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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Gamemastery Guide / Chapter 4: Variant Rules / Deep Backgrounds

Using Deep Backgrounds

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 186
This variant replaces Step 4 of Character Creation. The player rolls on the tables in this section to determine their character’s family background, homeland, major childhood event, influential associate, relationships, and drawbacks. Each element of the player’s background adds options to the final list of ability boosts, skills, feats, and other options that their background can grant. The player writes these options down as they build their character’s background. At the end of the process, they select the following from among the options written down.
  • Two ability boosts, each to a different ability score.
  • Training in a Lore skill.
  • One skill feat (or possibly another feat or piece of equipment). If the player chooses a skill feat, they become trained in its prerequisite skill, or one of its possible prerequisite skills if it has multiple (such as Quick Identification). If the random results include a feat that isn’t a skill feat and the player selects that feat, they don’t gain training in a skill. If they choose a piece of equipment instead of a skill feat, the entry indicates what skill training, if any, they receive.

Rerolling and Selecting

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 186
At your discretion, the players don’t have to be bound by any results from the following tables. Depending on how your group wants to use deep backgrounds, players can reroll any result they don’t like, or even select a specific option from a table that fits their emerging vision of their character. However, if you allow players to reroll or directly select options (and potentially even if you don’t), you might want to exclude options that grant feats other than skill feats; these options are unusual enough that they might put too much pressure on players to select only these options. Note that the following tables reflect the Core Rulebook and the Age of Lost Omens setting—if your game takes place in a different setting, feel free to adjust the tables or allow players to select the options that best fit your setting.