This is 100% my take as well. If you're going to go for something to describe a character's background, shouldn't it be intrinsically tied to where they're from?
That's what I'm planning on doing for Inheritor at least. I'll be sharing more on the blog this week (along with the free playtest packet)!
This is such a smart approach to character creation. The comparison between a paladin's smite and a smartphone tripod really nails why backgrounds work better than classes for grounding players in a world. I remmeber running a campaign where the generic class names made everyone feel interchangable, but when we added occupation-based gear it suddenly clicked. Tables like these basically do worldbuilding and prep at the sametime.
Bravo. This is what I'm doing in my setting, too, but this really encouraged me to double down and get even more specific/immersive about it.
Right now I've got a set-up where each nation in my setting has a d66 table you roll 3 times on, creating something of a lightweight lifepath system. Then there's a d6 table of "downfalls" and a d6 table of "drives" for each as well, plus a d12 table of "anchors" which let you connect your character to (or at least be inspired by) things that are canonically in the world.
This is 100% my take as well. If you're going to go for something to describe a character's background, shouldn't it be intrinsically tied to where they're from?
That's what I'm planning on doing for Inheritor at least. I'll be sharing more on the blog this week (along with the free playtest packet)!
I’m looking forward to seeing it!
This is such a smart approach to character creation. The comparison between a paladin's smite and a smartphone tripod really nails why backgrounds work better than classes for grounding players in a world. I remmeber running a campaign where the generic class names made everyone feel interchangable, but when we added occupation-based gear it suddenly clicked. Tables like these basically do worldbuilding and prep at the sametime.
Bravo. This is what I'm doing in my setting, too, but this really encouraged me to double down and get even more specific/immersive about it.
Right now I've got a set-up where each nation in my setting has a d66 table you roll 3 times on, creating something of a lightweight lifepath system. Then there's a d6 table of "downfalls" and a d6 table of "drives" for each as well, plus a d12 table of "anchors" which let you connect your character to (or at least be inspired by) things that are canonically in the world.