===== Background ===== \\ This system is meant to help create a describing background with mechanical benefits that makes sense within the game world context. \\ You are required to figure out a specific area of interest in which your character has a special kind of knowledge and skills. \\ You are also required to determine in which kind of terrain you have the most experience. \\ \\ All this requires you to work closely with your DM. He can make a campaign with specific skillsets and terrain sets that logically apply \\ to the world but the players should be able to have some form of influence in working out the specific sets. \\ \\ **Here you'll find a way to generate backgrounds yourself, as well as a few templates we have created beforehand.** \\ \\ ===== Interests ===== An interest is a specific area in which your character have specialized knowledge. You choose from among anything you can imagine (which have to \\ make sense within the game world) in which your character has a special interest. This gives you a **+2 insight bonus** to __knowledge or appraise__ checks and __one other skill__ (known as your prefered skill) of your choice related to that specific obsession of yours. This is a situational benefit, and it is up to the DM to determine when and where this bonus applies. \\ This might require you to ask your DM (often) if your bonus applies in a given situation. \\ Therefore, you should work closely with your DM to determine how valid your interest is before game start. Otherwise you might end up with \\ an interest that never will get into play. It also helps your DM to have a clear understanding of what your character might seek and work \\ towards during play. \\ \\ **NOTE THAT THESE BONUS' CAN'T BE APPOINTED TO SURVIVAL OR PERCEPTION. MORE ON THIS UNDER TERRAIN** \\ \\ **Examples of Interests** \\ Do note that these can be (and should be) quite general, yet specific enough that the bonus only applies in certain situations. \\ If you choose to have a general interest in "stuff", you won't get any benefits, as this is too general an interest to fit anything. \\ ==== Interests ==== |Cars|Commerce| |Computers|Burglary| |Animals|Puzzle solving| |Hunting|Engineering| |Ships|Crafting| |Weaponry|Warmachines| ===== Terrain ===== The terrain feature describes which kind of terrain you are most familiar with. This might be because you've lived most of your life \\ in a desert and therefore know a thing or two about surviving there. You could also describe it as the place where you've fought your \\ greatest battles in your life, and is therefore more familiar with dangers and pitfalls in such environment. \\ This confers a **+2 competence bonus** to __survival and perception__ checks when traveling or staying in that sort of terrain. \\ It should be as general as makes sense within the gameworld context. If you are playing a completely urban campaign, where none of the characters \\ have much familiarity with the life outside the city, you might want to switch terrain sets available. \\ \\ **Examples of Terrain ** \\ Note that choosing a terrain is also a close process with the DM. This allows your choice and the DM's input to work toward making your choice \\ relevant in the campaign setting, so you don't end up with a character from the desert, in an all tundra or urban campaign. \\ ==== Terrain ==== |Desert|Urban| |Tundra|Undercity| |Forest|Rooftop| |Mountain|Street level| |Natural cave|Back alley| |Refined underground|Sewer| |Ocean|Monastery/Holy buildings| ===== Templates ===== By now you know how to create your personal background complete with interests and terrain specific knowledge that confers beneficial features to you. \\ By combining class choice and background, you'll be able to form a short sentence that describes your character. \\ \\ "Hi, I'm Bob the brutal. I'm a **barbarian** that have lived most of my life in the **desert**, and I've always had a special interest in **hunting.** \\ \\ But if you don't have a concept in mind, or say you don't have time to whip one up, we will provide a few templates for you to choose among. \\ You will notice that they tend to be quite generic in nature. ==== Templates ==== ^Interest^Terrain^Fitting classes or races^ |Hunting|Forest|Ranger, Elf| |Commerce|Urban|Rogue, Half-elf| |Metals|Mountain|Fighter, Dwarf| |Animals|Natural cave|Druid, Gnome| |Travel|The roads|Bard, Halfling| |Bodyguard|Desert|Barbarian, Half-orc| |Stories|Ocean|Swashbuckler, Human|