Looking through One D&D's backgrounds and how they were made in 5e has me wondering how you feel about the change? Do the big changes actually bother you? What would you change if you could?
Big changes: You always get 1 tool and 1 language. No more 2 language backgrounds, or 2 tool backgrounds.
You only get crunch out of your equipment. Here's 50gp go shopping. In 5e you also got a background item, like a lock of hair from an admirer; a scroll with a recent discovery; or a note of introduction to a guild. Like trinkets, they're likely wasted ink for 99.9% of characters, but a point for inspiration forna few... but something about skipping them feels wrong to me.
I also feel like making your own background feels like a way for WotC to cheap out on making material. I love having the custom option, but using it as an excuse to print them in one book and forget about them forever after that feels wrong. How about you?
Don't worry. The Origins Playtest document has been shot down since the day it released. Not a single change to R5e proposed in that document will make it to print. You will get to keep your locks of hair, and in turn half the backgrounds will be pointless traps, background features will continue to be meaningless wastes of wordcount and people will continue to homebrew the hell out of character generation to make non-class portions of the character's background mote meaningful and interesting.
I am not fond of the change - one is the things I liked about backgrounds was the provision of a unique trait only obtainable through the background. These were fun, flavourful feats that were, for the most part, not really “min-maxy”, giving you a way to customise your character without losing out on optimisation.
Receiving a generalised feat obtainable through other means removed a unique element of customisation—and the last thing 5e needs is fewer types of choice. Further, even with the pending reworks of features, some are going to be the “correct” answer for builds. That was never a problem when the background features were fairly mundane, like “nobles like talking to you” or “peasants will give you boarding.”
I am not fond of the change - one is the things I liked about backgrounds was the provision of a unique trait only obtainable through the background. These were fun, flavourful feats that were, for the most part, not really “min-maxy”, giving you a way to customise your character without losing out on optimisation.
Receiving a generalised feat obtainable through other means removed a unique element of customisation—and the last thing 5e needs is fewer types of choice. Further, even with the pending reworks of features, some are going to be the “correct” answer for builds. That was never a problem when the background features were fairly mundane, like “nobles like talking to you” or “peasants will give you boarding.”
Yeah, I thought they were pretty interesting, because most are, "You can find housing in a city." But then Outlander says, "You can feed the party."
What gets me about the customization RAW is that the coolest part of the Charlatan and Marine get axed. "You want to be REALLY good at this niche set of tools? Take this background!" Marines are like, "Want to drive everything?" Charlatans ask if you eant to fake everything.
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Looking through One D&D's backgrounds and how they were made in 5e has me wondering how you feel about the change? Do the big changes actually bother you? What would you change if you could?
Big changes: You always get 1 tool and 1 language. No more 2 language backgrounds, or 2 tool backgrounds.
You only get crunch out of your equipment. Here's 50gp go shopping. In 5e you also got a background item, like a lock of hair from an admirer; a scroll with a recent discovery; or a note of introduction to a guild. Like trinkets, they're likely wasted ink for 99.9% of characters, but a point for inspiration forna few... but something about skipping them feels wrong to me.
I also feel like making your own background feels like a way for WotC to cheap out on making material. I love having the custom option, but using it as an excuse to print them in one book and forget about them forever after that feels wrong. How about you?
This has been discussed extensively. In that thread and half a dozen others.
Don't worry. The Origins Playtest document has been shot down since the day it released. Not a single change to R5e proposed in that document will make it to print. You will get to keep your locks of hair, and in turn half the backgrounds will be pointless traps, background features will continue to be meaningless wastes of wordcount and people will continue to homebrew the hell out of character generation to make non-class portions of the character's background mote meaningful and interesting.
Please do not contact or message me.
I am not fond of the change - one is the things I liked about backgrounds was the provision of a unique trait only obtainable through the background. These were fun, flavourful feats that were, for the most part, not really “min-maxy”, giving you a way to customise your character without losing out on optimisation.
Receiving a generalised feat obtainable through other means removed a unique element of customisation—and the last thing 5e needs is fewer types of choice. Further, even with the pending reworks of features, some are going to be the “correct” answer for builds. That was never a problem when the background features were fairly mundane, like “nobles like talking to you” or “peasants will give you boarding.”
Yeah, I thought they were pretty interesting, because most are, "You can find housing in a city." But then Outlander says, "You can feed the party."
What gets me about the customization RAW is that the coolest part of the Charlatan and Marine get axed. "You want to be REALLY good at this niche set of tools? Take this background!" Marines are like, "Want to drive everything?" Charlatans ask if you eant to fake everything.