Please, never do this with your D&D backstory

[@theDMLair]

🔥 Total Party Chill 5e & PF2e Player Mat - The indestructible ultimate player and GM quick reference! totalpartychill.com/collections/total-party-chill-merch 🔥 Free Backstory Template thedmlair.com/products/rpg-backstory-template

[@MasterTim1127]

Does the Barbarian agree that they are indestructible? I'd like to see him give it a go.

[@CrystalClaymore]

A Wise Mans Fears, Patrik Rothfus

[@danielmcdonald6861]

Would love to get my hands on these, though it would appear the company is not mailing to the UK currently. Will have to keep an eye on this

[@LucanVaris]

To be fair, there _is_ a way to do that whole "elite perfection top-tier-assassin blah blah blah" trope, as a level 1 character. You simply have to have him have what I like to call a "Fall From Grace." For instance, if the game world is Ravnica, maybe he pissed off Lazav, and got his mind practically shredded in retaliation, eliminating his techniques in the process. Maybe he retired from the life of an assassin, only to be called upon decades later, long after he's lost his edge. Maybe he's a god who got banished to the human realm, trapped in human form. Option's open.

[@PacmanPac-m8y]

this channel is becoming the going indie of dnd channels for me in terms of how much teh titles anger me. Crit crab is a close second though

[@darkfalcon7856]

I made a rogue with a "secretive" background ("I don't want to talk about it" was his regular response when he was asked), but I told my DM about it. His background was that his guild kicked him out after he royally screwed up his first heist (canonically rolled all Nat 1s), so much so that it's legendary within the guild, but isn't well known outside of the guild; and now he's adventuring to pay the bills.

[@HaruDoneYet]

That’s amazing

[@majestyzx9081]

A nearby divination wizard rolled 1s that morning and gave them to you.

[@SBaby]

That's a really good backstory, because that could give the DM leverage to potentially introduce a rival from that guild and reveal that the screw ups were actually due to sabotage. "It's ME, Austin!!!"

[@joshuakim5240]

@@SBaby "It was ME, Austin! I turned all of your rolls during your guild jobs into Nat1s by being a divination wizard who swapped all of my Nat1s to steal your luck!" "Wha-but...why?" "Honestly, you were kind of just the nearest other guild member to me. No idea why in Avernus i got all those weeks straight of garbage luck but hoo boy was i glad to have dumped it onto someone, anyone, else."

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

@@joshuakim5240 “F’ck you, Austin. You got my brother and wife to break their necks out of shame. And YOUR husband. Hope you’re happy. Granted, I understand, but still, f’ck you. Unfortunately for you, I happened to roll 15 Nat 1s yesterday.” “And? Boo hoo, you got to be unhappy enough to feel a mere FRACTION of my pain, Do you know how much PAIN and AGONY I went through? Skinned, Incinerated, revived, Skinned, Incinerated, revived, Skinned, Incinerated, revived, You know how much I sacrificed to even GET here? I had to kill my family again, Clark. I HAD TO KILL THEM AGAIN!! And no, I can’t argue it was an accident THIS time, Ros. Not this time.”

[@neutronjack7399]

I generally use the, "I am the third son from a moderately wealthy merchant family. I had a happy childhood, receiving an education with my siblings and learning the family business. Unfortunately, being a third son, I will not inherit the family business, so I must venture out and seek my own fortune."

[@nickwilliams8302]

This is crazy talk. If you do that, then all of the interesting stuff that happens to the character will happen during the campaign where the other players can see it rather than being buried in the depths of a backstory that no one is ever going to read.

[@nagyzoli]

You are educated and you are trained/you learnt the family business. It would make no sense to give up a surefire/lucrative business to go and risk your life. Ok, say you are Xyz Ferrari. Sure, you are not the CEO, but the family paid all your studies so you can become a designer/engineer. Wealth does not come only from inheriting. So this is half baked, the backstory needs quite a bit more. Did something happen to the business so the oldest son inherited basically a broke company and he is CEO only with the title. Was there some conflict between brothers that forced you to run? Remember, level 1 means you are at the start of your journey. You are dirt poor and a beginner in every aspect, not just adventuring. I personally would twist your story like this: At the death of our father, my oldest brother held a council where he explained that the company is BARELY profitable. So me and the middle brother should go and seek out the latest and greatest technologies in [insert family business domain, say leather working], otherwise we would quickly become obsolete.

[@nickwilliams8302]

@@nagyzoli Meh. It was fine to begin with. Literally nothing you've added there adds value. What you're overlooking is that while "adventuring" - whether we're talking "active archaeology" or "extreme pest control", all the way up to "freelance world-saving" - is extremely dangerous, it is also immensely profitable. A person looking to establish themselves could well be tempted by the massive amounts of ready cash that the adventuring life has to offer. IRL, both the Reconquista and the conquest of the New World were driven by young men who weren't going to inherit.

[@neutronjack7399]

@@nagyzoli Why? Why does it have to be so dismal? Samwise Gamgee started as a happy gardener, until Gandalf sent him to accompany Frodo.

[@nagyzoli]

@@neutronjack7399I always like to ground the adventure and backstory in reality. It is a fantasy world with magic and spells and all that sure. But I like to give a sort of internal logic to everything. Of course you can tell the DM that "My character just woke up this morning with a huge desire to explore the world" but that is an easy way out shortcut in my eyes. Put a little bit of effort and world building into it.

[@AraiiarA]

One of my favorite backstories was of a level 1 rogue who was a forgotten god. He was a human thief who was so good that he stole the divinity of one of the deities and he became the god of thieves. He got so bored as a god that he stole himself from history so no one remembers him, and he gave up on his divinity and became human again. In reality he's just a lunatic level 1 human rogue but he genuinely believes all of that.

[@davidelin7680]

He would be friend with the bard immediately who would not shut up about the Rogue story

[@blackog7820]

Magnificallly told

[@laurenceperkins7468]

I don't know... If you sat down at my table with a story like that, there's a decent chance *something* interesting would happen. Even if only just because *somebody* takes the story seriously at some point.

[@blackog7820]

@@laurenceperkins7468 Now, this story reminds me from King, from the Owl house. He's pretty much this same character xD

[@CaptainFirespitter]

Sounds like the story of a certain jewel merchant that I might know. Man I love that trolling bugger!!! 😂 (If you know, you know. 😜)

[@CaptainRhodor]

I once played at a table with a rogue who was the dark, broody, mysteriously edgy type who sat in the dark corner with a dark hood on and never talked to anyone. The catch? Never talked to anyone because he had a lisp and a stutter, and hid in the corner so he would be overlooked to avoid conversation XD

[@Spubbily01]

Honestly genius

[@RandomUser2235]

Rest in peace, Captain Rhodor, you are deeply missed.

[@BigBossPW1974]

Aw, he sounds adorable.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

Aw. Reminds me of a minor street thug/murderer-for-hire (not a Guild Assassin) side-character in Terry Pratchett's _Discworld_ novel _Jingo_ centered on the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork. His name was Daceyville "Snowy" Slopes. Technically, his only role in the story was to do a hit job on a foreign ambassador for his mysterious employers, then to get decapitated in his own room early on in the novel, to give Commander Vimes's City Watch a murder mystery to start the plot. We never meet Slopes alive. But Pratchett added a little character detail: Daceyville Slopes had suffered from bad dandruff his entire life. Like, really bad dandruff... so bad it gave him his nickname "Snowy Slopes". His room was filled with all sorts of medicinated shampoo bottles and alchemical potions. He watched his hair constantly. Nothing had worked. Commander Vimes mused, as he contemplated the headless corpse (still with a towel around its neck), if Slopes' life would have worked out differently if he never had that dandruff that turned him into a social outcast. Would he never have become a street thug?

[@hmx8694]

My current character is an arakocra ranger who isn't too social and doesn't like to talk, not because he's edgy or broody, but because he can only talk in a funny parrot voice. Every time I put on the voice and get in character to talk all my friends nearly die laughing. The best part is when I do succeed on certain intimidation checks, I immediately switch to a low batman voice for interrogations, which of course makes everyone laugh even harder. And when I fail intimidation checks I'll make my voice break and suddenly switch back to my high-pitched parrot voice for even greater comedic effect.

[@meece5970]

My favourite character I played was a 98 year old lady who escaped from an old people's home because she was bored, taking herself out of retirement from adventuring. I attributed her lack of levels to her simply being rusty in her old age and getting back into the swing of things. Her class? Rogue. She used her slight of hand expertise to sneak cookies into the pockets of characters she thought weren't eating enough 😂

[@royf4543]

Best backstory I’ve heard

[@Naturegirl9]

One of the best backgrounds ❤

[@marilcho2664]

I absolutely love to play with old characters

[@terrycassis1864]

Love love love!!!!

[@issackaiser]

Me: I reach into my bag to pull out the amulet and showed it to the party Dm: You showed to the party what seems to be, a box of cookies Me: Granny...

[@minimalbstolerance8113]

Personally, the best character background I ever saw was this guy who expertly trolled his DM with his backstory, but did it so well the DM wasn't even mad. Basically, on the surface, it looked like a typical terrible "if all this has happened to you why are you still Level 1?" backstory. The player turned in a seven - page chronicle about a brave paladin who's vanquished monsters, killed dragons, destroyed dark Lords, rescued princesses, etc, etc. Then, right in the last paragraph of this epic, the player puts "My character is that guy's brother. He became an adventurer because he got fed up with his mother continually nagging him "Why can't you be more like your brother, Nigel?"

[@hentaisailor5951]

Where'd you see that? I'd love to give it a read, it sounds hilarious.

[@jonathanhibberd9983]

That. Is. AWESOME! 🤣

[@helghast_7203]

This. Is. PERFECT

[@DJBlackNGold]

Okay that is actually an amazing story.

[@verdurite]

I want that guy as a player LMAO

[@rickybrooks2971]

Note for fellow DMs - don’t use all characters’ connections as negative plot fodder (“you enter your house and find your parents/mentor/spouse murdered/kidnapped”). There are plenty of positive ways to use a player’s backstory so that they will be incentivized to actually have connections instead of making friendless orphans over and over.

[@aidanoconnell5664]

Or having a dad they didn’t know existed.

[@shaclown7721]

I had a character's parents being kidnapped by his former mentor who turned evil. (Mentor was circus owner of Infernodrome, all from his own backstory) Mother died, but father was saved and started a new business. Had him kidnapped by ankheg and saved about a year later. Worked as a charm to get him invested in the rescue mission. Another player's tribe was brainwashed by an evil creature that posed as the village priest and wanted to mine out a mcguffin. Another succesful rescue operation and thwarting of an evil monster.

[@r.s.2890]

I had player run an orphan beastmaster ranger (using tasha new rules) with almost no backstory and he gave me permission to do whatever. I made his mom into a celestial that was facing jail time for raising the ranger beyond the limit she was given and that the ranger had to pass a series of trials in order to set her free. The group loved the storyline.

[@mesdecent8051]

You are completely right, for example: "You finally found the kidnappers of Damsel in Distress, she's bounded in a courner of the room looking bored. One of the kidnapers, a fairly large folk a lot older than the rest of the thugs you have been fighting looks at you startled before fixing eyes on you Rogue. - Oh! Hi son! What are you doing here? Are this friends of yours? You look great, are you eating well?"

[@Win32error854]

Do people really do that, just kill a character's parents? Unless there's like a really specific reason why they'd be targeted it just seems pointless to me.

[@ThievingDuo]

My first time playing was with a DM who was like "This is not just a sandbox game, it's the whole god damn beach. So build your castles and let me detroy them so you can rise from the muddy remains and make an epic story together" so he sat down with all of us to talk what we wanted to have in our backstories. I think that taught me very well how to write some, cause my first ideas were certainly not the greatest. :))

[@yoitsvenus616]

Homie had a way with words 😭🔥

[@abraxesprime7832]

What a cool one liner

[@varasatoshi3961]

Brooding rangers and rogues are alright if you play them correctly. Aragorn is brooding in the tavern and acting suspicious and menacing until Frodo fumbles and exposes himself, then he pulls him out and takes him to the room, interrogates him, then starts to help him.

[@doughboy_6439]

This. The brooding is fine, but they need to be PROACTIVE in making the decisions and engaging everyone else.

[@theinternetpolice2078]

I want to make a brooding rogue who's actually a complete cinnamon roll. Like, they're not even a thief, they just picked up lockpicking for fun and are good with a knife. Their "brooding" and hooded, dark clothes is because they're just sensitive to light. They stick to dark corners because they're too anxious to initiate conversation themself.

[@flickstr2606]

Hell, Brom was brooding until Eragon showed up and Brom sensed that he was a dragon rider.

[@DoctorWu23]

@@theinternetpolice2078I’ve have this thought too. Like this hulking swordsman that presses flowers on a journal or makes cute doodles lol.

[@JimBob4233]

@@flickstr2606 Didn't Eragon go to Brom to try to get more information about being a Dragon Rider? There wasn't much sensing involved beyond a basic Insight check.

[@WarrickRanger]

Best backstory I ever came up with: a half-orc monk who was raised in a monastery by his loving human father and orc mother who were happily married. He became an adventurer because his parents wanted him to see the wide world and interact with people to broaden his horizons. No tragedy, and I get to play him a little naive because he assumes everyone is essentially good; he chooses compassion first and violence as a last resort.

[@michaelwells529]

If you want your character to have already been well travelled before level 1 that’s fine. Remember there are other kinds of adventure that don’t involve fighting that you may have embarked on. My current character for example was an archeologist and hired adventurers to escort him on his expeditions in his backstory. He was basically an NPC escort quest lol

[@718jef]

Thats smart as hell. A great concept

[@michaelwells529]

@@718jef Thanks!

[@gutsFunnyman]

And it gives fun roleplay value!

[@Mr.Brothybear]

Make Sure they Stay Away from from Geologists and People with Obsidian Knives

[@LorettaBurrow]

I have an archeologist character, too. Do you know what an archeologist is? It a thief with a history degree.

[@dahelmang]

It could work for your rogue to be a master assassin from a small town where the thieves guild had three people. Everyone there was scared of you, but now you are a small fish in a big pond.

[@iCarus_A]

"Master assassin" who's only a master because his two coworkers had an added level of -1, lol

[@sykune]

Makes sense to me. Or make him like Don Quixote and he only thinks he is a master assassin

[@devonthurgood9381]

Makes me think of a plucky, starry eyed young assassin who moved to the big city and is gonna make it BIG in the assassin world!

[@wbbartlett]

Good point. He thought of himself as a 'Master' of his trade because in his sheltered, isolated existence to this point he had met no one to show him otherwise. He steps out into the wider world full of bravado, confidence & cockiness only to be slapped in the face by harsh reality when he realises he's woefully unskilled for life outside his village.

[@littlegiantj8761]

Village bully that's out of his element when he joins an adventuring party and he has to deal with people who aren't just poor farmers

[@iceblaze732]

I had a PC with a Smith backstory once. His reason for adventuring was searching rare ores and learning the smithing styles of different races

[@evangedeon2194]

The Marco Polo of blacksmithing

[@Moondramon]

This was what I was gonna comment as a reason for a smith to want to travel and go advenrutring, lol.

[@g.dalfleblanc63]

He passes the ideas off as his own original ideas, opens a shop in the human capital which quickly becomes a great success. He gets the eye of the king who has armour and weapons commissioned in those styles, thr king has a grand party where all the ambassadors from all the different races are invited to see the brillance and originality of his kingdom.

[@iceblaze732]

@@g.dalfleblanc63 fun idea but I think that he would advertise it by saying that it was made using a specific style or Material. He would probably be like an advertisment that he is the only one in the Kingdom with such a diverse Selection of Wares

[@sirthanksalot97]

I'm gonna play a dwarven Forge Cleric soonish, and he's joined a traveling musical troupe as part of making pilgrimage in Moradin's name. Gonna be a very fun time, I should think - he's the one fixing up the troupe's instruments and tools etc. while also playing a self-crafted hurdy-gurdy (once used for ceremonial purposes as "backing track" to chants and religious songs). It's a fun way about making a smith with a reason to be away from the forge. Heck, with a quick dip to Druid via an Initiate feat, he can even use Mold Earth to make his own anywhere.

[@AP3RS0N2]

As a newer player, i had made completely over complecated trauma stories, which i then realized no and simplified it a lot. From tragic abuse to just frogs.

[@Yandarval]

Back in 2e. I had a character that started at 3rd level. She had been a shrine guard for the last 70 years. She was very old and would have died in a couple of years of old age. She got the call from her God to go out and do XYZ. Joined a party passing through. two game years of been an old female ranger was fun. Moaning about aches and the young ones. God kicking you in that arse to get you adventuring. An easy hook to get a character going.

[@htenerf137]

My favourite PC backstory was my Dragonborn from a normal small town family who had a normal life and wanted to go seek adventure. And my DM just offered. “I see your characters wisdom is low. Would it be alright if that’s what he THINKS?” Best thing ever. His mom was a major quest giver for our party who was… neutral evil at best. And without fail any checks to detect that maybe my home life wasn’t what it seemed I’d roll Nat 1s” it was an amazing backstory that has prompted me to do more with my characters ever since.

[@social.elenakrittik]

That DM is a genius

[@Jbrowni3]

Ah, that was my second campaign, when I thought “I got it”. Half-elf, Ranger, Archie Sureshot. Entirely unmotivated by the going ons of the party, split off and went into the forest to find whatever he may. He was then quickly tripped and devoured by 2 gnolls

[@Mr.Brothybear]

*Insert Archery or Accuracy Joke*

[@HaruDoneYet]

What a legend

[@IllusAuthor]

As is right and just.

[@sheepyhead0399]

I swear its always the half elves

[@buttnuttz6119]

@@sheepyhead0399 half elf meta

[@xxeroc]

I think my favorite back story was a Druid Dragonborn, he tried to do a ritual to turn himself into a red dragon but failed and is now a dragon born and his motivation for adventure was just to find a cure

[@MireVale]

Why would he want a cure for that? Isn’t being a Dragonborn pretty powerful and badass? The spell didn’t get him all the way dragon but at least part dragon is close second?

[@KururuFrog]

@@MireVale maybe because he doesn't want to look like a dragonborn

[@addison_v_ertisement1678]

​@@KururuFrogBut looking like a dragon was okay.

[@grantcoleman6884]

Well dragons are like, innately more powerful as beings than Dragonborn are. Even if you don’t want to look like a dragon being a hulking intelligent beast with the ability to take down kingdoms and armies at will is a lot more badass than lizard guy who breathes fire occasionally

[@xxeroc]

@@MireVale after he does it his tribe strips him of all his Druidic powers and he was forced to practice purely rite of thorns so no shape shift fiend or fey summon it’s pretty interesting

[@clarkside4493]

I have a necromancer I want to play. He's a necromancer because his father became a ghost that is slowly deteriorating into a specter and eventually fading from existence entirely. He wants to invent a spell to turn incorporeal undead into ghosts, if nothing else. So, he specializes in necromancy. Though he and his father were involved in the clergy before, my wizard still fears an overzealous cleric will simply slay his father's ghost before he can pass on properly. Thus, he tries to keep his main goals secret. For his open goals, he's seeking revenge against the villains that murdered his father in the first place.

[@mrs.mudgoblin664]

My favourite character still lives at home and has a great relationship with her parents. She also has like 8 siblings. She started off as a kobold raised by halflings and was convinced she just had a skin condition. She's kind of an airhead but the most innocent little bean, and the party would always do things like covering her eyes/ears if there was excessive gore or sexuality. I miss playing her so much 🤣

[@Goofygooberman37]

@@mrs.mudgoblin664 that’s sweet

[@jordanw2741]

With my players, I've learned that they just want to do an adventure. I've tried in a few campaigns to mold it around their characters, but it's always been difficult to tease out info. So now I'm running a pre-written module, and pepper in pieces that touch on their background. Much less heartache for me when they don't get invested in my homebrew setting... They can just do save Faerun from whatever. We're all having fun now, and I'm no longer anxious when game night comes along.

[@ElenaAideen]

This sounds to me like you might do well to try finding another group to play with who is interested in exploring personal character arcs. That could be in addition to, or in place of your current group depending on your time availability. It can be very frustrating over the long run to constantly feel like you're not getting something you feel is important out of your gaming experiences. Be mindful of whether this is causing resentment for you and talk with your players about it if it is.

[@jordanw2741]

Thanks for the advice! Fortunately I do have another group. And my partner really wants to do a one one one campaign so she can explore her one character's backstory (from a previous campaign). Have been really excited to start that... Just lack time lol.

[@adamh4468]

Not to worry brother happens to us all I’ve started telling my group you don’t give me something to work with you don’t have fun and the others will get the neat toys. Has led to some eliminations in the party however I’m happy with the current group despite having to deal with some new people who are learning the ropes.

[@rickybrooks2971]

I have no issues with long backstories. The longer they are the more likely there are at least hints of something that can be brought into the game which a player doesn’t expect.

[@jackielinde7568]

DMs/GMs, be careful when putting one's foot down on players who may have legitimate reasons to play either "The Lone Wolf" or "This is what my character would do" cards. There are going to be times, and many often created by you, where a player is correct in putting their character's foot down for something contrary to what the group wants to do. In the current campaign I'm in, the DM had all of us do personal missions after completing the first adventure. This was to show the different characters different aspects of how the world was breaking. My character and my nephew's character were sent to my character's hometown because of issues within her church and her order. (She's a Paladin of Vengeance and part of a holy order.) At the end of the personal mission, we found evil had made its way into the church and was using the order to murder another friendly deity's people in secret to weaken that god. And a member of my family was trying to stop it. This created conflict when it came time to reunite the party, because most of the party wanted to go fight undead in another town, where my character had several personal stakes that would stop her from leaving. So, yeah, while the rest of the table was understandably frustrated when I played the "This is what my character would do" card, it was totally in line with what that character should and would do: Stick around to fix the order, help defend the innocents, and make sure their sister wouldn't die. Yeah, we didn't solve everything, but in two sessions, we found out there was a resistance movement trying to fix the church, how good people were being turned, and captured the head of my character's order for the resistance movement. It didn't solve everything wrong, but it put a big enough dent that my character could walk away for a little bit and not feel guilty about it.

[@jordanwhite8718]

Honestly, as a DM, this is why I don’t do things like personal missions. I always tell my players at session 0, that you were building a character that is designed to work in a team. Everybody in the party is at the very least a well liked acquaintance, and you should treat them as such.your DM definitely should not have created a situation where you would create that kind of character.

[@jackielinde7568]

@@jordanwhite8718 To be honest, all I gave my brother (the DM) was she's angry, she believes she was a noble high elf from birth (she's a changeling that was switched at birth and didn't know otherwise because a spell had been protecting her true identity. She was a quest to "fix the curse and bring vengeance to the person who cursed her." Everything else story wise he created. So he's the one who created the situation where my character would be stuck putting her foot down and saying, "I understand about the undead army attacking this other town, but there are real people dying here that need to be taken care of first, while we're here." And my character isn't the only one who's put their foot down, although that other character is, well, opinionated and has issues. And, to be really fair, we're all having fun. the personal stories are tied into the overall campaign and the issue his world is facing. So, meh.

[@merri_spiderly6017]

This sounds such a facinating way to prompt character growth, but I can see why it’s hard to balance in a way that doesn’t break the table. 😮

[@penntopaper9305]

@@jordanwhite8718 yeah but that can be tricky when you get the types of people who like to reuse characters or put a lot of effort into writing them, bringing them past just "player character" and more into actual bonafide oc level. i do not have a single player character ive ever made that i didnt do full art of lol. and almost all of them i kept as characters outside of the campaign when it was over, either incorporating them as npcs into *my* campaign, or using them in other ways. not everyone writes characters the same way. im a DM as well, and my party's members all very very interesting dynamics with one another and all have very different personalities, even if they clash sometimes. two of them are more frenemies than anything and have literally fought each other on multiple occasions LMFAO. we love it though. i value characterization and character development over anything else. roleplay over combat by a wide margin. its just more fun honestly. to be dramatic

[@addison_v_ertisement1678]

No, you just hate people in the campaign having character.​@@jordanwhite8718

[@butcherbird5867]

I had sorta the opposite problem once. The DM asked me for a backstory and to make sure it had: Important people, important events, adventure motivation, and a fear. Seemed logical to me, so I wrote about being a blacksmith's son, detailed his family who were almost all still alive and well, said he got a job as a town guard and eventually became a follower of Tyr, hoping to become a Paladin of Tyr (he was a fighter). His motivation was that he had failed to ever get Tyr's blessing, and was tasked by the leader of his temple to venture into the world and discover what he could learn to earn Tyr's blessings. His fear was gnolls, as his town had once been raided by gnolls when he was young, and from his hiding spot he saw the horrible things they did to the villagers. The DM then took all of this, and mangled it so badly that I was constantly missing the story threads meant for me. He decided it wasn't gnolls that attacked my home, but a mass of shadows and eyes (It was just Alucard from Hellsing), and that my whole family had been killed by this shadow and my entire village was destroyed except for me, who was left alive for...reasons? And I was adventuring for revenge. Also he leveled me up between sessions and gave me a level in Paladin at level 2. It was awful, and I instantly lost all interest in my own character.

[@TheHorsemanOfTheApocalypse]

that's one shitty dm

[@alexstapleton6339]

That sounds like a problem with the DM, not the character

[@butcherbird5867]

@@alexstapleton6339 Yeah, that's kinda how I felt. Decidedly lost interest in the game and backed out shortly after all of this.

[@Zxy_227]

Wait, I've watched Hellsing before, I think the DM was trying to turn you into Anderson 💀

[@JeshuaHicksAuthor]

That's the definition of a bad DM. I get work shopping some stuff if what you'd given didn't match the setting. Like, gnolls don't exist, or something. But just saying "yeah no, let me make your back story for you," is just bad. I'm glad to hear you quickly left that game.

[@motleycruerocks159]

I love the novella backstories, those players are the ones who are actually invested in the game. and as a side note, I think it's fine to tweak player backstories if you have to to make them fit, but any changes need to be discussed about and agreed to by both you and the player

[@scottwalker6947]

"My character got tired of plowing a field for a living." Background done. If you really need one, remember Brevity is king.

[@Calebgoblin]

Not in my house But I respect your opinion

[@darklordaranyx2467]

@@Calebgoblin Agreed, I always appreciate when my players actually put some thought into their characters instead of basing their entire personality off of the race and class descriptions in the Handbook

[@Pobafett]

Love it! The story starts when the adventure starts and you get to know your character as you play.

[@skaar6191]

I like it. You can build your character on the fly

[@SamBrockmann]

I would consider this a totally unacceptable background, as a GM. Your GM might disagree, but you gave nothing for the GM to work with. In fact, you put ALL of the work on the GM's plate.

[@LiteraryDM]

I'm guessing Patrick Rothfuss. I think he even released a novella in Novemeber. We just want Doors of Stone!

[@TheodoreMinick]

Yeah, I immediately thought of Rothfuss, too.

[@dansgaminghour]

Same here

[@ShinobiFox1980]

I think you hit the nail on the head here.

[@lilyd8908]

I was going to say George RR Martin but no one in their right mind would call Fire&Blood a novella 😂

[@Sphinx2k]

Yes this was what came to my mind too

[@WilliamRoop-xt6rp]

My favorite type of backstory is a coming of age journey - small town or tribe that fits wherever the DM feels best that sends their young adults to gain experience (find the hermit McGuffey, fancy whacking stick, rare flower, etc,) so they can return and be a productive member of society.

[@prkr07]

You are spot on for how helpful it is to make backstories during Session Zero! As a DM/GM it gives a chance to get all background-related hooks organized, and a great chance to get input from the whole group.

[@wififreedom3265]

My most recent character, Ahlai the fox witch, has a fun and simple backstory. She got a magic patron that she doesn't know much about but they told her that something very important in the southwest seas and she needs to go there. (southwest seas were the campaign is happening) she has no idea what she's looking for yet and the patron wont give specifics until he says "Its time to know" which gives me a perfect excuse to adventure with the party, and plenty of time to work with the gm on what the heck that actually means for the fox. (GM said that they will be using backstories for adventures.) I'm excited!

[@resania1]

Had a character that went in search of his adopted daughter who ran away from home, intended for it to be a simple reason to pull him towards whatever goal the dm wanted. The DM took that and ran with it to the point where I wanted to throw dice at their head after they made her join the bbegs side, I loved the twist tho it left me just sitting for like 10 mins when I found out.

[@boomkruncher325zzshred5]

My current DM incorporated my character's backstory beautifully in the campaign I'm running. They provided a nemesis who was a dark parallel to my character: my character went through tremendous trauma, but had their family and loved ones to keep them centered and positive in the middle of the tragedy. The nemesis... had lost everything, and had gone mad without loved ones to keep them balanced and centered. When the DM introduced my character's nemesis to the campaign, we were in the middle of the wilderness, and the nemesis allowed us to stay the night at their campfire as they were figuring out if they were going to kill our party or not. They made it explicitly clear what their intentions were, and that they had no reason to change. It was made obvious that they VERY much had the power to wipe us out if they wanted to... but we had a long chat between me and my nemesis that night, and it became clear just how messed up their situation was and how my character's situation was bearable, because I still had something they lost. The next day? They gave us a 15 minute head start, and then the hunt was on. Shenanigans ensued, our druid almost made the most heroic sacrifice but managed to make it out by the skin of their teeth, and now there is a genocidal maniac loose in the world with no one left to center them or keep them in balance, their morality made twisted because of an ancient war. My character then developed a resolve. Initially, they went adventuring to try and bring their forcefully displaced tribe out of poverty/return to their ancestral lands if they are not destroyed in the conflict. Now, though? They realize that the only way this war will end, is if those twisted by it are stopped. She needs to accomplish this, before she becomes twisted herself....

[@briannas.6741]

Dang, that sounds awesome

[@JagmasterGeneral12374]

Exactly In my upcoming campaign we are starting again I have the DM a bunch of things to tie in a deal with a devil a rival who I don't take seriously and a short term goal tying into the current storyline and one for the long term

[@lordnul1708]

"My father was an adventurer, my father's father was an adventurer, my father's father's father was an adventurer and the same applies for my mother and her side. I will be one myself, and don't want my parents' gear to be a crutch." This is the backstory of a Sigil resident concept I came up with but never actually used.

[@VasiliyOgniov]

Isn't it a Naruto?

[@lordnul1708]

@@VasiliyOgniov he wasn't going to be a fish cake, no. And he wasn't gonna be a ninja either. He was gonna be a raven queen warlock (the concept was for testing Unearthed arcana) and living not that far from the GateHouse Asylums.

[@ericvyskocil7428]

I wrote a book where the love interest is the daughter of 2 legendary adventuring heroes, but she just wants to live the quiet life running a bar in the armpit of nowhere. They started the equivalent of the avengers, and had 1 member retire as her body guard. The main character is just some fisherman's son who wanted to be more.

[@l0rf]

Seeing your Gamemaster as your ally in telling the best story possible seems to be the core adage here. Work together with everyone in the group so that it enables everyone to have the most fun.

[@Kulkogo]

I do largely agree with most of these statements, however there are some things you can still do even if they are a bit difficult to pull off. For example, your character could indeed be a lone wolf, but he/she might be forced to join a group and becoming a team leader could be their arc. Same with being a farmer and not wanting to leave - the beginning of the campaign could involve you losing your home or being forcibly removed and having to join a team to get it back. Side note, I might refer to this if I want to make a character in a book, this is pretty solid advice.

[@skaar6191]

I love using my players back stories. I just do first couple sessions doing side quests and getting the feel for the group and how they act. Then I start pooling in their back stories and they seem to get much more excited.

[@ASNS117Zero]

This is the way.

[@godsamongmen8003]

When I was a kit in the 80s, I made really short, basic backstories if I made one at all. Then as I got into my teens and twenties, my backstories got more complicated (not better) and more full of tragedy. Now in my forties, I've gone full circle back to simple backstories. My most recent characters were a gambler that skipped town after he was caught cheating at cards, a peasant farmer who's family was going to lose the farm, and a soldier who deserted because he was conscripted and didn't want to fight.

[@MonteGruhlke]

A backstory inspired by Terry Pratchett (Diskworld novel series) I have wanted to use a character who begins as any other, and his story is that he is actually a forgotten god with zero powers. In Pratchett's novels, a god is only as powerful as he or she has true believers, so in the beginning the character would be just like any normal Joe. His initial ambition, to get back up there. Still, he does has enemies if they knew who he really was.

[@hamsteR_509]

My character was a snake that ate a glowing mushroom so he turned into a Dragonborn

[@natralskitsophrenia8465]

I love that! that's hilarious and fresh!

[@SaintedPIacebo]

This is a great example of less is more. Being a snake opens a lot of doors for interactions. Snakes arent used to being the kind of complex people that humanoids are, hope that got played up a bit lol.

[@Mephistangelo]

What I have learnt, which is very useful for DM's and players, is to create a timeline. The most important points of the backstory should be organised chronologically and by year. That way, the DM and the player have a well-organised overview and don't have to scroll through endless sheets of backstory every time to know when something happened. Especially with older characters who have experienced a lot, the overview is really good.

[@jacobford1719]

A balance of tragedy and hope is important when making a character. Having a character with a tragic backstory and then adding in things that make that character almost irredeemable (tragedy happens and they abandon their children in their infancy) makes it difficult for your GM when you are trying to play a somewhat moral character.

[@krispalermo8133]

Story plot done back during 1998 to 2008. First through AD&D2e, " Skills and Power " aka as 2.75e Then WotC 3e D&D/Star Wars, -- Star Wars rule set for rpg children and teenagers. Group of war orphans lost in forest found and raised by a green hag that started the war herself. She raised a lawful good paladin despite herself for a laugh. Cursed to never return home, they just get lost in the forest around the hag lair. Stockholms syndrome children raised into highwaymen. " Granny loves me ! " Local myths/ rumors, .. Hags turn naughty children into goblins who turn around bring misery. Neutral to chaotic evil parents that raise young bully, tend to have their children go missing. Sometimes return as Polymorph goblins.

[@markopusic8258]

It'a not so much about tragedy and hope than it is wants and needs, tragedy is just one admittedly simple way to go about it. Basically, a character is always defined by two things, what he needs to progress as a character, and what he wants or believes he wants. The need is the drive, the want is the motivation. And that's where the problem lies, bad characters are bedridden with needs and have no believable wants, that's how we end up with perfect characters somehow crushed by the weight of the world, or boring noodles who have no business being there.

[@aperson7511]

@markopusic8258 I made a character who was a lot of tragedy like was a child slave for a circus with some hope the ringleader just wanted a son but because it was the olden days their was abuse and then the ring leader was killed in an accident and the player character became a mob boss with cunning tactics getting to become the Kings jester then killing the king because comedy then is forced to become a priest but the character burns down the church and becomes disinterested with the church and just wants to search for things that will make him laugh This isn't the entire back story but how I made a murderous rouge who was chaotic neutral cause he just wanted a laugh He killed the ring leader

[@Maninawig]

This reminds me so much of one of my first characters: a fallen aasimar vengence paladin. As someone from Reddit kindly told me, I developped this 20th level backstory of conquering hells just for a level 1-3 player. It was actually such a weight off my shoulders to drop the pomp and focus on the root circumstances. Now he's a begruntled soldier who fell from grace after refusing to continue on his guide's genecidal path. Helm took pity on him, tested his heart with an introduction to a temporary guide (a wereraven-like companion), and laid out a path of redeption for the soldier. Though begruntled, he sticks with the party cause it does bring him comfort.

[@jackielinde7568]

Here's a technique (I totally stole from the KZbin channel Film Courage) I use when making characters. It solves some of the issues (but not the writing an epic novel). When building characters, start by giving them a Core Wound, a Want, and a Need: The Core Wound is that thing that is driving the character forward in all they do. It is something that is messed up, broken, wronged, etc. that has damaged the character and driving the character to fix. It could be something internal to the character (like a curse) or external (like the loss of a loved one). Whatever the issue, the character won't be at peace until it's resolved. The Want is what the character THINKS will heal the Core Wound and make everything right in the world. Note the word THINKS. This means, the character is going to start out chasing the wrong thing trying to heal this core wound. As long as the character is seeking the Want, they will not find that to fix the Core Wound The Need is the actual thing the character needs to solve their Core Wound. This requires some form of character growth. But once they discover this, the character can actually move forward in their life and heal the trauma of the Core Wound. The neat thing is, once you have this matrix figured out, it starts to answer other questions about the character. Between the Core Wound and Want, the player can see what their character is like. And the DM can use the Want and Need to start crafting the journey the character needs to take. For instance, I could have a character whose wife was murdered. My character might believe that getting vengeance is how they can make that death right in the world. But instead of avenging their dead spouse, maybe they need to accept their wife is dead and come to terms with it. And only when they do come to terms with the death, can they seek justice for her murder. Another example is the character I currently play: An Oath of Vengeance Paladin and Changeling. My first question was, "Why is she so angry?" This lead me to her Core Wound: She was a swapped baby who was raised to think she was someone else until the spell disguising her true nature broke. (A play on the old Celtic Myth of Changelings.) While everyone else in her family recognizes the situation that she was never a high elf, she believes she's currently under a curse. And this leads automatically into her Want: "To find the person who cursed her and have this curse broken." This primal want has driven her to leave her home and hometown behind while she chases anything and everything about curses. This leads into the need: to learn and accept the truth about her situation. And this has led my character to be dark and brooding at times. But as someone who's part of a religious order, she recognizes she needs to work with a group to see to her own personal goals. (But, there are times the goody-two-shoes nature can and does create strife for others in the party, it's tempered by the fact they're an adventuring party and she knows the score.) But she does have a thing for nobles behaving badly (that was used to grant a character who died because of one the former noble's lands) and for curses and those who curse people. All of this from "I am a changeling who believes she is a high elf cursed into being a changeling, and until I break this curse, nothing will be right in the world."

[@RioDrake]

I had a character that, as a backstory, was a famous captain in the airship navy and THEN an infamous pirate captain after that. Keyword being was. He lost a lot of his magical power after nearly dying and being stranded on a deserted island for twenty years. Avoiding the people that could recognize him was a big part of playing him.

[@rcschmidt668]

Thanks for sharing this pertinent topic, Luke! Great job. A point that lesser experienced players make is trying to put the character’s goals into the backstory. Goals (such as becoming the leader of a guild) are what the new character should aspire to achieve after gaining levels as the campaign progresses. P.S. My most simple backstory was a young adult from a noble family that messed up everything he touched and was disinherited from the family and their business. The DM did not relent in finding ways to make my character regret certain life choices. The goal was to right the wrongs and regain good favor with the family, and to save the business.

[@PunknPixels]

i always like writing backstories with a reason to adventure together. Something like the PC had a family member try to take out a goblin den on their own and their bones were shipped back to town or something. Or they tried doing something on their own in the backstory which led to unforeseen consequences. I'll also usually write two, one that's a about a page that i give to the dm that has the necessary info (name, origin, reason to adventure, etc), and one that's more like 4-8 pages for flavor that is shared with the dm but they don't usually read or use that, and i'll use that as the basis to role play.

[@88NicolasRogan88]

Good move!

[@mikereid1195]

I'm generally pretty lenient about character backstories as a GM (and I inevitably always am cast in the role of GM, since A: I'm the only one with a complete collection of the AD&D books, and B: I'm generally the only one who can come up with a story both in depth prepared, and off the cuff / on the fly, and C: I'm also the only one willing to play out the NPC's in character and give every one of them a singular unique voice and attitude... And the most important, D: I love being the basic storyteller, while also loving to improvise and weave the player's stories into the narrative as we go. Love it! 😂

[@willw6504]

I have, twice, experienced the GM inverse of what you are describing. In two separate occasions, two different GMs for entirely different groups of players (except for me) asked players to provide them with characters and backstories, including having them assist with worldbuilding. In the first of the two, the GM wanted each PC to help him build their nation of origin with culture, locations, the whole nine yards. In the second of the two, the GM didn't ask for that specifically, but since I wanted to play a character who was 'on the run', they asked me to provide setting details within my backstory about where I came from. Having done all this, both GMs began their games with a Session 1 Apocalypses that destroyed everything. I think the GMs intended this to help make the destruction personal, but in the first case, it was mostly just the death of time - we'd all put in a fair amount of work, so seeing it thrown on a fire didn't make us sad about the world lost but angry that the GM had pissed us about. In the second case, since it was a new (homebrew) setting, none of us knew jack about the setting before it blew, so it lost all impact. Also, since many of us had built our characters with the starting setting in mind, having it immediately destroyed meant that many of our characters no longer worked or were fun to play. So to any aspiring GMs out there - please don't do this. It isn't creative, interesting, or original - it's just annoying. If you want to run in a post apocalyptic setting, tell the players that up front. Bait and switch tactics destroys player trust in new GMs. (Oh, and the 'gm inverse' thing - I mean instead of writing an edgy novella to a GM that doesn't care, these GMs asked us to write novellas and then went full edge-lord and burnt them in front of us).

[@shatteredsouI]

You brought up Witchlight as an example of not being able to incorporate a backstory much, but one of my players asked if they could be a Hexblood, being a child of one of the three main ladies. My thoughts immediately started racing in excitement and I said yes. Long story short, they were the child of Endelyn of Yon and it was sooo much fun when they finally met her. While I am still a new DM, I encourage rewriting modules a little to have fun ideas like this!

[@gaildahlas]

I had a similar experience with Witchlight from a player point of view! Went in with no prior knowledge, asking to play a hexblood whose father had made a deal with a hag to avoid the loss of his estate (because fey themes seemed fitting). Alas, the reason he was losing it in the first place was his terrible business sense. Some time later, I find out my harengon's father could've had the son he'd always wanted if not for Zybilna - the child she switched at birth ended up being Agdon Longscarf, and that reveal alone was so much fun. It's been ages since we stopped playing, and I still think about the changes the DM made/how much more involved we were in the game because of them! There were moments like that for other characters too, of course, and I think the slight rewrites really helped us feel more tied into the story.

[@shatteredsouI]

@@gaildahlas That sounds awesome! And it brings Agdon much more into your story than he was in mine. Unfortunately, in my game, he was just kinda there… then one of my players (wildfire Druid) blew up one of the harengon’s rafts and they decided to get the heck outta there XD I have too many funny stories from Witchlight. Honestly one of my favourite games that I’ve run. Love me some witch shenanigans!

[@Neeyon]

I havent actually played D&D but i did make one Reborn character before it was turned into 3 on Beyond. Short and simple, character woke up in a "lab" as a scrap iron robot with scattered memories. He roamed essentially the underdark mapping out what he could. Eventually he found his way to the surface where he decided to become a cartographer, adventuring and making his own maps of a world he had forgotten while trying to find his past. His only social interactions have been with a voice from a ring he found in said "lab" who is not the friendliest thing.

[@Sutandodzukia]

Find some friends to play with!

[@ATeyken]

Here is a secret, you can talk to you players about it. In a normal voice. No need for yelling. It would probably go like this: You: "I have a hard time seeing your farmer engaging with the story I am trying to tell, can you tell me why your character would engage with this adventure" Player: "I hadn't thought about that angle, let me come up with something or just change the story" If you try to play WITH your players and include them in the process everything goes a lot smoother. This goes for life in general, if someone does a thing you don't like, try telling you why is bothers you and ask why they do it, instead of just getting angry or frustrated.

[@doubletragus]

I'm sure he's never thought of that before.

[@ATeyken]

@@doubletragus being snarky or sarcastic is not a good approach to an open a constructive conversation either. People often respond with the same energy that you project. Try to be kind and generous in all things :)

[@blazaybla22]

@@ATeykenI like the cut of your jib my guy

[@theblaze5530]

@@ATeyken I've found them, the cleric with 20 wisdom

[@amazinggrapes3045]

Was with you until the last sentence Telling people how they're bothering you offends them and gives them a way to manipulate you. It can only be done with people you can trust But don't play dungeons and dragons with people you don't trust 😂

[@JorisVDC]

I appreciate that you are sharing from your own mistakes made and sharing the lessons learnt. That is some great character development!

[@OthelloDeaman]

My current campaign I told them I was going to build a massive story in the likes of a Final Fantasy, so they all wrote their backstories from a first person perspective this way character motivations and the like for NPCs can only be speculated from their point of view. And then after receiving them all, I wrote the adventure hook so they are all tied into the game. Everything that happens has a tie to 1 or more PC at any given time even if they don't recognize it.

[@landenroberts6710]

What I usually tell players is, if you’re gonna have an epic backstory and already be powerful based on your backstory there has to be a reason why your level one or level three so typically you know they got a really bad injury or something like that and I do the same in the very few instances where I’m a player if I have an epic backstory, I typically will give my character an injury. He’s recovering from both physically and mentally to make it make sense.

[@machravens]

I joined up with a game and made a very fun version of the "dark past" character- a pickpocket who had been talked into joining a suicide cult, only to back out at the last moment out of cowardice- leaving the souls of all the people who did die able to haunt him, and a very angry wizard who would have become a lich out for revenge. So he had ready-made motivation to go out and adventure, along with an obvious hooks (our DM altered an encounter where we fought a cult to be the same wizard pulling the same stunt again), and it was a great moment when, after a bunch of combat encounters of hiding in shadows and launching arrows, he finally came out to help his new friends so that he wouldn't watch them die, too. It also made going into the Phantom sub-class very appropriate, as he learned how to better control how he was being haunted.

[@jibantik00]

One of my major rules in my campaign is your progress has to feel organic. For instance, if you're looking to dual-class, how did your character come to acquire the knowledge of the other class you're trying to dual-class? And then when picking new proficiencies, you had to have used those skills before you can select it at level up.

[@Argumedies]

In my current campaign playing in Icewindale. I created a Tabaxi Rogue, but I did not have a back story UNTIL my DM handed me a piece of paper saying, "You were raised by Yeti's." So my back story is my nomad Tabaxi parents were killed in a raid, but I was taken they had never seen a kitten so I was allowed to live as a pet, stealing food to survive and slowly learning tools and weapons from other adventures who the yeti's raided. After learning their language, I escaped, so now I'm trying to find my ancestors.

[@kalypso4133]

I don't like how the DM had to force the issue of you not having a backstory. Just have a backstory, mate. It's not that hard.

[@IzraelGraves]

@@kalypso4133 I think you're judging unnecessarily harshly. If he couldn't think of a backstory, its fine. If he was able to figure all that out with a prompt from the DM, that's also fine. It's not like he couldn't say no to the prompt. Its a group storytelling game. We launch each other into our stories. That's exactly what happened here.

[@kalypso4133]

@@IzraelGraves 1. it's expected of the player to at least *start* the story for their character 2. You are judging me saying the truth more than i was judging him. The truth is ugly sometimes but it has it be said. The DM shouldn't have to put in extra work because you didn't wanna write something as simple as a backstory. It doesn't have to be intricate like the ones i write. You can even go with terrible terrible tropes as long as they won't annoy others and at least make sense. Just write *something*. Some motivation, some history for the character. As both a player and DM, for the love of god write the damn backstory xDD it's not that much of an ask. I already have to juggle so much. I shouldn't also have to juggle writing players characters for them. Thats not to say I can't. I have taught kids to play which i gave them interesting characters to play, to help them learn how to role play that character. My guess is that the OP is not a kid though and very well can come up with something. Or maybe they can't because they are using a race to try and make their character seem interesting. I can only judge what i see, and honestly i'm barely judging. i'm just looking out for fellow DMs and players alike.

[@IzraelGraves]

@@kalypso4133 You aren't looking out for anyone other than yourself. You said something shitty and instead of reflecting you used word vomit to defend yourself. I'm not going to bother targeting each "point" you made. Bottom line is, what you're doing is elitism and gatekeeping. You even made a subtle dig at them running a Tabaxi as a substitute for story. Its very clear you came into this with some preconceived notions and negativity towards certain kinds of players. The DM is the DM for a reason. Player's aren't always expected to have a back story, even a basic one; every game is different, but you're acting like its a law. That's not how this works. It is a group storytelling experience, and that means its a team effort. When someone needs help, the DM helps them. Players help each other, even for backstory. As a man who has been a forever DM for over 20 years, I feel very strongly that you need to re-evaluate how you look at this experience. You're making it worse for others with this mindset.

[@IzraelGraves]

@@kalypso4133 And for the record? "The truth hurts but it needs to be said" is the same as saying you aren't mean, you're honest. That's just a narcissist excuse for being an asshole. Truth can always, ALWAYS be shared in a better way than that, not that any of that was a single truth.

[@Virus-ng1lh]

Like, I know I went overboard with my backstory. It is tragic, and she had a terrible life, but she found a way out and is adventuring to explore the world and learn about it. (As well as hopefully find a cure to a curse or two and get a little revenge along the way) I will also say, we are in a 100% home brewed campaign that’s been going on for almost 2 years now. The DM is also a good friend of mine and we designed a custom class to fit with her (Loosely off of Eldritch Knight) cause nothing else fit her. I’m thankful that I didn’t end up with any of the issues that could have arisen cause I have a *long and convoluted* backstory.

[@chazzitz-wh4ly]

As a GM, I’d never read more than a couple paragraphs of my player’s backstory. I just need some details, but I encourage my players to do whatever they want with their characters’ backstories. It shows me their investment.

[@Virus-ng1lh]

@@chazzitz-wh4ly He did read the whole thing eventually because I gave him A LOT of leeway with it as well. Apparently I built a character that fits so well into his world, he has actually let me DM my own campaign within his world. Im just glad I didn't mess him up in anything, and Ive gotten to find things out about my character I didn't know so we had this whole "She finds out she is a lost Princess to an extremely powerful Elven family" and it was full on genuine surprise to everyone in the party.

[@TheBowTizzle]

I once played a Paladin who was a legendary and revered hero with a wealth of adventure and stories of his accomplishments behind him. To justify him starting at level 5, I said he had spent years and years in retirement, and was now a withered old man, wanting to put his armor on and raise his blade for one last adventure. Basically, he had to re-learn all his old moves from his youth. The DM was ok with it, and the party loved the concept :)

[@draco3314]

An idea I had for a character that I will absolutely let everyone here steal is someone who acts all “I’m a lone wolf, I don’t work with others” but if you abandon them, they’ll be like “No wait come back”

[@PiroMunkie]

One thing to note about secrets: A secret about your character that dies with your character or the end of a campaign is a bad secret. A character secret should be more like an elephant in the room than a needle in a haystack.

[@TheHorsemanOfTheApocalypse]

i disagree

[@yaboicheshire868]

For my new dnd players, here's a solid way to get a neat and simple backstory. I call it the rule of school. One page, 4-6 paragraphs describing Who they are, where they are, and how they got there, make sure it fits the theme of the current dnd, done. If you wanna embellish and add more, go ahead, just get together with and work with DM on that. The more you speak with the DM. Communication is key.

[@AvangionQ]

A tabletop roleplaying character backstory really only needs three things: 🥇 a reason to go adventuring 🥈 a reason to party up 🥉 an inspiration for your next long rest's roleplaying time.

[@Poppy_AndFriends]

1:40 this is the WILDEST twist bro idk why i diidnt see that coming

[@Danny191]

One character I want to play that I’ve created before but didn’t really go anywhere since the campaign died was a Psi-knight Fighter by the name of Xander, the first word he heard upon waking up. He woke up in a cave absent of all memory with only a sword, shield and armour to his name. When asked about his history, he would pull from stories he’s read in books. The eventual reveal would be that he is the manifestation of a beholder’s dream, and his desire to adventure was the pull to find and reunite with the beholder that…”birthed” him

[@tylerwhorff7143]

My characters are often skilled people like blacksmiths or leatherworkers but of course they had reasons to adventure! Great guide to give my players too!

[@Dhyfis]

Blacksmith is pretty easy to explain as long as it's a campaign with downtime and a home base. I'm adventuring to get access to all of those cool metals out there so I can make my party cool stuff. But overall, I agree with every point. My first guess is George R.R Martin, but there could be others.

[@scottwalker6947]

You can have a PC with any background, and they can find an excuse to go adventuring. However, if you have a Smith, or a Farmer who says they want to farm, or do smithy things then you have one of two situations on your hand. 1) You have a a disruptor, who just wants to stir the pot. 2) You have a player who is not connecting with the game world you have created. Ether way, discussion is called for. No amount of backstory is going to fix this situation.

[@kimmiewise1044]

Honestly, this is my first character and I'm going into a campaign with a Smithy background but he's a smithy turned Artificer. His backstory is that his literal last name is Smith. He comes from a long line of smiths who smithed, specifically smithing basic beginner gear. You know those dinky daggers and swords you started with that you probably immediately replaced with better loot the second anything with better stats/buffs came along? Yeah that was HIS work you tossed. While his other family members were happy just providing the basics because it made a decent living getting a few coins for basic gear, my character wanted something more. He didn't want his work sold in the next town over or collecting dust after being discarded. He wanted to make legendary weapons, end game weapons, to make weapons so powerful that only he could make and maintain them! So at the ripe age of 13 he left home to become an apprentice to a Master of master Blacksmiths, the best in the world in fact. After being accepted for his dedication and grit despite not being familiar with weapons enchantments or magical tinkering, he worked a long 6 years with the Master Smith, picking up all he could to fully realize his ambitions. But it still wasn't enough, he could repair a high quality Sword and could recognize weapon enchantments with us eyes closed now but he still wasn't nearly as close to making the rarest weapon in the world even after 6 years of work (and remember this is still technically an 18 year old kid. Of course he wouldn't be wise enough to realize it takes A LOT more than a measley 6 years to make God like weapons). So he snooped around his Masters personal belongings and found a forbidden forging technique. When his master discovered what he had learned he forewarned his apprentice to NEVER try such a feat or he was facing the wrath of the heavens and cosmos. Of course our Smith was too arrogant and egotistical to listen to his master and tried the technique anyways. He imbued the weapon with the entirety of his very soul and required magical means to return to his human corporal form. Of course his master found out what he had done and Banished him from the forage. His family also could no longer support him after hearing how he betrayed his master which they spent so much money and resources for him to learn from. While he COULD go to another, smaller unrelated forge to survive, his youthful ambition won't let him feel satisfied even after his catastrophic failure. So he goes adventuring, hoping to rectify his mistake and prove himself a success in spite of his failures. He is also a happy go lucky kinda guy despite his competitive streak and helps the party whenever possible, especially helping them maintain their weapons properly with regular inspections and maintenance, saving some coin here or there on repairs and paying half price just for our boy to use to forge for any smithing that needs to be done. He also keeps his smithing skills on the up and up via the Artificer Tinkering ability. And that's how he starts as a Lvl 1 Artificer probably sub classing into a Battlesmith.

[@Atlas3060]

A blacksmith adventurer is totally doable. You struck out into the world with this motley crew of thrill seekers because you needed test subjects--I mean willing participants to see if your weapons and armor work well. If it does, well then you've got one heck of an advertising billboard, the party survival. If the armor didn't work, offer a discount on the next forging. lol

[@PointManify]

Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind and New Spring by Robert Jordan are both classic examples of the series-interrupting novella.

[@Sniper0Spike]

Having the benefit of starting the WoT after it was completed New Spring is awesome.. but I would be annoyed if I had been waiting for the next installment. Brandon Sanderson could be guilty of this but he is writing multiple books all at once so typically the main installment won't suffer.

[@shurikenkat]

I thought of New Spring too!

[@slb797]

Debt of Bones was my guess as well

[@4luv2cuppycake0]

As a brand new DM this is great advice. It makes me glad to know I am already on the right track. This is stuff I already have planned for!

[@taluca8474]

here's another tip, reasons for adventuring doesn't have to be something so grand and mystical. It can be something simple as your character wants to cook delicious meals and wants to travel the world to find new ingredients via monster slaying. Or something like you're an acolyte/paladin who simply is on a pilgrimage to do stuff for your God like helping out people. Or something like my kenku monk, born blind and sufficed the art of seeing via tremor sense. Soon at a young adult age she left the monastery to seek out a cure for her blindness. It doesn't have to be anything too crazy, just something simple and nice. However, doesn't mean you can go all out, give your character a grand motive like seeking revenge and all. But like our guy above said, don't go overboard

[@mythmurzin]

the 2 best backstories i had was 1) mage that grew up in a magic "stronghold" so they were highly respected, but were sent out to get experience with the real world as a 10 year requirement before they could complete their final trainings. they were so used to being respected by everyone, when they got out "in the real world" it was culture shock to find out most did not like them because magic users could make the "impossible" happen at whim. 2) a ranger that grew up very far away from civilization in a large forest part of a community that lived with balance of nature/animals without being tree huggers. they received a vision from the loci of the forest that imbued them with knowledge of a nature god and to go out an learn the ways of the world with a charge to help any injured animals in need. not monsters, but animals. led to some fun circumstances

[@dabluflcn]

After reading all of that I would put it down. Take a deep breath. Then state “bro, you’re level 1. Chillaxe.”

[@Brett276]

I will argue that a character who doesn't play well with others can be excellent *if* the players goal is to have them learn they are wrong for it. I once had a guy play a human fighter who despised working with others, but after he got utterly wrecked by bandits that surrounded him, and captured, and we ran a rescue mission, he started to "come around" the players goal had always been to learn to work with others as a part of the story

[@rabid_badger5295]

I made a character that was wholesome the son of a cleric and a barb who wants to be an adventurer like his parents who’s been told of their adventures and wants to be like them and the idea run by me for the campaign is that he was never told the full stories. Haven’t used it yet, essentially made a nobody.

[@benebediktas]

I had an idea that I didn't have a chance to use but I wanted to play an amnesiac paladin that was pretty much a blank slate with the only memory being that he must uphold his oath. Was going to ask the DM to allow me to slowly regain pieces of my memory every level up + every time the DM decided that it would be an interesting time to give my character some memories back. The interesting part was going to be the characters actual backstory where they would be irredeemably evil and would make for some interesting RP possibilities where the my character would have to wrestle with who they are now and the memories of who they were before.

[@trueblueflare]

Throughout the video I kept thinking back to my current character's backstory and how much I've been loving my current character. One thing that I'm hoping my DM will incorporate into the game is the fact that my character is a runaway from a noble family who in the past have hired mercenaries to attempt to capture her alive and bring her back to her family. At the current point in the campaign, the leader of a thieves guild is cutting off her family's communications with mercenary groups to protect my character. I'm genuinely excited to fight the occasional mercenary band once that protection wears off.

[@krelekari]

Personally, I've always been a fan of the hyper tragedy backstories because the characters can start off on a self improvement/self betterment arc.

[@xenokiller88_cm_79]

Same, I don't know why everyone seems to have a hate boner for dark backstories

[@77wolfblade]

@@xenokiller88_cm_79You don't really need a dark backstory to have self-improvement. But when it's done with care a dark backstory can work very well .

[@xenokiller88_cm_79]

@@77wolfblade you don't need it, you're right. But I just don't understand why everyone hates them so much, as if it's the worst thing in the world of tabletop. If someone finds it cool then cool, why say it's a bad thing unless they are specifically causing a bunch of problems? Not everyone has to be a normal person who just decided to start adventuring one day on a whim. To be honest those ones are pretty lame. I want to play a fantasy character like in my favorite media, not Tony Tuesday who is searching for an honest living by killing goblins

[@77wolfblade]

@@xenokiller88_cm_79I think it's because some people got bad experience in tabletop with people who put way too much background on a character I think it's good to have a tragic background but there's some people as a dm who just put way too much information and there's nothing left to develop. Then there's also people who play loner characters who use the tragic backstory trope, Which adds more to the stereotype. For example, you could have a tragic back story but don't have to be super long. For example I once role-played as a battle master fighter who was once a war veteran sadly the war he fought was lost and he was prisoned for nine years until he got out of Prison he found out his family was killed and the only family he had left was his nephew and niece that are gone somewhere so he used the party to learn where they are and gain money on the side and regained the skills he lost since it was rusty from Prison. For any kind of background, always leave room for the dungeon master to work with.

[@Ronesby]

I have a human fighter/bard hybrid that is a homeless dude with a brass crown who thinks hes king of the world and everyone is his subject. In reality he was a prince who wandered off as a child and was never found by his people, instead being taken in by this small group of of dwarves and giants who share a mountain. He spent his time before wandering off reading tales of knights and dragons, so makes his living performing tales of his exploits while protecting his subjects in combat with the interceptor fighting style. He adventures to spread word of his return to his subjects

[@sokandueler9578]

6:59 an exception, I think, is regaining power. I’m playing a Warforged Rogue (our DM is allowing customized racial options) who is a multiverse-trotting mercenary. This, of course, afforded him more experience than would be allowed at lvl 1, so I had him be ambushed on the way to Waterdeep (where the campaign begins). His “leveling up” is him committing self repair.

[@CourtneyIsGoblin]

I've never played a TTRPG (side effect of being a recluse) This video likely popped up on my feed because I play RPG video games and write fiction. There are a few elements that overlap with writing. For example, it is important for characters to have a reason to be in the plot and to interact with other characters. No story can come from a character who just broods in the corner unless the plot is one that forces them out of that corner. Another overlapping point is to avoid overpowered or perfect characters. This has never been a problem for me because I'm on the other end of the spectrum and tend to build overly flawed characters. In any case, it was an amusing and interesting video. I gained a bit of insight into what playing a TTRPG would be like.

[@torinmccabe]

Your character's backstory and traits are not just yours they are also both your GM's and your fellow player's. D&D is a team game so you want to make sure that what you're doing is helping your friends have fun as well. You can be the tragic emo anime main character if another character wants to be the sunshine to your gloomy-ness so that the combination of you both makes it fun for the GM and the other players

[@almitrahopkins1873]

That’s the player hook. If your PCs start out the game as complete strangers, it ruins the game before it begins. Look at the Dragonlance novels. The characters are old friends, coming back together at a reunion in the beginning of the story. They all know each other and are old friends before the adventure begins. Character backstories should be interlinked. I’ve played the uncle of another player’s dwarf because he loved my backstory before. I’ve played the fighter/thief assistant to that same player’s necromancer before. I’ve played a half-ogre siege engineer to another player’s retired noble knight. If the players write their backstories together, it makes for better backstories all around the table.

[@denimator05]

@@almitrahopkins1873 I disagree. I've ran 3 games, and in only one of them has there been any connection between PC's before the game starts. It still works fine every time, you just need a hook to get them all into the same place at the same time, and the players will do the rest because they want to actually play D&D together.

[@davidmorgan6896]

​@@almitrahopkins1873I don't think it ruins the game, but it is a missed opportunity. The GM can help. I've said, 'you will all be called upon by the king. Build characters that are consistent with this.' That gives significant freedom, but a necromantic serial killer is not going to fit in.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

@@denimator05 Three whole games? That was just Saturdays for me in 93-94, when I had three games scheduled for one day because I had games going seven days out of the week. I mean, your dearth of experience dwarfs mine by a longshot. I've only been playing since 1984 and DMing since 1987.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

@@davidmorgan6896 That's not entirely true. Fantasy literature is full of the evil characters being coerced into service. The Dirty Dozen and Suicide Squad come to mind right off hand. There's your opening for your necromantic serial killer. I've played the character who was just too useful to execute in the past. It's an interesting character backstory when done right.

[@JuarezCall]

I made a little cowboy, his name is Teery, he named himself, all he remembers is waking up in a crawlspace with a good grasp on the english language and surrounded by alot of tarantulas Teery enjoys eating tarantulas Teery’s name is an acronym It is pronounced “Terry”

[@pugking4518]

When making my backstory I always start with what setting we are in so my character feels like he belongs in that world in my Kingmaker 2e campaign I am playing as a Jadwiga Winter Witch from Irrisen who got sick and tired of the constant backstabbing so he left his homeland to become a adventurer he is now the ruler of the new kingdom my group has built

[@drongodyle3156]

I'd add another suggestion about secrets: Have stuff that hints at them BEFORE the full reveal. For example in the western themed game I'm playing, everyone knows my character has a mild dislike for guns, because her late father was a pacifist, and believed guns should only be used by hunters and sheriffs. Despite this she herself uses a magic lever action rifle of her own design, which she claims technically fits within those ideals because "a bounty hunter is basically halfway between a hunter and a sheriff". Sounds like a decent enough justification, except that she's indirectly implied to have built that rifle WAY earlier than she became a bounty hunter. It leaves others subtly questioning why she originally built it, which is a bigger reveal later.

[@Crow-7655]

i had a thrii-kreen (named glack-knack) with the pirate background, his backstory was he was a moderatley known space pirate due to going out of his was to hunt mind flayers, however one raid his crew got ambushed and he was the only surviver, his crew was taken [later in the campaign we had to fight my crew turned into mind flayers it was sad)

[@DigitalxGamer]

See, I personally don't think the farmer or blacksmith who doesn't want to leave isn't a bad part of the backstory. As a DM, I don't see that as "Oh, they don't want to adventure" but rather "Oh, I see a unique session 1 idea where their place of business is destroyed and something of extreme value was taken, forcing them to leave. Now I don't have to have them starting in a tavern. And there could even be an ongoing mystery as to WHY that place was attacked."

[@davidmorgan6896]

I had a player play a farmer once. It suited the background perfectly. As time went on he grew more confident; especially in his fighting abilities due to some very lucky dice. Then he met someone who could actually fight and...RIP. We were using Runequest 3 and combat is very lethal. You can weave any character into the story.

[@hasseo195]

What background could a farmer even have in dnd? Soldier, Sage, and so on didnt fit than. The only thing i would think of, would be guild artisan. But even that didnt feel right. It feels like, that the game is missing a background for a normal commoner

[@DigitalxGamer]

@@hasseo195 There are rules in place that allow you to make your own by mixing and matching stuff~

[@Elohist2009]

You’re the difference between a good DM and a great DM 👍🏾

[@davidmorgan6896]

@@hasseo195 Your problem is using a class-based system.

[@Doodle1776]

I rarely use backstories myself in my games beyond the most surface level. As I tell my players the back story should be for you to explain how your character acts and thinks. That the real story begins when we start and the past is past. The most I end up adding are elements like a PCs religion or allowing the player to act out parts of who they were prior. Then the game starts the story, not what was fabricated beforehand. That goes for the GM too as I start a game with no clue where it will lead. No preplanned plots, storylines, BBEG, just an open world that develops and changes as we play. This is why backstories are, mostly, worthless to me. As I stated, I only encourage players to do it to create their characters' overall personalities for them to play it. Telling the players to try to keep their backstories to one or two paragraphs, at most. A perfect backstory, as far as I am concerned, was my Paladin PC. It was summed up in two paragraphs that he was raised in a family of coppers, joined the military, found himself in combat where he was one of the lone survivors, escaped the dungeon they were fighting in while fleeing the monsters with the remaining soldiers to come upon the rising sun, which stopped the monsters from coming out. He from then on devoted himself to Lanthander and joined his temple once his military service ended, now seeks to spread the light of Lathander. Simple, easy, gives motivation, done.

[@davidmorgan6896]

I agree, don't start the campaign with predetermined plots, but you have to start with situations. Who is head of what? Who hates them? What do they want? These situations drive the stories. I agree too, that players shouldn't read out their backstories, but use them to aid in character development. But those backstories must be consistent with the world and so the GM gets sight and can suggest improvements or enhancements.

[@Mixxium]

My first character had a little bit of this, but I think the idea was pretty cool. My character was a half elf who fought in the dawn war and ended up being trapped into the astral plane ever since then. My character was effectively an astral elf, but with none of those benefits. And (now this was before bg3 came out) I effectively had the same source of safety as the gith, with a permanent spell effect keeping me alive. If I ever walked into an anti magic aura though things would've been very bad.

[@SilenceInd]

I made a former soldier on the run from the empire he used to serve, my DM loved it because it gave him a lot of room to use, especially as I also had sheets for his old war buddies. The reason why he was at a low level was because he had been in hiding for so long he had gotten thoroughly rusty in his skills.

[@SaintedPIacebo]

my first group i Dm'd for were a blessing in this regard. every backstory just ticked all the boxes of what this video talks about being good things. An origin, level 1 appropriate, good reason for traveling, things they would naturally want to overcome on a slow backstory heros journey, it made DMing smooth and effortless in that respect.

[@plumdowner1941]

My character is a famous hero who has saved not only the world, but the entire universe, countless times, but he also recently escaped from a mental institution. I'm sure those two things aren't related at all.

[@roumonada]

0:35 Caution: Incoming Edge Lord.

[@paladin4000]

Still waiting for Winds of Winter

[@Calebgoblin]

Waiting for it to come out so I can look at a bunch of memes about it and not read it

[@u.v.s.5583]

GRRM rolled Nat 1 for initiative to write Wow.

[@akamikeym]

Rolled 20s until AFFC since then all 1s. Also why get annoyed at GRRM for writing novellas? At least he wrote something. He's barely done that in decades.

[@t3kscarecrow474]

The author and series was Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, and the novella was The Fork, The Witch, And The Wyrm

[@k2k4]

I'm running an eberron seafairing campaign right now which has incorporated so much of my players backstories. The only issue I'm having is that some players either barely had a backstory while others wrote 36 pages (that i admittedly skimmed). Then one guy even switched his character mid game and wrote more of a long character description than a backstory so i have nothing to go on. I usually do a 6 question backstory that gives the DM and I plenty to work with. 1. Where were you born? (A small hamlet, a big city, a shack in the woods, the astral plane) 2. Who were your parents? (Names, professions, wealth) 3. Are they alive and are there other important people from your past? (Siblings, friends, mentors, employers) 4. Why did you leave to become an adventurer? (A conflict, an argument, a murder, you just felt wanderlust) 5. What did you leave behind? (Possessions, friends, lovers, real estate) 6. What do you want? (Ranging from gold to domination of the universe to just some peace and quiet)

[@KingJahamesIII]

1:32 @theDMLair was it RA Salvator?

[@silvereaglestudios]

1:11 George R.R. Martin

[@kMegalonyx]

@@silvereaglestudios yeah… everyone knows? Thats the joke?

[@MrMackMike]

Here's the entirety of my typical backstory: "I grew up on a farm dreaming of seeing the wider world, so I became an adventurer."

[@AJSSPACEPLACE]

My current character is a goblin artificer, and I purposefully made her backstory to fit into many DND settings. As a small child, her family were the type of goblins who robbed people in the forest. One day they were killed by a party of adventurers, then she was adopted by a human artificer. he taught her some basics, and how to tinker. She adventures because she makes her living by traveling. She goes from town to town, fixing stuff. So its not illogical that she’d travel in a group for safety. especially if that group keeps “lucking” into treasure. thats about it. And my current DM found it very easy to weave this scenario into his world. I honestly think it can work in almost any setting. As long as there are artificers, goblins and the implication that adventuring parties are normal thing.