The last bit of Chapter 2 covers your character's background as well as rules for languages.
Backgrounds
 |
| Image courtesy of Paizo, Inc |
As you can see, the selection offered covers most concepts a
player will come up with. For at least something relatively standard anyway.
The actual structure of a background is pretty basic and
standard across all of them. You get a little fluff about the background that
gives a few examples of what concepts the background lends itself to, followed
by three short paragraphs of crunch. The crunch you get is two ability boosts
(one between two options, one free), training in a skill and a Lore (both tied
to the background concept), and one skill feat tied to the skill with which you
gained training. Simple.
The benefit of this setup is that they have just enough
information/mechanics to have an impact on your character without it being
overwhelming. This allows a character to choose a background that does not
dovetail directly into their class (a scholar who decided to take up the
path/training of a Fighter due to some event in their backstory, for example)
without feeling like they're going to be weaker. They'll just be different. Additionally,
because they are so simple, it is easy to homebrew your own if one of the
existing ones don't do it for a player's concept.
Page 60
In the first paragraph – The last sentence should refer to a
skill you gain training in from your ancestry as well as from your class. Many
people choose their ancestry first and, unless you go back to the ancestry
section, this sentence makes it seem like you lose training in a skill if you
choose a background that gives you training in the same skill as an ancestry.
Acrobat – Circus Lore is a very restricting lore option
unless your DM is open to allowing that to work for street performing (for the
Earn Income downtime activity, for example) and things relating to caravan
travel. Allowing a Lore for the settlement they're from might be a good
additional option. It would represent them knowing the ins and outs of where
they generally ply their trade.
Animal Whisperer – This background is not the most egregious
example of poor layout as both halves of the entry are on the same page, and
the two halves are mostly the same size, but it's annoying.
Page 61
Criminal – This background is not the most egregious example
of poor layout as both halves of the entry are on the same page, and the two
halves are mostly the same size, but it's annoying.
Emissary – if your table doesn’t really do languages as a
thing of importance, then this background needs a new skill feat. Courtly
Graces is a good option.
Entertainer – The layout for this is the worst. You get the
title block and one sentence and then have to flip the page to get the rest of
the entry. This type o thing happens throughout the book and is a result of
caring about the text on a page ending at the exact same area over ease of
reading/reference.
Page 62
Fortune Teller – The background is fine, but I don't know
what Fortune-Telling Lore is useful for outside of Earn Income. It might be me
not being clever enough, but it is easily the narrowest of the Lores that any
background gives.
Gladiator – This background is not the most egregious
example of poor layout as both halves of the entry are on the same page, and
the two halves are mostly the same size, but it's annoying.
Laborer – Opposite issue of the Entertainer, layout-wise.
Almost all the information is on this page, but the skill training and feat are
on the next page. Slightly less of an issue in the physical book as it's part
of a two-page spread, but still not great. It's awful in a PDF as you have to
flip the page to get the full information.
Additionally, what use is Labor
Lore? At all. Under the Earn Income activity, they mention that you can use
other skills to earn income. And the way they describe this background, it is
literally about picking things up and putting things down. Athletics can cover
that. Hell, it should just be a Strength check, but the way proficiency
modifiers work makes that impossible to scale – not necessarily a bad thing for
unskilled labor, though. I'd give the option of a city-based Lore, Underworld
Lore (for those on the seedier side of labor deals), Sailing Lore (for
dockworkers), or something. Or break the mold and give Expert proficiency in
Athletics.
Page 63
Scholar – Another instance of entry title and a line or two
on one page and having to flip pages to get the rest of the information.
Page 64
Street Urchin – This background is not the most egregious
example of poor layout as both halves of the entry are on the same page, and
the two halves are mostly the same size, but it's annoying.
Tinker – A tinker is a traveler (usually) who mends simple
household items. Tinkerer is closer to the description of this background.
Inventor is even better.
Languages
This is a pretty standard section about what languages exist
in the world, what you start with, and how you gain more. Nothing really out of
the ordinary, but the split between Common and Uncommon Languages is nice (I
cannot remember if that was a thing in the older editions, and I don't care
enough to look it up). The section on sign language and reading lips is a nice
little addition.
Page 65
In the first paragraph – The last sentence states that if
your Intelligence changes, you should adjust your number of languages. I don't
remember much that reduces ability scores in the system, usually inflicting
conditions that emulate the old ability score damage/drain instead. The way the
sentence is right now, it seems that if your Intelligence were to go down, you
would potentially lose languages. Not sure if that's intentional or not and
could benefit from being cleared up.
Additionally, the sentence should
read, "If your Intelligence modifier changes later on…" for
specificity.
Table 2-2 – Nidalese should be removed from the
"Speakers" column since nothing else in this or Table 2-1 speaks to
specific cultures in Golarion. It could be mentioned as an example in the
Regional Languages section below the table or in Chapter 8 with the rest of the
regional languages specific to Golarion.
Comments
Post a Comment