I am sorry but you are demonstrably wrong. Even with the greatest degree of min maxing your skills will pale compared to someone five or six levels ahead of you and you wouldn't be able to come close to DC checks for skilled crafting even with a 19 roll. In regard to the backstory you are asking for a feature that already exists, your level. If you are level 1 and have a soldier backstory you didn't fight in many engagements and are not experienced. If you start at level 5 with a soldier backstory you've obviously seen more combat. Please stop holding on to something that is categorically false.
You're making comparisons inside the "game terms" logic, comparing a Lv1 character with a Lv6 character.
No, I am explaining to you how the system works and how it is used to simulate reality with it's own rules.
There's no "demonstrably wrong" here.
Curious, I have already demonstrated how your assertion is incorrect. This is what it means to be demonstrably wrong her regardless of wherever you find it appropriate or not.
The PHB doesn't state anywhere that a Lv1 character can only be a barely adolescent of your given race, with no prior life that would translate into XP. The PHB *does* let you chose backgrounds for your character. Said backgrounds usually involve past deeds and experience that, when done in a campaign, would already qualify as adventuring. How do you renconcile that with your strict interpretation of "character power in game terms" absolutely HAS TO EQUAL "character background in narrative"? There's no easy formula to this, and I believe campaigns and new characters at the beginning of campaign get much more interesting if they don't have to be "just starting out" all the time.
No one said anything about adolescence but you. I think this is something that exists in your mind alone. I have already explained to you that your backstory and whatever life experience you have gained from it is tied and limited to your character level in order to simulate a believable reality. If this was not the case you could start a level 1 character with ridiculous stats and just breeze through everything and the game now doesn't matter. In fact nothing matters, because you can just write into your backstory that in the one battle you fought you discovered the legendary artifact dawnbreaker and where made champion of the god of justice and such and so on. If you consider these low level limitations to not be interesting the solution already exists.
Start at a higher level. This is the very nature of the mechanics in game and these limitations exist for a reason. Not liking them is one thing, not agreeing with them is one thing, but trying to present them as something they are not and use arbitrary reasoning that does not take reality into account is false. This is mirrored throughout the game with things such as CR, diminished returns and crafting classes like artificers being locked out of crafting items
by level.
You seem to be approaching DnD from a strict game terms point of view and probably believe that narrative has to absolutely follow game terms to the letter. I happen to disagree, I find that approach impractical even, and needlessly restricting, and I've played enough campaigns where you start at Lv 1 without having to be a noob in both personality and accomplishments. I don't think there's some "truth" to be found here, it's, like many things in DnD, a matter of preference.
Where did you get that conclusion from? It is not a matter of perspective no matter how you slice it and I have already shown you how that works. IF you would like to actually disprove me then explain how a level 1 fighter and lvl 5 fighter with the same backstory can lead to the level 1 fighter having superior tangible skills. experience and proficiency without the inclusion of metagaming(i.e is a tactical genius with 10 int 10 wisdom and no training or education). You are categorically and demonstrably false. Even in looser setting like GURPS or other OSR low level characters are low level characters and what this means is that they are inexperienced and barely proficiently skilled as is reflected in their mechanics. As I have already said this is done to prevent you from creating a level 1 character that can forge artifacts. Do you simply not understand that the experiences you have are reflected by your level directly? If you write your backstory as having these experiences then your level would have to be adjusted. When you agree to start at a certain level in pen and paper you are making a silent agreement about accepting these limitations.
Please genuinely stop and think about what you are saying. The rule system is there to help you simulate a fair and balanced reality for all people involved with clear cut definitions and restrictions so that even at a cursory glance you can tell what something or someone will be capable of.
