Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 6296918" data-attributes="member: 1465">I really like the general idea of including many mechanics-free roleplaying devices into the core game. Mechanics are a good thing, but a RPG is much more than mechanics alone. I am tired by editions that are mostly only about mechanics, and I am even more tired by gamers who claim they don't need non-mechanical stuff "because I can make it up myself": those are almost invariably the players who end up playing the same PC over and over again.Anyway, the traits/bonds/flaws/values system is totally optional. It's both a roleplaying aid for players and NPC creation aid for the DM. Without mechanics, nobody forces anybody to use it. Add mechanics, and it won't be easily optional anymore.I completely agree. Even tho backgrounds are technically optional, because a player can opt to freely picking skills & tools proficiencies, they are a great addition. Background can also have surprising additional uses... You can have an NPC with a background but no class. Just assign ability scores, pick a background and set an approximate "virtual level" for the purpose of determining the proficiency bonus, and the NPC is good to go. No need to make your world-famous master chef a 20th level fighter or (even worse) a 20th level commoner. Yes they do, although they are "professions" in the broad sense of "how you make your living". That includes stuff as the guild thief (you make a living by one or more illegal activity), the thug (you make a living by extorting money or dirty jobs by commission), the bounty hunter (you make a living by collecting bounties), the sage (you make a living by selling your knowledge or they just make donations to you).I think the further distinction between backgrounds and professions would be useless.I don't think focusing on backgrounds as "what you were before adventuring" rather than "what you are when not adventuring" is a good idea. The second interpretation is more consistent with the fact that you actually keep progressing in those proficiencies.</blockquote>

Verification