There are some problems with backgrounds. This is a common problem in RPGs. Though some of my favorite games use backgrounds to great effect (13th Age, Barbarians of Lemuria, for instance), for most they are an after thought. Which makes sense for a player. After all, a character evolves as it is played, due to the decisions a player and their group makes. Someone might start off as a farmer or a soldier, but after a few levels, the choices made since the game started will matter much more.
So how much attention should we pay to designing backgrounds? XWN typically has 20 backgrounds in each game. And assigning 20 backgrounds skills and giving them a write up takes up a lot of time. While some skill choices are pretty obvious, what’s the 8th more important of thematic skill to a trader? It ends up getting a bit arbitrary. Add in that you don’t want to fill a background with all valuable skills (the rankings from the previous post help here) so there’s no one obvious choice, and it just takes up a lot of time that probably could have been better spent on other things.
They’re also just not very fun. Some games put a lot of emphasis on backgrounds, turning it into a little minigame. Traveller is most famous for it, but other games have “lifepaths” as well. That approach has a lot of advantages. It introduces players to the setting, and creates more three dimensional characters, with built in problems, rivals, friends, and personality. In general I love this approach, but others chafe at the random results. If I had time, I’d make a lifepath system for this, but replacing backgrounds right now is a low priority. I talked about scope creep before, this is a prime example.
XWN goes for quick and easy background, which is fine. I would be even more fine with it except for one thing: while most of the time a background is just a few skill points that will soon not matter that much, it can also be the most important choice a character can make.
To understand why, we have to dive into skills and stats. I have been assuming at least a passing familiarity with the XWN systems so far, and will continue to do so, but I want to make sure each step of my train of thought is clear.
Most of XWN is skill + stat vs a DC. Skills can be a bit broad, but mostly focus on a singular concept or theme. Stats meanwhile are very broad, and can apply to many different activities. Dexterity is often considered the best at this, applying to the widest array of activities, so it’s what I’ll be using for examples. So while Sneak is used to pick a pocket, and Shoot to hit a target, and Perform to do a juggling act, Dexterity is also used for all those things. There is more value in increasing Dexterity than the individual skills. Having a +1 in a stat is powerful and often character defining.
Typically this isn’t a problem because stat increases are rare in XWN. There aren’t any foci that increase stats; the only way to increase them is using skill points at level up, which quickly gets expensive and can only be done a few times anyways. Meanwhile, skills level relatively easy. I think this is relatively balanced.
But with backgrounds, we have the only time where it’s not just possible to raise stats, it’s actually easier. If a player rolls on the Growth table they could have up to 6 stat points to raise their abilities, potentially giving them several stats that reach the critical 14/18 thresholds. While it all depends on dice rolls, the odds are pretty good of at least getting one extra 14+ in a stat.
This is a shame to me because I like skills and think they are more interesting than stats. You get a better overview of a character by seeing they have character Sneak-1 and Perform-0 than Dexterity 14. And in my experience, most players don’t care and will roll for skills because those are more fun. But experienced players will see that the discrepancies and take advantage of the rare time to raise stats, giving them a potential power boost that will likely not be able to be made up.
What are the solutions? I’ve said before (and will probably say again), I’m not here to re-balance the XWN system, so right now I just made my backgrounds as standard. Removing Growth is the most obvious, but I think there should be a way to raise stats, just not as prominent as it is now. You could limit the number of times you can roll on Growth, but that starts getting meta-gamey and I prefer to not do that as much as I can.
I think the easiest, and one I might do if the mood strikes, is combine the Growth and Learning table into a single d12 table. There might need to be a changing around of how many skills you get automatically and how many rolls you get, but I think the idea is solid. Might workshop that one some more.