4,029
edits
Changes
no edit summary
{{#set:Summary=Give your characters flavorful and useful splashes of abilities, in a Bloodline-like form that is basically Gestalt Lite.}}
Backgrounds are character options for giving your character a bit of depth, some flavorful "dip" abilities, and a sense of both who they were before they started adventuring, and how invested into their skills they were before they took up adventuring.
Backgrounds are designed to be used on every character, PC and NPC alike (Though monsters may easily be exempt; Nobody expects every zombie to be a Scholar or every dragon to be a Doctor), and thus will unbalance a character if only one or two PCs have Backgrounds while nobody else does. Likewise, I intend for all Backgrounds to go up to Master level of expertise, though I did allow room for players to choose to invest only a single level into a Background, and homebrewers to create simple Backgrounds with very low ceilings.
==Credit== Special thanks to [[User:MadmanFromSpace | Madman From Space]] for sharing their material with me and giving me the kick in the rump I needed to start this project. The dude's a legend, give their other stuff a looksee. == List of Backgrounds ===
Below is a list of Backgrounds existing under this variant rule. Feel free to add your own.
*[[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule)/Gnomish Culture | '''Gnomish Culture ''']]
*[[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule)/Orcish Culture | '''Orcish Culture ''']]
==Alternate Background Options==
Not everyone will want to take Backgrounds as-is; Background levels are tricky and not everyone who possesses a Background is going to want to take levels in the Class Substitutes of their Background, so here are some fixes.
===Free Backgrounds===
The simplest and most balanced approach is to make Backgrounds free, part of character creation - Everyone gets a Background of Master Expertise, without having to invest levels into it. This gives players flexibility in their builds and doesn't require them to sacrifice levels.
===Background Feats===
Another option is the option of letting the player pay with feats instead of character levels; While feats are more rare overall, this gives you the opportunity to have a Background without it costing levels, and without it being completely free. Additionally, this can be combined with the default method to allow players to pay with feats or levels as they see fit.
<onlyinclude>{{3.5e Feat
|name=Novice Background
|types=General
|summary=You gain Novice Expertise in a [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]].
|benefit= You gain a Novice [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]] of your choice; You no longer need to pay a character level for the Background, nor take a level in any of the Background's Class Substitute classes, to avoid the XP gain penalty.
|normal= You need to pay a level for the Novice Background before level 12.
|special= You may only select one Background. This feat may not be taken if you already possess a Background.
}}</onlyinclude>
<onlyinclude>{{3.5e Feat
|name=Veteran Background
|types=General
|summary=Your [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]] advances to Veteran Expertise.
|prereqs=Novice [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]], including from the Novice Background feat.
|benefit= Your [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]] now advances to Veteran Expertise, retroactively granting you the abilities you would've already gained, and granting you the remaining abilities in the future. Additionally, you don't need to pay a character level for the Background, nor take a level in any of the Background's Class Substitute classes, to avoid the XP gain penalty.
|normal= You need to pay two levels for the Veteran Background, one before level 6 and the other before level 12.
|special= You may only select one Background. This feat may be taken if you already possess a Background, but that Background must be a Novice Background, and this feat must apply to that Background.
}}</onlyinclude>
<onlyinclude>{{3.5e Feat
|name=Master Background
|types=General
|summary=Your [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]] advances to Master Expertise.
|prereqs=Veteran [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]], including from the Veteran Background feat.
|benefit= Your [[Backgrounds (3.5e Variant Rule) | Background]] now advances to Master Expertise, retroactively granting you the abilities you would've already gained, and granting you the remaining abilities in the future. Additionally, you don't need to pay a character level for the Background, nor take a level in any of the Background's Class Substitute classes, to avoid the XP gain penalty.
|normal= You need to pay three levels for the Master Background; One before level 3, one before level 6, and the last before level 12.
|special= You may only select one Background. This feat may be taken if you already possess a Background, but that Background must be a Veteran Background, and this feat must apply to that Background.
}}</onlyinclude>
Below is a template; Simply add a / to this page's link, followed by the name of your Background, copy and paste the template below, and fill it out.
