D&D (2024) Real Character Generation in 2024 PHB

[Iosue]

So, when I read about ability score increases and feats being attached to Backgrounds in 2024, I was highly skeptical. One of the things I loved about Backgrounds in the 2014 rules was that they weren't mechanically relevant. Even their "ribbon" abilities were not made to interact with other aspects of character generation. What was more, tying ability score increases to Backgrounds seemed needlessly limiting, all but forcing certain Backgrounds to be taken by certain classes.

Now, having read the PHB, I see that I need not have worried. In fact, all the Sturm und Drang about custom backgrounds being in the DMG was hardly necessary: custom backgrounds are quite clearly spelled out in the PHB as it is.

The chapter on Backgrounds lists the following parts of a Background:
Ability Scores: Increase three ability scores by +1, or increase one by +2 and another by +1.
Feat: One Origin Feat.
Skill Proficiencies: Proficiency in two skills.
Tool Proficiency: Proficiency in one tool.
Equipment: Package of equipment bought with 50 GP.

The sidebar on "Backgrounds and Species from Older Books" notes that you choose your ability score increases as above, ignore the ones provided by species, and choose an Origin Feat.

And that's the "real" character generation for the 2024 rules. Choose your ASIs, Feat, Skills, Tool, and Equipment a la carte, or use the provided Backgrounds as handy presets. I see that Backgrounds have now been leveraged to help new players make their characters with a minimum of analysis paralysis or time investment, while still giving them choices and keeping it fun and role-play-y.

I think it's a pretty good design choice. They've divested ASIs from Race/Species, like Tasha's, but still provide guidance for how to allocate them. I, personally, will likely never use the new Backgrounds, at least not as written. But I can see them as being very useful with new players, or even just players who want to expedite the chargen process.

 

[ECMO3]

So, when I read about ability score increases and feats being attached to Backgrounds in 2024, I was highly skeptical. One of the things I loved about Backgrounds in the 2014 rules was that they weren't mechanically relevant. Even their "ribbon" abilities were not made to interact with other aspects of character generation. What was more, tying ability score increases to Backgrounds seemed needlessly limiting, all but forcing certain Backgrounds to be taken by certain classes.

Now, having read the PHB, I see that I need not have worried. In fact, all the Sturm und Drang about custom backgrounds being in the DMG was hardly necessary: custom backgrounds are quite clearly spelled out in the PHB as it is.

The chapter on Backgrounds lists the following parts of a Background:
Ability Scores: Increase three ability scores by +1, or increase one by +2 and another by +1.
Feat: One Origin Feat.
Skill Proficiencies: Proficiency in two skills.
Tool Proficiency: Proficiency in one tool.
Equipment: Package of equipment bought with 50 GP.

The sidebar on "Backgrounds and Species from Older Books" notes that you choose your ability score increases as above, ignore the ones provided by species, and choose an Origin Feat.

And that's the "real" character generation for the 2024 rules. Choose your ASIs, Feat, Skills, Tool, and Equipment a la carte, or use the provided Backgrounds as handy presets. I see that Backgrounds have now been leveraged to help new players make their characters with a minimum of analysis paralysis or time investment, while still giving them choices and keeping it fun and role-play-y.

I think it's a pretty good design choice. They've divested ASIs from Race/Species, like Tasha's, but still provide guidance for how to allocate them. I, personally, will likely never use the new Backgrounds, at least not as written. But I can see them as being very useful with new players, or even just players who want to expedite the chargen process.

While I agree with you many tables are not going to use 2014 content.

 

[abirdcall]

Would you do the same for species?

Have players look at the species and pick out the abilities they want?

 

[Will Brandiman]

Backgrounds are the one area of the 2024 rules that I explicitly dislike. Having spent years moving away from rigid choices in favour of customisation options, this pulls everything right back to square one. Tying ability scores, origin feat, skills and tools all into a single choice seems a backward step and essentially pigeonholes characters of a certain class into a single background. All monks will be sailors, all barbarians will be farmers etc.

I know there is the section about using old backgrounds etc, but if we're free to just pick and choose whatever we want then why have backgrounds at all? Just pick 2 (or 3) stats, a feat, 2 skills and a tool!

 

[abirdcall]

Backgrounds are the one area of the 2024 rules that I explicitly dislike. Having spent years moving away from rigid choices in favour of customisation options, this pulls everything right back to square one. Tying ability scores, origin feat, skills and tools all into a single choice seems a backward step and essentially pigeonholes characters of a certain class into a single background. All monks will be sailors, all barbarians will be farmers etc.

I know there is the section about using old backgrounds etc, but if we're free to just pick and choose whatever we want then why have backgrounds at all? Just pick 2 (or 3) stats, a feat, 2 skills and a tool!

D&D is a class based system.

Why have them at all? Because a lot of people want to embrace the class based system.

I highly dislike point based games. I want buckets that represent something in the narrative.

And if people don't like them it's super easy for them to just pick and choose whatever abilities they want.

If it helps at all, they made multiclassing a core feature of the game which I also dislike. I'm never using it. Subclasses solve the issue elegantly. Now they need to design around it and it needlessly constrains that design.

 

[Oofta]

When they introduced backgrounds in 2014, I thought it was a pretty cool concept. Now if I wanted to play a PC that could do a little bit of rogue stuff, I could just pick the correct background and I was good to go! It also had some flavor text which, while it caused a few forum arguments, added some interesting options in the games I played.

But in the 2024 version? I wish they had just dropped the concept, talked about backstories and given us the benefits of a custom background as part of character generation. There's no real flavor to the backgrounds any more, it's just an overly restrictive list of bonuses with the only flavor being the label they associate to it. I really like the idea of an origin feat, but it shouldn't be tied to your background.

For example, I have a paladin that was the son of a famous cleric. From a backstory perspective it makes a lot of sense to have the Magic Initiate (Cleric) origin feat, but the ability bonuses and skills? Not so much. So all of the characters I, and everyone I play with, created are using a homebrew custom background.

 

[CreamCloud0]

D&D is a class based system.

Why have them at all? Because a lot of people want to embrace the class based system.

I highly dislike point based games. I want buckets that represent something in the narrative.

And if people don't like them it's super easy for them to just pick and choose whatever abilities they want.

If it helps at all, they made multiclassing a core feature of the game which I also dislike. I'm never using it. Subclasses solve the issue elegantly. Now they need to design around it and it needlessly constrains that design.

@Will Brandiman isn't asking for pointbuy, wanting flexibility in which buckets you can use for your character isn't pointbuy, they are criticising that while there are buckets of options, they've made those buckets so mechanically weighty and rigid in such a way that there are now clear optimal combinations that you are pretty much actively nerfing yourself if you don't pick 'the right background' for your class, to such an extent that the narratives of what they represent are being overlooked to aquire the mechanical features.

DnD is a class based system, but it has never been that your class is your ONLY choice that mattered.

 

[Horwath]

When they introduced backgrounds in 2014, I thought it was a pretty cool concept. Now if I wanted to play a PC that could do a little bit of rogue stuff, I could just pick the correct background and I was good to go! It also had some flavor text which, while it caused a few forum arguments, added some interesting options in the games I played.

But in the 2024 version? I wish they had just dropped the concept, talked about backstories and given us the benefits of a custom background as part of character generation. There's no real flavor to the backgrounds any more, it's just an overly restrictive list of bonuses with the only flavor being the label they associate to it. I really like the idea of an origin feat, but it shouldn't be tied to your background.

For example, I have a paladin that was the son of a famous cleric. From a backstory perspective it makes a lot of sense to have the Magic Initiate (Cleric) origin feat, but the ability bonuses and skills? Not so much. So all of the characters I, and everyone I play with, created are using a homebrew custom background.

yeah, now every fighter/barbarian and anything close to melee combat will be a farmer

I will ignore this section 100%.

It will be:

+2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 ASI
2 skills
1 tool, 1 weapon or 2 languages,

 

[Stormonu]

If they were going to change the source of ASIs, I wish they'd move them to class. Start as a Fighter? Take a +2 to Str or Dex. Playing a wizard? Take a +2 to Int. Playing a Monk? Add +1 to two ability scores chosen between Str, Dex or Wis. And so on.

Possibly, the +1 could then come from Background or be simply floating.

 

[CreamCloud0]

If they were going to change the source of ASIs, I wish they'd move them to class. Start as a Fighter? Take a +2 to Str or Dex. Playing a wizard? Take a +2 to Int. Playing a Monk? Add +1 to two ability scores chosen between Str, Dex or Wis. And so on.

Possibly, the +1 could then come from Background or be simply floating.

i'm against that personally, first because i'm loathe to increase the already overbloated impact of class and secondly because there are enough different builds within classes that it'll be just as bad if your class assigned ASI don't gel with an alternative build choice/priority, you can't even pick an alternative option to something that's baked into your class, take paladin for example, do you want STR? CHA? CON? maybe you're even playing a DEXadin...