bedir than
Hero
Still ban the Folk Hero. The thing you did before you were a hero can't be "I was a hero"
D&D 5E Companion thread to Survivor:Backgrounds
- Thread starter Tonguez
- Start date
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Well, there's the "I saved the world by stopping an all-powerful demon from opening a portal to Hell" hero, and there's the "I found Farmer Beauford's missing sheep and kept his family from starving" hero.
The Folk Hero background is referring to the second one.
bedir than
Hero
Every other core background is what the person did for a living, not a single act of heroism.
Be a farmer who helped Beauford, sure! Or a cobbler, or a wainwright, or a brewer, etc
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Hey mum told me I was a hero when I was 6!
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Eh, not necessarily. "Urchin" isn't really a job description, nor is "Noble" or "Outlander."
"Bob Dillweed, Professional Hermit" sounds just as silly as "Bob Dillweed, Professional Folk Hero. "
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
After a gruelling 69 days, over 2 months, we have a winner!
and proving that the quill is indeed mightier than the sword Sage beat Soldier
and I scored a final vote
and proving that the quill is indeed mightier than the sword Sage beat Soldier
and I scored a final vote
RealAlHazred
Frumious Flumph
I'm not actually unhappy with the Sage background winning. Unfortunately, a lot of campaigns I'm familiar with, the DM doesn't really make research opportunities available to the PCs.
CreamCloud0
One day, I hope to actually play DnD.
Agreed, although not a bad background my thoughts are basically “really? This is what won, out of everything on that list, this???” Like if you took a poll of which backgrounds are actually used I don’t feel like it would’ve won that.
bedir than
Hero
Urchin, Noble, Hermit are all how people live in the times and tales that inspire D&D. Outlander is also boring. It's being defined by how others see you not how you see yourself.
Swarmkeeper
Hero
Something for players to speak up about at Session 0:
"We want our backgrounds to matter. Can we have that happen in this campaign?"
Also, something for players to speak up about during game sessions (or maybe prior to an upcoming session):
"My PC has the Sage background with the Researcher feature. While we're in this [location] is there a specific place she might go or a specific person she might seek out to gain info about [topic]?"
Sometimes this will require a healthy dose of Yes-And from a DM. But just good for players to understand that a DM doesn't necessarily have all of each character's abilities and characteristics top of mind while juggling all the other things necessary when running a game.
RealAlHazred
Frumious Flumph
DM: "Sure, sure, no problem!"
Later: "So, we're playing Out of the Abyss, and you guys are going to be escaped slaves on the run throughout the whole campaign! Isn't that fun? Also, all of the languages down here are weird and strange and none of you speak any of them!"
Swarmkeeper
Hero
Perhaps you jest? (I mean, it is funny to picture that interaction.)
Good thing, though, that most DMs will tell the players the concept of the campaign before they agree to play and before characters are created. The other way around is not really a recipe for a success, IMO.
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