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PhoenixPhyre
2018-04-29, 08:24 PM
Note: I use the tool proficiency rules from Xanathar's.

I'm considering adding the following as an additional step in character creation (after/along with selecting a background, but after choosing a race):

Regional Background
Choose the region where your character started. Starting regions vary by race. You gain proficiency in one of the tools, skills, languages, or weapons listed for that region.

Are there things to consider re: balance here? Any tools/skills/languages/weapons that would be unbalanced to grant for free? They'd be emblematic of the region and the dominant culture.


* Note: halflings don't have a different language here. Metsae (wood elf) and Yonwach (high elf) are different languages. Languages are used--"civilized" people all speak common in various dialects, but many written items or outlying tribes speak only certain languages.

Dreamshore: human, wood elf, halfling, dwarf, tiefling, aasimar, half-elf, half-orc
Tools: Carpentry, Woodcarver's, Leatherworker's
Skills: Nature, Survival
Languages: Metsae (Wood elf), Ard-teang (Orc)
Weapons: Shortbow

Sea of Grass: human, high elf, halfling, dwarf, tiefling, aasimar, half-elf
Tools: Cobbler's, Brewer's, Weaver's
Skills: Animal Handling, Religion
Languages: Old Imperial (dead language found in many ruins/historical documents)
Weapons: Whip

Southshore: human, elf, halfling, dwarf, tiefling, aasimar, hobgoblin, yuan-ti pureblood, half-elf, dragonborn
Tools: Glassblower's, Cartographer's, Potter's
Skills: Insight
Languages: Yonwach (high elf), Ngyon Toi (goblin)
Weapons: Spear

Moon's Vengeance Foothills: dwarf, human, or halfling.
Tools: Jeweler's, Smith's, Tinker's, Mason's
Skills: History, Survival
Languages: Bidni-Khel (dwarf)
Weapons: War pick

Northern District (Stone Throne): Human, half-elf, yuan-ti pureblood, tiefling
Tools: Weaver's, Woodcarver's, Poisoner's Kit
Skills: Nature, Medicine
Languages: Iath Neidr (a mostly dead language found in this region's ruins)
Weapons: Blowgun and trident (you get both)

Central District (Stone Throne): Human, half-elf, yuan-ti pureblood, dwarf, tiefling
Tools: Alchemist's, Glassblower's, Poisoner's Kit
Skills: Arcana, Religion
Languages: Iath Neidr (a mostly dead language found in this region's ruins)
Weapons: scimitar

Southern District (Stone Throne): Human, half-elf, yuan-ti pureblood, dwarf, tiefling
Tools: Smith's tools, Mason's tools, Vehicles (water)
Skills: History, Deception
Languages: Iath Neidr (a mostly dead language found in this region's ruins)
Weapons: trident and net (you get both)

Byssia: Human, half-elf, wood elf, genasi, soulforged
Tools: Leatherworker's, Carpenter's, Woodcarver's, Mason's
Skills: Nature, Arcana
Languages: Metsae, Elemental
Weapons: shortsword, longbow

Baile Duchas: Dragonborn, half-orc, hobgoblin
Tools: Leatherworker's, Carpenter's, Woodcarver's,
Skills: Intimidation, Athletics
Languages: Ard-teang (orc)
Weapons: Greataxe, maul

Safehold: Dragonborn, half-orc, hobgoblin, soulforged
Tools: Brewer's, Potter's Cobbler's, Cook's, Tinker's
Skills: Animal Handling, Performance
Languages: Draconic, Ngyon Toi
Weapons: Pike, flail

Kairen Mountains: Dragonborn, half-orc, hobgoblin, soulforged
Tools: Mason's, Smith's
Skills: Survival
Languages: Draconic
Weapons: any martial melee weapon

Byarmarsh: Dragonborn, half-orc, hobgoblin, soulforged
Tools: Tinkerer's, Smith's, Alchemist's
Skills: Arcana, Investigation
Languages: Ngyon Toi, Draconic
Weapons: light crossbow, heavy crossbow, hand crossbow

Argothair
2018-05-02, 01:26 PM
You're giving each player *one* extra feature? Like, one skill, OR one weapon proficiency? Not one of each?

If so, I think this is mostly fluff -- it's not going to have much impact on the game either way, and if your players enjoy this kind of detailed character creation, then good on you for enriching the setting. If you have some new players at the table, they may be confused or bored by the extra step needed to generate a character; it's not immediately obvious to some new players how "background" and "region" and "class" and "race" and "subrace" are all supposed to be different from each other.

I would not use the "any martial melee weapon" bonus because you're just asking for abuse by munchkins. After that, the weapons that worry me the most are greataxe and longbow. Greataxe is a defining characteristic of dwarves; longbow is a defining characteristic of elves. If you let warlocks, sorcerers, etc. from other races start with these proficiencies then you might be weakening elves and dwarves in favor of other races. Both weapons are obvious candidates for 'dominating' their category, rather than something more niche or flavorful like a spear or a whip. Nothing really deals more damage than a greataxe; nothing really has longer range than a longbow.

The ability to use a tool is much harder to acquire in most settings than any of the three other bonuses you're offering, so I would expect most players to choose a tool proficiency option. Of the tool proficiencies, the Poisoner's Kit and Alchemists' Kit are most obviously useful in combat, and the Jeweler's Kit is probably most obviously the fastest path toward earning lots of gold. If you're OK with having your party start out a bit richer and a bit more deadly than normal, then that's fine.

PhoenixPhyre
2018-05-02, 06:16 PM
You're giving each player *one* extra feature? Like, one skill, OR one weapon proficiency? Not one of each?

If so, I think this is mostly fluff -- it's not going to have much impact on the game either way, and if your players enjoy this kind of detailed character creation, then good on you for enriching the setting. If you have some new players at the table, they may be confused or bored by the extra step needed to generate a character; it's not immediately obvious to some new players how "background" and "region" and "class" and "race" and "subrace" are all supposed to be different from each other.


Yeah, one extra feature from the list. It's small, but supposed to be flavorful. With my new players I tend to walk through things directly and talk through the options (talking about the parts of the world). But I'd probably reserve this house-rule for my more experienced group that already has some connection to the world.



I would not use the "any martial melee weapon" bonus because you're just asking for abuse by munchkins. After that, the weapons that worry me the most are greataxe and longbow. Greataxe is a defining characteristic of dwarves; longbow is a defining characteristic of elves. If you let warlocks, sorcerers, etc. from other races start with these proficiencies then you might be weakening elves and dwarves in favor of other races. Both weapons are obvious candidates for 'dominating' their category, rather than something more niche or flavorful like a spear or a whip. Nothing really deals more damage than a greataxe; nothing really has longer range than a longbow.


The culture that gets that particular option is under constant threat, so they have a culture where everyone walks around armed and everyone (women, children, old people, everybody) is trained with weapons. I only rarely play with munchkins (they're more apt to go for flavorful options over mechanically powerful ones), so I have less worry on that front. It's about 1/3 of a very weak feat.



The ability to use a tool is much harder to acquire in most settings than any of the three other bonuses you're offering, so I would expect most players to choose a tool proficiency option. Of the tool proficiencies, the Poisoner's Kit and Alchemists' Kit are most obviously useful in combat, and the Jeweler's Kit is probably most obviously the fastest path toward earning lots of gold. If you're OK with having your party start out a bit richer and a bit more deadly than normal, then that's fine.

True enough. One thing to note is that languages are important in my campaigns and I've had people pick languages over more mechanically powerful options.