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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 2985357" data-attributes="member: 3051">Yeah, I thought it sounded familiar.  I hadn't read too closely at first, but when I went back through it again and read the Thin Blood part, it all came back to me.What you've described is pretty similar to what my group used to use (probably around the time of the previous conversation?), before we switched to our current, simpler system (detailed in my previous post).  There were a few reasons for the change:> Originally, we had tied this to backgrounds.  If you picked the "street" background, you got one set of skills, if you picked "merchant" you got a different one, and so on.  We had a dozen or so.  The problem was that for a given class, one background became clearly optimal.> Then we tried regions, similar to how you and the FRCS handle it.  Inevitably, people wanted to create custom regions that had exactly the skill/weapon combo they wanted most.  It wasn't just pure powergaming, some of the combos were perfectly reasonable.  But it still led to the same problem; for a given race/class, one region usually became clearly optimal.  Or, one region became exactly what you needed to qualify for a certain PrC (Example: a Sorcerer who wanted to go Loremaster, which'd still give full spellcasting progression and better class skills, with no real downside).> Then we tried switching this to a racial system; for most races it's okay to have one racial skill set and a single set of "preferred" weapons, but for Humans it just wasn't practical.  Too much diversity.  That's why we made the Humans as open-ended as we did, in the end; by accepting that people would pick the region with the skills, weapons, etc. as close to their ideal as they wanted, we figured it'd just be easier to make a single open-ended framework for the Humans from the start.  The only problem with that was, would an Elf raised in Human lands get better bonuses than he would in Elf lands?  It's a bit iffy, at present.Then, there were other issues:> Weapon proficiencies: these really only mattered to non-weapon classes (casters, etc.), plus the occasional Rogue or Bard.  So, they weren't really very balanced; they're too all-or-nothing.  Familiarities help with this a bit, but it's still a problem.  Take the Elves and longswords, for instance; an Elven Wizard can use a longsword or bow just fine, which gives him no motivation to ever take Martial Weapon Proficiency (or multiclass into a weapon-using class).Our solution here was to completely rework how weapon proficiencies work by reintroducing AD&D-style "proficiency groups".  It really helped the situation, but it's not a short discussion.> Favored Classes were a BIG problem.  When we tied these to regions or backgrounds, it overshadowed everything else; non-Humans would pick their background primarily based on what class they intended to take.In theory, they'd allow people from that region/race to dip into a class for a level or two without penalty.  In practice, it worked the other way; people could pick a class they knew they wanted to "major" in (say, Barbarian), find a region that had that as favored, and then easily mix a level or two of front-loaded classes (Fighter, Ranger, Rogue) in to strengthen the character.Of course, this was only for non-casters, since casters lose too much multiclassing (usually), and it really diluted the Human/Half-Elf "Any" favored bonus.Anyway, overall impressions:1> Giving certain skill combos as class skills (for instance, Hide and Move Silently for the Demon Wastes or Umbragen) might cause balance problems for non-stealth classes with skill points to burn (Wizard!).  I'd switch it to Hide and Spot for the Demon Wastes, and Umbragen could get Move Silently and Listen just like the lizardfolk jungles.2> I think you'll have plenty of headaches with Umbragen, as it gives +2 WIS.  There's a reason no PHB races have a boost to a casting stat.  You might not have any powergamers in your group, but some of the ones I've played with would jump at that in a heartbeat for a LOT of classes.3> If Humans don't get their Favored Class (Any) any more, they're effectively weaker relative to the other races.  As a counterbalance, you could say that while Dwarves are effectively limited to the Dwarven regions (plus maybe a couple cosmopolitan ones), and Elves to the Elven regions, etc., Humans can pick ANY region.4> I like how most of the Favored Weapon combos are either two melee weapons or a melee and some exotic (net, spiked armor, etc.), because the classic sword+bow combo too often meant you had no need for anything else.  But you've still got a few with that combine one ranged with one melee (Talentas, Eldeen Reaches, and of course the basic elves in Aerenal); if the Talenta Boomerang is exotic, I don't see a problem, but if it's Martial you'd have issues.  Also, quite a few regions seem to have the Flails as their favored weapons; I'd diversify that a bit more.5> How exactly does "Favored Weapon: Medium Armor" (Darguun) work?  Automatic proficiency in it?  (Maybe it should just be "Free Medium Armor proficiency if you have Light Armor proficiency", but that'd really only benefit a small number of classes.)But overall, it seems fine, especially if you're not playing with a bunch of munchkins who gravitate towards the powergaming ideal at every step.  As someone who HAS played with/been one of those types, though, I'd recommend a few tweaks.</blockquote>

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