Homebrew Custom Arcanum Backgrounds

The Swasian

You're rather gorgeous. You have a talent for attracting the interest of both girls and old, creepy creepy men (Beauty + 40). You are asian (Int +2), and hold strong to your morals (WP +1), but have spent too much time inside gaming (Str -2). You are also Naive (Persuasion, Gamble, Haggle -2), and Swedish (Dex -1). You like talking to others, and have gotten good at retorts, earning you a +1 to Charisma.


... okay, this sucks, but it's a beginning.

 

HEY! I resemble that remark! At least my fanfiction is short, to the point, and Arcanum. As opposed to the nightmarish parade of self-insert Harry Potter and Twilight fiction... *shudder*

 

The knowledge that such fanfiction exists shall haunt my nightmares for years to come.

 

It could be worse, assuming you aren't a LARPer of course.

 

I'm not old. Oh crap.
DF, judging by this post and your own background, you seem to confuse Beauty (a stat) with the reaction modifier.

 

Not Harry Potter and Twilight but Harry Potter's Weasley brothers hooking up with Lance Bass. http://yearningvoid.net/stories/calico/000039.html

 

Arrogant Prodigal Bastard

Races: Any but half-orc and half-ogre

Gender: Any

You were the class genius at a prestigeous university, having been accepted at a much earlier age than the other, more common bred students. You grasp any subject with ease and have a passion for studying (your Intelligence increases twice as fast). However, you've always been above the plebian pleasures of sport and have little issue with rightfully pointing out the flaws in the way the masses think. As such, people often have difficulty finding common ground with you (-25 reaction and -2 Charisma). Your lifetime persuit of academia has also left you sorely ill prepared (increasing your Constitution requires twice as much effort) for a life in the work force. Thankfully your father bought you passage on the IFS Zephyr, bound for Tarant, where you're sure the Tarant University has a posistion open for you.

Here's the effect. I didn't include the reaction penalty, as it's a bit finicky and it didn't want to function no matter how I arranged it. It had to be in this precise order otherwise it either didn't work at all, or only partially worked.
{in *2, in -8, ch -2, cn /2, cn +4, maxcn +10, maxin +10}

 

IT BURNS! THE GOGGLES VAPOURISED! *cries tears of blood as she screams the scream that ends the world...*

 

The Old-School Brawler

You have survived the many battles on the streets and in school, through experience, (melee +2) and the fact that you can take a lot of damage (CN +2). On the result of a knife fight, you have a scar on the left side of your face, (BE-1) but you are still charming (CHA +2). In battle, you will never use firearms, because that is for the weak (firearms -2). Using your willpower, you have overcome the addictions of drugs and alcohol (WP+2).
A broken hand, and a troubled eye vision, gives you a penalty of dexterity and perception. (DX -2, PE-2)

 

I'm in the middle of a move halfway across the country at the moment, but I'll chime in with a big ol' post with commentary on some of the cooler backgrounds I've seen here once I have interwebs early next week.

However:
1) I've got a giant club and several explosives planted in various key areas around the world. I'll be watching for *certain* backgrounds involving a certain shitty intellectual property which will not be named. NOTE: Said explosives could be under your chair.

2) What is with DF and his backgrounds involving massive amounts of beauty? You need a hug buddy?

3) I'd like to see some more talk regarding the balance of some of these here, but guiding discussion on this forum is like herding cats.

 

So being Swedish automatically takes away one dexterity point? And what the fuck, I told you not to compliment my appearance.

 

Yuki: The Swedish thing was meant as a bad joke. I was originally going to do INT -1, but I already had an Intelligence modifier. Also, I was trying to create a background based on you. It seems fitting to point out your good looks.

Muro: Toss a reaction modifier +10 or 20, whichever seems more fitting, and someone else revise it. It needs it.

Philes: I'm fine, thanks. It was a reference to the fact that, while I've met many girls who think I'm a great guy, one girl accidentally told me one day she wished I was better looking so she could date me. The remark on Yuki? Well... :3

 

Sheesh. Don't you know girls hate compliments?

 

In the interests of keeping this thread alive (and because I bloody well want to), here's some more backgrounds for y'all.

The Skeptic
Available to: All
You've never been able to trust the tales or opinions of others, except for a very small number of people whom you trust. You are very stubborn (+2 Willpower), and you've read a lot to be able to back up your own beliefs (+2 Intelligence). However, you're rude to people (-2 Charisma) and have trouble making friends (-1 Maximum Followers).

The Dancer
Available to: All Females
You make your living dancing for the nobility and the upper crust of society. You are very graceful (+4 Dexterity) and beautiful (+2 Beauty), but your training has sapped your spirit (-6 Willpower) and you tend not to notice things not directly related to your performances (-2 Perception).

The Alchemist
Available to: All
You ignored the rise of technology, instead following the mystic traditions of your forefathers. However, technology has sapped the background magic that fuelled your experiments, and you were caught in an explosion. Your face and arms are horribly scarred (-4 Beauty), your eyes were damaged (-2 Perception), and your throat no longer works properly (Dumb Dialogue only). However, your spirit has never wavered, even in the face of your pain (+6 Willpower).

Retired Sniper
Available to: Humans, Half-Elves, Dwarves
You've been trained as a sniper, in order to end the lives of your enemies. You've endured years of hardship and living rough (+2 Constitution) and your skill with a rifle is hard to match (+1 Firearms), not to mention your ability to sense others from a long way off (+2 Perception). However, your skills at close range combat are lacking at best (-1 to Melee and Dodge), and the fight with your former employer that led to your retirement has left you scarred (-2 Beauty) and reluctant to trust others (-2 Charisma).

 

The Free Spirit

Available to: All
You've have been born with a natural curiosity, and restless soul. A free spirit greets the wonders of the universe with open arms (Int +2). Unfortunaly the horrors of the universe are likeley to rip off those arms(WP -2). Free spirits gain MA +2. Since the Free spirit is so open and carefree, it's difficult for him or her to lie (Persuade -2).

 

Magic Aptitude +2? This has to be the lowest in value bonus yet, and until a MA +1 background comes around.

 

Okay, shall I make it higher, something like MA +5?

 

I actually thought that was some kind of a mistake (like 2 in place of 20) and I hasten to point it out before you would correct it.
MA +5 changes hardly anything, but at least it is a value of a single spell MA boost.
Anyway, why MA bonus in the first place? Is a free spirit determined towards magic over tech?