Race modifiers disaggregation and Background

As I return to blogging (and playing), I want to offer a proposal in light of the forthcoming Tasha's Cauldron of Everything volume (due out from Wizards in November).

I admit I haven't delved into the discussion very deeply, though I have read through the sneak preview. But one of the main changes in the new book is a variant for disaggregating racial ability modifiers to allow more flexibility of character design (which is also a reaffirmation of WotC's new stated commitment to combating racial stereotypes). The point is to allow every elf, dwarf and orc to be different - choose whatever adjustments best suit your character needs.

The affirmation that people are different no matter what race or species they belong to is laudable enough, but it's not the key issue I want to address here. There is, however, the question of minimaxers seizing on the new openness to give their dwarf wizard an intelligence modifier (and an armor proficiency to boot), which gives pause to some GMs on account of likely abuse. This is also a serious matter, though to me, the more important issue is not one of power maximization as such, but buffet-style character builds that are increasingly disconnected from the setting in which they are to operate.

The other day, I had a brief conversation about this with a friend, who speculated that the retreat from racial bonuses will give greater weight to Backgrounds. I found that appealing, because arguably the main function of Backgrounds is to imbricate characters more tightly to a social structure (and ultimately, to a setting). For that reason, I thought that the idea of giving stat modifiers to specific Backgrounds would reinforce its importance as a game feature. This is not to say that all hermits, for example, are the same, any more than all orcs are the same. But Backgrounds are at least somewhat closer to occupations, which shape how a person turns out (or, in mechanical terms, shape a character's stats).

What I settled on trying out is to give two out of three positive stat modifiers over to Backgrounds, and leave the third with races (to allow for a modicum of physiological or social differences to remain - if all you want are the bonuses, why worry about races at all?).

So I came up with a system of Background stat adjustments that give +1 to two different abilities. In a later post, I will present a proposal for race design where each race will have only +1 to an individual attribute, so as to fit with the Background adjustment here without breaking the game. I am proposing these adjustments for character design in my Markwald setting (see the previous post), which I just inaugurated for play last week. So my list will not contain every single officially published 5e background, but it will the ones I find suitable for our own game (i.e. most of them).

List of Backgrounds by official name (with Markwald or Lukomorye variant names in parentheses):

Players' Handbook

Acolyte (Attendant): +1 WIS, +1 CHA
Charlatan (Mountebank): +1 INT, +1 CHA
Criminal (Ruffian): +1 STR, +1 DEX
Entertainer (Trouper): +1 DEX, +1 CHA
Guild Artisan (Artificer): +1 DEX, +1 WIS (for most), or, +1 STR, +1 WIS (for smiths,                 masons, carpenters, shipwrights, etc. Also for Clan Crafters from the Sword Coast Guide).
Hermit (Ascetic): +1 WIS, +1 CON
Noble (Boyar): +1 INT, +1 CHA (+1 STR, +1 CHA for warrior types, Knights of the Order           from the Sword Coast Guide, etc.)
Outlander (Heathen): +1 CON, +1 WIS
Sage (Learned Doctor; Scribe): +1 INT, +1 WIS (also for Cloistered Scholar from the                     Sword Coast Guide).
Sailor (Mariner); +1 STR, +1 WIS (also for Fishers from Ghosts of Saltmarsh).
Soldier (Person-at-arms): +1 STR, +1 DEX (also for City Watch, Mercenary veteran from             Sword Coast Guide).

Sword Coast Guide

Far Traveler (Foreigner): +1 WIS, +1 INT

Ghosts of Saltmarsh

Smuggler: +1 DEX, +1 WIS

Lukomorye

Courtier: +1 INT, +1 CHA
Healer: +1 INT, +1 WIS
Merchant: +1 INT, +1 CHA
Nomad: +1 CON, +1 WIS
Peasant: +1 CON, +1 WIS
Urban Laborer: +1 STR, +1 CON 

Vagabond: +1 WIS, +1 CHA

Markwald

Augur: +1 DEX, +1 CHA
Plague Doctor: +1 CON, +1 INT

I plan to follow this post by a detailed writeup of the two unique Markwald backgrounds, and the (partly reconceptualized) player races that are supposed to balance character design in conjunction with the above Background adjustments.