Characters of War up at Wizards

[Scholar & Brutalman]

The few articles for August Dungeon and Dragon mags are being posted, and with them is Characters of War, a selection of character backgrounds for the Scales of War series. I think these are similar to the regional backgrounds that Forgotten Realms has.

I'm not so sure that they're as weak as David Noonan suggests. The Auspicious Birth and Born under a Bad Sign backgrounds allow a character to substitute their highest stat for Con when determining starting HP. This would give my Con: 10 Int: 20 Wizard another 10 HP, along with the attendant +5 to bloodied and +2.5 to surges.

 

[brehobit]

Agreed. And re-rolling initiative once a day also seems pretty powerful.

 

[darkadelphia]

backgrounds are poorly conceived. Never shall they see the light of day on my table. As I speak, so shall it be done!

 

[James McMurray]

I feel the same way about them as I do the FR regional beneifits. There should almost certainly be a cost, but as long as everyone is using them they're probably ok. Unfortunately there are a few that are way nicer looking then the rest, especially if you're in a skill challenge light game. However, Scales of War is not light on those, so the ones that give you additional class skills and some bonuses are pretty useful within the framework they were designed for.

I'd almost certainly house rule the one that lets you use your highest stat for hit points. It's somewhat of a no-brainer unless your class or feats require Con.

 

[silentounce]

If this isn't power creep then I don't know what is.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

If this isn't power creep then I don't know what is.

It is a bit creepy, but it's available for all PCs and it brings characters in line with FR regional benefits. I'd be happy if something like this was made standard in Player's Handbook 2, as long as it was balanced. I'm wary about those that give combat advantages; skills and languages, not nearly so worried.

 

[James McMurray]

Perfect balance is an imposibility, so every new supplement or article brings with it a fairly good chance of some sort of power creep. Luckily it's incredibly easy to ignore if you don't like it.

 

[Vempyre]

The article suggests these are small benefits.

They are in fact huge benefits.

2 additional skills and a bonus to boot? Worth 3 feats

Reroll initiative? Worth at least a feat ... of the paragon tier

One extra save vs death? Priceless if you have that maniac DM who always puts the party on edge of dying at least one encounter on two.

Items creation? Worth a feat plus the money for learning the usual ritual.

----------

These are way beyond "small benefits", they all overshadow greatly existing feats, for free! It's like getting from one to 3 feats free.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

The article suggests these are small benefits.

They are in fact huge benefits.

2 additional skills and a bonus to boot? Worth 3 feats

You don't get the skills, you add them to your class skill list. This is considerably weaker than skill training, that gives you the skill. It's roughly equivalent to Skill Focus IMO.

Reroll initiative? Worth at least a feat ... of the paragon tier

Paragon Tier already has the Danger Sense feat: roll two dice for initiative and take the better of the two. For every initiative roll, not just once a day.

This is nowhere near as good as Danger Sense.

One extra save vs death? Priceless if you have that maniac DM who always puts the party on edge of dying at least one encounter on two.

I'll have to take your word for this, since no-one in our party has gotten near dying by failing death saves. (By sheer damage and ongoing damage? Yes.)

Items creation? Worth a feat plus the money for learning the usual ritual.

Yes, that's worth about a feat.

I'd put almost all of them in the 0.75 to 1.5 feats category. In the best case, the HP one is slightly better than Toughness. The martial weapon prof plus +1 to initiative is a bit better than the Weapon Proficiency feat except you can choose a superior weapon.

To me, the problem isn't what they're worth. Every character gets them. The problem is that some are significant combat advantages and some aren't. I'd prefer more siloing.

 

[ppaladin123]

Don't forget the backgrounds that give you free proficiency with a martial weapon of your choice (and a bonus to initiative). That is extremely useful for a cleric...definitely worth a feat.