D&D (2024) Learning to Love the Background System

[MoonSong]

Personally, as a DM, I love the new background system. "Custom Background" default just means a lot of players will have haphazard collections of features as a background instead of one that has a story or theme uniting them

That already applies to about half the official backgrounds in the PHB.

 

[Yaarel]

Also the points you make on Elves, Orcs and Dwarves are stereotypes that should not always follow in play. Mr. Witch for example in WBW is an Elf with an 11 Dexterity and Dexterity is his lowest ability score in fact. He did not look or act like your typical elf. Would it be better if they made him a human or a half-orc or another race more in line with his ability scores? I don't think so.

A point for the appearance of Mr Witch is, a player decides the bodytype of ones character.

I hope that is still true in the 2024 Players Handbook.

In my view, flavorwise, the Elf is eternally youthful and a magical being. An Elf can find ways to attain whatever appearance the individual finds visually appealing.

 

[pukunui]

Waaaaaait...so with the online system it doesn't even allow your DM to homebrew naughty word and override the basic rules to put in any combination of stats and skills and feats you want? Really? That sounds horrible.

You can do some of that, yes. But some things are hard-coded into the system and can’t be manually adjusted. I’m worried that the 2024 backgrounds will be like that.

 

[WanderingMystic]

You can do some of that, yes. But some things are hard-coded into the system and can’t be manually adjusted. I’m worried that the 2024 backgrounds will be like that.

Regardless of if they have the custom background feature in and beyond it is very easy to create your own backgrounds in DND beyond and that is not going away.

 

[pukunui]

Regardless of if they have the custom background feature in and beyond it is very easy to create your own backgrounds in DND beyond and that is not going away.

But those will be 2014 custom backgrounds, which don’t work the same way. You’ll still have to do some manual adjustments, like manually adding the ability score bonuses and the origin feat.

 

[WanderingMystic]

But those will be 2014 custom backgrounds, which don’t work the same way. You’ll still have to do some manual adjustments, like manually adding the ability score bonuses and the origin feat.

No I was talking about the ability in DND beyond to create your own background, feats, subclasses ect. Once the 2024 PHB drops when you go to creat a new background they will have a place to put your background feature instead of background feature and a place for the ASI Now as far as the custom background that is already on the sheet I suspect that once you activate the 2024 PHB that will be removed.

 

[pukunui]

No I was talking about the ability in DND beyond to create your own background, feats, subclasses ect. Once the 2024 PHB drops when you go to creat a new background they will have a place to put your background feature instead of background feature and a place for the ASI Now as far as the custom background that is already on the sheet I suspect that once you activate the 2024 PHB that will be removed.

I hope you are right!

 

[Daztur]

You can do some of that, yes. But some things are hard-coded into the system and can’t be manually adjusted. I’m worried that the 2024 backgrounds will be like that.

And people pay money for this? Willingly?

 

[Bacon Bits]

I think the issue was the feedback they got was "ASI tied to background is fine" which was said when floating ASI was still part of the plan and backgrounds were suggestions rather than hardwired. At some point, they changed the idea that background was going to be default customizable to fixed, and their compromise was to allow limited float among half the ability scores per background, which would be fine if they hadn't spent so much effort undoing prof mod per day in favor of ability mod per rest and making high ability scores more important, not less.

I remember the discussion or feedback being "more significant backgrounds are fine" or "backgrounds with actual feats are fine." I don't remember them having ASIs tied to backgrounds at any point in the playtest. (But I admit I don't recall anything after 6.)

I just don't understand why they don't just associate ASI with the character class. Like what upsidedown thought process are they going through where they imagine that the most important character choices are made at level 1, and background has a significant effect on your attributes, but your class doesn't do anything at all? Like surely a Fighter or Wizard must have done something to have acquired those proficiencies and abilities. Why would background affect ASIs and not class?

Do they think making a Soldier-Wizard have to choose Dex and Con and get stuck with Savage Attacker (I think?) is some deeply interesting choice? Why? The narrative is cool, but the mechanics are entirely awful. People just aren't going to do that because they don't want to be a level 1 Wizard with 15 Int. No, every Wizard is going to take whichever background has Int, and probably whichever background has Int and Con or Dex. The only way that doesn't happen is if War Caster is somehow an origin feat.

Like even if it was, "pick one attribute from your Class and one different attribute from your background. One of those attributes gets +2, the other gets +1."

I would rather they eliminate level 1 ASIs entirely than continue to have them tied to species or background. Like if it's "too powerful" to always make the best choice, then isn't it just... allowing several too powerful choices?

 

[ECMO3]

Personally, as a DM, I love the new background system. "Custom Background" default just means a lot of players will have haphazard collections of features as a background instead of one that has a story or theme uniting them

Maybe some will but if that is what the player wants on the players character, why wouldn't you want to enable that?