Backgrounds for OD&D

[Zenopus]

20 Backgrounds for human OD&D characters, drawn from the source material - the types of Men in Vol 2 and the Specialists in Vol 3.

[scottenkainen]

Intriguing! I would probably tone down the Orcish and Smith backgrounds, but otherwise, I could see this as something I might be willing to use!

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

[Merias]

Very cool! This is a nice way to encourage players to think about their character's background, giving them a few neat abilities while not wasting a lot of time on the backstory (because let's face it, they are 1st-level OD&D characters...). I would probably let characters pick something from the list, rather than rolling, within reason (picking a different background per PC, for example, so you don't end up with 6 archers).

[makofan]

this is the bomb

[Deleted]

Nice work! What Merias said. I think I will use this for my own game, some time soon.

[machfront]

As I mentioned on the thread at DF, I love this but I want to expand it and am finding it difficult to not steer into the realm of occupation-list-tedium. This is frustrating. But only because it's so awesome that it makes me hungry for more.

[Merctime]

Much like machfront, I really love this and would like to include it, but fear the list-tedium myself! Hehe.

I would probably tone some of it down, though, as scottenkainen has already suggested... But this is truly excellent in my opinion and very usable as it is written. Kind of reminds me of the random tables of special abilities in Arduin, but a lot more under control, hehe.

I'm a bit more of a fan of the original 'dead eye' bonus for archers that you post in the comments of your site, Zenopus, although I agree that it's pretty cool the ability you've chosen is representational of Chainmail. I just don't DM enough these days to have any real game experience in regards to if this might be too much of a bonus, so I'm just not sure currently.

Considering what Merias said, also... This is pretty much where I stand these days, too. I think a 'backstory' is the story you tell after adventuring... If you survive... So this table would really satisfy a bit of before-play flavor for 1st level characters.

[jdjarvis]

Cool idea but some of the backgrounds look a little too "souped-up" to me.

[scottenkainen]

Maybe we can talk about how specifically we would tone some of them down.

The Orcish background giving you a +1 to hit underground seemed excessive to me, but I suppose it depends on how you handle combat in darkness in OD&D. I don't recall OD&D having a ruling on this, but if you used the -4 penalty of later editions, that's basically giving the Orcish effectively a +5 bonus. Unless, what you meant is that the Orcish only gets +1 over whatever penalty you normally assign to fighting in darkness, in which case moving up from a -4 to a -3 isn't so bad.

The Smith's ability to take -1 damage from fire per die seems suspiciously like a Ring of Fire Resistance, and I don't think you want to allow special abilities so great that they make already existing magic items superfluous. But I think this could be toned down, like allowing a special save (a 2nd save after half damage, or a first save if there is normally no save) that would shave just 1 point off the total if you made it.

I was also wondering, just now, if you could build a witch this way without using a special class; just make a Magic-User with a background in Witch. Maybe a 10% per level cumulative chance of being able to make a broom fly 1/day for 1 turn, or a 1% cumulative chance per level of turning someone into a toad for 1 round (and after a failed saving throw)?

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

[makofan]

I think they are fine as is. I don't really care if classes are balanced, just play what you like. You're all going to die anyway!

[archersix]

Aug 13, 2014 9:26:55 GMT -6 makofan said:

I think they are fine as is. I don't really care if classes are balanced, just play what you like. You're all going to die anyway!

HAHAHAHA! That's great, and I really like the backgrounds thing.

[aldarron]

I love this idea. Brillaint work Zenopus.

No I Don't think they are too powerful, no more so than say, the extra chance elves have to find a secret door, etc.

I'm not too keen on mixing in the racial types - the orc, and merman - with the others. Races seem more like a different kind of characteristic. Also Pilgrim seemed to temporary a state and not strictly OD&D anyway. So I went back to the sources and came up with some replacements - Hunter, Farmer, Thief. - see my notes on where these come from if you are interested, but they are all there in the U&WA.

I also tweaked a few others: Sage is reworked in line with a typical Supplement II sage, the barkeep's listening ability is extended to doors, Caveman is folded into Barbarian, and Gemcutter is folded into Merchant (see notes).

I won't clutter the post, but the link below has my revised list, and if there is something you like or don't, please comment.

Attachments:

ODD backgrounds.docx (22.39 KB)

[Zenopus]

I was away/busy for a while but I'm back now. Glad everyone likes these! I meant my list as a starting point for discussion. I'm happy if everyone goes off and makes their own version. I doubt it would be possible to make a standard list that will appeal to everyone. (Just look at how much core classes are debated here and there are only 2-4). But I am also happy to discuss/tweak the particular bonuses I used.

Aug 13, 2014 8:48:48 GMT -6 scottenkainen said:

Maybe we can talk about how specifically we would tone some of them down.

The Orcish background giving you a +1 to hit underground seemed excessive to me, but I suppose it depends on how you handle combat in darkness in OD&D. I don't recall OD&D having a ruling on this, but if you used the -4 penalty of later editions, that's basically giving the Orcish effectively a +5 bonus. Unless, what you meant is that the Orcish only gets +1 over whatever penalty you normally assign to fighting in darkness, in which case moving up from a -4 to a -3 isn't so bad.

Here's a comment I added to my blog yesterday:
"My Orcish types were also influenced by Holmes Basic, in which an Orc (1 HD) has a +1 to hit as compared to a Normal Man. Since OD&D doesn't actually have the separate Normal Man (they attack as 1st level fighters which is the same as an Orc), it might be better just to represent the Orcish types as having a -1 to hit in daylight - which is how I had it originally."

The d6 damage without a weapon comes from Greyhawk variable damage where Orcs do damage that is "1-6 or by weapon type".

The Smith's ability to take -1 damage from fire per die seems suspiciously like a Ring of Fire Resistance, and I don't think you want to allow special abilities so great that they make already existing magic items superfluous. But I think this could be toned down, like allowing a special save (a 2nd save after half damage, or a first save if there is normally no save) that would shave just 1 point off the total if you made it.

It is like Fire Resistance, although in the potion/ring gives total resistance to normal fires, and reduced damage only for magic fires, so it is significantly more powerful than this ability.

I was also wondering, just now, if you could build a witch this way without using a special class; just make a Magic-User with a background in Witch. Maybe a 10% per level cumulative chance of being able to make a broom fly 1/day for 1 turn, or a 1% cumulative chance per level of turning someone into a toad for 1 round (and after a failed saving throw)?

I did briefly consider including a Witch, since there is the picture on the same page as the Amazon in Vol 1, but "Witch" has traditionally been considered an additional character class (or a female 8th level MU) and I decided to steer away from using any traditional character classes. However, it would be easy to add more backgrounds to supersede some character classes such Ranger, Monk, Bard, etc

[dragondaddy]

20 more backgrounds for human D&D players

1. Hunter
2. Forester
3. Potter
4. Sailor
5. Mason or Stonecutter
6. Lumberjack
7. Moneychanger
8. Candlemaker
9. Porter
10. Torch Bearer
11. Miner
12. Fisherman
13. Dyer
14. Weaver
15. Basketmaker
16. Wood Carver
17. Cobbler / Shoemaker
18. Jeweler
19. Spotter (For a criminal guild)
20. Smith, Cooper, or Ironmonger


12 backgrounds for Elven Players
1. Hunter
2. Fisherman
3. Carpenter
4. Stonemason
5. Sculptor
6. Artist / Painter
7. Tailor / Clothesmaker
8. Spice Trader
9. Herb Trader
10. Healer
11. Jeweler
12. Potter


12 backgrounds for Dwarven players
1. Stonemason
2. Woodcrafter
3. Furnituremaker
4. Silversmith
5. Goldsmith
6. Armorer
7. Blacksmith
8. Miner
9. Explorer
10. Brewer
11. Tavernkeeper
12. Pony Trader

12 backgrounds for Orcs and Half-Orcs
1. Hunter
2. Gladiator
3. Bodyguard
4. Porter
5. Bookmaker / Gambling Hall Runner
6. Brewer
7. Raider
8. Robber
9. Burglar
10. Servant
11. Tracker
12. Ironsmith / Armorer

[Zenopus]

Update:

I finally turned the 20 backgrounds into a single-page pdf reference sheet. See here for the viewing/download link.

[Scott Anderson]

I did a similar chargen thing for Treasure Hunters as an alternative to straight chargen. It's an option in the referee's companion. All OD&D backgrounds instead of generic itinerant adventurer stuff.

[xerxez]

Zenopus, these are really cool! Will definitely use them! I love them. Thanks for sharing. Now if I can just find more people here who want to play OD&D or Basic.... : /