Level Up (A5E) Why does a noble have a +1 STR

[Gandalf970]

I thought this an odd choice, it doesn't really matter to me. For me I wouldn't have put a +1 STR, I will make it a +1 WIS, INT or CHA, but that is my style. I am just looking for some insight from others and their perspective.

 

[tetrasodium]

I thought this an odd choice, it doesn't really matter to me. For me I wouldn't have put a +1 STR, I will make it a +1 WIS, INT or CHA, but that is my style. I am just looking for some insight from others and their perspective.

Someone else has been getting groomed as the heir for whatever reason, you are the spare in case of accident or whatever & the noble background character got pushed towards being useful to them as a trustworthy slab of muscle or whatever

 

[lichmaster]

I thought this an odd choice, it doesn't really matter to me. For me I wouldn't have put a +1 STR, I will make it a +1 WIS, INT or CHA, but that is my style. I am just looking for some insight from others and their perspective.

The association between backgrounds and ASI make sense in some cases and not much in others (looking at you, +1 CON as a guildmember). I'll definitely let each player choose 2 abilities and gain +1 in each regardless of the background, in order to let the player choose a background because they like it instead of because it gives a mechanical benefit to ability scores.

 

[Tonguez]

I thought this an odd choice, it doesn't really matter to me. For me I wouldn't have put a +1 STR, I will make it a +1 WIS, INT or CHA, but that is my style. I am just looking for some insight from others and their perspective.

Because in DnD Str = Combat bonus, Nobles get to be trained in arms so they can be Noble knights

 

[Faolyn]

Well, nobles are rich so they can spend all their time at their home gym if they wanted to.

 

[niklinna]

The idea that starting ability score increases must be tied to some other choice you make at character creation, with rationales ranging from strong to flimsy as justifications for stereotypes, is dying a slow, protracted death.

We must be careful, though! That way lie freeform, classless systems like GURPS and Torg, and we can't allow that to happen.

 

[Greg K]

I guess nobody either read or recalled the old Dragon Magazine article, "What Good PCs are Made of" by Katherine Kerr (in issue 96). One of her example characters was both a thief and legitmate daughter of a noble. Ignored by her father, who focused his attention on her older brothers, she developed her initial thieving skills by stealing extra food from the cook and graduated to stealing small valuable objects from noble visitors before running away from an arranged marriage and joining the Thieves' Guild. The character was described as deviousness and relying on her wits (which included the applicaton of her training in social graces as a noble woman and experience living a double life) rather than direct confrontation.

 

[Staffan]

The idea that starting ability score increases must be tied to some other choice you make at character creation, with rationales ranging from strong to flimsy as justifications for stereotypes, is dying a slow, protracted death.

We must be careful, though! That way lie freeform, classless systems like GURPS and Torg, and we can't allow that to happen.

I kinda like both ways. Having various choices that each give a set of stat bonuses feels... grounded, I guess. You can point to your Deception skill and say "That's what you get from a life of court intrigue", particularly if it's paired with some other trait that also relates to the same thing. But at the same time, I can appreciate the freedom of just setting the stats and skills to what feels right and coming up with your own justification.

 

[MattW]

I can see why Nobles might get either STR or CON bonuses. They will have received plenty of food/nutrition when they where young. Which is not something that can be guaranteed for a mere peasant

 

[noodohs]

View attachment 148096
Someone else has been getting groomed as the heir for whatever reason, you are the spare in case of accident or whatever & the noble background character got pushed towards being useful to them as a trustworthy slab of muscle or whatever

I think the written explanation is really what makes sense. If you're a noble, you live a cushy life where nothing can really threaten or hurt you. Why would you take up adventuring, where your life is constantly in danger? As a friend of mine says, no normal, sane person would take up adventuring, and that's an important part of your background when creating a character.