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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dragonblade" data-source="post: 6166610" data-attributes="member: 2804">The problem with "Jack of All Trades" isn't that its somehow broken, because it really isn't. Its that its BORING! Its also technically more of a trait, than a "background" per se.As a GM, you should ask your player how they would have come to know a bit about everything. What did they do before the game starts that would begin to justify being a jack of all trades? Whatever they answer, THAT should be their background. For example, "I was the King's superspy, a veritable fantasy James Bond if you will!"BAM! So you have 5 points in the King's Former Superspy Background. Done. And no it wouldn't necessarily apply to everything. Or maybe it can, but you should make the players justify it. Make them earn the right to use that bonus in a given scene through cool story."So tell me again why you know so much about ancient Draconic artifacts?""Well, I'm a superspy...""So? How did you learn that while being a superspy?"At this point, either the player can't think of anything appropriate and they don't get the bonus. OR they think of something awesome: "Well, I was on this mission to steal a scroll from the horde of an ancient red Dragon, and the when I got there, it turns out the Dragon was blind, and dying, and he wanted to talk to someone before he passed, so I hung out with him and he taught me a lot of Draconic lore." (Yes, I stole that from Raymond Feist. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />)Now if the player came up with something fun and cool like that, then they deserve the +5. They have added cool story and flavor to both the game and their PC, and potentially provided future story hooks for the GM. THAT is what 13th Age is all about! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Its a completely different mindset than other versions of D&D. Its not about scrutinzing everything the players do, lest they somehow get away with something they aren't supposed to.13th Age doesn't approach the game that way. Backgrounds are an enabler of story, not necessarily a limiter. Getting to use the bonus in a given situation is the player's reward for thinking of something cool that adds to their character and/or the world. If the players can justify, through cool story and worldbuilding, why they should get a +5 Background bonus in almost every situation, then GREAT! That's really what the game is all about.</blockquote>

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