D&D 5E forget classes, i want more backgrounds

[evilbob]

Personally I think the new Backgrounds and their emphasis on character development are going to do more to make this game awesome than even advantage/disadvantage. I wish they were first, before stats and races, in the "create a character" section just to emphasize how important they can be - but since they're optional I can see why they put them where they did. I've been geeking out over the rules a bunch, but honestly what is going to make 5.0 stick at our table is whether or not our group feels like they can make interesting characters - characters that have personalities and are defined much more like "a criminal" or "a folk hero" than the rogue or the fighter. Someone said it seemed like the Backgrounds took a strong hint from the Apocalypse World/Dungeon World style, and added just enough to make it good but not enough to scare any of the old fans who might not care about all that, and I think they nailed it.

THAT is what I'm most looking forward to seeing in August: more than the paladin or the bard, I want half a dozen or a dozen more backgrounds, story ideas, and character inspiration bits. We can make up our own in the meantime but it'll be great to see what other ideas can spark from the PHB. The "trinket" section (almost a direct nod to Numenera, methinks) is also awesome and I'm loving that, too, and I could stand to see even more stuff like that in the final book.

Really looking forward to it!

 

[Thaumaturge]

THAT is what I'm most looking forward to seeing in August: more than the paladin or the bard, I want half a dozen or a dozen more backgrounds, story ideas, and character inspiration bits. We can make up our own in the meantime but it'll be great to see what other ideas can spark from the PHB. The "trinket" section (almost a direct nod to Numenera, methinks) is also awesome and I'm loving that, too, and I could stand to see even more stuff like that in the final book.

Really looking forward to it!

I agree.

And the trinket section and Numenera's similar part of character creation thinks this is an idea Monte gave to the team during his time there.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Boarstorm]

Regarding Trinkets -- yeah, they are definitely little story-hook gifts to the DM. Very few of them didn't give me at least SOME ideas.

 

[Xodis]

Been using backgrounds and "trinkets" to justify and develop my characters since I started gaming, It's nice to see it being official or at least being a part of the standard rules. Although luckily I have always had DMs that encouraged and rewarded this style of gameplay, so I am interested in seeing how many backgrounds there are and if they are written out vaguely so they can be customized for characters with sacrificing anything.

 

[Hand of Evil]

You can also go the question route. Ask your players questions about their characters, work with their answers to ask more. You will get a number of plot hooks.

One of my standard questions; how did you and the other characters meet?

 

[Jester David]

Agreed.
I was very disappointed to hear Basic was only going to have 5 Backgrounds as they're so simple and only take a page but are a great way to customize and differentiate your character.
I'd really like to see more Backgrounds added to Basic and hope there are plenty more than 5 in the PHB.

 

[Joe Liker]

My only problem with the five basic backgrounds is that they are so clichéd. Four of the five match one-to-one with the basic classes, with one catch-all. This does very little to show off the amazing customization this system is capable of.

Yes, I know you can create characters such as a criminal cleric or soldier wizard. I have done exactly that, just to see if anything broke. The good news is, no, nothing broke, and I think such characters would be fun to play. But I don't believe for a second that the majority of players are going to play against type like that. Plenty will, but most won't -- especially not new players.

I'm disappointed because in offering these no-brainer options in Basic, they make it seem like your background is an extension of your class. This is most definitely not the case, and I feel like creating that illusion is doing a huge disservice to roleplay and creative character-building.

So I'm looking forward to a much bigger list in the PH -- one where the choices aren't so seemingly obvious.

 

[thalmin]

After a plentiful selection of Backgrounds, something I want to see: good guidelines and suggestions for creating our own backgrounds

 

[Sacrosanct]

I like the backgrounds as well. I sort of feel like it's WFRP meets D&D. However, the great news is that it's SUPER easy to come up with your own backgrounds, and they did give instructions how to do so (like saying backgrounds get 2 skills, one tools, etc).

And I suspect within days we'll see a lot of "50 backgrounds for your game" show up on DTRPG

 

[Tormyr]

Although creating backgrounds is the simplest thing to create based on what we have in 5B.
*Come up with a story
*Come up with your trait, ideal, bond and flaw
*Select 4 items from skills, tools and languages; no more than 2 of each

EDIT: Our Wednesday night game moved from the playtest to a 5B/playtest blend (you could use the playtest if something in 5B did not change it). I did that for backgrounds, letting them choose two of the three given skills in a background, and changed the stat boosts to follow 5B for those races not yet included.