Classes as Backgrounds

Xanathar's Guide to Everything arrived this week at the start of Thanksgiving break, and I have been going through it pretty intensively. In general, I like this format for non-core rulebooks: it sounds better than Players' Handbook II, and substantively, it has a more experimental feel to it. Rather than saying "rush out and buy your copy so that you can incorporate all the new official rules into your game", the conceit of a monster's thoughts on different character types and aspects of the world frames the offerings in a more playful way, presenting different ideas and variants that you could take or leave, and that stimulate thinking about changes you can introduce into your own games.

Xanathar's Guide isn't perfect. Without getting into the DM's section (which I haven't read yet), I feel that several questionable decisions were made when the player's section was put together. Four archetypes from the Sword Coast's Adventurer's Guide were included in the new book with virtually no changes. This was not done to ensure that all of the archetypes not in the Players' Handbook could be found in one place, because there are eight specializations that are not included (so if you are being accepting of all published variants, you still have to lug the SCAG with you). The reason for reprinting four variants in the new book has more to do with the fact that not a sufficiently large number of variants published in freely available Unearthed Arcanas over the last two years received a sufficiently high fan rating, and their place was taken by the more popular SCAG subclasses.  Some of the offerings seem overpowered - especially the Rogue Inquisitive, which is popular precisely because it allows you to play a constantly backstabbing Sherlock Holmes. Some, like the Monster Slayer Ranger, seem redundant - isn't slaying monsters already what the Hunter Ranger does?

But on the whole, most of the class options are well done, and those that went through two iterations before making it onto the pages of this new book definitely benefited from playtesting, criticism, and editing - a lot of the rewritten features are much crisper, clearer, and more flavorful than the early prototypes. However, what stood out most for me were the flavor tables that introduced each class. These tables allow players to generate (or choose) backstory options relating to the person who trained or patronized them, icons that symbolize them, places that serve as their base prior to the start of their adventuring life, and so on. In a later section, a series of tables list options for why a character chose to enter a particular class. These are all very much optional offerings, and are unnecessary for good players who are motivated to come up with detailed backstories. But they do kindle the imagination and make it easy even for middling players to come up with interesting histories for their characters. They also help situate characters in the world, and provide more evidence that classes are not just bags of mechanics, but real social entities in game settings.

Since I have engaged in numerous discussions about the last point over the last several years, I thought it only right that I should rewrite these "class as background" options for my Lukomorye setting, since it differs somewhat from the standard fantasy setting assumed in D&D splatbooks. I have certainly borrowed heavily from the options in Xanathar's in some instances, but largely ignored them in others to emphasize the social over the purely personal. I'll probably rework some of these and make them a bit more descriptive before putting them into my own Players' Guide, but I like these as a first pass.

Lukomorye Class Backgrounds

Bards:


Typical Performance Spaces:

1. Churches
2. Boyar/merchant feast circuit
3. Princely palaces
4. The street/markets
5. Taverns/hostels
6. Villages/the road

Main Instrument:

1. Gusli (zither)
2. Gudok (viol)
3. Flute/horn/kuvykly (pan pipes)
4. Domra (mandolin)
5. Percussion (drum, tambourine, rattle, etc.)
6. Vocals

Biggest Failure/humiliation

1. Whistled down by people for poor performance
2. Performance disaster (fire, animal attack, etc.)
3. Beaten down by authorities for lewdness/profanity
4. Chased away by notable for insult
5. Defeated in a musical contest by rival
6. Lost a public bet/failed to live up to a boast

Muse:

1. Saint/pagan deity
2. Hero/companions
3. Rival/enemy
4. Paramour (generally high-born, dead, or otherwise unattainable)
5. Common people
6. Nechist' ('unclean' nature spirit)/other monster

Bogatyrs:

Origin of might:

1. Visit of holy people to home
2. Inherited at birth from superhuman ancestor
3. Fell into vat of a potion of superhuman strength
4. Awakened from magical sleep without memory of past life
5. Granted power from consuming a magical draught/food
6. Granted powers by monstrous/wondrous creature

Prominent physical feature:

1. Booming voice
2. Thunderous gait
3. Very long hair/beard/hirsuite
4. Pronounced feature (very large hands, very blue eyes, etc.)
5. Very strong smell
6. Intense gaze/radiant smile

Mission:

1. Glory
2. Defense of the Realm/people
3. Justice
4. Specific duty (slaying a monster, finding an item, etc.)
5. Service of God/gods
6. Revenge

Heroic Flaw:

1. Boasting
2. Bloodlust
3. Envy
4. Gluttony/drunkenness/lust
5. Stubborn/narrow-minded
6. Issues with authority

Druids (volkhvy):

Temple:

1. Bathhouse
2. Barn/granary
3. Thunderstone
4. Cave/grotto
5. Enclosure with standing stones in woods
6. Covered wooden shrine (usually hidden)

Cover (to remain hidden from authorities):

1. Hermit
2. Healer
3. Shepherd/animal whisperer
4. Communal elder
5. Artificer (smith, potter, weaver, etc.)
6. None - openly challenging authorities

Secret:

1. An astrological sign betokening a god's return/disaster
2. Compromising knowledge about an authority figure
3. Knowledge of birth of a great hero/prince
4. Location of mystical item/landscape feature
5. Location of portal to Otherworld
6. Vision of own doom

Circle contact/mentor:

1. Voice in a dream (maybe spirit of dead ancestor)
2. An ancient crone or hermit
3. A family member
4. A local notable
5. A nechist' creature
6. A shapeshifter

Fighters:

Training Company:

1. Peasant self-defense force
2. Town militia
3. Company of princely or boyar servitors
4. Local fighting society
5. Guard for travelers/caravans
6. Raider/brigand/criminal enforcer

Company Tradition:

1. Marching song
2. Clothing article or other marking (headband, face paint, etc.)
3. Honor code
4. Unit legend
5. Slang
6. Hazing ritual

Unit type/position in unit:

1. Point/anchor
2. Tactician
3. Support/specialist (archer, siege engineer, etc.)
4. Quartermaster (in charge of supplies)
5. Heart of the unit (mediator/peacemaker)
6. Auxiliary/skirmisher

Fools:

Foolish conceit:

1. Easily distracted
2. Talks to self/disembodied voices
3. Credulous/apparently credulous
4. Tells long, pointless stories
5. Lazy malingerer
6. Disgusting or weird personal habit (nosepicking, incessant laughter, etc.)

Cravings:

1. Sweets/food
2. Drink
3. Nice clothes
4. Cute animals
5. Praise
6. Fast movement (on vehicle, horseback, etc.)

Special possessions:

1. Garish outfit
2. Cheap object you are convinced is magical
3. Bag of useless items
4. Toy (doll, rattle, etc.)
5. Book or text fool can't read
6. Improvised weapon/armor (pot, broom, etc.)

Priests:

Reason for entering the Church:

1. Family business
2. Best career option
3. Heard a voice
4. Promised God to do so after near-death experience
5. Atonement for past sins
6. Witnessed a miracle

Service:

1. Rural parish (White clergy)
2. Urban neighborhood church or monastery (either)
3. Wilderness monastery (Black clergy)
4. Ecclesiastical administrator (Black clergy)
5. Confessor attached to noble (either)
6. Diplomat/missionary (Black clergy)

Habits:

1. Expounding prophecy
2. Proselytism
3. Self-flagellation
4. Berating others/threatening fire-and-brimstone
5. Must always work (the devil makes work for idle hands)
6. Seeks the devil everywhere

Crises of Faith:

1. When faith conflicts with reason
2. When bad things happen to good people
3. When you are passed over for advancement/hurt
4. When you get away with sinning/succumb to temptation
5. When people who don't share your faith act righteously
6. Never (completely dogmatic)

Rangers:

Reason for becoming a ranger:

1. Desire for wealth, fame, and advancement
2. Service of boyar or prince
3. Called on as bringer/protector of civilization
4. Exile
5. Raised on the frontier
6. Seeking knowledge (possibly about own origins)

Views of the world:

1. You yearn for the sweet smoke of your fatherland
2. Your duty is to protect people from the terrors of the frontier
3. Settled lands must continue to expand to tame the frontier
4. Towns and villages are fine places to rest and carouse
5. The world beyond the frontier is soft, and no place for a hero
6. The frontier is honest, settled regions - corrupt

Attitudes toward favored enemies:

1. Respect - we are all just struggling to survive
2. Hatred - they must be crushed, so they can never threaten the world again
3. Disdain - they are worthy of humiliation whenever possible
4. Sympathy - kill only those that directly threaten you, protect the rest
5. Disinterest - it's a job - deal with them, and move on
6. Obligation - they will always be our enemies - it's part of the natural order

Rogues:

Reasons for becoming a rogue:

1. Village wiped out by plague, fire, famine, or raiders
2. Escaped slave, peon, or indebted scofflaw
3. Heathen whose home has been destroyed and people scattered
4. Demobilized soldier with no employ
5. Impoverished, non-inheriting noble
6. Second (or third, etc.) generation rogue

Lifestyle:

1. Beggar
2. Goon
3. Hustler
4. Gambler
5. Tavern regular
6. Libertine

Organization:

1. Goon in the employ of noble/VIP
2. Neighborhood/locale self-defense force
3. Unskilled worker 'craft guild'
4. Gang-member led by criminal ataman
5. Thief-in-law
6. Lone wolf

Secrets:

1. Ways to buy stolen/contraband goods
2. Compromising information on noble/VIP
3. Location of a treasure hoard
4. Location of rival gang hideout
5. Presence of (hidden?) monsters in locale
6. Way to sneak into town/citadel/stronghold

Sorcerers:

Physical Marks:

1. Extra digit/webbed hands/feet
2. Clubfoot/cloven hoof on one foot
3. Conspicuous birthmark
4. Vestigial tail/horns
5. Enlarged teeth/elongated maw
6. None (but born with a caul)

Awakening:

1. After adolescent illness
2. After bout of madness
3. During a sexual encounter
4. During violent/injurious incident
5. After drinking from mysterious pond/stream
6. Power imparted by other sorcerer (on deathbed)

Community response:

1. Shunned (unless services are needed)
2. Driven out (perhaps more than once)
3. Oblivious (you are good at hiding your gifts)
4. Accepted (community is in crisis/Church is far away)
5. Prophecy has made some powerful people seek you
6. You have a protector (for reasons that may not be clear)

Main activity:

1. Selling your services to villagers/townspeople
2. Living alone in the woods and keeping curious visitors away
3. Trying to avoid unlife by performing righteous and pious deeds
4. Seeking gain by working with criminals/bandits
5. Looking for others belonging to your bloodline
6. Battling a rival sorcerer/authorities

Warlocks:

Reason for making pact:

1. Ideological (hatred of Church/priests)
2. Revenge/jealousy (power to act against rivals)
3. Necessity (to avoid death/other serious problem)
4. Curiosity (knowledge of secrets)
5. Solicited by coven members
6. Solicited by patron

Terms of Pact:

1. Service of labor
2. Blood sacrifice
3. Retrieving an item
4. Takeover of settlement/organization
5. Siring/bearing and granting offspring
6. Unclear/immortal soul

Patron Relationship:

1. Patron treats warlock as family member (and will become furious if betrayed)
2. Patron is completely unpredictable at each encounter
3. Patron is a stern taskmaster
4. Patron is an abusive sadist
5. Patron likes to make deals/renegotiate
6. Patron is inscrutable/incomprehensible

Coven size:

1. You have no coven
2. d4 plus yourself
3. d6 plus yourself
4. d8 plus yourself
5. d10 plus yourself
6. d12 plus yourself