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Premiere Backgrounds for 5e: a mechanic

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[quote][i]Originally posted by sleyvas[/i]
[br]I've got a basic concept in mind for use with 5e rules, and I suspect that I'm not the first to try to play around with the concept.  I wanted to throw it out and see if someone had seen something (anything) similar on say DM's Guild, etc...

The general idea is this.  Backgrounds are nice, but there's just not enough you can do mechanically to make one background significantly different from another without unbalancing the background.  However, if you in essence take some kind of flaw to outweigh the bonuses of a better background, it could even out.  Now, what most people think of when they hear "flaw" is an ability score negative, but I don't want it to be that.  One thing I had introduced in other things was the ability to give up the next five levels of hit dice in order to gain a feat.  This would be something you could do at 5th, 10th, and 15th levels.  At the end of this I'll post those rules, just for clarity's sake, because I know sometimes I am not 100% clear.

So, my idea would work as a similar concept, BUT maybe there's a better way of doing it.  In essence, at first level, the character would give up his next 5 hit dice, and instead in his "background" slot he could put a "Premiere Background" instead.  So, to give an idea here of what I'm meaning, it could be something with more power to it similar to a kit from 2e (and I might look at those for ideas).  To give a further example, in my idea for the United Tharchs of Toril, in certain tharchs, I want to introduce magical schools where young wizards, sorcerers, and possibly other classes might have been taught.  In these schools, there might be different "factions"/"Houses" and thus this can create a bond between graduates that's not based on "I'm an evoker, so I'm allied to all evokers".  The general idea would be something similar to Hogwarts, but not mirroring its mottos, and each faction would have certain bonuses that go along with its credos.  Similar things might be done with drow fighting academies, maybe certain temples of established reknown/ethos, Impilturian "Royal" training facilities, Cormyrian War Wizard training, etc...

Just thinking through some options for abilities to give, it might simply enhance how quickly a certain ability is gain.  For instance, a person going to a wizard school that is a fighter or rogue at 1st level may be able to take their third level ability of "martial archetype" as eldritch knight or "roguish archetype" as arcane trickster at 1st level instead of 3rd and gain a bonus of +2 to their "level" to determine spells and spells slots available.  Maybe when they do hit 3rd level, they gain an extra cantrip. Other abilities may simply focus on like an ability to make low value magic items (i.e. expendable stuff) easier for someone who is a pure wizard or sorcerer.  Maybe they gain a specific metamagic ability. Maybe warlocks can learn at the school but they serve a specific patron, and that opens up some ability.

What do you like or dislike about this idea?  Is there a better mechanic that might be used under the 5e ruleset than giving up hit dice OR taking on an ability score penalty?  Do you favor more the ability score penalty OR the loss of hit dice?

*********BELOW THE OPTIONAL HIT DICE RULES FOR FEATS*******

[i][b]Optional Rules: Hit Dice Trading for Feats[/b]
Using the standard rules, if a character does not use his hit dice over several short rests during the day, at the end of the day he can essentially use all of his hit dice to usually restore himself to maximum hit points. However, in a party including healers, these hit dice may go to waste. Also, a player simply may want to establish that he's given up some of his personal vitality in exchange for power as his power grows (for instance, Raistlin).

Using these optional rules, at 5th, 10th, and 15th character level (not class level), the character is given the choice of giving up their next five hit dice gains in exchange for a feat. Whenever a new hit dice gain would be a smaller hit dice, then the character actually exchanges the already larger hit dice for a smaller hit dice. For instance, if a character had 5 levels as a fighter and then chooses to start leveling as a wizard, at each level of wizard level gain, he exchanges one of his current 1d10 hit dice for a 1d6 hit dice. For instance, if a character had 5 levels as a fighter and 4 levels as a wizard, and they had traded in hit dice for a feat, then they would have 1d10 + 4d6 hit dice in total. This gaining of always the lowest hit dice continues as the character levels, even if the character does not trade in future hit dice for feats. For instance, if the aforementioned character then chose to return to levelling to finally become a 8th level fighter and 5th level wizard, and he had still only traded in for the one feat, he would have 3d10 + 5d6 hit dice. If the aforementioned character had traded in hit dice for two feats, he would have 5d6 hit dice. At no point in leveling should the character have less than 5 total hit dice per day, but they should always be their lowest hit dice from all chosen classes. It should be noted that this is simply hit dice per day and not the increase in maximum hit points gained by leveling (such that the aforementioned 8th level fighter / 5th level wizard would still determine his maximum hit points by using 8d10 + 5d6 + 13 x Constitution Modifier).
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T O P I C R E V I E W
sleyvas	Posted - 22 May 2020 : 13:01:05 I've got a basic concept in mind for use with 5e rules, and I suspect that I'm not the first to try to play around with the concept. I wanted to throw it out and see if someone had seen something (anything) similar on say DM's Guild, etc... The general idea is this. Backgrounds are nice, but there's just not enough you can do mechanically to make one background significantly different from another without unbalancing the background. However, if you in essence take some kind of flaw to outweigh the bonuses of a better background, it could even out. Now, what most people think of when they hear "flaw" is an ability score negative, but I don't want it to be that. One thing I had introduced in other things was the ability to give up the next five levels of hit dice in order to gain a feat. This would be something you could do at 5th, 10th, and 15th levels. At the end of this I'll post those rules, just for clarity's sake, because I know sometimes I am not 100% clear. So, my idea would work as a similar concept, BUT maybe there's a better way of doing it. In essence, at first level, the character would give up his next 5 hit dice, and instead in his "background" slot he could put a "Premiere Background" instead. So, to give an idea here of what I'm meaning, it could be something with more power to it similar to a kit from 2e (and I might look at those for ideas). To give a further example, in my idea for the United Tharchs of Toril, in certain tharchs, I want to introduce magical schools where young wizards, sorcerers, and possibly other classes might have been taught. In these schools, there might be different "factions"/"Houses" and thus this can create a bond between graduates that's not based on "I'm an evoker, so I'm allied to all evokers". The general idea would be something similar to Hogwarts, but not mirroring its mottos, and each faction would have certain bonuses that go along with its credos. Similar things might be done with drow fighting academies, maybe certain temples of established reknown/ethos, Impilturian "Royal" training facilities, Cormyrian War Wizard training, etc... Just thinking through some options for abilities to give, it might simply enhance how quickly a certain ability is gain. For instance, a person going to a wizard school that is a fighter or rogue at 1st level may be able to take their third level ability of "martial archetype" as eldritch knight or "roguish archetype" as arcane trickster at 1st level instead of 3rd and gain a bonus of +2 to their "level" to determine spells and spells slots available. Maybe when they do hit 3rd level, they gain an extra cantrip. Other abilities may simply focus on like an ability to make low value magic items (i.e. expendable stuff) easier for someone who is a pure wizard or sorcerer. Maybe they gain a specific metamagic ability. Maybe warlocks can learn at the school but they serve a specific patron, and that opens up some ability. What do you like or dislike about this idea? Is there a better mechanic that might be used under the 5e ruleset than giving up hit dice OR taking on an ability score penalty? Do you favor more the ability score penalty OR the loss of hit dice? *******BELOW THE OPTIONAL HIT DICE RULES FOR FEATS*** [i]Optional Rules: Hit Dice Trading for Feats** Using the standard rules, if a character does not use his hit dice over several short rests during the day, at the end of the day he can essentially use all of his hit dice to usually restore himself to maximum hit points. However, in a party including healers, these hit dice may go to waste. Also, a player simply may want to establish that he's given up some of his personal vitality in exchange for power as his power grows (for instance, Raistlin). Using these optional rules, at 5th, 10th, and 15th character level (not class level), the character is given the choice of giving up their next five hit dice gains in exchange for a feat. Whenever a new hit dice gain would be a smaller hit dice, then the character actually exchanges the already larger hit dice for a smaller hit dice. For instance, if a character had 5 levels as a fighter and then chooses to start leveling as a wizard, at each level of wizard level gain, he exchanges one of his current 1d10 hit dice for a 1d6 hit dice. For instance, if a character had 5 levels as a fighter and 4 levels as a wizard, and they had traded in hit dice for a feat, then they would have 1d10 + 4d6 hit dice in total. This gaining of always the lowest hit dice continues as the character levels, even if the character does not trade in future hit dice for feats. For instance, if the aforementioned character then chose to return to levelling to finally become a 8th level fighter and 5th level wizard, and he had still only traded in for the one feat, he would have 3d10 + 5d6 hit dice. If the aforementioned character had traded in hit dice for two feats, he would have 5d6 hit dice. At no point in leveling should the character have less than 5 total hit dice per day, but they should always be their lowest hit dice from all chosen classes. It should be noted that this is simply hit dice per day and not the increase in maximum hit points gained by leveling (such that the aforementioned 8th level fighter / 5th level wizard would still determine his maximum hit points by using 8d10 + 5d6 + 13 x Constitution Modifier).
2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
sleyvas	Posted - 22 May 2020 : 16:07:07 quote: Originally posted by keftiu Have you seen the Epic Backgrounds mechanic in Heroes of Baldur's Gate? No, I had not, in fact, I haven't even heard of that particular product. Let me search on that. EDIT: Ok, I looked it over, and that gives a good idea for how to possibly layout some abilities, etc.. but that's more tailoring a background to an adventure path. It is something akin to what I was looking for, so thank you, but since what I want to build will have more mechanical benefits up front I need to look deeper. I do like how those have tied in goals and rewards that are achieved later though. By the way, I find the idea of the awakened clone interesting, in that I was pursuing a kind of duplicate idea, but actually involving a duplicated soul or "twinning" of a soul between Abeir and Toril. FURTHER EDIT: Hmm, this may be a module worth reading... thank you.
keftiu	Posted - 22 May 2020 : 15:16:07 Have you seen the Epic Backgrounds mechanic in Heroes of Baldur's Gate?

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