kwanzaabot
2011-02-09, 04:35 AM
So, I've been reading through the Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin, and I was really intrigued by the inclusion of backgrounds (or "Origins" for the fans of the videogame).
Basically, instead of picking a race, the player picks a background for their character, which includes things like "Circle Mage" (the setting's equivalent to a mage's guild, which is available to elf and human characters), or "Surface Dwarf" (which is basically a dwarf who was exiled from- or voluntarily left- mainstream dwarven society to live on the surface).
In addition, each background comes with the standard racial abilities- stat adjustments, languages, allowed classes etc, and the player can choose two extra abilities from a table by rolling 2d6 and taking the ability with the appropriate die roll, which range from a second stat adjustment (each background appears to have a +1 bonus to a particular stat), bonus skills and so on.
I really liked this approach to character building, and was wondering, has there been any attempt to emulate this system in say, 4e or 3.5 D&D (or Pathfinder etc)?
Basically, instead of picking a race, the player picks a background for their character, which includes things like "Circle Mage" (the setting's equivalent to a mage's guild, which is available to elf and human characters), or "Surface Dwarf" (which is basically a dwarf who was exiled from- or voluntarily left- mainstream dwarven society to live on the surface).
In addition, each background comes with the standard racial abilities- stat adjustments, languages, allowed classes etc, and the player can choose two extra abilities from a table by rolling 2d6 and taking the ability with the appropriate die roll, which range from a second stat adjustment (each background appears to have a +1 bonus to a particular stat), bonus skills and so on.
I really liked this approach to character building, and was wondering, has there been any attempt to emulate this system in say, 4e or 3.5 D&D (or Pathfinder etc)?