Any good background systems out there?

[BassoonHero]

I'm working on a background system to replace a number of skills, including Craft, Decipher Script, Knowledge, Perform, Profession, and Speak Language. These backgrounds will be very lightweight, lacking checks or complex mechanics. They will function primarily as "flavor ribbons", though some may provide minor mechanical bonuses or abilities. Overall, I expect that a background will be no more useful than a skill trick, and often less.

I know that there are other background systems floating around, and I've seen a couple of them, but I'm sure that there are more that I haven't. Has anyone tried using such a system in your game? If so, how did you like it?

[Minion #6]

Try 13th Age (http://www.13thagesrd.com/) and its background system. A bit more far reaching than what you're looking for, but then again there's no reason you can't just pare it down. I've used it as a replacement for skills entirely, and its mostly been enjoyable - although I do have players that don't mind if I find their background to be not applicable.

[Nifft]

5e has a background system worth stealing (and adapting), but since you use terms like "ribbons" it's my guess that you already know all about 5e.

[BassoonHero]

Try 13th Age and its background system. A bit more far reaching than what you're looking for, but then again there's no reason you can't just pare it down. I've used it as a replacement for skills entirely, and its mostly been enjoyable - although I do have players that don't mind if I find their background to be not applicable.
Those look interesting, though they seem to be more of a traditional skill system with ranks and checks. I'll have to look more into it.


5e has a background system worth stealing (and adapting), but since you use terms like "ribbons" it's my guess that you already know all about 5e.
I play 5e as well, and I like its background system as a part of that edition. 5e's backgrounds partly make up for the rigidity of the proficiency system, allowing characters to pick up "cross-class" skills. In 3.5, the mechanical aspects of 5e's backgrounds would be unnecessary, but the purely flavor aspects aren't that far off from what I'm thinking of.

It's interesting to me that despite consolidating skills and introducing an explicit background system, 5e maintains Knowledge and Perform as separate skills. I don't like the Knowledge skill in 3.5 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?569896-Knowledge-Checks-In-Game&p=23393527#post23393527), and one reason is that the DCs are subjective to the point of being arbitrary. In 5e, though, most skill DCs are almost entirely subjective. (This is one of my biggest complaints about 5e.) So the arbitrariness of an Arcana DC really isn't any different from the arbitrariness of an Athletics DC. On the other hand, Craft was demoted to proficiency in crafting tools. Crafting in 5e doesn't generally involve any checks, and tool proficiencies can be gained without leveling up or expending character resources (other than a token expenditure of gold).

On an unrelated note, I'm not familiar with the etymology of "ribbon" in this sense. Did this originate with 5e?

[Luccan]

Wait, so people won't have those skills? I'm confused what your looking for: to put those skills into exclusive backgrounds or to provide backgrounds that make people better at those skills? Something else?

[BassoonHero]

Wait, so people won't have those skills?
Correct. The system I'm working on will eliminate a number of low-mechanical-impact skills. Those skills will be represented by mechanically-lightweight "backgrounds". Other skills will not be affected by this.

In the comment I linked before, I discuss in detail why I think that the 3.5 skill mechanic is a poor fit for Knowledge in particular. In general, one or more of these objections applies to the skills I would eliminate:

- The skill is not amenable to consistent skill DCs, making check results arbitrary.
- The skill is almost invariably used offscreen during downtime, taking 10, making checks unnecessary.
- The skill's mechanical benefit is negligible, but it competes for skill points with useful abilities.

Consider Profession, for instance. Mechanically, the skill does basically nothing. The money it can earn you is utterly inconsequential by level two at the latest. It will never be used to solve an adventuring-related problem unless the DM deliberately shoehorns in an application (most likely for the benefit of an unfortunate PC who put ranks in it). It's essentially flavor text that costs skill points. I don't mind mechanics that are glorified flavor text; quite the contrary, I want to move Profession out of the skill list so that players may actually take it. So in a sense, "people won't have those skills" is the current state of affairs (because most players won't pick up Profession at the expense of skills that are actually useful) and I'd like to correct that.