Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Haldrik Apr 16, 2010 22:37:26	"Even Violence Cant Solve Every Problem" Help write this Dragon magazine article about how to improve non-combat capabilities without sacrificing combat capabilities. The proposal is to continue gaining background benefits at higher levels. In essence, add a new 'Backgrounds' column to the Character Advancement table (PH1 page 29). I want this article to have a 'collective authorship'. So all of your suggestion are welcome. The insights and concerns of many contributors helps make the system more balanced, useful, and robust. Perhaps a consensus can emerge. When the text stabilizes, Il submit it to Dragon magazine for publication with a list of contributors.
#2 Haldrik Apr 16, 2010 22:37:52	Add New 'Backgrounds' Column To The Character Advancement Table (PH1 29) Level Backgrounds   1 Gain three background benefits   2   3 Gain a background benefit   4   5 Gain a background skill bonus feat   6   7 Gain a background benefit   8   9 Gain a background skill power feat 10 11 12 13 Gain a background benefit 14 15 Gain a background skill bonus feat 16 17 Gain a background benefit 18 19 Gain a background skill power feat 20 21 22 23 Gain a background benefit 24 25 Gain a background skill bonus feat 26 27 Gain a background benefit 28 29 Gain a background skill power feat 30 Background Tale: Describe one or more experiences that explain how the character became familiar with the chosen benefits and feats. The background can include a one-sentence flavor text that captures the essence of the experience, as a well as a one-paragraph personal story. Consider telling the tale from the first-person perspective. Continue to update the background as the character levels. At level 1, gain three background benefits When you create a character, choose three background benefits from the list below. You can choose the same benefit more than once, for the same or different skills. For example, you can use all three benefits to gain a +3 background bonus to one skill.    Background Benefit    . Gain +1 background bonus to a skill.    . Increase a background bonus by 1.    . Add one skill to your class skill list before you choose your trained skills    . Learn a language. [Comment: These three background benefits compromise between the strictly better benefits that the Scales Of War setting offers and the standard benefits that the Players Handbook 2 offers.] At levels 3, 7, 13, 17, 23, and 27, gain a background benefit Choose one background benefit from the above list. You can choose to add a skill to your skill list and retrain an old skill for it. At levels 5, 15, and 25, gain a background skill bonus feat Gain a background skill bonus feat that you qualify for from the following list.    . Skill Training Feat    . Skill Focus Feat    . Guild Feat    . Jack-Of-All-Trades    . Linguist    . Ritual Caster    . Practiced Study    . Gifted Ritualist (new)    . Gifted Practioner (new) At Levels 9,19, and 29, gain a background skill power Gain a background skill power feat . Skill Power
#3 Haldrik Apr 16, 2010 22:43:53	NEW BACKGROUND FEATS Gifted Ritualist Tier: Heroic Benefit: You learn one ritual of your level or lower. You can cast it as if you have the Ritual Caster feat. Once per day, you can cast any ritual you know of your level or lower, without spending the component cost. Special: You can take this feat multiple times. [Comment: The Gifted Ritualist feat is inspired by certain backgrounds like Imbuer that allow a character to perform a certain ritual as if having the Ritual Caster feat. Now as a 'background feat', it helps the character express the background flavor of having dabbled in magic, or manifesting innate magical abilities. Its benefit is still useful for characters that also have the Ritual Caster feat. Those with both feats can cast any ritual they know without the component cost.] Gifted Practitioner Tier: Heroic Benefit: You learn one practice of your level or lower. You can perform it as if you have the Practiced Study feat. Once per day, you can perform any practice you know of your level or lower, without spending the component cost. Special: You can take this feat multiple times. [Comment: The benefit of Gifted Practitioner lets non-Martial classes dabble in a Martial Practice.]
#4 Haldrik Apr 16, 2010 22:44:08	Reserved 3
#5 Haldrik Apr 16, 2010 23:05:38	Hmmm ... Seems theres no longer a way to change the title of the thread. Id like to change it from "Live And Learn" to "Even Violence Cant Solve Everything", which is funnier to me. Anyway, Id like the Advancement Table to add new backgrounds at the 'emptiest' levels. Its debatable what the emptiest levels are. Probably theyr the levels when you gain Encounter or Daily attack powers because at Paragon and Epic levels, you have to swap out an existing power, so you feel like you actually dont gain. Also, Id like background benefits to focus on *noncombat* benefits. Otherwise, Character Optimizers will always choose the combat benefits. I myself feel 'forced' to abandon noncombat benefits because combat benefits like the 6 hit point boost that I get from Auspicious Birth seems sooo much better than +2 to History checks. The whole point of this article is to let CO addicts like me to get some out-of-combat competence without sacrificing combat. We may need a special way to handle combat backgrounds that enhance combat stats, including hit point, saving throw, initiative, and weapon proficiency. The 'dual-use' benefits that can enhance both noncombat and combat are tolerable, because at least the character that has them has something to use outside of combat. I tend to use the word 'backgrounds' to mean background features, be they a skill bonus, feat, or whatever.
#6 drackcove Apr 17, 2010 1:58:30	I think giving access to new at wills (power swap) at either heroic or paragon tier based on background would be useful. It very much adds the background flavor to the character entire way of interacting in the world.
#7 Haldrik Apr 18, 2010 15:45:16	I hope to use backgrounds as an additional mechanic to develop noncombat features. Combat-oriented backgrounds are tricky. If backgrounds offer combat stats, then the Character Optimizers will be 'forced' to use backgrounds to further their combat abilities, and will still never get a chance to master anything outside of combat. Really combat stats also includes combat 'utilities': hitpoint boosts/healing, saving throw modifiers, defense boosts, mobility/deterance, and stealth/detection, and so on. But skills tend to be 'dual use' to cover these combat utilities too, so its difficult to totally separate backgrounds that augment skills from combat optimization. But at least while augmenting a dual use ability, they have something to do outside of combat too. That said, we should also discuss how to handle combat-oriented backgrounds. For example, 'accessory' proficiencies (weapon and implement). Accessing the atwill of another class is strictly combat oriented (except perhaps atwill cantrips). One way to do this is to design a new multiclass feat. Flavorwise, this clearly expresses previous familiarity with that class, and balancewise, should be fair and robust. For example, instead of granting access to a class feature, the mc feat could grant Encounter access to the class atwill power. Players who want can take them both. The MC Paragon Path can grant full access.
#8 wrecan Apr 26, 2010 9:29:04	Sorry I only just saw this thread.  I would advise that any non-combat benefits be divorced from the feat system.  Otherwise, you are asking people to choose between combat and non-combat benefits. The way I would work it is come up with a new mechanic: the aptitude.  An aptitude is a skill-related trick you pick up along your adventuring career.  You can pick up a aptitude at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd, 25th, 27th, and 29th. Then devise 12 aptitudes for every skill.  4 heroic, 4 paragon, and 4 epic.  These aptitudes should not give you numeric bonuses, but rather expand the skill into a new area.  They should be less powerful than a feat and not have an obvious combat purpose. Players can only take aptitudes for skills in which they are trained.  They may also use an aptitude slot to learn a new language, or to put a skill on their class list (though they'd still need to use Retraining to learn the Skill).  If you retrain out of a Skill for which you have aptitude, you lose the benefit of the aptitude.  Aptitudes can be retrained like feats and other mechanics. Examples: Acrobatics Epic: You can walk across water.  You must end your movement on solid ground, or you sink. Arcane Heroic: When observing the effects of a magical ritual or zone, you can identify the effect's creator, if you have ever seen any other effect created by that individual. Insight Paragon: After observing a creature for a short rest, you can determine their alignment. Intimidate Heroic: You only incur a -2 penalty when intimidating creatures with whom you share no common language. Thievery Epic: You can use your skills to dispel a zone.  The DC is equal to the level of the creature that created the zone plus X(?)