How to Use Character Backstories in D&D

How should dungeon masters use D&D characters backstories? LAIRS & LEGENDS KICKSTARTER is now live ▶▶ www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
Having your D&D players create character backstories as part of creating their PC is a staple of the game. Everyone knows players should create backstories in Dungeons & Dragons; every dungeon master asks and begs their players to do it. But why? Well, character backstories help inform roleplaying choices for the player, but they can also be extremely useful for the dungeon master. In this video, we'll discuss why and how dungeon masters should use character backstories in their D&D games.
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#dnd #dungeonsanddragons #dungeonmaster

[@theDMLair]

LAIRS & LEGENDS KICKSTARTER is now live ▶▶ www.kickstarter.com/projects/thedmlair/lairs-and-legends?ref=59pir1 RPG Backstory Template ▶▶ the-dm-lair.myshopify.com/products/rpg-backstory-template

[@vvsandgaming4648]

YOU DON'T SUCK! YOU ARE A GENIUS! Thanks for so many ideas that my head is about to explode. :D

[@andrewdecavia7553]

Question on this pre-order. Or more accurately the Into the Fey option. There’s a little more info you’re sharing that I can find on the current books. Anywhere I can find more information or reviews on the stuff available with the Into the Fey book? I for sure want to add the book but want to know more about the additional options for it. The maps is clear that it’s two versions, one with a grid and one without. But what all is including at the $100 price point. Any chance you plan to do a video covering the content?

[@arayategan9218]

now I want rutabaga.... roasted

[@olahmundo]

Personally, I run homebrew campaigns and I only really start writing plot details after the PCs sent me their backstories. So not only the main campaign involves them, but their stories might even mix together. My group literally met each other because they were after their villains, who knew each other, and their villains' allegiances is what made the adventurers run into one another

[@vitaminc3815]

Same

[@thegeekygamers5064]

@@jaysw9585 this is only necessary if you have really problematic players, or players who don’t like roleplay.

[@thegeekygamers5064]

In my curse of Strahd game, I had the players start at 3rd level and create their own story in the forgotten realms where they met each other, went on a quest, and even accidentally killed a dragon. This allowed them to bring their past accomplishments into Borovia and really be these heroic adventurers from the outside world

[@thegeekygamers5064]

@@jaysw9585 players who love roleplay should have some respect for the collaborative nature of the game. It seems like you are playing with some pretty salty players

[@thegeekygamers5064]

They gotta make characters with enough buy in, and work with the rest of the group to determine a conflict between characters that won’t get out of hand. An example of this is a cleric who has a thing against resurrection, and a necromancy wizard. The cleric may hate it when the wizard summons zombies, but isn’t going to leave the party or not go on the adventure because of it.

[@LordDayehawk]

I think saying it will feel “contrived” more than “designed intentionally” (especially in a game where everything is designed intentionally) gets the point across more.

[@theDMLair]

Yes, "contrived" is a better way to put it.

[@Bookluver29]

I was really struggling to get anything backstory-wise from most of my players. The group was a casual group and didn't have too much interest in heavy RP, which is fine, but I also got the feeling that keeping the group together for regular gaming would be easier if they were just a little more invested in their characters. With no backstory to pull from, I started opening the sessions with a character builder question. I started simple - favourite meal, favourite drink etc... Just one question per session. I had no idea how it was going over, for me it felt a little awkward, but I was getting more info about their characters and I opened the questions up to backstory questions - what sort of place did you grow up? What sort of family do you have? What led you to adventure? Over time this gave me a good idea of the characters backstories. It helped that it was a communal process - everyone got to discuss their ideas and riff off it a little, and it wasn't metagaming as the characters themselves would have probably shared that sort of information amongst themselves by that point of their adventure. I also made it clear that if anyone wanted secret backstory elements (as one player had) they could privately message me between game sessions to talk about it. Eventually I started running out of my burning questions and when I forgot to ask one, at least two of the group asked if there would be a question. I asked if they wanted that - still a little insecure about the process, as it wasn't something I had been sure about to begin with - and they said that they enjoyed the questions. Reflecting on that process, I could see how the behaviour of their characters changed over time as the players grew more confident in the personality of their character. They weren't just playing a fighter, they were playing a Half-Orc who secretly enjoyed a warm glass of milk in front of a fire to being stuffed into the corner of a tavern reeking of pee and stale ale - but they had a rep, man come on and gimme another drink! It was a really cool thing to watch as a DM.

[@h.s.6269]

That's a great way to pull people out of their shells! It helps with character building as well as give them material to roleplay amongst themselves about.

[@markuhler2664]

Awesome job! You may have been insecure about how it was going but you stumbled into a great way for everyone to learn about the characters that were being played. & it would be a natural process in a group (especially if they weren't close before the adventures began) to learn about each other as they had down time together.

[@Cyberfender1]

You have some great ideas of how to get info out the PCs to tailor make you campaign( which I will use) great comments!

[@theepicduck6922]

That's a pretty solid idea. I will consider incorporating it potentially should I get a shot to run a session.

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

I try to entangle their backstories with the "main quest", so that their characters also become relevant to whatever major event is the central aspect of the campaign. It's awful when the game feels like everyone could change their characters and it wouldn't make a damn difference.

[@BrenGamerYT]

I try to do this but it's hard when none of them will write one

[@tymoore2117]

Thats about how my character is currently, reason why im switching characters too. Make new one invested better. Great thingbis the dm is building in the backstories now, and somewhat allowing us to have impact on things. This is all homebrew so its quite wild at times

[@Ni-sw3ii]

played in far too many games like that

[@gasgiant4451]

This is what I do. I find that the adventure is far more engaging when it feels personal to the players. There is a reason they are the heroes (or villains) of the story as opposed to an adventure that anyone could have done.

[@envytee9659]

I agree entirely. Although there is the potential to run into issues where if a character dies, that does essentially make part of the main story... well a bit irrelevant or unconnected. However, this isn't a massive problem since the DM can make tweaks to future story. Or you could honestly just roll with it, since, not everything necessarily has to conveniently tie back in to the current characters and their story

[@Lifesongsoa]

If you are starting from scratch and making your own campaign story my recommendation is to give your players the premise first and let them create their characters before you plot out your campaign. Let the players write their story and work out a campaign from what they give you. It's extra work, but it's worth it.

[@thajocoth]

There are two ways I use character backstories. One of these is actually to come up with messages for players to privately receive when mind control abilities are being attempted on them. Aboleths, for example, tap into a character's memories to offer them the things they desire in exchange for their servitude. Sending a personalized message to them for it, which ends with "Roll a Wisdom saving throw."... Most of my players loved that! The party's Cleric even told me later that he wished his character had failed the saving throw so he could've roleplayed that scenario out. The other way I use them is for planning: I don't plan things too far in advance (just one adventure at a time). So no overarching plots ahead of time. I keep a list of open threads. Since no one gets their backstories to me before we start, the inciting incident is its own separate thing. From that, each open thread that appears I'll add to a list. When I do get backstories, I'll add open threads from those to the list as well. If they're particularly relevant to specific characters, I'll note that in my notes (to avoid using someone's plot hooks if I know they're going to miss a session or two). Certain kinds of coincidences can be added to the list as well, but that's rare. One example of this was when three party members happened to coincidentally be a Minotaur created with Baphomet's blood, an Asmodeus bloodline Tiefling, and an Aasimar. This specific grouping caused the group to get the attention of key figures in The Blood War, and the overarching plot slowly became about the interruptions that those figures have caused to disrupt the players and try to further their own goals. Some were immediately hostile, while others wanted to trick the players into joining and helping them. Each time an adventure is closing, I'll take 2-3 open threads from the list that make sense to interact and have them interact. If it's too big of a stretch to combine two threads, then I won't. I keep it believable enough. I've had to occasionally pick just one open thread, but I can usually grab 2-3. The result causes the overarching plot to follow whatever the players leave open from each adventure. The game has evolved to have a primary villain who's been the villain for a very long time at this point, and the PCs have a plan to finally defeat him. (They started at level 1, they're 18 now, and one of this villain's minions appeared as early as session 1. I never intended to make him an overarching villain.) I also sometimes just toss in something I want to toss in though too... Like when the party found an ooblex in a spooky house in the woods shortly before Halloween in our world about a year and a half ago. I still managed to tie it to open threads though. An NPC who went missing several levels prior did go in this general direction and the party last saw her only a few miles from this spot, so it made sense for her to have encountered the ooblex, so an ooblex spawn of her greeted the party when they arrived. This piece wasn't backstory related, but if they were in a different region of the map it could've been.

[@justinblocker730]

1. Homeland: Describe in 2 sentences your character's culture, the lands they spent their youth in, and how they lived. 2. Create 2 Support NPCs, Roll 2d6 or pick 2 adding in (Parents, Siblings, Mentors, Rivals, Lovers or Allies) 3. Adventure motivation: Roll 2d8 or pick 2 or more reasons to adventure. (Gold, Revenge, Knowledge, Power, Approval, Love, Fame, Religion) 4. Fear Response: 1 fear and explain how your character reacts: 1d8(Spiders, clowns, heights, Dirt/germs, Being alone, Becoming monster/evil, Someone dying near you, Small spaces)

[@h.s.6269]

@@jaysw9585 not really. Because even though you're level 1 your character has lived a whole life before this. And for some characters that is a very long time. I do think accomplishments need to be within reason of a level 1 though, no crazy bs like taking down an entire gang or king or something. But a lot of stuff can have happened around your character that needs some explanation as to why they are the way they are. Should be kept around 1-3 pages though. I like to explain side stuff so the dm can create stuff if he wants to without having to clue me in on what he is planning by asking certain questions for clarity. But I put a short succinct part at the front, then additional extra details for if he wants to dig.

[@achimsinn6189]

Homeland: I lived on my own... in some forrest... there was no culture, just survival Support NPCs: Dolores - a puppet I found in a fashion store as a kid and Wilson a ball I painted a face on Adventure Motivation: I was bored being in that forrest alone by myself... Also Dolores started to make out with Wilson and I am angry with them because of this Fear Response: Fear? Me? NOPE! Actually I tried to make the stupidest character ever answering your questions and it turned out to be a crazy and cool backstory for a warlock who has gone crazy after his hometown got blown up by the bad guys.

[@morrigankasa570]

@@h.s.6269 Exactly, you have the right way about it. In fact even up to 5 pages is reasonable for some races. Like for example; my Drow Feylost Death Domain Cleric she has 5 pages of backstory and it gives a reason for becoming a Death Domain Cleric while also setting up her Equipment/Gear choices to start out with. Her family included Smiths and other Crafts for their careers. So they crafted for my Cleric her starting Equipment, yet didn't go overboard with full Mithral. As for why she became a Death Domain Cleric she was in the Feywilds for a while and she got out of them by encountering the Raven Queen who offered her the opportunity to become her Cleric. So my character was already curious which lead her to entering the Feywilds, the Raven Queen seemed like a way to learn more things & was able to free my character from wandering forever in the Feywilds which also gives the Raven Queen more depth.

[@fhuber7507]

First rule of backstory: (A level 1 PC hasn't already killed 37 ancient dragons.) The PC backstory needs to be appropriate for PC level. Rule 2 of backstory: It's great to bring in PC backstory elements into the adventure series we call a campaign. Rule 3 of backstory: The player doesn't get to hand their PC "The family armor and armaments" to gain high level magic items as a level 1. If they try, their parents had to sell these artifacts to pay taxes.

[@markuhler2664]

As far as giving a level 1 magical gear, I definitely agree with you. However, I've wanted to use a backstory with a very modest/shy female bard that gets 'magical' bikini armor. It's magic is that it just acts like normal armor but reveals a lot of skin. This isn't for titillation. It's to contrast with her personality. She doesn't want to be a sex symbol or sleep with anything that moves. But this armor is good, at least for starting off so there is the incentive to use it [the DM can off-set the price to keep things balanced. & you can make it scalable (if it's working story-wise) so as she levels up & would get more powerful stuff, it becomes more powerful]. Using this to help develop the character I think could be a focal point. Does she become (for lack of a different term) sluttier & how does that effect her magic & fighting style, and dynamics within her team? Does she become more & more embarrassed & retreat within herself or does she become angry & start to lash out at people? Will either cause an alignment change or making a deal an entity to overcome the harassment? Within the group, does it invoke conflict, or maybe over-protectiveness of her. Wow, guess I've thought more about this than I thought I thought I had.

[@goganii]

@@markuhler2664 basically Ryuko from Kill la Kill

[@markuhler2664]

@@goganii lol, hadn't even realized that but pretty much.

[@BeachandHills-hb2pq]

At bit late but check out mage gate and family heirlooms. They have a good method to create scaling items for player characters. Hope this helps others with heirlooms in back stories. Can be found on drive by rpg or Google.

[@keeperofthelogic]

I had a player in a few games I played in who made all of his character backstories "orphan with no friends." We thought he played D&D competitively against the DM and saw backstories as a weakness in some sort of game mentality.

[@braydenb1581]

To me, the issue with sprinkling character backstory into main stuff, is half the time players don't even remember their backstory or haven't seemed to explore it like a writer or dm would, so miss little tidbits which is especially annoying when you've tried to use that to help hook them on going down a certain path

[@erc1971erc1971]

I feel your pain on that one. My latest example is one of my players was totally clueless when they found out an ancient queen from 1300 years ago had the same last name as him. Luckily another player eventually figured it out.

[@tymoore2117]

Definitely see that. Granted think the dm got me more invested since im siting currently between a pseudo dm at this point. I kinda chalked it due to having imagination and the dm likes me creating characters but i enjoy it and have fun with it.

[@braydenb1581]

@@erc1971erc1971 that's awesome. One time I used that to my advantage. I had a queen statue be one of the first things they saw in the first sit down. The queen had the same name as the changling player. Long story done short, the campaign ended with time travel and his character becoming the queen. It was the only time I've successfully blown a player and the rest of the parties mind. But... let Saturday I started a new game. Every single player had "ash" being In their backstory to some degree. It was just by chance. So I set up a character to be holding a urn of her husband and asking for help to travel with heroes. All 5 of them just dismissed it as any old NPC. So, now I'm left with a new way to hook them which is fun in its own way but omg , it felt so obvious. I mean she was among ten others on the train at the time but to me it felt so clear

[@karsonkammerzell6955]

Yeah I feel this. My players are pretty wrapped up in whatever they've felt like doing in the present which, thankfully, still keeps them on target for the adventures they're doing, but they've never once bothered to consider their backstories even after sitting down to create them.

[@braydenb1581]

@@karsonkammerzell6955 I find that backstories for casual characters are often written to be the main dude of a movie or video game but come the actual experience of dnd, players find they want do be more X or Y, and things change for the first few sit downs

[@SerrinTheElf]

Using character backstory, has been the single most difficult thing about DMing for me.

[@majestyc0359]

Ask each player for a secret about their character, or that they know but doesn't want anyone else to know. Boom, story seed.

[@Tiyev]

I always thought it was getting the group together to play on a regular schedule. Speaking of which, you know any groups?

[@SerrinTheElf]

@@Tiyev weirdly enough that has been relatively easy for us O.o but we're a group of friends and friends of friends who hang out outside of DnD anyway. I'm a little hesitant to bring in people from outside our group, but I might be persuaded to run a oneshot or something with random people from the internet, just to see how it goes xD

[@SerrinTheElf]

@@majestyc0359 Good idea, and I might do that in the future to make it easier for myself, but I did after much prodding and prying get some backstory from all my players, problem is though, I have 6 players in my group, all with different backgrounds, and it's just been difficult to create a little side arc for each and every one of them haha. Not to mention fitting it into a lvl2-5 adventure.

[@michaelramon2411]

In the future, it might be good to start the campaign process by encouraging the players to create joint or connected backstories. It could be something substantial like two PCs being siblings, or it could be something smaller like being from the same town or that they were both robbed of things they cared about by the same group of bandits. That would make it a lot easer to provide plot hooks that apply to more than one PC. But also, don't worry about it if you can't fit everything in in a relatively short campaign. Sometimes, it can be enough to just have an NPC with a connection to a backstory (like the innkeeper knew a PC's father and mentions that), and not have a more elaborate adventure spinning out of it.

[@paddlesawtactic9788]

One thing I'm real proud of is something I did in Icewind Dale. One of my players was raised by a vampire that ran an assassin guild, but ran away for obvious reasons. The vampire followed the PC to Icewind Dale, but not for the PC. He learned that Icewind Dale is dealing with it's perpetual night due to the Frostmaiden's curse, and being a vampire, this means Icewind Dale is quite appealing to him. So now I have a secondary villain trying to stop the players from ending the perpetual night so he can dominate the area and base his guild there.

[@guyman1570]

Ooooh I love that! Making a villain's motivation not directly about the PC but the motivation does clash with the quest. We need more of that in the official modules!

[@Sephiroth517]

If in need of backstory elements, can just go through the many tables on p62 to 73 of the Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Used them for the last character I created, and going along with those rolls turned into quite an adventure on it's own. Even just using the tables about why you became a 'background'/'class' can help flesh out a character in just two D6 rolls...

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Yes my players love it when I use something from their backstory in the game. I try to pick a different player each session to do this. Good tips

[@RonRuminski]

Love this. Though sometimes, it can be difficult to get the back story from the players. Or, they are always orphans with a bland background.

[@PatchworkTweed]

For those using published modules, I've found character backstory can bring meaning and purpose to side quests or encounters that would otherwise be filler or discarded entirely. For example, there may not be much reason to check out the necromancer in The Lost Mines of Phandelver, but when that necromancer killed and "raised" your orc clan with a plague and you survived being half-orc, dumped unconscious on the road, only allowed to live as a curiosity... suddenly the throw-away, side-quest villain is the main villain to that player, and too powerful to take on alone... I will say this was collaborative with the player as it was the means of bringing him into the campaign after the first several sessions. Also, the liberties one can take with player back stories will vary from player to player.

[@quickdudley]

Oh yeah the necromancer. As far as I know my DM ran him pretty much straight from the source material and my character also realised we didn't really have a reason to fight him (he gave us a reason to fight him later on though)

[@maximeclermont6339]

I was running Rise of the Runelords. In the 2nd chapter, there was a serial killer and in the 4th chapter a fey city if I remember correctly. So, after my players wrote their backstories, I looked at the adventures and tried to find a small detail, a small dot in the tapestry of their backstory, that I could add that would make it a bit more personal to their character. I did that for every players, each in a different chapter. For the thief, I told him that his second cousin from his mother side was murdered while travelling. So, no one so close to him that would drastically change his backstory, but someone he knew so that when the 2nd chapter would begin, I could feed him information and that it would feel a bit more personal. The gnome summoner didn't specify where he was coming from, so I told him that the town where he grew up was the fey city. Same thing here, nothing big, only enough so that I could feed him information about the place and it would feel a bit personal. The players reacted well. It didn't bothered them that I added a small something. We didn't got to go through the 4th chapter, but the guy playing the thief really got into the "this serial killed killed my cousin" and seemed to have fun.

[@mark_sturzbecher]

Video idea for you, Luke make the game a bit more political. Add rival houses that are trying to besmirch your player's house. Sage => tuck away secrets and Lore into scrolls/maps/books the party can find. Charlatan => add a Heist into the campaign. Clan Crafter => add a fetch material-component quest. Anthropologist => insert a lack of cultural understanding between two factions. Sailor => something relating to ships. Whether it is a dune-skimmer or ocean vessel. etc. I'm sure you can make 1 or 2 videos on covering what to include into a campaign for every background.

[@theDMLair]

Stolen and noted in my video backlog. Thank you, Mark!!!

[@boywithgirlsname]

I'm running my first campaign (a homebrew), and I've now been able to incorporate five NPCs, three into the main plot line, based on three different player's backstories. I purposefully asked for three characters and two locations from the players while planning the campaign so could allow the players to have some agency in world building (my prep style is very much inspired by the "Lazy Dungeon Master" method for flexibility and sanity). The looks on their faces when they get to interact with the NPCs they made up is incredible, but the looks when it's a nemesis they created... priceless. And it's amazing how that can change the motivations behind their actions on a dime - one character went from confident to cowering, another from careful to impulsive in an instant. So fun for the other players, who are like: what's going on? Another PC hasn't met an NPC they created, but their parents run a famous bakery that a lot of people know... which is how our 16 year old meathead fighter character became "the face" of the group (also, he keeps cooking for everyone... mmm... rutabaga pasties) 🤣

[@michaelramon2411]

Whenever I start up a campaign, I write up two or three pages about the setting, tone, themes and provide the opening adventure hook and some motivation suggestions and then give that all to the players before character creation. I usually follow up once they have some ideas to give them links to major factions or locations, and either integrate some of their ideas or offer suggestions to get them on the same page as my plans. I also use my campaign foreknowledge (I'm a long-term-story-arc planner type) to arrange the pacing so that different PCs get the spotlight at different times. For an example of how this works, my most successful campaign started with a meteorite that hit an island outside of town, and the PCs form a group to head out and investigate, motivated by a mix of treasure desire, curiosity, rumors of monsters and concern about some missing NPCs. The various PC backstories were integrated into the story as follows: - One PC was searching for his father, who left home shortly before the campaign after saying a bunch of weird things. He actually went a ridiculously long time before finding the father (which was near the end of the campaign), but he found plenty of hints and examples of a weird symbol that his father had a medallion of. I also secretly wrote down everything the player ever said off-handedly about his hippie druid compound hometown, and then had an arc where the PCs went there and got to meet all the PC's wacky siblings (which the player had made up). - One PC worked for the local group of wizard scholars (though he was not himself a wizard) who became major support NPCs, helping the party unravel all the esoteric stuff they found. This contributed to a simple but satisfying arc as the character gain more respect in the organization. - One PC had fled the cult where she grew up, and I made them a major component of the villains' plans. For added fun, the PC was very secretive about this backstory and the cult had a carefully-crafted public face, so the PC spent a while working behind the rest of the party's back before she told them the truth. I also made the PC's parents, friends and mentor significant antagonists, with the player making up those NPCs and me controlling when they appeared to maximize surprise/trouble. - One PC was a greedy loser who hung out with a punk/goth subculture that sort-of worshipped a Neutral Evil goddess of undeath and gluttony in a True Neutral "goddess of hedonism" interpretation. This group (who are mostly chill and non-evil) because very important in the plotline about undead attacks across the city, which they were being blamed for. - One PC was a veteran of the anti-demon crusades and was obsessed with fighting "demons", despite the campaign not being remotely about that. (The player was well aware of this, and made the character quite prone to interpreting any enemy as a "demon" or "demon-worshipper".) I did write him an arc with some antagonistic but not quite evil tieflings to make him think about things. He also was attracted to the above-mentioned cult's propaganda before he learned the truth about them.

[@LocoKoboldie]

Counter argument: Do both! Seriously, have character arcs that have aspects that lead into the main campaign. You avoid the issues of having characters COMPLETELY tie in to the main arc while still keeping that tied in motivation that it gives the PC's/players. An example of this would be my Druid currently, my group are about to run his character arc adventure which involves a usurp of power within the city he grew up in which has lead to a lot of civil unrest and somewhat of a resistance movement within that space which is now lead by the previous lord's son. The way it ties into the main campaign is that an ally of the guy behind the main plot was pulling a lot of these strings in order to gain allies within her political sphere allowing her more power and also granting her a safety net. She has no idea of the Druids existence as of the moment- but it's possible she will know soon depending on how things play out. Either way it's likely the coming events will leave her floundering and angry as she tries to control the damage and keep her involvement under wrap. But I hope to be able to plant the seeds as to her involvement which will come to fruition if the group continue to unravel some of her other dealings within the world. I'm excited for this!

[@nadinerose92]

In my new campaign I had my players write a backstory and include details of their death. They will start the game being resurrected by a cult many many years later due to a new wave of invaders to the island. This cult believes that the characters had such an impact on the world that they can now save the island if brought back. The characters backstories helped me figure out how their legacy impacted and shaped the world after their deaths and what their “unfinished business” was. One has a family weapon that’s missing, one discovered a great artifact but died before telling anyone about it, and the other was a diplomate pacifist who was betrayed and murdered. All have their own arc potential while dealing with invading forces. Serendipitously, they all chose different facets of society to be heavily involved in so they shaped the history of the world and did a ton of work for me. Backstories are my bread and butter. ❤️

[@user-ss5mz1wh4h]

Watching this a bit behind your release schedule but thanks for sharing your template. Only thing I think I need to add to it to help is how their chosen background ties into it as well as that can play a major role as well. Thanks again!

[@reaverv559]

Nice to know I did everything right! Loved the video.

[@Ms_Succubus]

Since you're talking about players backstories here, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you'd expect to find inside backstories. I personally absolutely hate writing backstory for my own characters the "usual" way. As in: At the age of 3 she was born in a barn in a village and learned to do farm things on her parents farm. Later she got to know a travelling swordsman who would eventually teach how to do sword things. At the age 8 she learned to actually swing a sword without chopping her arm off... I tend to actually write more of a story or a conversation from my characters point of view. Which usually tend to describe more of their character and what their view on the world is rather than going into much detail of how they came to be. One person in my group had a great idea to make such things a little easier, he called it "player handouts". Basically a A4 page worth of the most important information condensed into notes. Basically what we included on those was things like basic characteristics of the character, people from their backstory, basic ideas for plothooks/things the character wants to expierence/learn/etc., interesting things for the character (as in rewards), the characters goals and things we wouldn't want to be part of the game at all.

[@Oathbreaker.]

Would be cool if you actually somehow managed to cut your arm off during training.. and having to master defense and offense with one arm, making yourself like a duelist or some shit... first write a generic backstory.. then after it's done. tweak it abit. makes for an interesting character... Maybe the travelling swordsman actually betrayed you and cut it off, and left you for dead.. and now you're hunting him down, or whatever... And If I was your DM, after you managed to hunt him down, you and your party uncover that hes aquanited with the bbeg in some way. perhaps elaborate on why he tried to kill you, maybe you had some [Insert random plot device here] reason why he did it..

[@cooperb4449]

Not a fan either of them as the info we get back on how long most games last is maybe a module or two. I'm old school and our games last years and the players story is the back story. When you get folks that think they are always special then the back story is very important.

[@theinformantky9332]

In my latest campaign, i took one of the players's backstorys and turned it into a new adventure and it was one of the most fun things to come from that game. Completely agree with this video!

[@shan5963]

I started using life paths from Google a few years ago for characters and the results were so much fun that they are now used in EVERY game I run. The players actually beg for them. Nothing beats the thrill of rolling a d100 for a years life path. Some awesome backstories come into play. It really does help new players to get into the game more. My 14 year old niece couldn't wait to play DnD, and she rolled that her character was swallowed by a giant fish for a month of her life. I, naturally, hated the idea and wanted to re-roll because it just seemed too much of a stretch for me, but she LOVED that idea and it became the foundation for her character. I am so glad we decided to keep it. Her story turned into her being poisoned by her step-mother and tossed into the ocean from a high tower. While sinking, facing death, air bubbling from her lips, she thought it was over when suddenly a giant mouth swallowed her whole. It was later discovered to be a divine intervention by her deity. In the first session, a large fish was strung up on the deck of a ship my party was traveling on. When the NPC fishermen cut into the fish, her character spilled out onto the floor covered in fish guts and surrounded by the party. She slowly woke up and joined the party, naturally... and that was the birth of her love of DnD. Always use them! They add so much flavor!

[@StopperJJ]

One method I've found to incorporate my players' backstories is asking them to give me a vague idea of what they'd like for their backstory and I have a private chat/discussion with each of them where I share a tiny nugget of the world lore that only they get to know as it pertains to their character. We then flesh out their backstory more within the world. It's nothing game breaking or too revealing, and they have the choice to share it or conceal it from the rest of the group. I also like to offer them a personal goal/challenge that is very critical to their character (not an easy goal) and when they succeed, I give them an extra ASI or feat. This allows me to work with them on their personal story arc but also invest them in the story. I can also use it to sow a little discourse in the party depending on how the players' stories interact with one another. I can also use it to establish some connections between the characters prior to the adventure, so their meeting and adventuring together feels more organic and real.

[@greenshoarma7447]

Awesome video, keep up the good work

[@jasonsterlingentertainment478]

Well made, great DM tips

[@elektronischemusik1903]

I used the background storys of my players from the beginning on as arcs that run parallel to the (homebrewed) main campaign arc and i love that the background storys give me so much opportunities to push the party forward. The Sorcerer player had in his background story a mysterious amulett in his posession. He didn't know where it came from, only that it must have some magical power. The amulett is awakening now more more and from session to session it gets stronger. The player gets for every stage it awakens more a new item card version of the Amulett. At first, it could communicate with ancient machines, than it gaves him advantage on arcane knowledge checks 3 times a day, than the ability to consume magic items (and transform them into spellslots or spells), than a +1 on hit and now he can refresh half a sorcery point per player level once per long rest. The amulett got awakened from the god celestian in agreement with the Sorc-Player, after the party found an altar of celestian (which the circle of star druid from our party worships) and the "souls" of the party traveled into space to meet celestian. After that, the amulett comunicated with an ancient giant sword (which i 3d-printed out), which they had found and from than on the giant sword talked to the party through their dreams in their sleep. WIth this, i can steer them gently back on the right path, if they got lost, or give them hints if they can't put 1+1 together.

[@lwnasidh]

I've had a lot of success integrating backstories into the main campaign. Of course, I have players that write backstories with hooks and mysteries that I can bring in. I've also made backstory arcs that aren't part of the main campaign in the same campaigns. I've also had success with backstories as presented in this video. The means for success in integrating backstories into main campaign in my experience focuses on one of two methods. Method one is to give the players a plug on the basic idea of the campaign before they put their backstories. For example, one of my main campaigns right now is a rebellion against an evil king. The players knew it would be a rebellion, had background on the country and its oppression, etc. They came up with their characters and backstories with that in mind, so they could tie their backstories into WHY they were part of the rebellion... this way they specifically wrote them to fit into the plot. Even then, not all of the backstory elements are tied to the main plot, so you still get side adventures based on backstories. Method two is to have the players write their backstories and give them to me before I decide what the core conflict is. For example, I recently started a new campaign and asked the players to deliver their backstories a month before we started, while the old campaign was still wrapping up. I used their backstories to create the overarching campaign. Three out of four characters (by complete coincidence) had warrior siblings that disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Right there, I had my central mystery and created the conflict around it. I found one element from the fourth player's backstory to also tie into the main plot so that they all had a reason to pursue the BBEG. That being said, I've also run (and am currently running) games where the backstories have nothing to do with the main plot and are only used for side quests and character story arcs, like you recommend in the video. I think, as always, it comes down to the group and the DM.

[@theDMLair]

Those are great! Might have to do a future video on this so that the wisdom and experience in this comment can be shared with everyone. :D

[@lwnasidh]

@@theDMLair You know I’m happy to help out however I can. Just let me know what you need.

[@morrigankasa570]

I have no group to play with, but have 6 Characters I designed and worked on backstories for, WITHOUT NEEDING A LOT OF NEGATIVE STUFF OR FEARS OR DIFFICULTIES NEEDED. Yet none of them are "OP" or "Broken", what's more the backstories can theoretically work out in almost every pre-written module or campaign, based off a Multiverse existing in D&D.

[@h.s.6269]

When my dm was putting together a group on roll20 another player and I unintentionally created backstories that would blend together super well. I think it's going to turn into a super interesting arc and we are expecting it to be towards the end of the campaign. Basically his character was a prince who survived a coup and is now on the run. And my character was a bastard child of the king (unknowingly) and a part of a prophecy to save the true heir. So they are unknowingly half siblings and a part of the same adventuring party, where my character has tons of opportunities to save him. It's quite hilarious because the two naturally fell into an older sister and younger brother comradery off the bat. And she is incredibly protective of him because of his insecurities. So even though I set up the prophecy in my backstory, it developed very naturally between the other player and I instead of it feeling forced. Integrating backstories into a campaign can create some amazing roleplay among the party!

[@Drudenfusz]

Since I run mostly character driven games, there is only character story arcs in my game, they are the main campaign at my table.

[@alexcallaghan181]

as a player when i find the party in the throes of someone elses character arc, i cant help but find issue with it, whether it be my own need for attention or involvement. my groups dungeon master very clearly sets out parts of the story that are to cater to one character or another, and i find it contributes to a sense of temporary favouritism, and alienates the other party members who may feel like they are now participating in someone elses story. as a dm, i (try to) let the narrative change and follow character backstory. and i believe this offers more power into the hands of the players when defining where the party goes, instead of designating "here is the part where we all go to this place and do all the stuff from this characters backstory" (which may leave the character with less motivation to continue adventuring if a lot of their historical problems have been solved) i try to find ways that would make sense for backstory to find relvance in the plot, and if (all of) the players have a want to expand that part of a character backstory into an arc, or whatever else, they can. i think this means that the party gains more agency for where the story goes, and what kind of things to involve themselves in, and eventually (however thoroughly followed) the element of backstory will led back into the central plot of the game, giving them a renewed purpose for continuing the story. this way of scattering player backstory into the narrative means that no character should feel that others are being prioiritised, and rather than "finishing" a players backstory, theres always option for it to come up again. i can understand this method may not work for dungeon masters who like to plan their story far in advance (perhaps without knowledge of player backstories) or who perfer neat and seperate arcs for their party. but i find it leads to better player involvement, and interest in the story as it pertains to their characters.

[@alexcallaghan181]

ill also recognise that a lot of the issues i have with arc style backstory intergration can probably be solved by a mix of more engaging situations, complex narratives and deeper player character connection (or buildup), and that my experience playing has only been with one dungeon master so far.

[@princesskanuta3495]

Excellent video!

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@Eraktab]

My characters love backstory content so I run Sandbox style games where throwing in backstory content is not just neat but even expected. Much easier too imo

[@seanodonnell4140]

I have absolutely no doubt that adapting main campaign arcs to character stories is incredibly complex. I've watched a DM spin that together masterfully, and it seemed intense on the planning side. It was also what made the campaign so engaging. It made all of us, the PCs, reeeaally feel like the main characters rather than people who are also involved in events marginally within their control. What you describe with character story arcs reminds me of filler episodes from anime. If it can tie back into the main campaign, and reinforce the PCs status as main characters, then great. Otherwise, it sounds like the main campaign is being designed with the ability to slot in any PCs with little fluctuation. Not being a DM myself, I can only guess how much less strain that creates, but I'm fairly confident in my initial reaction to the idea: that isn't a campaign I'd be as immersed in. I'd still play, because the DM went through the trouble to prep a story for us, but I would struggle to give my best roleplay. I suppose that's one of the real deciding factors though: are your players the sort who will make it worthwhile to tailor your campaign to their characters?

[@GMsGarage]

To be honest, I've already been using this approach, and I told my players in session zero that I was going to do this, just so they knew that if spotlight shifted to a single player they immediately knew what it was. I found it prevented players getting bored because the adventure was solely about one person for a while.

[@sindicate3189]

I am glad for this advice.

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

13:55 Whether or not to involve the player in incorporating elements of their backstory feels like it could be dependent on their preferred play style, rather than a hard & fast rule...? For some players who are especially lore-driven or who are also GMs, they don't have to know all the details (still retains some surprise) but they may enjoy the shared plotting/planning of choosing an element to bring across? [Edit: they may also have some interesting ideas about how these lifted elements could be woven into bits from others characters' backgrounds too, if you're running a longer-term campaign? Saves you coming up with absolutely everything solo, and could build extra engagement for these kinds of more plot-driven players...]

[@mentalrebllion1270]

My dm’s who use my backstories more extensively tend to do so in campaigns that are already being modified. This is the phandelver and hoard of the dragon queen (smushed together) and the radiant citadel module. The dm did a lot of extensive work on time lines for that phandelver and beyond campaign. We went in knowing there would be a lot of modifications. So we also made our backstories something that the dm could work into the rough of the narrative we were made aware of. Actually this dm very much enjoys collaboration so he will jump into calls with us to hash out various magic items and plot points for our characters. It’s kinda fun to see how our characters start meshing together and why and how and what elements are put into play. That’s a pretty fun one. But I have to say I love my radiant citadel one more. First, this particular module actually is more like the candlekeep one in that it’s a bunch of mini adventures that tangentially weave together. So our dm has a ton of leeway to fill in the blanks. It also helps that all the players gave their strong reasons as to why they travel. One is a researcher of the citadel and so will gladly travel to further that research. Mine is a refugee and barely escaped his hometown being invaded by demonic forces. He is traveling to get his name out since he is a very well known figure of the town (he is a subrace of elf that can be near immortal) so that he can look after then and make sure they are ok (he served as the protector of the town for most of the time he was there). The other two are searching for their relatives, though for different reasons with different emotions regarding it. Recently we got word on those relatives from an information broker. They said they had word that the two (not together) were traveling through the worlds but the ones ahead of us. So we are expected to try traveling through until we find them. From the way the backstories are written, there is also likely to be heated discussion or fights between the relatives as there is definitely tensions there. Oh, and it’s quite likely that a relative of my character is with one of the other player’s character’s relative during these travels. Which will be explosive for my character as he is trying to keep distance from the empire, culture, and race he was born into due to many of his family members being killed during warring royal factions. So he is also on the run. And will be at war with himself on either running to get away from that or staying with his group and protecting them (he has tied up a great deal of his self worth into being able to protect). Anyway so that’s the fun one because the dm is genuinely really good at the backstory weaving. Though I suppose it helps that all the players are quite good at weaving backstories together and some of us did the work ahead of time with weaving them ourselves

[@ashtonh991]

I've been starting to lean into creating more depth and fullness in my PCs backstories so I can start bringing them into the game more and make things feel connected

[@tymoore2117]

Yes, this exactly, my first few characters were just flat as can be. Now they actually have stories and convictions, meanings, wants, desires. Its also fun playing with the alignment system to create fun characters too

[@ashtonh991]

@@tymoore2117 that's my goal, this is my first campaign that started as a "test run" with one of my friends that we ran with and now have a party of 7, along with two NPCs. One is from the first "test session", and the other from an 8 session "session zero" with two pcs that wanted to play before the group was fully ready to play together. I've done a backstory session with 4 of my PCs, and those sessions really only expanded upon their simple backstories by setting some things into place for the current timeline. But recently I've really got two of my PCs backstories rolling and starting to really have intresting detail. I can't wait to get to the others, its wild seeing where its gone from our first run-away test session.

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

You could always take a leaf out of Call of Cthulhu. It's amazing how many uncles and aunts, that live in big houses, have left me in their will.

[@VenzyntRoleplay]

I might try this in my next game!

[@Ivan-oy1fi]

It's so cool to have auto skip for every ad in your videos buddy❤. KZbin revanced for the win baby!

[@Sirvlaric]

I run a homebrew world and I find working backstories in really easy. The world is a big place and as such, there is a lot of things that I haven't taken time to write anything about other than have a rough idea of what the place is, mostly what race comes from there. This gives a lot of flexibility to work a character's backstory into the area they are from and give me building blocks to work with. For example, I had a player play a half-giant race that comes from a far away place from where the campaign takes place. As a young person, he and his sister were exploring a ruin and found an old crystal. When my player touched it, it shocked him and gave him a scar that ran from his hand up his arm, to his shoulder. His sister touched it before him and vanished. So I took that little bit of backstory and decided that this crystal was a prison for a demon lord that once warred against humans a millenium ago. His army was defeated and the humans lacking the power to destroy him, imprisoned him instead and then hid the crystal in a far away land where it would never be found. What the player doesn't know is that when he touched the crystal, he entered it and made a deal with the demon lord. In exchange for power, he agreed to siphon power from the crystal through his new abilities. Once enough abilities were used the prison's magic would be weak enough for the demon to break free. Fixing this into the story was easy enough. The mark of the demon pains him terribly in the presence of extremely good being like angels. Through the course of the main story, they ended up in the small town that defeated the demon lord originally millenia ago. The entire place was cursed with bad luck. The lair of said demon lord was beneath the city and millenia ago the demon had imprisoned an angel of luck there, which cursed the area with bad luck, as the magic of the lair corrupted the angel's power. They eventually discovered information about the war and the demon's lair through ancient tomes at the abandoned castle. When they stormed the demon's lair, which was largely empty, except for the angel, they were able to free her and he gained a lot of insight into the knowledge that had been suppressed about his original encounter. (I left a lot of details out to keep it somewhat brief) I guess the main point is, if you are running something, having places that aren't fleshed out gives you the flexibility to implement pretty much anything.

[@stevekirkby6570]

Got all my players backstories in (apart from the Barbarian Dwarf, who is reluctant) - so now to try and weave this in :)

[@jacefrancisco8729]

I've personally had a lot of success with both pulling backstory things in the main campaign and having character story arcs. A player in the campaign I'm currently running submitted a backstory wherein his character nearly drowned but was saved by a mostly unknown entity. He didn't have many details on the entity and was completely fine with me going ham with the lore behind this entity, so he's recently discovered that saving people from drowning is something this entity does regularly and the players will soon be going on a bit of a sidequest to find a community of those people. Meanwhile, the main campaign revolves around a prophecy that involves the players, which they've recently found out has surfaced several times over the course of history, and that the section involving the aforementioned character always involves an individual who's been saved by that entity. The players are having an incredible time with both.

[@samburchard9921]

I have been trying to work on this for a while. The 10 minute backstory, I have found as a great way to write backstories. Dungeons of Drakkenheim by the Dungeon Dudes is great in that it has the players write in their backstories their tie into the main campaign. It has made it super easy to make the characters feel like this is their story. I also have had my players create an NPC enemy (also a friend). Then I had all the enemies join together as a rival adventuring party. This drove my players crazy, but they loved it.

[@coolman4202]

Love your videos!

[@theDMLair]

Thank you! :D

[@reshibunny9684]

omg i already did the character story arcs! Im really happy to see it, Im kinda new 😂😂

[@janpetroc]

I never knew Cornish pasties were adopted and still thriving in Michigan - thanks Luke, from a Cornish DM!

[@theDMLair]

Oh yeah, lots of immigrants to the upper peninsula in Michigan were from over that a ways, is my understanding. :D

[@kawaisoubaka1942]

Funny. I am watching videos of you at the moment to prepare to GM curse of stradh. So I was all about how to implement story arcs in curse of stradh where you have a "parallel world". And you said "sometimes they only want to play curse of stradh" xD

[@wa11ie]

i‘m currently moving my campaign in the first backstory quest. one of my player’s characters died and the new character he came back with has lost her sister and other members of her tribe to slave traders. when she went looking she got seperated from her tracking party and met the rest of the party. when we wrap up our current arc, they’re gonna find clues pointing to slave trade down by the sea and it’s gonna be a whole thing. it was honestly quite the convinient death because the player went from a character with very minimal backstory to a character whose backstory can be tied in very quickly.

[@syvajarvi2289]

When I run a game I typically have an over arcing end point in mind but I use the backstories for plot webs. Sometimes I want details, sometimes I want only basics…. Depends on the level of the campaign and what I get from discussions with the table. I have asked for details that I didn’t use until we closed out the campaign story in one shots when we wanted a break from a current ongoing campaign. And there have been times when we went completely off the rails and never even started the main plot that was planned, like the time the group became a party of wandering caravan managers and map makers, developing trade routes to the different places the PCs came from.

[@OutdoorsWade]

I think backstories are as important as the main campaign story arc !

[@connorhorsley4243]

Thanks I will using it

[@JERKIMBALL1]

I am running the tyranny of dragons from start to end with a group and with all the massive holes in the provided material it worked out to fit in extra content in the form of backstory arc, I like the idea of peppering in the plot hooks to make options

[@williamshattuck1825]

I always use background story arcs as a catalyst to create a unique and specialized campaigns for the player's characters. Something I would do is talk to them before the first session about their character and the back story ,also during the game give bonus XP for role playing their character back story influences, if you know what I mean. It always made the game more immersive and fun.

[@felixmorin2307]

Running Tomb of Annihilation for the 2nd time. I took PC's backstory to create PC arcs that gets some kind of ''where to go next'' in the Jungles of Chult. By experience, I know this jungle offers so much, so I threw some personnal hooks out there to leave bits of breadcrumbs on where the f*** Omu is. It helps a lot in the navigation

[@rennharel6755]

Character Story Arcs are my FAVORITE way to work my player’s backstories into our games. They’re so much fun write and everyone is always so hyped to dig into their fellow PC’s pasts 😊

[@theresasbaby]

So, I like the character Story Arc idea. Here is an example from my SKT game. There is a very sandbox chapter in SKT. I decided that I would give each character a hook to play out with the party or not during that time. When the players had their chances I would enter Chapter 3 and move into Chapter 4. The module give lots of suggestions about things that could happen. So I devised, altered, and swapped events around based on the character’s plans when we started this overland travel part plus where they said they would go at the end of the previous session. 3 of 4 players interacted with their character story. I wasn’t surprised the fourth did not but that’s another story. The feedback I got back or how enjoyable they were because of the contrast to the main tone and SKT. One character was in Yartar for other business. Her patron came to her in a dream and gave her a little side quest we ran on the side. She killed on of the council members for her patron. Next session we had 2 sessions worth of mystery solving/DMs from the player about how they would lie and fudge evidence from their players. Another character had a vendetta against fire Giants. So I put the 4 PCs against some fire based minions and the fire giant responsible for hurting his family in a volcanic forge. I added a timer so they were running into phase 2 of the boss fight with all their cooldowns blown and they had such an epic fight!!! I guess the only bad thing I have to say is that my characters seem to prefer those character arcs to SKT 😉. Eventually, I will have to run my very own homebrew game

[@panpiper]

Thank you for the template. Something I could easily use with players. For myself, my problem with backstory is that I can make them a bit 'too' involved for easy reading. (My saving grace is that I am a reasonably good writer.) I'll often have a fully fleshed out backstory before I actually build a character with the game system.

[@JaredManninen]

I like the concept. Seems more organic than shoehorning in stuff to the main campaign. I'm new to DMing and am currently running a campaign with a friend who has been chomping at the bit for me to incorporate something from his backstory, so this video/discussion is great timing for me :) My friend has way more experience than I, so he's been coaching me along, but I just haven't been able to come up with a way to incorporate something until now. Thanks! BTW, pasties are one of my all-time favorites. But, then again, I'm a born Yooper so it stands to reason :)

[@theDMLair]

Yeah, a Yooper!!! I'm not from up north, but I LOVE pasties! :D I'm glad to hear the video was useful, and I hope the game with your friend goes great! :D

[@JaredManninen]

@@theDMLair Thanks! I appreciate it :)

[@uncledungeonmaster1617]

Its easy for me to put player backstories into the main arch. I run a homebrew so I barely know what's going on half the time. Their backstories become inspiration and the solution to my lack of preparation. HA!

[@michaelstowe2167]

That's one thing I love about the Ghosts of Saltmarsh module. It has level gaps between the main adventures, leaving plenty of room for character-driven adventures. It's a good module. I highly recommend it, if anybody's been thinking about getting it.

[@coreyrose5875]

my current campaign starts tomorrow. My first homebrew in 20 years lol. Im having them meet like in Mortal Kombat, chosen by a God to fight for them, and will become the heros of my homebrew world. I cant wait. Ill get backstories session zero and am totally gonna work in a bit of their backstories. But its a world that they didnt know existed. so im going to focus on things they are good at in their villages, cities and stuff like that.

[@samanthalanzillotti3910]

This is really good advice thank you I’m a new DM so every bit of information helps. I’m going to go look at the 9 questions now.

[@TheWarforged]

What Timezone do you run games in? I have taken a break from DMing and I am looking to refresh my player experience time if there is a seat at your table and if timezones suit.

[@btll4ever]

The group i'm playing in is a wide spectrum of backstory preparedness. One of us has amnesia in character, so the DM can work in whatever details they want around the very slim outline the player gave of his character, whereas my character has a much more defined but not complete backstory. The creative aspect of coming up with the whos, the whats, the whys and the whens of it all are as much fun for me as playing the game itself.

[@aled857]

Newer to your videos and loving them, Dude I know what you mean with the "off the rails", almost 2 years ago jumped in a 5e forgotten realms based storm kings campaign, that eventually turned into the party becoming smugglers/semi moral(Christopher Walken from "king of New York") gangsters creating trade routes to/in small to mid sizes towns wiping out or collaborating with the local crime and or guard/law enforcement. Killing zanathar/zentarum in "our" towns , on site 50% other the time haha. With the strange problems and back drop of stuff from the storm king , more wondering giants and shit between towns, a "shadow group" hunting us because one of the towns we got established in we "pushed " out the front men/fall guys of the "shadow group" that's hunting us. 90% of the large amount of gold we have gotten has been spent on world building/meta stuff, carts for smuggling/bases/a " legion of doom " dungeon hideout in Tribore/recruiting goons/small business for fronts, etc. With a little bit of the "back story" side quest sessions thrown in.... Hahaha, off the f$$cking rails , but loving it

[@bessh2501]

I think my DM has a good model for getting player input on story arcs while keeping them a surprise. She asks that everyone give her at least a barebones backstory prior to the first session, and then follows up with more introspective questions after a few sessions to flesh out the character. Critically, she never wants to push the character in a direction that the player will hate, so she asks the players questions like, “If you could give your character one piece of advice, what would it be?” or, “What problems would your character have to resolve in order to feel fulfilled?” These are great ways of feeling out potential story avenues for the character without giving away the specifics of what she’s got cooked up, and they also help the players think more about their character’s motivations and drives.

[@skyfox585]

One of my mates wrote a backstory about a character who came from a broken family and grew up with their single father as he was tormented by a whispering in his mind. Eventually he unalived to escape it and it moved onto this character as she set out into the world. So she was kind of timid and tried her best to do good to sort of balance out and spite the evil voice in the back of her head. thought it was so cool, so I literally connected that backstory to the main villain of my story. Then my mate left because he wasn't into the roleplay aspect of dnd and said it was too complicated. Needless to say his character still plays a huge part in this campaign even from the grave.

[@jdthespyder]

One of my players created a backstory that he was left as a baby on the doorstep of a family of nobles who took him in and he didn't know his real parents. So two of my other players decided they were his real parents but the mother character had changed her appearance and the father character never knew he had a son. I had so much fun trying to weave that into the plot but unfortunately that campaign was cut short.

[@BeeptheLesser]

My PC was a wizard who used an ancient mind flayer skull as a spell book(Skullbook) Ik sounds warlock, but it talked in my pc’s mind. When I déclassé to blood hunter my DM used it as a plot point for a countdown to the end of the world as a beacon for a mind flayer invasion. We were amongst the module of the frost giant and ice wind dale. I felt seen! Also, I’m not sure about rutabaga but in Dungeons if Dredmor, they were an enemy minion and that was fun

[@liorocha950]

I´m a little experienced player (adnd 2nd) and now i´m dungeeoning for my son and his friends, all complete novice in RPG (I´m using 3,5 ed with them). I made soome reinforcements to them really get into do some backstories. To make it easier, I Put them all in th Shining North (F. Realms). With the tips from this video, I really believe tey will enjoy.

[@zionich]

I have already learned that tying the character backstory adventures into the main plot just leads to heartbrake when a player can't play anymore. Now I make them part of a B plot.

[@anthonyp.4734]

I like taking backgrounds and turning them into either A plot points of an Arc or there own arcs like how you presented it. I find charectar arcs take too long but if I can't make it fit in the current plot then charectar arc is all I got to work with

[@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046]

I believe myself to be a deep role player - at least in comparison to others I’ve played with. This especially comes out when I’m the DM, designing a campaign. I start with location & some general setting elements, then I look at character backgrounds, which I allow to guide my design. Most of what I do comes from PC backgrounds, which I then interpolate with other setting elements & NPC backgrounds. Often, I create new elements & NPCs to make more sense out of PC backgrounds. Sometimes I will change location, if PC backgrounds would make more sense that way. Obviously, I find it important to severely engage players! In my current campaign, we are breaking in 2 novice players (my wife & an 8-yo neighbor), so we actually started by playing the PCs’ backgrounds. We spent 3 sessions leaving their origins & getting magic training, so that the players had a chance to practice their spells, go hiking & camping to gather components & get some easy encounter experience. They also met several NPCs & captured some baddies for a reward at a nearby town. Now we are in the game for real, they are at 2nd level, they understand everything that’s happening, and they even have some political & economic knowledge of my setting. The 8-yo seems well engaged so far! Finally, I appreciate your suggestion to change focus from PC to PC from session to session, to allow total engagement with a PC background at each session. I shall be trying that!

[@dustinwilson4815]

I come up with a primary plot line. That plot spans the breadth of the campaign, usually ending around 20th level. I come up with several other plot lines that interact with the primary plotline as well. But those are just available for use if things go that way. Then I give the character's some mild direction and restrictions on back stories and let them write them up. Then I come up with secondary plotlines for each character. But I always stay flexible. Characters (players) have a way of derailing things.

[@philpeters3689]

Currently running LMOP and I found the thundertree segment out of place. So I had the mcguffin there to help the druids story arc. Blights have invaded her forrest and she doesn't know where they're coming from or how to stop them. Her parents said there is a magical axe that deals great damage to wooden creatures and structures... so she's now found the axe and once we clean up phandelver. We gonna go back to the forest and destroy them Blights and the gulthias tree. I also turned the druid into a badguy. He is the one who planted the gulthias tree And he tasked venomfang to look over the axe. They snook into the tower, got the axe and collapsed the tower on the dragon. Venomfang managed to get one cheeky breath on the druid and the warlock. Quick thinking from the barbarian saved their asses hahaha

[@Cassapphic]

One issue you can run into is if focusing on oen character's backstory, the other characters may lose interest and for a while it turns into one player being the main character while the others just sorta follow along, like the biggest issue people complained about with the video game octopath traveler. One character I have a strong backstory already written for but am nervous to actually play due to this is a high elf druid who was born to a noble house, but when it was attacked by more corrupt and power hungry nobles, she fled towards the forest at a still young age, where wood elves took her in and she remained, believing the rest of her family dead. This persists until in the woods one day as an adult she finds a necklace with her old house crest on it, suggesting someone in her family is still alive, this is her inciting incident to begin her adventure (her two twin sisters are alive and were actually taken in by the more corrupt houses and raised into people my character could never agree with) this has a lot of setup for potential conflict and drama leading to character development as if it does get resolved, it will force her goals and motivation to change. But I'm nervous to use her because I don't want to have such an involved backstory potentially steal the spotlight, so I'd wait for a campaign where someone else has a backstory we could link together, maybe a rogue who wants to steal some precious treasure from that same noble house and that's what leads us there only to then discover the twins are there for example.

[@thibni_]

Rutabaga, I know what that is. 😅 But useful video for me! Been trying to figure out how to create these character moments

[@vincejester7558]

I like the backstory to develop at the table. I like the players to engage in what we are doing, instead of their own private novel. Tell me what you want to do, not what you want to have done. If you want a tragic story, don't worry, I'll give you one. If you want to be a secret princess, Go become a Queen.

[@alexcallaghan181]

beautiful

[@Corundum_Rolls]

All of my campaigns are homebrewed so my players do not bat an eye when somethings comes in subtly or boldly about their backstory. They enjoy it and they also like rumors of other characters they have played in one-shots.

[@mjolasgard2533]

Their backstories are massive clues as to what the players want to do in the main game. So, I make DungeonWorld Fronts for each and try and make them THE MAIN plot. My 'big ideas' with my Campaign BBEG in the background, the frame that holds the painting that the characters make. I just started an Arabian-style game and the debt one character owes the local thieves guild has ensnared everyone in the main plot. It's not like peppering in items and easter eggs in the game, it's more the game is centered around those PCs. Anyways - Pasties cannot get better than Greggs, Luke. Google them!

[@alexcallaghan181]

i completely agree

[@Ranulf13]

A really good way to do Backstories is the Heroic Conicle that apeered first in Explores Guide to Wildmount. It is really fun and i changes things arround. There is also a Sworedcoast Version of it on dnd beyound i belive. But what it boils down to is rolling on a lot of fun stuff that make the characters also Unique, by giving them feats and pets and so on. I do think as written it is not fair and needs work but it think the Concept is really cool so i made it better for my groupe.

[@thibni_]

Rutabaga is basically from the radish family. Purple outer layer and basically the size of a grapefruit. Very delicious!

[@darttgaming1515]

Very much agree. My campaign world is completely homebrewed. A lot of fine-detail worldbuilding I've done has been to incorporate player backstories. The players LOVE the game IMHO because they have a personal stake in it.

[@terrychant4365]

I love back stories. I ran through yawning portal and their back stories built the story connecting the dungeons(yp is not adventure module). I feel like it went well and had them invested in their characters more.

[@MikChaos]

In the UK we call rudabega swede, and it is delicious. I particularly like it mashed with carrots and butter as an alternative to mashed potato 😊

[@LordSgtSavy]

I run call of cthulhu and I do this! A part of the rules is that when characters lose sanity put have a bout of madness, the keeper can take their sheet and edit an entry on it. With limitations of course. This is supposed to simulate the madness and insanity slowly wearing down who the players even are. But! What i did was used the character backstory and wrote a kind of lovecraft inspired twisting story about it. Then as they lose sanity I edit the character sheets to give them mysteries and clues to discover the hidden horrifying truths hidden in their stories. For example, one character was a mob boss daughter, 1920s era etc. But was estranged and hated her family business. Maybe because her mother had gotten killed or disappeared because of her father's work. So I started by adding a single question. "What really happened to your mother? ". She then chose to reconnect with her brother and father, ask questions, go on trips to visit and speak with her father. She finds out that things didn't go like she thought as a kid. Her mother left. But there is more to it. She eventual finds that her mother tried to down her in the sea. Her father , at her request, sent her a box of her mother's old things. Insure she found a bunch of artifacts and culty things. Eventually she found out her mother was a priestess of the Esoteric order of Dagon and she might be part deep one! This all happened over many months of sessions and were really fun for the players to peel back their stories getting little hints along the way. It made going mad actually both horrifying and exciting for them because they might get a new clue. ((Thus incentiveizing them to take more risks and play more into the horrors)) Everyone has unique stories and everyone has been loving this method I came up with thus far.

[@jdxanadu872]

My last campaign I actually did work with one of my players for his character arc, and him knowing what was going to happen wasn't really a thing or a problem because I mostly just asked him what his expectations were and what sort of things he'd like to see and from that and his backstory I just ran with it. It's funny though because another player got upset because he thought the player whose character arc we were doing knew everything and ruined the experience for himself when 90% of what happened he only found out about with the rest of the party.

[@paularnegard2773]

Love the Michigan shout out

[@CJLloyd]

OK, Luke, great video. Lots of good advice. But I do have one bone to pick: You can't claim pasties! They're literally legally protected as being the cultural heritage of Cornwall, England! *scream* No but seriously, the exact origins of pasties is unknown, and the legal protection extends only to the specific interpretation of them in Cornwall, where they have a very interesting history. But, regardless of which origin theory you accept, they definitely do not originate in the New World. Side note: rutabegas are called swedes over here, and yes, they're amazing. 😁

[@aldrinvendt8524]

Yeah, that last question is the big one. In my home-brew world, I've go ta player who literally gave 8 pages of back story complete with NPC bios and pictures. Then I've got another player who gave me 2 sentences, and that player has been playing DnD longer than me. Obviously, the first player is getting all kinds of story moments and character adventures. But no matter how many times I ask, the other player goes me nothing. I've told him if he ever wants a chapter of the story to be focused on him, I'm happy to do that...as soon as he gives me something to work with.

[@danielcrafter9349]

Consider that your 2nd player has no idea how to do that Instead of just being angry with them, sit down with them and have a conversation - simply talking it through can be an easy way to build the backstory; take notes That way, they're not overwhelmed and feel supported by you

[@aldrinvendt8524]

@@danielcrafter9349 you're absolutely right, and I wouldn't say I'm angry per se. I just get worried that one of my players is getting a lot more story spot light. However, he is a close co-worker and friend of mine, we've talked about it multiple times outside of sessions, and we had a nice session 0 to try and talk stuff through. Still nothing. Honestly, I think he just doesn't care. We play on roll20 because 1 of our players is 500 miles away. So every time we have sessions he is always playing his x-box and doesn't take notes. Which is fine (kind of) but I'm more just letting him know, if he wants me to put effort into his character, he has to do that first.

[@yoroshiku137]

My current campaign is a homebrew that is primarily character-driven based on the characters' back-stories. It's going really well. I'm very fortunate that I only have 3 players, and 2 PCs decided they were from the same village, while the other one wasn't from too far away. I learned not to make a whole story that I, the DM, want to tell with no care for anything else from a campaign I was playing and decided to bow out of.

[@joshuamcfadden427]

I DM for two different groups a week. One likes to make back stories and the other does not. So, what I've found helps is, I make a list of NPC's that they may meet throughout the campaign. I give them a note card with 3 blanks on it. The first is for a friend. The second is for an acquaintance and the last for an enemy. I don't tell them the occupation of the individual until we interact with them within the campaign and then I'll say something like, "You recognize this man as Fang your sworn enemy." What made you guys enemies? And let them fill in the blanks. So, far its helped kinda put them into having more buy in into the campaign. I've also run a couple of heist homebrew campaigns and had my players take 3 note cards apiece giving themselves 3 allies of whom can provide them with something that could be invaluable to them within the campaign. Such as information, or hearsay, weaponry, historical info etc. This has also helped gather more player buy in. Giving players more agency within the campaign.