I would love more fluid background features like this. More customization with backgrounds is definitely the way to go. It can be hard trying to find a background that fits a specific character concept, so it’s so nice being able to customize one.
I don't have my books with me because I'm in the middle of moving, but I feel like this has always been a thing. They've been messing with it since the sword coast adventure's guide with the inheritor having the same ideals, bonds and flaws as the folk hero. There's also out of the abyss I think? One of the adventures anyway has things similar to this where you swap features. You could also roll for gold and pick starting equipment instead of the stuff you get from a background, but this is cool. I was always comfortable mixing and matching, especially with ideals bonds and flaws, whatever makes sense for the character. It isn't going to be game breaking, and with Tasha's having the whole swapping proficiencies thing, this seems like a no brainer. I do like having more directed ideals, bonds and flaws sometimes, but honestly those are usually just for idea generation anyway so it's easy enough to make them fit the feature you pick. Even if it's easy to swap things around and I've been doing it for ages anyway, I appreciate seeing this so that more people are comfortable with it and when I suggest it to a play or if I come to a table and ask a DM if they'd allow it they don't give me a weird look.
You have always been able to customize backgrounds though? Its a basic rule in the book, it even tells you what you can do and how you can change them.
@@justa_person48 it's just easy to miss, that's all. It has always been a thing but it took me a fairly long time to understand that. I prefer taking a background as-is when it fits nowadays, but when nothing's quite snug enough it is fun to piece together a custom one.
It's always been a thing. Background customization was mentioned in, I believe, the PhB. It says the same things he said here. But I agree, more options are definitely better. Especially more generic ones.
The third party book Grim Hollow Campaign Guide added what they call Advanced Backgrounds. Rather than just having your background be a thing that happened and isn’t really active, they have it still be a part of you. If you were a merchant before adventuring, you can still be a merchant. It adds rules for how to rank up the background, what being a rank in a background gives you, and it grants access to a talent related to your background. The talent lets you add a die to certain uses of skills, like using Investigation to find clues at a crime scene. The book also adds Transformations, which I think are neat, so it has a few decent ideas to mine for campaigns other than their custom world.
@@Sibula Kind of, but there’s some backgrounds that aren’t exactly professions. Like there’s a Beast Hunter background, and having it grants you access to a hunter’s lodge. You advance by proving you’re a good hunter. You can also pick talents like ones that let you forecast the weather better. So, it’s not exactly a “profession,” but it kind of fits a similar niche.
@@Negeta I mean, I would totally count a monster hunter as a profession. If there's stuff like urchin or far traveler then that's a different thing, but merchant, monster hunter, researcher, soldier... are all professions to me.
@@Sibula Their new Player’s Guide added things like Beggar and Vagabond, so I guess a profession-like angle to being an urchin. All the backgrounds in their book definitely seem more of “what you do/did” rather than “what you did or where you lived” like the base game’s backgrounds.
We did this already, without knowing it existed, for our current campaign. My character has the sailor background but the position of privilege from the noble background as her father was a very well know admiral.
@@jamesbolt1003 She is a tortle Rogue warlock(Fathomless) Her patron is an ancient Dragon Turtle that saved her and her crews life in the past. Fathomless is not really overpowered or anything but it fits the setting really well.
Yeah I've done this as well. And wotc has been doing it too, with I think the backgrounds in out of the abyss and how the inheritor in the sword coast adventure's guide had the same ideals bonds and flaws as the folk hero. But I appreciate them kind of elaborating on this and making it more of a thing. It makes designing new features and lists of ideals, bonds and flaws easier, and it makes sense with Tasha's allowing the swapping of proficiencies.
@@darthjawa1369 very nice, I've yet to play a tortle. I've had a great deal of fun in this type of role as druids because of their ability for weather control and CC. Additionally, the potential for wild shape to sow chaos during ship to ship combat is great. No one ever expects the sparrow disappear in the crows next and start making a mess of the deck with spike growth or erupting earth.
These agnostic background features have existed since the early days of 5e there are two in The Hoard of the Dragon Queen (one that makes you an expert on Dragons and one that enables you to infiltrate Dragon Cults), and two in Out of the Abyss (one that makes you an expert on the Underdark, and one that gives you the ability to easily navigate the societies of Underdark people)
I really like this. They've been messing with this for a while with things like the backgrounds in out of the abyss. It makes sense for 5e and helps make backgrounds more customizable. The proficiencies, items and stuff are already kind of swappable. Though I do personally enjoy the ideals bonds and flaws, but adding more options for the abilities is cool. Oooh cool they made generic ideals bonds and flaws too? Interesting, very cool
Absolutely loved the reference to Ash. More options for features are a very good thing. I kind of like when a player wants to tweak their background because it seems they are more invested in the character when they do.
When College of Spirits first hit UA, my immediate character idea was a detective that communes with the dead to find their killer and put them to justice. With the investigator background more set in stone here, that works even more perfectly. Especially considering they're in the same book.
I was getting kinda worried when, in Tasha‘s, they equated changing ability score increases to having a different background, even though you are effectively mutating into another species. But this shows that they can make some amazing backgrounds, and we definitely need more of this! Reminds me of the time when I made noble, and changed the feature to that of the charlatan. Should be easy enough for a government official to procure a false identity.
Far Traveler and Inheritor are backgrounds from SCAG, however their features are All Eyes On You, and Inheritance respectively. So these are all brand new.
Finally! These kinds of backgrounds are exactly what we need! Backgrounds should do something, and it should be interesting. There‘s a reason I’ve been working on making new backgrounds.
pop culture names with sam an dean gave me a funny idea of 2 investigators introducing themselves "I'm officer Ellis Minster, this is my partner Officer Big Bezhan" Officer Elminster and Bigby's Hand
@@Nildread That, could be horrifying. Have the Oumpa Loompas be gnomes or kobolds who have been disfigured to look like some sort of mascots and forced to wear really stupid clothes as a uniform.
nice review and helpful for making good use of the backgrounds - - very much like these new tools and utility for making backgrounds - can anticipate many fun new developments and creative designs
Definetly would buy without a doubt. Background is an almost forgotten never used mechanic just like instruments but this type of fluid features gives it alot of relevance. It almost feels like a narrative feat, also allowing incorporating more anusual scenarios not only into the story of your character but also into its gameplay.
I would definitely buy a book (or at least a booklet; maybe something the size of an adventure?) of general background features, but I would want it to be FAR more generic than those outlined here. Because while there's really only one Features set that's Ravenloft specific (Mist Wanderer), most seem to be very genre (horror) specific. Think of it this way: I could easily see a Fisher, Marine or Shipwright background from the Saltmarsh campaign fitting into almost any campaign not set in an entirely desert planet. But the Trauma Survivor, Mist Wanderer and Haunted One backgrounds basically just scream "HORROR!" at me, and not much else. ;)
If it was something in a XGtE or TCoE book that made it just a bit bigger I'd be fine. A book of only background stuff? Maybe not. Backgrounds, swappable features, lists of ideals, bonds and flaws, new classes/subclasses, new swappable ancestry/lineage/race feature things, new gear, new magic items, spells, roll tables for filling out backstory stuff (though what we have in XGtE and EGtW are kind of sufficient), more DM tools, maybe some kind of monster templates or things to help create monsters? Or just more monsters and tables for making adventures? Something like that I'd be interested in more than just a book of backgrounds.
Imma be honest, I think SCAG was my favorite book so far as far as backgrounds went, wasn't a fan of anything else in it, but the backgrounds are nice. Would love a new book with just background stuff
I am sure that Kobold Press and other independent third parties include different backgrounds in their publications but to my knowledge nobody has produced a comprehensive full Background compendium. I may go off myself and draft one for a Kickstarter? Including such Backgrounds like the Occultist, the Scientist, the Gladiator, the Detective etc
no not far traveler, inherritor. inheritor is the name of the background you are thinking of with the feature of inheritance: "Choose or randomly determine your inheritance from among the possibilities in the table below. Work with your Dungeon Master to come up with details: Why is your inheritance so important, and what is its full story? You might prefer for the DM to invent these details as part of the game, allowing you to learn more about your inheritance as your character does. The Dungeon Master is free to use your inheritance as a story hook, sending you on quests to learn more about its history or true nature, or confronting you with foes who want to claim it for themselves or prevent you from learning what you seek. The DM also determines the properties of your inheritance and how they figure into the item’s history and importance. For instance, the object might be a minor magic item, or one that begins with a modest ability and increases in potency with the passage of time. Or, the true nature of your inheritance might not be apparent at first and is revealed only when certain conditions are met. When you begin your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your inheritance right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your inheritance a secret until you learn more about what it means to you and what it can do for you." far travers feature is called all eyes on you: "Your accent, mannerisms, figures of speech, and perhaps even your appearance all mark you as foreign. Curious glances are directed your way wherever you go, which can be a nuisance, but you also gain the friendly interest of scholars and others intrigued by far-off lands, to say nothing of everyday folk who are eager to hear stories of your homeland. You can parley this attention into access to people and places you might not otherwise have, for you and your traveling companions. Noble lords, scholars, and merchant princes, to name a few, might be interested in hearing about your distant homeland and people."
You mean with ideals bonds and flaws? This has those but just in larger lists instead of more directed ones, which honestly sometimes didn't really make sense or work for the characters I wanted to play anyway. Or do you mean proficiencies and starting equipment? Because Tasha's lets you swap proficiencies around. Is there a standard amount of proficiencies backgrounds give? It's gotta be in the creating custom backgrounds in the DMG, I don't have my books with me though so I can't check.
@@Geostelar4920 except they arnt really. They just slap them on any setting or supplement book. I'm kind of happy the theros book was called mythic odyssey of theros instead of like "An Oracle's guide to theros" or something lol. As well as Eberron: rising from the last war. Not that wayfinder's guide to eberron is a terrible name or anything. They're all ok names, but like, it starts seeming similar to those dummies or idiot's books. Other than Tasha's cauldron of everything....I thought the idea was they wanted the names to be as if they could be the names of books in the setting, but since when is a cauldron a book? I guess someone could argue that it's a book that's like a list of all the things Tasha puts in her cauldron but I dunno. Anyway I'd be fine if they moved away from guides, there's lots of names for books. I'd be fine if the reused tome again, "encyclopedia" could be interesting, "text" could maybe work? Lexicon, opus, primer, volume, atlas, scroll, folio? They've used some of these before, but it just seems like there's so many guides. I'd understand if they were trying to denote the expansion books like XGtE, or the setting books, or the monster books so you could tell the difference easily, but there seems to be almost no rhyme or reason.
@@Nildread As far as I know the "of/to everything" denotation has only been for the major class/magic item/feat expansion in Tasha's and Xanathar's where they collect all of the released new pc stuff into one book. I'd be fine if they continued this trend and have the "Everything" tag note those kinds of books
![Chlöe - Shake (Feat. Jeremih) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aDs_1ufpfv8/mqdefault.jpg)
Pickup a copy of Van Richten's for yourself (affiliate link): amzn.to/2ZIbayL
I would love more fluid background features like this. More customization with backgrounds is definitely the way to go. It can be hard trying to find a background that fits a specific character concept, so it’s so nice being able to customize one.
I don't have my books with me because I'm in the middle of moving, but I feel like this has always been a thing. They've been messing with it since the sword coast adventure's guide with the inheritor having the same ideals, bonds and flaws as the folk hero. There's also out of the abyss I think? One of the adventures anyway has things similar to this where you swap features. You could also roll for gold and pick starting equipment instead of the stuff you get from a background, but this is cool. I was always comfortable mixing and matching, especially with ideals bonds and flaws, whatever makes sense for the character. It isn't going to be game breaking, and with Tasha's having the whole swapping proficiencies thing, this seems like a no brainer. I do like having more directed ideals, bonds and flaws sometimes, but honestly those are usually just for idea generation anyway so it's easy enough to make them fit the feature you pick. Even if it's easy to swap things around and I've been doing it for ages anyway, I appreciate seeing this so that more people are comfortable with it and when I suggest it to a play or if I come to a table and ask a DM if they'd allow it they don't give me a weird look.
You have always been able to customize backgrounds though? Its a basic rule in the book, it even tells you what you can do and how you can change them.
@@justa_person48 it's just easy to miss, that's all. It has always been a thing but it took me a fairly long time to understand that. I prefer taking a background as-is when it fits nowadays, but when nothing's quite snug enough it is fun to piece together a custom one.
It's always been a thing. Background customization was mentioned in, I believe, the PhB. It says the same things he said here.
But I agree, more options are definitely better. Especially more generic ones.
Inheritor uses the Folk Hero table for its Bonds Ideals and Flaws but also its own thing for the background benefits
The third party book Grim Hollow Campaign Guide added what they call Advanced Backgrounds. Rather than just having your background be a thing that happened and isn’t really active, they have it still be a part of you. If you were a merchant before adventuring, you can still be a merchant. It adds rules for how to rank up the background, what being a rank in a background gives you, and it grants access to a talent related to your background. The talent lets you add a die to certain uses of skills, like using Investigation to find clues at a crime scene.
The book also adds Transformations, which I think are neat, so it has a few decent ideas to mine for campaigns other than their custom world.
So... more of like a profession than background? Sounds really interesting.
@@Sibula Kind of, but there’s some backgrounds that aren’t exactly professions. Like there’s a Beast Hunter background, and having it grants you access to a hunter’s lodge. You advance by proving you’re a good hunter. You can also pick talents like ones that let you forecast the weather better. So, it’s not exactly a “profession,” but it kind of fits a similar niche.
@@Negeta I mean, I would totally count a monster hunter as a profession. If there's stuff like urchin or far traveler then that's a different thing, but merchant, monster hunter, researcher, soldier... are all professions to me.
@@Sibula Their new Player’s Guide added things like Beggar and Vagabond, so I guess a profession-like angle to being an urchin. All the backgrounds in their book definitely seem more of “what you do/did” rather than “what you did or where you lived” like the base game’s backgrounds.
We did this already, without knowing it existed, for our current campaign. My character has the sailor background but the position of privilege from the noble background as her father was a very well know admiral.
I love playing sailors, what class/subclass is your character?
@@jamesbolt1003 She is a tortle Rogue warlock(Fathomless) Her patron is an ancient Dragon Turtle that saved her and her crews life in the past. Fathomless is not really overpowered or anything but it fits the setting really well.
Yeah I've done this as well. And wotc has been doing it too, with I think the backgrounds in out of the abyss and how the inheritor in the sword coast adventure's guide had the same ideals bonds and flaws as the folk hero. But I appreciate them kind of elaborating on this and making it more of a thing. It makes designing new features and lists of ideals, bonds and flaws easier, and it makes sense with Tasha's allowing the swapping of proficiencies.
@@darthjawa1369 very nice, I've yet to play a tortle. I've had a great deal of fun in this type of role as druids because of their ability for weather control and CC. Additionally, the potential for wild shape to sow chaos during ship to ship combat is great.
No one ever expects the sparrow disappear in the crows next and start making a mess of the deck with spike growth or erupting earth.
@@darthjawa1369 a noble tortle rogue? Interesting.
These agnostic background features have existed since the early days of 5e
there are two in The Hoard of the Dragon Queen (one that makes you an expert on Dragons and one that enables you to infiltrate Dragon Cults), and two in Out of the Abyss (one that makes you an expert on the Underdark, and one that gives you the ability to easily navigate the societies of Underdark people)
Yeah, but I guess having a few here and there feels different than this book having a whole bunch?
I really like this. They've been messing with this for a while with things like the backgrounds in out of the abyss. It makes sense for 5e and helps make backgrounds more customizable. The proficiencies, items and stuff are already kind of swappable. Though I do personally enjoy the ideals bonds and flaws, but adding more options for the abilities is cool. Oooh cool they made generic ideals bonds and flaws too? Interesting, very cool
Absolutely loved the reference to Ash. More options for features are a very good thing. I kind of like when a player wants to tweak their background because it seems they are more invested in the character when they do.
I'd buy a book like this.
I have been looking for one for quite some time, actually.
Maybe a book that really delves into what makes a background and how to role play that background with lots of features like this would be great
I find it interesting that Investigator is different than SCAG's City Watch (Investigator)
When College of Spirits first hit UA, my immediate character idea was a detective that communes with the dead to find their killer and put them to justice.
With the investigator background more set in stone here, that works even more perfectly. Especially considering they're in the same book.
Inheritor is in sword coast, yes, alongside far traveler
I more often than not have a hard time finding a background that would fit my PC's backstory, so more backgrounds would be very handy.
I was getting kinda worried when, in Tasha‘s, they equated changing ability score increases to having a different background, even though you are effectively mutating into another species. But this shows that they can make some amazing backgrounds, and we definitely need more of this!
Reminds me of the time when I made noble, and changed the feature to that of the charlatan. Should be easy enough for a government official to procure a false identity.
Far Traveler and Inheritor are backgrounds from SCAG, however their features are All Eyes On You, and Inheritance respectively. So these are all brand new.
Finally! These kinds of backgrounds are exactly what we need! Backgrounds should do something, and it should be interesting. There‘s a reason I’ve been working on making new backgrounds.
pop culture names with sam an dean gave me a funny idea of 2 investigators introducing themselves
"I'm officer Ellis Minster, this is my partner Officer Big Bezhan"
Officer Elminster and Bigby's Hand
“Van Richten’s Guide to Everything”? You’re clearly confused. It’s “Ricky’s Guide to Spoopytown”
I thought it was "ricky-ticky-taffy's guide to wankaville" hmmmm now I want to make a Willy Wonka domain of dread....
@@Nildread That, could be horrifying. Have the Oumpa Loompas be gnomes or kobolds who have been disfigured to look like some sort of mascots and forced to wear really stupid clothes as a uniform.
nice review and helpful for making good use of the backgrounds - - very much like these new tools and utility for making backgrounds - can anticipate many fun new developments and creative designs
Definetly would buy without a doubt. Background is an almost forgotten never used mechanic just like instruments but this type of fluid features gives it alot of relevance. It almost feels like a narrative feat, also allowing incorporating more anusual scenarios not only into the story of your character but also into its gameplay.
I feel like the inheritor is inspired by the Belmonts in Castlevania, and even if not... I still love the flavor
Would buy a DM’s Guild product that makes backgrounds more pivotal to a character. Always love any product that translates role play to mechanics.
I would like tips on how to create backgrounds, like teacher, or child raised to be a super spy, or prisoner
I think a paperback book with backgrounds and general features would be really cool!
I would definitely buy a book (or at least a booklet; maybe something the size of an adventure?) of general background features, but I would want it to be FAR more generic than those outlined here. Because while there's really only one Features set that's Ravenloft specific (Mist Wanderer), most seem to be very genre (horror) specific. Think of it this way: I could easily see a Fisher, Marine or Shipwright background from the Saltmarsh campaign fitting into almost any campaign not set in an entirely desert planet. But the Trauma Survivor, Mist Wanderer and Haunted One backgrounds basically just scream "HORROR!" at me, and not much else. ;)
Certainly a PDF, immediately. A book? probably a low priority until there’s some excuse to pick it up, like a player specifically wants/needs it.
If it was something in a XGtE or TCoE book that made it just a bit bigger I'd be fine. A book of only background stuff? Maybe not. Backgrounds, swappable features, lists of ideals, bonds and flaws, new classes/subclasses, new swappable ancestry/lineage/race feature things, new gear, new magic items, spells, roll tables for filling out backstory stuff (though what we have in XGtE and EGtW are kind of sufficient), more DM tools, maybe some kind of monster templates or things to help create monsters? Or just more monsters and tables for making adventures? Something like that I'd be interested in more than just a book of backgrounds.
Imma be honest, I think SCAG was my favorite book so far as far as backgrounds went, wasn't a fan of anything else in it, but the backgrounds are nice. Would love a new book with just background stuff
I am sure that Kobold Press and other independent third parties include different backgrounds in their publications but to my knowledge nobody has produced a comprehensive full Background compendium. I may go off myself and draft one for a Kickstarter? Including such Backgrounds like the Occultist, the Scientist, the Gladiator, the Detective etc
I would totally buy a background book! And I really wish that WoC puts one out so it can be added to dndbeyond
Yes I would
Collecting talismans always reminds if Spyro: Riptos Rage (or Gateway to Glimmer)
Or Jackie Chan adventures
It's really irritating that they gave this background the same name as the detective-style City Watch background variant in SCAG.
I would definitely buy a book or pdf of things like this
How does that Spirit Medium feature work with the new College of Spirits Bard? Sounds like they would go well together.
no not far traveler, inherritor. inheritor is the name of the background you are thinking of with the feature of inheritance: "Choose or randomly determine your inheritance from among the possibilities in the table below. Work with your Dungeon Master to come up with details: Why is your inheritance so important, and what is its full story? You might prefer for the DM to invent these details as part of the game, allowing you to learn more about your inheritance as your character does.
The Dungeon Master is free to use your inheritance as a story hook, sending you on quests to learn more about its history or true nature, or confronting you with foes who want to claim it for themselves or prevent you from learning what you seek. The DM also determines the properties of your inheritance and how they figure into the item’s history and importance. For instance, the object might be a minor magic item, or one that begins with a modest ability and increases in potency with the passage of time. Or, the true nature of your inheritance might not be apparent at first and is revealed only when certain conditions are met.
When you begin your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your inheritance right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your inheritance a secret until you learn more about what it means to you and what it can do for you."
far travers feature is called all eyes on you: "Your accent, mannerisms, figures of speech, and perhaps even your appearance all mark you as foreign. Curious glances are directed your way wherever you go, which can be a nuisance, but you also gain the friendly interest of scholars and others intrigued by far-off lands, to say nothing of everyday folk who are eager to hear stories of your homeland.
You can parley this attention into access to people and places you might not otherwise have, for you and your traveling companions. Noble lords, scholars, and merchant princes, to name a few, might be interested in hearing about your distant homeland and people."
Yep I would buy a book on backgrounds. That is a great idea.
The investigator background could be a crazy conspiracy theorist
I genuinely thought of Marisha Ray playing Beau XD
Inheritor background was pre-existing. This is a reprint.
I would buy a backgrounds book or PDF. Take my money! 😁
I'd tap that pdf of background addons.
I would pay decent money for a backgrounds book. As many as there is now; there is not enough.
i would buy a book for this.
I'd get one that features backgrounds but I'd want a full set not just the "treat"
You mean with ideals bonds and flaws? This has those but just in larger lists instead of more directed ones, which honestly sometimes didn't really make sense or work for the characters I wanted to play anyway. Or do you mean proficiencies and starting equipment? Because Tasha's lets you swap proficiencies around. Is there a standard amount of proficiencies backgrounds give? It's gotta be in the creating custom backgrounds in the DMG, I don't have my books with me though so I can't check.
Yes, I would buy if official.
id buy that pdf
Demoted from a basement to a walk-in closet
👍🏻
Van Richten’s Guide to *Everything*?
Honestly, there are too many “Everything”s and “Guide”s
Definitely agree
there are other words yes
I like them as a denotation of the major 5e expansions
@@Geostelar4920 except they arnt really. They just slap them on any setting or supplement book. I'm kind of happy the theros book was called mythic odyssey of theros instead of like "An Oracle's guide to theros" or something lol. As well as Eberron: rising from the last war. Not that wayfinder's guide to eberron is a terrible name or anything. They're all ok names, but like, it starts seeming similar to those dummies or idiot's books. Other than Tasha's cauldron of everything....I thought the idea was they wanted the names to be as if they could be the names of books in the setting, but since when is a cauldron a book? I guess someone could argue that it's a book that's like a list of all the things Tasha puts in her cauldron but I dunno. Anyway I'd be fine if they moved away from guides, there's lots of names for books. I'd be fine if the reused tome again, "encyclopedia" could be interesting, "text" could maybe work? Lexicon, opus, primer, volume, atlas, scroll, folio? They've used some of these before, but it just seems like there's so many guides. I'd understand if they were trying to denote the expansion books like XGtE, or the setting books, or the monster books so you could tell the difference easily, but there seems to be almost no rhyme or reason.
@@Nildread As far as I know the "of/to everything" denotation has only been for the major class/magic item/feat expansion in Tasha's and Xanathar's where they collect all of the released new pc stuff into one book. I'd be fine if they continued this trend and have the "Everything" tag note those kinds of books
Chance's d&d spellbook. Is a channel that has backgrounds I saved and enjoy they might have more that you are looking for