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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Willie the Duck" data-source="post: 9543894" data-attributes="member: 6799660">I might be missing something, but how has the new background system changed this specific aspect? DNDBeyond doesn't seem to yet have the build-your-own functionality for 2024 backgrounds (outside homebrew), but both 2014 and 2024 let you build your own.I watched the leadup to this with mild amusement. Having spent much of the TSR era preferring a BX/BECMI hybrid to AD&D, I had no natural affiliation with racial attribute bonuses and penalties; plus I think attributes are the least interesting way to distinguish characters now and would rather they have less focus and mechanical impact.IMO, regardless as to whether it is tied to species or background, because of the mechanical weight, people (not all of them, but enough) are going to pick that species or background to support the attributes favorable to their chosen class. So wherever you place the bonus, it creates serious incentives and bottlenecking and eliminates against-type combinations in X% of games. I'd much rather have attributes divorced from everything else, except maybe at the suggestion level ("goliaths tend to be strong, although there are some who defy that trend").Regarding backgrounds, I think I'd rather them be mostly separated from mechanics. Make them be exclusively personality traits, bonds, and flaws, perhaps with starting equipment (with the option of a set amount of GP instead, as it is now). That way it is entirely optional and those who feel they are slow character creation and don't provide much benefit can effectively ignore them. It also means the page space can be entirely devoted to goal suggestions, adventure hook ideas, and other RP advice instead of lists of (often fairly arbitrary) skills, feats, or attributes tied to each of them.</blockquote>

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