Thread 96157089

How do you guys go about writing character backstories for your characters? Do you guys have a process? Are there any patterns you follow?

Yes, my process is having a game and making a character that fits in that game.

>simple farmer who is called to adventure.
Let me guess, you need more?

>>96157089 (OP)
>What does my character do?
>How did he get here?
>Why would he participate in this adventure?
Ideally one sentence each with a maximum of two. Anything more, only if the GM or system requires it.
If I'm running the game I will read up to one paragraph of back story for a fresh character. More than that and I'll ask you for a new character or to leave.

>>96157089 (OP)
I think of ridiculous concepts for characters and then work backwards to make them make serious, all so that I can have a funny concept character that works in a regular campaign but if it ends up funny I can lean into the ridiculousness.

1. My kink
2. My political powerfantasy
3. 1-5 pages of schizoid bullshit
4. Character traits (optional)

AI

>>96157288
Ah, Ed Greenwood school of writing.

>>96157089 (OP)
depends on the game
>gm doesn't care
I don't bother to make a backstory
>gm has a barebones map
I pick a spot and make up a place and say I'm from there, maybe locally important in some way this usually results in the gm placing the game in that area
>gm presents a hook(s) in the pitch for the game
I pick one and build a thematic character around it

>>96157251
>>96157473

Do you add DM hooks? I usually try to add a few NPCs and a separate goal that can act as a side quest for the character.

I never know if I'm doing too little or too much. For non-one-shot campaigns anyways.

>>96157509
on the rare occasion my players are a bit stumped on ideas for their guys, yes
the last time I had to was when a guy was really coming up empty and sarcastically asked if he could take GURPS' full amnesia disadvantage so I could make his character for him I made him a clone of an evil scientist that woke up abandoned in some alleyway

>>96157089 (OP)
I usually just pick a character concept that sounds fun i.e. something like pic related then stream of consciousness out something that personally amuses me while throwing in plot hooks for the GM.

>>96157509
>Do you add DM hooks?
Read my post...
>Anything more, only if the GM or system requires it.

>>96157509
I add that my character's sibling went away for some reason and they haven't seen each other since. Then the campaign gets cancelled before they reunite.

1. character premise (e.g necromancer who can only heal the sick by waiting until they die)
2. interesting traits for the premise (e.g views non-lethal disfigurements or handicaps as extremely tragic, trained in mundane medicinal remedies for non-lethal injuries)
3. think of backstory that justifies the first two steps (e.g. studied medicine, fell in love with a patient who they couldn't save, turned to forbidden necromantic text)
4. insert DM hooks (e.g. first resurrection was botched, summoned undead monster/demonic spirit possessed corpse that then escaped)

>>96157089 (OP)
Sometimes I build a character from a piece of art, so I try making character background choices that will fit with whatever the art makes clear. Sometimes this really heavily influences my core concept (like a guy in full knight armor wielding an AK), and sometimes it barely effects it.

Next I consider what my character can and can't do in terms of abilities or skills or social status or whatever. Or even equipment. If I couldn't afford anything more than a junky spear and dagger at chargen then maybe he's not a soldier, but a soldier turned brigand, and his last group got wiped out in an unprecedented night raid, leaving him just enough time to grab his boots and spear and flew the camp to avoid that overwhelming force.

Maybe the setting has undead, so maybe it was a horde of zombies that came upon his camp. Maybe the GM suggests it's zombies from a specific necromancer BBG. Maybe I want him to have a greater emotional stake in taking down the BBG, so it's not just that the group he was apart of was wiped out, his brigand GF got torn apart in the chaos. Maybe she had designs on an old abandoned building at some crossroads, intent on making a tavern, and this guy now has that as a broad long term goal, in her memory. Maybe he doesn't like taverns much, maybe he's a bit of the strong silent type, not a people person let alone a charamastic tavern keeper type, so it's not just pursuing a goal of the dead GF, it's him pursuing a goal he would never even want to do if not for her. Maybe considering that, I pull points away from social skills or whatever and stick them in something else. Is that the greatest adventure slash love story ever told? No, but it's a lot of content stemming from running out of cash at chargen.

>>96157089 (OP)
I don't.

>>96157509

>Do you add DM hooks?
No, but only because I always DM, and I haven't made a character in years. If I were to make one now I would try to do a better job of giving the DM something to work with.

>I never know if I'm doing too little or too much.
One or two paragraphs of densely packed info never goes wrong. So long as you convey the most important points about your character.

>>96157089 (OP)

I come up with a few bullet points(ran away from the farm to become a mercenary etc).

Overall I think it's way more important to have an interesting personality for your PC. That will come up a lot more than where he grew up or whatever.

>>96160738
You don't think his backstory would inform that?

>>96157089 (OP)
>Roll 3d6 down the line
>"Oh looks like I can play an elf!"
>Name: Elfington the Elf
>Elfington the Elf dies horribly fighting a rabid ferret
>"Shit, give me a sec guys"
>New character
>Roll 3d6 down the line
>Name: Elftington Jr. the Elf
>"I'LL AVENGE MY FATHER BY CLEANSING THE WORLD OF EVERY SINGLE FERRET"

>>96157089 (OP)
I roll on the background tables in Xanathar’s…

>>96157089 (OP)
I wait to see what everyone else makes, then make something that rounds out the party with their skills, or just simple diversity from that. Sometimes I latch onto an option and just build around it.

>>96157179
This. Rednecks make best characters. ALWAYS.

I look at my stats, pick the worst one, build a persona around that so that people don’t resent my best scores, add an example event to refer to, and that event becomes most of my backstory.

Mry character desperately wanted to be a simple farmer like his father, but fate had other plans. The day Lokkal Lourde arrived in the quaint agrarian lands of Bakstorria with his entourage of men-at-arms in full harness was a simple Tuesday (calendars weren't invented yet so my character didn't know) and my character was doing his best tilling the dense soil around his family's land. Lokkal Lourde stated that my character's mother had been killed. Upon hearing this tragic news, my character's father immediately died of a heart attack. Now orphaned at the tender age of 16, my character had no other choice but to follow Lokkal Lourde into the Badlands of Bakstorria and get his revenge. Lokkal Lourde gave my character his first weapon and some armor, a few silver pieces for the road ahead, and a weary smile. Lokkal Lourde turned his eyes to the smoke enervating from the forest and flatly asked, "Let me guess, you need more?" In fact, my character didn't, not in these untamable lands of Bakstorria

>>96157089 (OP)
I always start by making my character based on what the table needs. From there, it becomes easy to develop them as a person, because I just have to create a story that both explains all of the characteristics I've given them and is interesting to me.

>>96157089 (OP)
I split it between Childhood, why they are taking the hook of the campaign, and then general character trait & contact/link npcs if the gm need those.
Usually I just do some bullet point and try to keep it as readable and as short as possible. (though I usually ask the GM what they need so that I either cut stuff out or add more

To the DMs, were there any backstories worthy of rejection?

>>96163532
The best roleplayer in my group makes exclusively dogshit backstories. His entire current backstory is that he's french. We're in Greyhawk. I don't bother to reject his bs tho, since I know this bitch is about to roleplay the best fucking frenchman I've seen in my life.

>>96157089 (OP)
>1. Figure out what everyone else is doing in a general sense.
Contrast is good, but you don't want so much contrast it becomes a question of why the hell X is teamed up with Y & Z.
>2. Determine what fill some underutilized niche.
If the party is full of noblemen, maybe play a bodyguard sent to make certain they aren't coming home in body bags. Or a spy to see what the youths of other houses are upto. Or maybe a social climber trying to attain status in this implicitly-medieval society.
If the party is a bunch of veterans, maybe play a fresh-faced recruit with plenty of training and little practical experience. Or maybe a militiaman with even more experience but no proper training to fall back on. Or a civilian with just enough talent that he thinks he can play hero/mercenary.
>3. Design a character to fit that niche.
You don't need a supremely fancy backstory. You probably want more than 'John thought this mudfarming thing was shit, and decides to do something with his life', but you don't need more than a page in 99% of cases. Who is this guy? Where is he from? What does he want? When did he decide he wanted it? Why does that require him doing adventures?

>>96157089 (OP)
Depends on the game.
If it is a high lethality game, I don't bother.
Shadow of the Demon Lord's random character generation gets the job done well enough, I just use that.

Zemaia was born to human parents in the city of Myrefall, capital of the County of Cavelle. When she was born, Zemaia had red skin, horns, a tail and other fiendish traits. It was apparent to Zemaia parents that their daughter was in fact a tiefling. Zemaia’s blood had been tainted with fiendish ancestry, lingering for generations in her bloodline and now on full display in Zemaia. Feeling shame and disgust, Zemaia’s parents abandoned their baby. Zemaia soon found herself in the care of The Little Friend’s Orphanage in Myrefall.

As a tiefling, Zemaia was treated poorly and abused by the orphanage staff. She grew to be a devious child and was distrusted by the other children. By the time she had turned thirteen, Zemaia had had enough and ran away.

Living on the streets of Myrefall, Zemaia turned to stealing to survive. She soon became adept at the art of pickpocketing and burglary, fully embracing her fiendish nature. The young tiefling faced great discrimination from the townsfolk of the city. On a daily basis, Zemaia was condemned as “hellspawn”, “devil” and “freak”. Sometimes the members of the city guard would arrest Zemaia just to give her a severe beating and to hurl abuse at her because of her fiendish heritage.

As she grew older, Zemaia came to greatly resent the discrimination she received because of her demon-tainted blood. She began to despise others, seeing the world as full of cruel people who unfairly judged her simply for existing. Zemaia soon adopted a mentality of, “If this is how people see me, then I guess I’ll prove them right!”

>>96166807
With this chip on her shoulder, Zemaia’s petty crimes escalated to become more violent and heinous in nature, turning from petty thievery to armed robbery and murder. Soon Zemaia was a dangerous and proficient criminal. She gained a sinister reputation which was magnified by her fiendish heritage.

Eventually, Zemaia refined her criminal methods and started work as a ruthless freelance blade-for-hire in the criminal underworld of Myrefall. Her expertise included many different forms of criminal activity, even targeted assassinations.

Zemaia has gained infamy as an effective and efficient contract criminal. Her natural devious tiefling nature and her cold-hearted worldview compliment the skills she learned growing up on the streets. Zemaia is now a force to be reckoned with. A deadly foe. One who is truly worthy of the moniker “Tainted One”.

>>96157089 (OP)
I take what the GM gives and build off that. That's how I got a warlock whose mom is a former adventurer and dad is a common farmer and they support his dark magic adventures

Every PC has a job, which determines what skills they get. Their backstory is basically
>You worked at your job until pic related happened.

>>96166807
>>96166810
Too long, and I'm not entertaining your victim mentallity coom template.
Make a new one.

>>96161334
incredibly based

>>96157089 (OP)
Roll up a charater, come up with who the fuck they got to that point
ez

>>96157089 (OP)
>read the handbook
>find a class/build that appeals to me
>build around that
>workshop the rough concept(s) I have in mind with the GM and other players to make sure it'll fit with the rest of the party
It's that easy

>>96167889
You're not their DM Anon. You don't even play games.

Make/reuse one that's versatile enough to just be dropped on any setting with minor tweaks.

>>96157089 (OP)
I make up a guy and then I make up a couple things abiut him that could be useful to the GM and then we play. I fill in gaps retroactively whenever I make stuff up on the spot.

>>96157251
I do this, but I like to write a paragraph for each instead.

I decide backstory during play (not in a meta gaming sort of way).
It helps tie my character to the world more since I’m familiar with it after a few sessions, and the other players, plus the GM, tend to remember it more since I often give them a chance to get involved and improvise some details.
It pretty much amounts to mentioning that my character is from somewhere or did something once it gets brought up in a conversation.
I’ve found that since it always ties to things that get brought up during the game, it’s more likely that further down the line it ties into the adventure. There’s been multiple times that I’ve forgotten my own backstory but everyone else at the table remembers it and turns it into a key point of our campaigns.

>>96180420
Thats an interesting way of doing it. Do you still have a general character concept? Are you able to have a character specific side quest?

>>96157089 (OP)
What kind of "job" character has/had before starting; e.g. how did they managed to live/eat?
One or two general traits from which to expand on. Generally linked to how discussions will go in-character (character is smart but not charismatic, etc.).
Sometimes a strong like or dislike, usually setting-related.
At least one hook for the DM to pull my character around, like a motivation or some NPC.

Honestly I do end up writing more notes and sometimes portion of stories but lately we've been running premades so while the DM does some customization it isn't too deep.

>>96180519
>general character concept
Not usually. I typically let dice decide what race and class I’m going to play, then I’ll come up with the concept as I feel out the playstyle and group dynamics. I started doing this when I realised that the ideas I had in my head before the game weren’t always ones that I enjoy during the game.
>side quests
I get the opportunity for side quests, depending on the GM, but since I tend to include the rest of the group pretty heavily it usually ends up not being character specific, even if my character has a heavier focus.
I have the philosophy to look for opportunities during play that come up from the randomness of dice rolls and improv, and to try find the story within the game instead of finding the game within the story, if that makes sense.

>>96157089 (OP)
>Take picture of character from obscure/dead series nobody at the table has heard of.
>Steal picture
>Write description based on picture
>Make moderately competent character
>create one paragraph version of backstory that fits the setting
>Let them be shaped by in game events

>>96160885
I SEE YOU ARRIANNE