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Message: <blockquote data-quote="buzz" data-source="post: 1075260" data-attributes="member: 6777">I don't think this discussion has anything to do with "hack n' slash" versus "roleplaying" at all. The issue is whether background flavor needs to be represented in the mechanical aspects of the PC, and to what degree.My argument is that: a) the resources PCs have available are too meager to spend any of them on pure flavor (i.e., the need to spend them on abilities that represent what the PC can do *right now* as opposed to way back when they still lived on the farm)b) D&D is a game based on strong archetypes; characters perform within these archetypes best when they focus their resourcesc) even if you do want to spend these resources on flavor, d20 is abstracted enough that you don't have to spend a lot of them to represent said flavor.I'm going to go ahead and use the fact that Big Man Monte gives his players freebie background points as evidence that, if your campaign cares about these background elements, bring them into play, but don't penalize the PCs ability to do their "real job" in the process. Give them freebies, or leave it to the realm of rp'ing.Granted, if these "background" skills are indeed the focus of your campaign, e.g., a game where Expert is a viable PC class and the PCs are not expected to work within the CR system, then by all means spend the points on whatever you want. But if you're just "flavoring" a PC who's going to spend most of their time slinging spells and swinging swords (or even seducing succubi or savoring the knowledge of sages), then it's a waste, big time.Really, I guess it all boils down to "ask your DM." If the DM tells you ahead of time that your bg skills may never come into play, then forget about them... and vice versa.</blockquote>

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