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!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9479120" data-attributes="member: 42582">In 1986, when I first GMed a campaign using the original AD&D OA, one of the players built a kensai PC. That player used the rules in the book to invent their PC's martial arts style; wrote up a backstory about their mentor/master; etc. Nothing in the rules of AD&D got in the way of that.Ten years later, when I built a PC for use in a 2nd ed AD&D game, I wrote up some details of my cavalier PC's noble family, knightly order, etc. Nothing in the rules of 2nd ed AD&D got in the way of that.The Hermit background for 2014 D&D says thatThe quite seclusion of your extended hermitage gave you access to a unique and powerful discovery. . . It might be a great truth about the cosmos, the deities, the powerful beings of the outer planes, or the forces of nature. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen. You might have uncovered a fact that has been long forgotten, or unearthed some relic of the past that could rewrite history. It might be information that would be damaging to the people who consigned you to exile . . . Work with your DM to determine the details of your discovery and its impact on the campaign.This actively invites the player to contribute important content to the shared fiction of the campaign setting, its background, and the present situation in which the PC finds themself.This is why I can't agree that D&D's design is in some fashion at odds with players playing this sort of role. The game can handle it perfectly well. The fact that is is not commonly done is a feature of play culture, but not of the game's design.</blockquote>

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