Meaningful Backgrounds Plus

Normally, backgrounds give you three novice skills. I've changed them so that every background gives two novice and one advanced skill. In order to let you rank up the advanced skill, you also get a hidden 4 point bonus toward unlocking skills in that category, so this means earlier unlocks for that skill category, giving each background more importance. Additionally, the Plus edition also adds a small permanent bonus to each background, so they truly do always matter. These are approximately equal to the value of one skill rank or one rare armor effect, so they're nice to have, but not game-breaking. If you're concerned about how some skills are not very useful, I also have a mod to help with that, called Better Bad Skills. If you want just the skill swaps without a new effect, try the original Meaningful Backgrounds.

Three new backgrounds are also added! The Fixer, Privateer, and Sentry are now available. They do not, however, have any background dialogue options (which almost never matter anyway). Also, all backgrounds that have a weapon specialization will now start the game with an appropriate weapon.

You need to start a new character for this to change background skills. Background permanent effects do work on existing games. An update script will correctly apply the hidden 4-point bonus to those updating this from an older version.

The list of changes is below.

· Beast Hunter Fitness, Ballistics -> Rifle Certification, Gastronomy ¬ You take 15% less damage from aliens.

· Bouncer Boxing, Security -> Intimidation, Fitness ¬ You take 15% less damage from melee attacks.

· Bounty Hunter Piloting, Targeting Control Systems -> Shield Systems, Boost Pack Training ¬ Your ship weapons recharge 20% faster.

· Chef Gastronomy, Dueling -> Nutrition, Scavenging ¬ Food you consume is 10% more effective.

· Combat Medic Pistol Certification, Medicine, Wellness -> Energy Weapon Dissipation ¬ Medical supplies you use restore Health for 10% longer.

· Cyber Runner Stealth, Security, Theft -> Gymnastics ¬ You are 25% more difficult to detect when sneaking.

· Cyberneticist Medicine, Security, Lasers -> Incapacitation ¬ You take 15% less damage from robots.

· Diplomat Persuasion, Commerce, Wellness -> Diplomacy ¬ You are 5% more likely to succeed with Persuasion and Diplomacy.

· Explorer Lasers, Astrodynamics, Surveying -> Scanning ¬ Ships you pilot take 5% less damage and jump 15% further.

· Fixer Negotiation, Theft, Security ¬ You can bank 1 more hacking auto attempt and auto attempts build up much faster.

· Gangster Shotgun Certification, Boxing -> Deception, Theft ¬ You are 15% more likely to successfully pickpocket.

· Homesteader Geology -> Botany, Surveying, Weight Lifting ¬ Your carrying capacity is 25 kilograms higher.

· Industrialist Persuasion, Security, Research Methods -> Weapon Engineering ¬ You mitigate 25% of damage to ship systems.

· Long Hauler Weight Lifting, Piloting, Ballistic Weapon Systems -> Payloads ¬ You can pack ship cargo holds with 10% more capacity.

· Pilgrim Scavenging, Surveying, Gastronomy -> Environmental Conditioning ¬ You have 5 resistance to all environmental damage.

· Privateer Energy Weapon Systems, Commerce, Targeting Control Systems ¬ Ship weapons deal 20% increased system damage.

· Professor Astrodynamics, Geology -> Space Suit Design, Research Methods ¬ You gain 5% more experience from all sources.

· Ronin Dueling, Stealth, Scavenging -> Isolation ¬ You take 15% less damage from humans.

· Sculptor Medicine -> Heavy Weapons Certification, Geology, Persuasion ¬ You are more likely to recover from injuries naturally.

· Sentry Particle Beams, Weightlifting, Medicine ¬ You take 5% less damage from attacks.

· Soldier Fitness -> Pain Tolerance, Ballistics, Boost Pack Training ¬ You gain up to +100 Energy and Physical resistances as your health drops.

· Space Scoundrel Pistol Certification -> Engine Systems, Piloting, Persuasion ¬ You have increased turning rate and maneuverability with any ship.

· Xenobiologist Lasers -> Zoology, Surveying, Fitness ¬ You are more likely to recover from infections naturally.

· [FILE NOT FOUND] Wellness, Ballistics -> Demolitions, Piloting ¬ You cause 5% more damage with weapons.

Also available on Nexus: https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/11430

LOAD ORDER: This only changes the background perk records, so just make sure it's lower than anything else that might do that.