Great Advice for building a 4E character with a past

Some really good advice on making a character that is not so finely tuned for combat that all non combat abilities suffer. [Link]

However, I disagree with the idea that it's mechanically "difficult to define a character with an interesting past" in 4E. It's certainly difficult to do that with CLASS LEVELS, because that's not the mechanic 4E uses for this purpose. Class levels determine your combat abilities, and it's intentionally difficult to dramatically change your combat role. But once you step out of combat, the skill training system makes it easy to develop cross-class skills – and because heroic tier feats have less of an impact on your combat abilities than 3E feats, it's not a major sacrifice to use your feats on noncombat abilities. The amalgamation of skill groups further helps with this. I have a changeling (doppelganger) cleric-thief in one of my games, and while he hasn't actually taken any rogue POWERS, through the use of two feats (Sneak of Shadows to gain Thievery and Skill Training - Stealth) he has gained decent ability in what would have been five skills under 3.5, without any significant sacrifice of his clerical abilities. In 3.5, he'd HAVE to multiclass to get that level of skill, and that would drop his clerical power. He doesn't have the COMBAT power of a rogue - but *out* of combat, he feels like a 3.5 rogue.

But the main point I wanted to address was whether it's possible to "define a character with an interesting past". The changeling cleric is one example. His idea was that while raised in the church, he was faced with corruption in the ranks - and that now, as a pilgrim, he seeks to understand these darker aspects of human nature so that when he returns he will be better equipped to face it. He began with Skill Focus (Stealth), as this was tied to how he'd discovered the corruption to begin with; at second level he took Sneak of Shadows, reflecting his deeper study of these arts. Again, he doesn't FIGHT like a rogue - but his noncombat abilities directly reflect his past and evolving story.

Just to continue to ramble at great, unnecessary length, let me go ahead and present two additional characters. Both are first level human fighters, and both have 18 Strength; I want to develop an interesting backstory, but I'm not going to sacrifice my primary stat to get it.

I will follow this advice when I make characters, although I will probably be the DM not the player.