Expanding upon backgrounds - 24/07/21 09:08 AM
The new (Patch 5's) inspiration system certainly adds a whole new layer to deciding which background to pick, and is meant to reward roleplaying according to what the player picks... but it can also be rather restrictive and rigid in its implementation because of how every background seems to (currently?) embody a mostly one-dimensional portrayal of what said background entails.
The Noble is probably the biggest culprit here, as it is more than a little off for a character conceived as a knight to be inspired by collecting a soul coin - "for his personal collection", as the journal puts it. Seeing how we have no alignments or flaws/ideals as an additional anchor, the system turns from a roleplaying tool into a min-maxing checkbook of just learning what fits the specific backgrounds and reaping the rewards. Like, how the Sage seems to grant inspiration for reading through sets of interconnected lore - making it, basically, a "click through those 3 documents and gain your reroll/XP bonus" situation for anyone who doesn't care about reading.
What could help in making it more engaging, interesting, and nuanced is the addition of the aforementioned ideals/flaws (since we probably won't have alignment implemented). This way you can at least differentiate between, say, a charitable Noble and a despotic one, rewarding them for different actions. It will take a whole lot more work to implement, but it will certainly reduce the amount of OoC moments where you are getting rewarded for something your character may not actually be "inspired" by as far your image of them goes. Picking several ideals/goals out of a background-specific selection is also an option - so you can, say, focus on "amassing wealth" and "gaining allies", or "gaining allies" and "being charitable with poorer folk". More wiggling room, more thought put into playing the character, rather than attempting to decode what the "acolyte" as a background in general might entail - because why would a worshipper of, say, Lolth draw inspiration from admiring the works of clerics of Selune, or Eilistraee, or something?
It might all end up being one big swamp of conditions that keep bugging out like all hell, though.
The Noble is probably the biggest culprit here, as it is more than a little off for a character conceived as a knight to be inspired by collecting a soul coin - "for his personal collection", as the journal puts it. Seeing how we have no alignments or flaws/ideals as an additional anchor, the system turns from a roleplaying tool into a min-maxing checkbook of just learning what fits the specific backgrounds and reaping the rewards. Like, how the Sage seems to grant inspiration for reading through sets of interconnected lore - making it, basically, a "click through those 3 documents and gain your reroll/XP bonus" situation for anyone who doesn't care about reading.
What could help in making it more engaging, interesting, and nuanced is the addition of the aforementioned ideals/flaws (since we probably won't have alignment implemented). This way you can at least differentiate between, say, a charitable Noble and a despotic one, rewarding them for different actions. It will take a whole lot more work to implement, but it will certainly reduce the amount of OoC moments where you are getting rewarded for something your character may not actually be "inspired" by as far your image of them goes. Picking several ideals/goals out of a background-specific selection is also an option - so you can, say, focus on "amassing wealth" and "gaining allies", or "gaining allies" and "being charitable with poorer folk". More wiggling room, more thought put into playing the character, rather than attempting to decode what the "acolyte" as a background in general might entail - because why would a worshipper of, say, Lolth draw inspiration from admiring the works of clerics of Selune, or Eilistraee, or something?
It might all end up being one big swamp of conditions that keep bugging out like all hell, though.