea ceremony.</p><p></p><p>Basic did not have non-class stuff until around the gazetteer series introduced some skill option stuff.</p><p></p><p>It would have been preferable for 4e to have their background stuff in their first main books but they became a regular part of character creation fairly quickly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voadam, post: 9209937, member: 2209"] 4e starting with PH2 had backgrounds to give narrative non-class background specified options with mechanical distinctions such as: Occupation Before you became an adventurer, this was the way you earned your keep. Artisan: You had a skilled occupation dedicated to a particular craft, such as baking, blacksmithing, carpentry, or cobbling. What did you make? Did you enjoy your work, or was it only a means of supporting yourself? What was your finest creation, and what happened to that item? Associated Skills: Athletics, Diplomacy or Farmer: You worked on a farm, learning the ways of the natural world. Did you raise livestock, crops, or both? Did your farm have a specialty? Did you or your family own the farm, or were you a hired hand? Do you miss those days, or were you eager to escape? Associated Skills: Endurance, Nature The 1e PH has nothing like that either, you had to wait for the 1e DMG to give you the option for secondary skills. PLAYER CHARACTER NON-PROFESSIONAL SKILLS When a player character selects a class, this profession is assumed to be that which the character has been following previously, virtually to the exclusion of all other activities. Thus the particular individual is at 1st level of ability. However, some minor knowledge of certain mundane skills might belong to the player character — information and training from early years or incidentally picked up while the individual was in apprenticeship learning his or her primary professional skills of clericism, fighting, etc. If your particular campaign is aimed at a level of play where secondary skills can be taken into account, then use the table below to assign them to player characters, or even to henchmen if you so desire. Assign a skill randomly, or select according to the background of your campaign. To determine if a second skill is known, roll on the table, and if the dice indicate a result of TWO SKILLS, then assign a second, appropriate one. SECONDARY SKILLS TABLE Dice Score Result 01-02 Armorer 03-04 Bowyer/fletcher 05-10 Farmer/gardener 11-14 Fisher (netting) 15-20 Forester 21-23 Gambler 24-27 Hunter/fisher (hook and line) 28-32 Husbandman (animal husbandry) 33-34 Jeweler/lapidary 35-37 Leather worker/tanner 38-39 Limner/painter 40-42 Mason/carpenter 43-44 Miner 45-46 Navigator (fresh or salt water) 47-49 Sailor (fresh or salt) 50-51 Shipwright (boats or ships) 52-54 Tailor/weaver 55-57 Teamster/freighter 58-60 Trader/barterer 61-64 Trapper/furrier 65-67 Woodworker/cabinetmaker 68-85 NO SKILL OF MEASURABLE WORTH 86-00 ROLL TWICE IGNORING THIS RESULT HEREAFTER When secondary skills are used, it is up to the DM to create and/or adjudicate situations in which these skills are used or useful to the player character. As a general rule, having a skill will give the character the ability to determine the general worth and soundness of an item, the ability to find food, make small repairs, or actually construct (crude) items. For example, an individual with armorer skill could tell the quality of normal armor, repair chain links, or perhaps fashion certain weapons. To determine the extent of knowledge in question, simply assume the role of one of these skills, one that you know a little something about, and determine what could be done with this knowledge. Use this as a scale to weigh the relative ability of characters with secondary skills. Or wait until Oriental Adventures for non-weapon proficiencies to enter the character sheet and develop your mechanical mastery of the tea ceremony. Basic did not have non-class stuff until around the gazetteer series introduced some skill option stuff. It would have been preferable for 4e to have their background stuff in their first main books but they became a regular part of character creation fairly quickly. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
Ben Riggs' "What the Heck Happened with 4th Edition?" seminar at Gen Con 2023
Top