Unearthed Arcana WOTC still can't get the backgrounds right in the new FR book.

[Sulicius]

House rule it yourself if you are the DM.

Talk to your DM if you are a player and you want to use the background.

Yes, it is not optimal.

 

[Maxperson]

Exactly my point!

Where we differ is in caring about which stats get a bonus. I understand how very little a +1 bonus is in 5e. 5e is not the editions of yesteryear where high stats made a lot of difference.

 

[WanderingMystic]

Where we differ is in caring about which stats get a bonus. I understand how very little a +1 bonus is in 5e. 5e is not the editions of yesteryear where high stats made a lot of difference.

This is something that I find lots of people get in the trap of thinking. I have never noticed a time when my character having a +1 compared to other players wishing I would have done something different.

Worse case scenario you have to go through lvls 1-3 with a +2 to your main stat. Since they recommend starting off at lvl 3 then it is really a tiny amount of time that you only have a +2 moving into a +3 at level 4. Now that it is easier to get an 18 by level 4 I see so many people building to get that at the expense of variety in their stats.

To me as long as I can get an 18 around level 8-12 then that is all that matters.

 

[Kinematics]

So having a description of a "Sailor" background with a +2 Wisdom and a +1 Dexterity and the Tavern Brawler Feat available helps me shape a story about a character who grew up in a monsastary, pledged his life to following the ways of his religion, trained in focusing his spiritual energy and then became a Monk (without ever seeing water)?

I don't think so.

Only if you deliberately misinterpret what was said just so you can make a sarcastic remark.

 

[Maxperson]

This is something that I find lots of people get in the trap of thinking. I have never noticed a time when my character having a +1 compared to other players wishing I would have done something different.

Worse case scenario you have to go through lvls 1-3 with a +2 to your main stat. Since they recommend starting off at lvl 3 then it is really a tiny amount of time that you only have a +2 moving into a +3 at level 4. Now that it is easier to get an 18 by level 4 I see so many people building to get that at the expense of variety in their stats.

To me as long as I can get an 18 around level 8-12 then that is all that matters.

Even that thinking is a trap. The difference between +2 and +3 is just +1. That means that on average you will succeed one single additional time out of every 20 rolls using that bonus. Given the number of rolls and random chance, you will never notice that success. It generally won't have much effect at all on things. Especially if it's in combat where you are usually facing multiple large bags of hit points. One extra hit every 20 swings and 1 extra damage per swing does almost nothing to multiple large bags of hit points.

What you WILL notice are feats. Sentinal will be useful often and you will see it happen over and over and over. It will ultimately have a much larger effect on the game and be much more fun to have. The other feats are similar. If the feat you want happens to come with a stat bonus, then that's a perk, but I wouldn't avoid a feat that's more fun and useful just to get a feat with a stat bonus.

 

[ECMO3]

House rule it yourself if you are the DM.

Talk to your DM if you are a player and you want to use the background.

Yes, it is not optimal.

Oh we do use custom and legacy backgrounds (from the DMG and PHB so technically not a houserule).

None of this changes that WOTC can't figure it out though.

 

[ECMO3]

Where we differ is in caring about which stats get a bonus. I understand how very little a +1 bonus is in 5e. 5e is not the editions of yesteryear where high stats made a lot of difference.

I don't care. All I am saying is WOTC doesn't understand how to do backgrounds.

And your point that the character was a Sailor and not an Accolyte is contary to the guy I replied to .... so you were saying exactly the same thing I was.

 

[ECMO3]

This is something that I find lots of people get in the trap of thinking. I have never noticed a time when my character having a +1 compared to other players wishing I would have done something different.

Then again I ask, why have them as part of the background? If you don't even notice a +1 then why is it necessary to be a certain thing for a specific background.

This is especially true when Background is a much smaller part of PC design than Class and chosen after you choose the class.

 

[ECMO3]

Only if you deliberately misinterpret what was said just so you can make a sarcastic remark.

If I want to create a character who came from a Monestary, what does having a bonus in Wisdom and Dexterity and the Tavern Brawler feat on the published Sailor background do for me?

It does nothing for the story. It is completely irrelevant to it, whether I play a Sailor background or an Accolyte background or a custom background.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

you optimize 100% for stats and balance and story will come by it self.

Story does not need optimization and balance, mechanics needs it.

as for background, it should have been from the start.

pick ability bonuses, either +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1
pick 2 skills
pick 1 feat for 1st level.
pick one tool, language or a weapon.

all printed background can only be guidelines for new players. If they even need it.

So so so much this. Players almost feel guilty when I tell them I don't really care what skills or tools or whatever they choose when picking a background or adding to stats or just about any other character choices.

I don't even care if they mix and match spell lists as long as it's in the pursuit of a thematic character and not mon/maxing a combat beast.

I currently have a druid and bard in my game as the only catasters and both have been given open season on swapping in and out spells that make sense for their concepts.