Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Background Abilities

=Background Abilities= The master weapon smith. The prestigious planar sage. The renowned concert pianist. The most amazing chef. These are things that we want in the world in which we adventure, and possible even things that we wish for our characters to be or aspire to. In the SRD these aspects of a character were handled by skills, but they are conspicuously absent in the revised skill writeups on the previous pages.

This absence is not an accident. In many cases, these abilities just serve to round out a character’s history or personality, and either can’t be used outside of downtime between adventures or only provide fluff to round out the story and deepen immersion. And even when they do open new paths or provide direction during an adventure, they are not the combat or fantastic utility options that are more closely associated with character class and level. Because of these factors, there's no compelling reason to make people pay for these background abilities with character class and level based advancement resources.

These background abilities could just be hand-waved away or left for the players and DM to discuss at the table when they come up, and are in many games, but this is a pretty unsatisfying solution for a lot of players. So instead we break them away from the level and class system to provide them for those games that want them without asking players to sacrifice their level based benefits in exchange. The rules below will help you determine what sort of background things you can practice, how good you are at them, and how you can acquire new ones.

Overview
Each background ability is grouped into a type with similar abilities. Each of the studies represents a collection of book knowledge, for example, while each artisan background ability represents training in tools and the ability to create. Though they are grouped into types for conceptual and mechanical reasons, each background ability must be acquired separately. The individual background abilities follow the general rules presented here as well the any special rules associated with their type.

Each individual background ability possessed by a character has a grade associated with it that indicates how well the character can perform at it. This grade determines whether or not you need to make a check to complete a particular task, what your bonus on the check is, and how much more or less you can expect to earn should you work in the field during your downtime. The grade is generally advanced through the investment of downtime and an attribute check, though exceptions for higher leveled characters exist.

Uninitiated
Any field in which you have no experience or training is one in which you are considered uninitiated. Most creatures in the world are uninitiated in a given profession, and do not possess a grade. They have no training and very little experience with a profession, and pretty much fail at any serious attempt. They may make checks for the background ability on a case by case basis as approved by the DM. These checks often come with a -5 penalty and take twice as long.

Grade I
Grade I often goes by other names, including "apprentice" and "hobbyist", and represents an extremely minor level of training and ability in the field. This level of skill is not particularly impressive and can be acquired by most people enough time on their hands, but it is actual familiarity in the background ability. Creatures with this level of ability have some formal training or a fair amount of experience, but aren't consistent or skilled enough to be considered a full practitioner in their field.

They may make checks against for the background ability with a +0 bonus, and occasionally succeed at common tasks.

Grade II
Grade II is also referred to as "journeyman" or “professional” grade, and represents a completed training and generally competent level of ability in the field. Most of the creatures in the world who work in a background day in and day out have this level of skill. Their work is consistently acceptable, as would be expected of someone who possesses both experience and a full course of training.

They may make checks for the background ability with a +10 bonus, and almost never fail at common tasks.

Grade III
Grade III is the master grade. These are those individuals with exceptional skill, and are often those who have dedicated themselves single-mindedly to their field. Their work is consistently exceptional or masterwork quality.

They may make checks for the background ability with a +20 bonus, and almost never fail at difficult tasks.

Grade IV
A character with Grade IV in a background ability is a grand master and at the pinnacle of the ability. Individuals who achieve this grade are extremely rare. Their work is near flawless, often being a work of art in addition to masterwork.

They receive a +30 bonus to checks made for the background ability, and almost never fail at any task within their field.

Advancing Grades With Time
Advancing a background ability to the next grade requires two things: time and a successful attribute check at the end of that time investment. The time required is a multiple of the base training time of the background ability, with higher grades taking a substantially longer time to reach than lower grades. The attribute check also becomes more difficult as the grade increases and the field becomes more demanding. The attribute required varies by background ability, but in general crafts and proficiencies have an associated physical attribute, while languages, studies, and occupations have an associated mental attribute. Because the lists vary by game, these associations should be determined through discussion with your DM.

If an attribute check is failed, it may be retried one time after putting in additional training time. If this retry is also failed, you may not advance the background skill to the next grade. You have reached the peak of your ability with the background ability, and the simple investment of even more time will not cause you to noticeably improve.

The following table indicates the base training multipliers for grade training and retry investments as well as the attribute check DCs.

Advancing Grades With Skill Points
Skill points from class levels may be used to acquire Grades in a skill without spending the requisite training time or passing an advancement check, with some limitations. No more than 4 skill points may be invested in this way at any given time, and no more than 2 per character level. Any skill points invested in a background skill are refunded to the creature when they gain two levels or after a period of time equal to the normal investment time for the grade that was acquired, whichever comes first. The refunded skill points may be invested in skills as normal at that time, or in additional background abilities if the creature has not already met the background ability investment limts for their level.

The following table below shows how far a background skill is advanced when a skill point is spent based on the value of that skill point. As the skill points of higher level characters are more valuable, higher level characters may advance to higher grades or skip some entirely when investing their skill points in background abilities.

A character may withhold 1 skill point from assignment to a skill or background ability if they wish, spending the point in the middle of the game to instantly benefit from them. While this assignment is generally done in a background skill, it may also be used for any skill which is not currently at its rank maximum. If assigned to a background ability the skill point is refunded as normal after the time investment is completed, at which time it may again remain in holding so long as the character does not have another skill point in holding already. If the character gains a level before assigning this skill point, they must spend all newly acquired skill points as part of the normal level up process.

Checks
Background checks are made when attempting to complete a task associated with your background ability. The basic mechanic of the check is to roll 1d20 + your Grade bonus + your key attribute bonus, and compare that value to the task DC. Task DCs are determined by your DM, and are expected to follow the guidelines below.

When two practitioners of a background ability have a competition, the checks are simply opposed. While generally the higher check wins, if a 3rd party is judging the affair other biases and bribes may need to be taken into account.

Types
There are five types of background abilities: crafts, languages, occupations, proficiencies, and studies.

Craft
Crafts represent acquired skill and knowledge aimed at the creation of a set of objects or creation from a set of materials. As there are many different materials and types of things to make, there are many different crafts in the world, and some may be more common in certain cultures.

A character that possesses a craft makes checks when attempting to create an item within their specialty. Generally, a roll is only required when attempting to create items of a higher quality, as the bonuses are structured to allow the creation of grade-appropriate items by taking 10.

If a character fails a background check with a craft by less than 10 points, they have instead crafted an object of a lower grade. Grade II artisans attempting to create masterwork items don’t simply create junk when they fail the check; they simply create a standard version of the item. They lose no materials other than fuel (if appropriate) and time; they may re-attempt the item by spending half as much as the normal creation time reworking it. Failing a background check by more than 10 indicates that the item is unusable and that half of the material used in its construction is damaged beyond salvage.

List of Crafts
The following list provides a number of example crafts as well as their time to improve, but it is by no means complete. The actual options available in game will depend on the campaign setting and culture.

Language
Languages represent acquired skill and vocabulary in a language. As there are a wide variety of creatures and cultures in the world, so too are there many languages to study and learn. Knowledge of the spoken words does not grant any ability to read or write the language, however, and neither does literacy grant any ability to speak the language conversationally and understandably.

A creature that possesses the minimum grade in the spoken or written form of a language is minimally proficient in it. They fail to understand almost all idioms and have a limited, if very functional, vocabulary. A creature that possesses a grade above the minimum is fluent in the language. While they may still miss the meaning of some idioms, they otherwise converse or read and write in the language freely and have a large vocabulary. A creature that has attained the maximum grade in a spoken language is almost a native speaker of that language. Their accent is basically undetectable, they understand all but the most obscure or out of date idioms, and their vocabulary covers most of the topics in the language (though it may exclude technical jargon or obscure words that native speakers would need assistance with anyway). Common and undercommon are an exception to this rule, being well-used pidgin languages rather than culturally created ones. Everyone speaks them with an accent of some sort and misses idioms from other parts of the world.

There are some planar languages that do not have a maximum spoken grade, however. Only planar races with the appropriate subtype speak these languages natively, though others can become fluent in them. The conceptual framework and speaking apparatuses are simply too different for non-native speakers to attain that level of mastery over the language.

List of Languages
The following lists provides a number of example languages as well as the base training time to learn a language based on immersion. The list of languages is by no means complete, though, as the actual options available in game will depend on the campaign setting.

Unlike the acquisition of other background abilities, spoken and written language acquisition may occur at the same time as another background ability is being acquired, so long as the language is primarily used in the culture where you are acquiring the other background ability. You may learn spoken and written dwarven while learning weaponsmithing without penalty or additional time investment, for example, so long as you were working in a place where dwarven was the primary language.

Occupation
Occupations represent a combination of knowledge and practical ability in fields that do not fit in one of the other types. It is a catch-all category that contains actors, clerks, farmers, torturers, valets, and many other skill sets that simply don’t fit well into the other groupings and don’t need or benefit from special rules.

Note that unlike the craft or studies background ability types, some of the occupations have maximum grades less than IV. There are no Grade IV innkeepers, for example, as the skill set simply doesn’t support that level of refinement. The maximum grade of any particular occupational background ability is listed in its entry.

List of Occupations
The following list provides a number of example occupations as well as their time to improve, but it is by no means complete. The actual options available in-game will depend on the campaign setting and culture.

Proficiency
Proficiencies are background abilities that consist of knowledge and training in the proper way to wield a weapon or wear a suit of armor. While weapon and armor proficiencies are technically combat-related and are handled by the class system, they are also extremely non-magical abilities that anyone of any level can potentially pick up with enough practice, which is a good fit with the other background abilities. The ability to wield them well is still strongly tied to level, of course.

To acquire a new proficiency, you simply spend the time required for each grade and make the appropriate checks. If you meet the previous grade requirement of a proficiency, you may skip the earlier grades and simply put in the time needed based on the final grade. For example, if you possessed a +3 base attack bonus and proficiency in all martial weapons, you could skip Grades I and II when attempting to learn an exotic weapon. You would only need to put in the time and rolling that advancing from Grade II to Grade III requires.

List of Proficiencies
Unlike other background abilities, the time required to learn a new weapon or armor proficiency is directly related to your base attack bonus. Characters with more physical combat training and experience simply learn these things more quickly.

Study
Studies are background abilities that represent a collection of facts, procedures, or other knowledge gained in a particular topic from scrolls, books, or tutoring. This pool of knowledge may be used to draw up plans for physical objects like homes or catapults, to successfully navigate a bureaucracy or legal system, to amuse or delight guests at a dinner party, or perform similar exploits within the field of study.

Each study that a character takes must be specialized within the field; examples of these specializations are listed with the various fields of study. Planar studies, for example, may be specialized in the elemental plane of earth or the abyss. Characters are treated as if they possess a background ability grade 2 less than their specialty in closely related specialties. If a character had a Grade III study in the elemental plane of earth, for example, they would be considered to have a Grade I study in all of the other elemental planes.

When a character has studied a particular topic, they gain a lot of information about the subject and related subjects that the player may not possess directly. This is represented mechanically by the ability to roll a background ability check to determine if they previously learned about the topic and can recall it at the time. A character with a study in a topic does not need to make checks to recall information about a topic within their specialization unless the information is more advanced their current Grade in the field. A character with Grade II studies in architecture, for example, does not need to make a check to draw up the plans for a cottage or a castle made with traditional local materials, but they would need to make a check if the plans called for solid gold walls. Similarly, a character with Grade III studies in the astral plane does not need to make a check to remember the existence and function of color pools, though they would need to make checks to recall anything about the social habits of an astral dreadnaught.

A character who fails a check either never studied the particular topic or fails to recall information about it. If the check was made for a topic one Grade above that possessed by the character, however, the character knows where they can go to find the information, whether it is in a library or a visit to a particular person.

List of Studies
The following list provides a number of example studies including specializations, but it is by no means complete. The actual options available in game will depend on the campaign setting and culture.

Initial Background Abilities
A character may begin play with one Grade II artisanal, studies, or professional background ability of their choice, so long as they succeed on the necessary acquisition check. If they fail, they instead have a Grade I background ability, and may retry the acquisition check after investing sufficient time. They may advance this background ability additional grades based on the time available between their starting age and the start of the campaign, at the DM’s discretion. The character must still pass all appropriate checks to advance the background ability as normal.

Characters never begin play with weapon or armor proficiencies other than those granted by their class.

Bonus Languages
For each bonus language that a character is entitled to, they may select a language from the list and gain Grade II competency in that language. They must select spoken and written languages separately, however. If they desire, they may sacrifice a Grade II language to gain 2 langauges at Grade I, or to promote an existing Grade II language to Grade III.