TheBadDoctor
First time out of the vault
Rather than hijack the other thread, I'll just start my own.
Today, we'll be examining the Background concept, listing a few possibilities. The final assortment should reflect in-game factions and plausible histories. These shouldn't have a major effect on the game, but are more for character color and "coolness" factor. Current skill adjustments are based on a maximum of 200% and a projected max level of about 21 - enough to push you in a particular direction, but not to lock you into a "class" type. Bonuses to combat skills should be minor and rare, or come with significant penalties.
Human:
Vault Dweller - You are a relative newcomer to the world of the wastes. You can still remember the pristine cleanliness of your underground home, with its beeping computers and friendly creche-bots. Add 5% to your Doctor and Science skills due to your higher education, but your Outdoorsman and Melee Weapons skills suffer -5% - there wasn't much call for scavenging food or hunting game when a replicator provided you with all you needed.
Tribal - Your tribe has removed itself from the hustle and bustle of post-apocalyptic city life. Your Outdoorsman and Melee Weapons skills are each increased by 5%, but your tribe's isolation and backwards nature has affected your ability to interact with the more civilized elements of the wastes - your Speech and Barter skills each suffer -5%.
Water Merchant - your years of traveling the desert delivering the sweet nectar of life to have given you the mercantile edge necessary to survive. You gain 5% bonuses to Barter and Repair from keeping your equipment in good shape and selling it to the highest bidder, but every good merchant hires guards and medics to do the fighting and patching up for them - your Small Guns and First Aid skills suffer by 5% each.
Ghoul:
Necropolis Scout - life in Vault 12 was a harsh one, if you could even call it "life." The radiation left you scarred and hideous, but the cause of the ghoul gave you purpose and a place in Set's army. Slinking around the ruins of the Necropolis for most of your wretched existence gives you a 10% to your Sneak skill, but all that time spent with only yourself to mumble to left you with a stunted capacity for public speaking - your Speech skill suffers by -10%.
Gecko Technician - all those years without a Hydroelectric Magnetosphere taught you the value of percussive maintenance - you have 5% bonuses to Repair and Science. Yet all that time spent soaking up rads makes you slightly bioluminescent, resulting in a -5% penalty to Sneak, and most people are slightly hesitant to approach you, leaving you slightly bitter and giving you a -5% penalty to Speech.
Super Mutant:
Nightkin Training - you're a little quieter on your feet than most super mutants, and a little better equipped to hunt in the vast wastes, resulting in 5% bonuses to Sneak and Outdoorsman, but you've distanced yourself from the traditional stereotype of "Hulking maniac with a minigun" that so many mutants suffers from, giving you a -10% penalty to your Big Guns skill.
These are just a few ideas, though I'd like to limit the total number of Backgrounds to around 12, maybe slightly more.
Six for humans, three for ghouls, and three for super mutants seems a nice balance.
Let's make this interactive!
Here are the remaining Backgrounds I have planned, with no associated description or skill changes. Make your own!
As a general baseline, humans will tend to be "social/versatile" characters, ghouls "stealth/science" characters, and mutants, obviously, "combat" characters. The challenge is to make each archetype viable. Imagine an environment where each player, regardless of background, ends up in Broken Hills relatively loyalty-free.
Human:
NCR Ranger
Former Brotherhood of Steel Initiate
New Reno Gangster
Ex-Raider
Frontier Sheriff
Shi Peasant
Modoc Farmer
Celtic Wanderer
Ghoul:
Morbid Sawbones
Feral Bogeyman
Tragic Harpist
Super Mutant:
Master's Remnant
Unity Patrol Candidate
Uranium Miner
Today, we'll be examining the Background concept, listing a few possibilities. The final assortment should reflect in-game factions and plausible histories. These shouldn't have a major effect on the game, but are more for character color and "coolness" factor. Current skill adjustments are based on a maximum of 200% and a projected max level of about 21 - enough to push you in a particular direction, but not to lock you into a "class" type. Bonuses to combat skills should be minor and rare, or come with significant penalties.
Human:
Vault Dweller - You are a relative newcomer to the world of the wastes. You can still remember the pristine cleanliness of your underground home, with its beeping computers and friendly creche-bots. Add 5% to your Doctor and Science skills due to your higher education, but your Outdoorsman and Melee Weapons skills suffer -5% - there wasn't much call for scavenging food or hunting game when a replicator provided you with all you needed.
Tribal - Your tribe has removed itself from the hustle and bustle of post-apocalyptic city life. Your Outdoorsman and Melee Weapons skills are each increased by 5%, but your tribe's isolation and backwards nature has affected your ability to interact with the more civilized elements of the wastes - your Speech and Barter skills each suffer -5%.
Water Merchant - your years of traveling the desert delivering the sweet nectar of life to have given you the mercantile edge necessary to survive. You gain 5% bonuses to Barter and Repair from keeping your equipment in good shape and selling it to the highest bidder, but every good merchant hires guards and medics to do the fighting and patching up for them - your Small Guns and First Aid skills suffer by 5% each.
Ghoul:
Necropolis Scout - life in Vault 12 was a harsh one, if you could even call it "life." The radiation left you scarred and hideous, but the cause of the ghoul gave you purpose and a place in Set's army. Slinking around the ruins of the Necropolis for most of your wretched existence gives you a 10% to your Sneak skill, but all that time spent with only yourself to mumble to left you with a stunted capacity for public speaking - your Speech skill suffers by -10%.
Gecko Technician - all those years without a Hydroelectric Magnetosphere taught you the value of percussive maintenance - you have 5% bonuses to Repair and Science. Yet all that time spent soaking up rads makes you slightly bioluminescent, resulting in a -5% penalty to Sneak, and most people are slightly hesitant to approach you, leaving you slightly bitter and giving you a -5% penalty to Speech.
Super Mutant:
Nightkin Training - you're a little quieter on your feet than most super mutants, and a little better equipped to hunt in the vast wastes, resulting in 5% bonuses to Sneak and Outdoorsman, but you've distanced yourself from the traditional stereotype of "Hulking maniac with a minigun" that so many mutants suffers from, giving you a -10% penalty to your Big Guns skill.
These are just a few ideas, though I'd like to limit the total number of Backgrounds to around 12, maybe slightly more.
Six for humans, three for ghouls, and three for super mutants seems a nice balance.
Let's make this interactive!
Here are the remaining Backgrounds I have planned, with no associated description or skill changes. Make your own!
As a general baseline, humans will tend to be "social/versatile" characters, ghouls "stealth/science" characters, and mutants, obviously, "combat" characters. The challenge is to make each archetype viable. Imagine an environment where each player, regardless of background, ends up in Broken Hills relatively loyalty-free.
Human:
NCR Ranger
Former Brotherhood of Steel Initiate
New Reno Gangster
Ex-Raider
Frontier Sheriff
Shi Peasant
Modoc Farmer
Celtic Wanderer
Ghoul:
Morbid Sawbones
Feral Bogeyman
Tragic Harpist
Super Mutant:
Master's Remnant
Unity Patrol Candidate
Uranium Miner