Backgrounds of the Borderlands
Okay, so I’ve been reading Troika again and watching streams about it because of Troikafest.
I’m not participating, because I don’t have the time for it, but it made me think about using the backgrounds system for that Keep of the Borderlands game since I wasn’t really happy with the vanilla classes. The background system in Troika works great in already infusing the world with flavour and wonder and now I wonder if I can pull it off for Keep on the Borderlands. Using the d66 idea I think we could take the classes from basic DnD and use them, though if we include the thief (as the module does) we might have too much classes to expand on.
We have:
The Fighter
The Cleric
The Magic User
The Thief
The Elf
The Dwarf
The Halfling
Making them into a d66 table doesn’t work that well since it should be a d76 table.
On the other hand, the non-humans are supposed to be rare, so maybe we put them with the archetype they fit in and have them as one or two of the possible outcomes in that background.
The Fighter - Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling
The Cleric - Human only. This type of religion is a strictly human affair, elves and dwarves are nature spirit type creatures, halflings follow the old religion. Possibly put some non-human druids in here? Or some reformed non-humans?
The Magic User - Human, Elf - The magic of Elves should be different from human ones.
The Thief - Human, Dwarf, Halfling.
Then we have 2d6 left for overflow backgrounds. I think that might work. Here goes the first pass of the brainstorm.
Lets start with the Fighter:
1. Knight Errant
2. Mercenary
3. Monster Hunter (Halfling?)
4. Boar Knight (Halfling!)
5. Mage-Knight (Elf)
6. Armsmaster (Dwarf)
Overflow ideas:
Keep Watchman/Soldier/…
Barbarian
Then we have the Cleric:
1. Preacher
2. Witch hunter
3. Exorcist
4. Miracle Worker
5. Holy Avenger
6. Reformed Savage
Overflow ideas:
Hermit Saint, …
The Magic User:
1. Academy Wizard
2. Alchemist
3. Combat Mage
4. Elven Shapeshifter
5. Elven Enchanter (bard?)
6. Illusionist
Overflow ideas: There are a lot of cool magic ideas. This list would be able to go on due to the tradition of Fantasy games focussing on magic. Some ideas though:
Summoner, Diviner, Witch,
The Thief:
1. The Brigand
2. The Burglar
3. The Treasure Hunter (Dwarf)
4. The Looter (Halfling)
5. The Hidden Assassin
6. The Conman
I like these ideas! Troika backgrounds tend to be pretty specific and flavorful and that is their strength. I'd load these up with some flavor that fits them in the setting really nicely and you'd have something really cool.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's the plan. Some of the next blogposts will probably be just that. Still deciding on wether to stat it up like Troika or not. The skills are part of the flavor, but if Electric Bastionland has thought me anything, you can do just the same with gear (and how you got it).
DeleteBasing the backgrounds on archetypes is perfect! I tried converting the 'archetypes' of my world into backgrounds, but the issue with Troika! is that it really is made for flavour, and a couple revisions in they really didn't even feel like Fantasy Backgrounds as much as Folk you'd meet in the Humpbacked Sky.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it seems to be a fine line to walk. So far it seems to still be going okay, but it is easy to go overboard and go full gonzo.
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