D&D 5E I think I prefer backgrounds in 2014

[JEB]

One thing floating ASI encouraged by default, as presented by Wizards, was optimizing for class. So I wonder if during playtesting, the 2024 designers were put off by seeing lots of characters with near-identical, class-optimized stats, and introduced background ASI to encourage more stat diversity again. Complete speculation, though.

 

[Minigiant]

No this is false. They're cool little traits. If they come up, great. If they don't come up, nothing is broken. To an extent it's up to the player to find ways to use them. It's not a burden on the GM at all.

They were cool.

But like I said, at most tables they are useless unless the DM actively opens the opportunities to use them.

 

[CreamCloud0]

One thing floating ASI encouraged by default, as presented by Wizards, was optimizing for class. So I wonder if during playtesting, the 2024 designers were put off by seeing lots of characters with near-identical, class-optimized stats, and introduced background ASI to encourage more stat diversity again. Complete speculation, though.

unfortunately i really doubt that was their reason, ASI are so overwhelmingly essential over anything else the option it's tied to provides which they already saw with species fixed ASI, people picked species for their ASI for their class, it's why they brought in floating to begin with to improve class-species diversity, i don't think Wizards are thinking people aren't going to do exactly the same thing again and pick their backgrounds for their ASI for their class.

 

[soviet]

They were cool.

But like I said, at most tables they are useless unless the DM actively opens the opportunities to use them.

Not really. Unless the adventure is only in dungeons or other planes, eventually there are going to be townsfolk, sailors, criminals, nobles, etc. No special DM effort necessary.

 

[Minigiant]

Not really. Unless the adventure is only in dungeons or other planes, eventually there are going to be townsfolk, sailors, criminals, nobles, etc. No special DM effort necessary.

How often does a PC past level 3:

Need free lodging, healing and protection from by priests (Acolyte)
Need the services of a criminal contract and their message service (Criminal)
Need free lodging and protection from others by commoners (Folk Hero)
Need to make a discovery or learn hidden knowledge that isn't just given not require a skill check (Hermit)
Require the services of free retainers (Knight)
Need an audience with a local nobles that would normally be prohibited (Noble)


Most of these are just gold saving in a game with nothing to spend gold on. Or situations a good DM would never do more than once per campaign if ever. Hiding and restricting critical info and access in D&D is a big no no and a quick way to turn off players.

 

[jayoungr]

ethnicity and species, even if the latter has shared the inaccurate title of 'race' that belongs to the former.

It's not inaccurate. It's just an archaic use of the word, stretched a bit to accommodate a world with multiple humanoid variations.

 

[abirdcall]

One thing floating ASI encouraged by default, as presented by Wizards, was optimizing for class. So I wonder if during playtesting, the 2024 designers were put off by seeing lots of characters with near-identical, class-optimized stats, and introduced background ASI to encourage more stat diversity again. Complete speculation, though.

I think they just used existing design space to give backgrounds mechanical weight.

Starting ASI don't make sense as a concept otherwise. Tying it to class doesn't mean anything. It's just part of stat generation at that point.

 

[humble minion]

I've long since started treating backgrounds as quasi-skill proficiencies. Got the noble background? Well you can probably add your proficiency bonus to your roll to see if you can dance at the formal ball without embarrassing yourself, even if you don't have Performance. Soldier background? You can roll with proficiency when trying to analyse a tactical situation, or evaluate the likely combat capability of the militia in the new city you just entered. Sailor background? You probably know a bit of lore about famous pirates etc even if you don't have History proficiency.

I'm still playing 2014 rules, but the background features are something I'm going to miss.

 

[cbwjm]

One thing floating ASI encouraged by default, as presented by Wizards, was optimizing for class. So I wonder if during playtesting, the 2024 designers were put off by seeing lots of characters with near-identical, class-optimized stats, and introduced background ASI to encourage more stat diversity again. Complete speculation, though.

I'm not sure that has really changed any, it's just shifted how they optimise:

• Before floating ASIs, people would pick a race that benefited their class.
• Floating they'd pick any race (though some might also provide non-ASI enhancements that would help optimise their character).
• After floating ASIs, people who are optimising will just pick the background that enables their class (or make their own background).

People will always find a way to optimise, especially since so much power lies in your main attack stat. I think if they didn't want people to have largely the same stats, they they should take away the dependency on high stats or make them less impactful.

 

[Corinnguard]

This is one of those things where I feel WotC simply can't win no matter what they do. People complained about attribute score improvements based on a character's species, many because it reminded them of biological essentialism and made them feel icky, and still others who simply wanted more freedom in how they assigned improvements. A lot of people supported attaching such things as ASI and skills to backgrounds as they felt it made more sense for these things to be cultural rather than biological.

The best way IMO to deal with biological essentialism in an RPG is to split species up into heritage (who your parents are) and culture (the society you grew up in). And then to make things even more interesting, you can either choose a culture that reflects your heritage or to have your character grow up in a culture that belongs to a completely different heritage. Ex. Captain Carrot from the Discworld series, a human who grew up among Dwarves and learned their cultural traits firsthand.