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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ECMO3" data-source="post: 9798134" data-attributes="member: 7030563">Ok so they can't figure out how to get the backgrounds right .... like I said in the title.Right but 9 out of 16 backgrounds that are screwed up.And this is the key point - I can take an ASI that does not make sense in over half of the WOTC backgrounds already.  If your position is only thematic options should be available, then the published backgrounds do not afford that.Your whole argument rests on the idea that one should not be allowed to take an ASI that does not make sense for a background, and if the printed backgrounds already allow you to do this then what is the difference between that and having someone take a another ASI or just choosing an ASI.For some miniscule examples.  Certainly less than guards who would require Constitution.  Yet Guards can't get Constitution.Strength is a prime requisite for many criminals, including numerous criminal archetypea.  Charisma is also a prime requisite for most "criminal masterminds" especially con men and for a lot of thugs.  Intelligence simply makes less sense than those two attributesA Wayfarer is a person who travels on foot or more colloquially a travelor.  Constitution and Strength are their biggest two abilities this should be tied to, neither of which are available.Tell me, why do Wayfarers have Charisma?They all are.  You can come up with these corner cases of where those abilities are appropriate, but there are more appropriate abilities in all those examples.If you opened up every background to all 6 abilities you could come up with equally compelling one offs comparable to a "criminal mastermind" or a "sculptor".But this is about ASIs not matching the background thematically.  If WOTC allows me to take an ASI that does not match the background then you agument holds no weight.IN D&D parlance it is Charisma, and most of the time it is dress that distinguishes them, not some official status.I am not talking about officers or Law enforcement here, I am talking about guards.  Intimidation (and persuasion) is Charisma in D&D and these are both part of the job.But they don't have more than 3 and if it is by Thematics some should have less than 3, but they don't  - Ergo WOTC can't figure out how to do backgrounds.It is against the law whether a guard is there or not.  IF the law was a deterrent the guard would be useless.Intimidation!Intimidation!Size and Strength are not the same thing, especially in D&D where I can have a 30lb Halfling with a 20 Strength at 1st level (as long as I choose the right background) and swing a sword twice my size.But when we are talking about big men.  IRL I will agree being big does have some inherent advantages when it comes to being physically intimidating, but it still comes down to how you carry yourself.  There are plenty of big teddy bears.Soldier is an entirely different background and an entirely different job and GUARDS DON'T GET TO TAKE CONSTITUTION.You are sitting here telling me this is essential to the job, yet I can't take an ASI in it!No it doesn't, not if I choose intelligence as my bonus.This is the point, the backgrounds as they are allow for non-thematic choices.If they allowed all 6 abilities you could still choose those two and it would function "just fine" and if they allow one that isn't, then you can "break the game" by picking it, which is no different than if they allowed all 6.At the end of the day, if they allowed all 6 abilities you could make a more thematically appropriate character for at least 9 out of the 16 backgrounds by replacing the one that doesn't belong with something else.You appear not to understand that offering one non-thematic option means you can take a non-thematic ASI with that background.Your claim:  "To the extent that the bonuses exist at all, they should be tied thematically to the backgrounds. "That is what you said and as a point of fact in the WOTC published backgrounds there are many examples of ASIs that are not tied thematically to the backgrounds they are part of.And you could do the same thing if they allowed all 6 abilities.You don't see a contradiction here - it is fine to allow ASIs that don't make sense ..... you can't allow ASIs that don't make sense.Debatable.  I would argue it should be cut to two.Not the three that are most appropriateAnd provides an ASI that is not thematically tied to it, something that you said should not happenIt provides one that is actually thematically appropriate.  You mounted a rather weak defense of intelligence above, what is your excuse for Constitution?Strength is more appropriate that Constitution or Intelligence certainly.And provides an ASI that is not thematically tied to it, something that you said should not happenAnd provides an ASI that is not thematically tied to it, something that you said should not happenAnd provides an ASI that is not thematically tied to it, something that you said should not happenAnd provides an ASI that is not thematically tied to it, something that you said should not happenHow is Constitution thematically appropriate for a Sage?But it leaves off the most appropriate ability thematically - ConstitutionWayfarer leaves off the two most appropriate abilities and provides one that is marginal at best.And numerous examples, even by your own admission where ability increases exist that are not thematically, something you said should not happen.</blockquote>

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