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

[Marandahir]

It is not only the best, but you are penalized for taking something more thematic like Sage or Acolyte.

Penalized is a strong term here.
Both of those two backgrounds boost Wisdom, one of the Monks two most important ability scores.

There is not reason the Monk can't take +2 Wis, and +1 to either Int, Con, or Cha (depending on either of these two backgrounds), and still play just as well. You do not need the +2 Dex, +1 Wis, or +2 Wis, +1 Dex to play an "optimal" Monk. Whether Standard Array or Point Buy, you're not going to have a character that is 18/16/10/10/10/10. There's always a reason to have an "off-brand" ability score boost, even for a MAD class like Monk, for the purpose of secondary skill or tool usage.

And that's not even considering that Sage is Int/Con/Wis, meaning you can put the extra +1 into Con, which is nearly as important to Monks as Dex and Wis (as it is for nearly EVERY character who either (1) engages in combat or (2) has reason to maintain concentration).

So from even a CharOps perspective, sure, Sailor might be Gold and Sage might be Sky Blue, and Acolyte might be Blue, but they're still all recommended options mechanically and that's even before we get into the idea that Backgrounds are not there to be CharOp tools so much as story hooks that help show why you're different at level 1 from every other member of your species and/or class.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

i find it funny that everyone seems to be complaining about optimization hounding when the point is obviously just about how the background is anti-synergistic with the feat it comes with

 

[Maxperson]

I don't get why it isn't "choose Wisdom, Charisma or Intelligence" like almost all of the other feats.

You've answered your own question there. Feats need to be diverse, not just wis, cha, or int.

 

[Maxperson]

That's not how it works.

It doesn't matter how good the story is if the mechanics make it not fun to play.

It does make it fun to play. And it makes it not fun to play. That's a personal thing, not a general rule.

Just look at 3.5, mechanics won out over story the overwhelming majority of the time. Truespeakers had great stories (they know the True language of existence!) but because the mechanics made them unplayable people didn't play them.

Stats were important in 3e, because of the treadmill. In 5e stat bonuses don't mean a whole heck of a lot.

 

[Marandahir]

You've answered your own question there. Feats need to be diverse, not just wis, cha, or int.

The difference is actually that it's not a Spell-granting Feat. It could have granted a Fear-based Cantrip or 1st level spell with X-ASM-limited uses per LR with 1 restored after SR, but it went for doing something not emulated exactly by the Wizard or the Bard just with the right spell choice. Even the General Feats that grant spells with a choice of Int/Wis/Cha spellcasting ability scores don't also necessarily increase your choice of Int/Wis/Cha.

Some might be synergistic, ASI to either +Dex or Cha and a 1st-level spell cast with choice of Int/Wis/Cha, so you could choose Cha both times there. But say You're an Artificer or a Druid? You might choose to bump Dex instead of Cha and cast with Int or Wis instead.

 

[ECMO3]

2014-2023 material still exists to be used until they update that option in a 2024-onward book or explicitely say "Z feature is intended to replace W feature from earlier rulebooks"

They do say this explicitly for ability score increases though, on page 38 of the 2024 PHB:

"If you’re using a species from an older book, ignore those increases and use only the ones given by your background."

 

[ECMO3]

Penalized is a strong term here.
Both of those two backgrounds boost Wisdom, one of the Monks two most important ability scores.

There is not reason the Monk can't take +2 Wis, and +1 to either Int, Con, or Cha (depending on either of these two backgrounds), and still play just as well.

When you are talking about mechanics this means a 2 point decrease in your primary ability and the loss of a feat that synergizes with your class abilities and replacement with a Feat that is of little value for your class.

You do not need the +2 Dex, +1 Wis, or +2 Wis, +1 Dex to play an "optimal" Monk. Whether Standard Array or Point Buy, you're not going to have a character that is 18/16/10/10/10/10. There's always a reason to have an "off-brand" ability score boost, even for a MAD class like Monk, for the purpose of secondary skill or tool usage.

And that's not even considering that Sage is Int/Con/Wis, meaning you can put the extra +1 into Con, which is nearly as important to Monks as Dex and Wis (as it is for nearly EVERY character who either (1) engages in combat or (2) has reason to maintain concentration).

Constitution is not nearly as important as Dexterity for numerous reasons. the PHB even says explicitly that Dexterity and Wisdom are the primary abilities of Monks and when you get down to it, Wisdom is not as important as Dexterity.

So from even a CharOps perspective, sure, Sailor might be Gold and Sage might be Sky Blue, and Acolyte might be Blue, but they're still all recommended options mechanically.

No they are not sky blue.

There are 16 backgrounds in the PHB. For a Monk Acolyte and Sage are number 12th and 13the out of 16 respectively. If Sailor is gold, Wayfarer is Sky Blue, Guide is Blue, Scribe is Purple and Criminal is yellow, Acolyte and Sage are red or "F" or whatever.

The two backgrounds that make the most sense thematically for a Monk are among the worst you can choose.

and that's even before we get into the idea that Backgrounds are not there to be CharOp tools so much as story hooks that help show why you're different at level 1 from every other member of your species and/or class.

Exactly, and this is why they should not have mechanics like ASIs or feats attached to backgrounds, the backgrounds are there for story and having these elements gets in the way of the story hook.

 

[Maxperson]

But what is missing is the 4th level Feat that causes frightened every time you hit (essentially Menacing Strike at will with no damage). That would still be on Wisdom.

So what. All missing a +1 wis bonus means is that using that ability will on average fail 1 more time every 20 attempts.

 

[ECMO3]

that ability will on average fail 1 more time every 20 attempts.

Exactly. The feat given by the background is objectively weaker because of this, and her we are not talking about a class, where you can choose a different one, but a feat that is tied directly to the background.

Morover though, while you fail once "more" out of 20 attepmts, your overall effectiveness decreases by around 10-20% because that failure that was flipped was one of only a subset that would have suceeded.

 

[FrogReaver]

It is a chained feat. The reason to get the origin feat is to follow it with the 4th level Dragonscarred feat and that feat is a huge increase in offense (with the accompanying high wisdom)

Ok. And?