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5 years ago ::
May 25, 2008 - 12:21PM
#11
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Date Joined:
Mar 20, 2004
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have you ever made up a long background for your character and then never gotten to use it?
like big significant events that were in your history never coming in to play or family secrets that dont get used.
i want to make big backgrounds and i like doing it. but it feels like a wast of effort and time when none of it comes into play.
it might just be the campaigns that i get put in. they are short and often full of powergamers that just want to do the most damage and only use one character (for the most part) so the background is always the same.
what do you think about this? and how long are your character backgrounds? how in-depth do you go?
Yes, which is why I often dont go into huge detail when making characters. Often a brief history, motivation, and personality are all I need before I gear up and start crawling. If you like big backgrounds, I recommend writing them and either archiving them for later use, or posting them for other people to see and perhaps use themselves.
Something to keep in mind is that not all adventures are long-term. Some are short, one-shots, or die off for various reasons. It is because of this that I prefer to ask the DM ahead of time just how much detail is needed. If the game is driven by outside events as opposed to our characters' own histories, then I tend to not go into initial detail. If the DM wants a lot of ideas to built the campaign around us, then I'll go into more.
In general, I build my characters like I build my campaigns: I create whats needed and add more as the need arises. It keeps things manageable and flexible, plus I dont feel like I'm getting shorted if the DM doesnt use my extensive character history. You can always expand and further develop the character later.
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5 years ago ::
May 25, 2008 - 12:29PM
#12
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have you ever made up a long background for your character and then never gotten to use it?
like big significant events that were in your history never coming in to play or family secrets that dont get used.
i want to make big backgrounds and i like doing it. but it feels like a wast of effort and time when none of it comes into play.
it might just be the campaigns that i get put in. they are short and often full of powergamers that just want to do the most damage and only use one character (for the most part) so the background is always the same.
what do you think about this? and how long are your character backgrounds? how in-depth do you go?
Well I would recommend either not writing as big of backgrounds, or finding a more role playing oriented DM/Group... Sometimes play styles aren't compatible..
--Trevorfrost
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5 years ago ::
May 25, 2008 - 1:54PM
#13
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So it's one part suiting a character to the campaign, and one part suiting the campaign to the character.
Great point.
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5 years ago ::
May 26, 2008 - 6:39AM
#14
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I don't understand the use of long and detailed character backgrounds at all in roleplaying. It sounds like a sure way of never actually getting to do the cool stuff while playing and just sitting at home imagining about it.
If you got cool ideas about cool stuff. Play it instead, and if new stuff that you are interested in and resonates with you character comes up in play, use your now functional and non detailed background as an excuse to get your hands dirty.
'Ahh, you mean 'the red mage', he was responsible for the death of my brother in the battle of ...yada yada'
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5 years ago ::
May 26, 2008 - 6:49AM
#15
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Date Joined:
Sep 24, 2007
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There's nothing like the look on a dm's face when you jump up in the middle of their introduction of some pivotal npc and yell 'there's the bastard that killed my parents'. Try it sometime.  I have never done big backgrounds in D&D (though I have in some point-buy systems (fantasy hero, for example)), because I enjoy improvisation on the fly and generally don't play the type of characters that have epic destinies. I would imagine the main thing to do to solve your problem would be to set down with the dm and set up your characters background with them. As long as both of you are willing to be somewhat flexible and work together there's no reason that your character's background couldn't become a fun part of the campaign.
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5 years ago ::
May 26, 2008 - 6:56AM
#16
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As long as both of you are willing to be somewhat flexible and work together there's no reason that your character's background couldn't become a fun part of the campaign.
WHAT IS THIS?! Blasphemy! Are you saying that the people who are playing together should work as a team to create fun? This concept is totally alien to me.
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5 years ago ::
May 26, 2008 - 7:20AM
#17
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Date Joined:
Apr 13, 2008
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I not only love it when I get a good background from a player, I actively reward it. I never give a length requirement, but at least a couple of paragraphs is all but required for my games. At the very least, I want "Where are you from, where did you learn what you've got now, and what are you doing here" from my players. As a GM, I love having hooks to play with. There's nothing like the big reveal with the NPC who's been working behind the scenes and causing the party all sorts of havoc is shown to be the guy who taught one of the PCs everything he knew. :evillaugh
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5 years ago ::
May 26, 2008 - 12:29PM
#18
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Date Joined:
Dec 13, 2003
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Try this: if you want to write a backstory that a DM can use, write it in an outline format like this: The Ten Minute Background. This will give the DM enough information about your character to work with without inundating him with walls of text, and will allow him to pick over and easily use those elements he wants, as well as telling him what you would like from the game for your character.
What I find most frustrating about 4E is that I can see it includes the D&D game I've always wanted to play, but the game is so lathered in tatical combat rules that I have thus far been unable to coax the game I want out.
When the Cat's a Stray, the Mice will Pray
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5 years ago ::
May 30, 2008 - 1:54AM
#19
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Date Joined:
Aug 19, 2007
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I think the minimum amount of background required for a well-role-played character is just enough of their history to explain...
1. Where in the campaign world are they from, generally?
2. How/Why did they choose their classes and feats?
3. What's their basic motivation for adventuring?
and maybe
4. Do they have any particular goals in the campaign?
Some of my favorite characters have started out as stat blocks with vague ideas about their personality, and I've worked out who they used to be from who they are at the present time.
My current favorite 3.5 character is a spiked chain-swinging rogue with a couple swashbuckler and fighter levels to represent the fact that he likes to fight a bit more than is probably psychologically healthy.
I can tell you what he'd say and think in any situation, but his backstory is only about two paragraphs long.
I decided I needed to justify his wide range of skills and his use of an odd weapon, so I gave him a backstory of having grown up as the son of a successful caravan guard company owner.
As the prodigiously intelligent child of a neglectful parent, he was mainly raised on the road by tutors and the caravan guards his father employed. He's not from anywhere in particular, and never got attached to people or things.
It explains his CN alignment, his self-sufficiency and his personality quirks, as well as giving him a justification for having learned the use of an exotic weapon from one of the guards who was originally from someplace far away.
Even though I can turn out novels about most of my characters, I really don't think most characters need, or are worth, that level of background detail.
For the most part, unless the character has led some dramatic soap-opera-worthy life prior to taking up adventuring, their life can generally be summed up by a basic highlight reel - not every character is going to be the long-lost third son of the prince of a lost kingdom who was betrayed by his eternal love who also happens to be his sister....:D
Spoiler:
Show
I am the Magic Man.
(Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.)
I am the Lawnmower Man.
(I AM GOD HERE!)
I am the Skull God.
(Koo Koo Ka Choo)
There are reasons they call me Mad...
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5 years ago ::
May 30, 2008 - 9:03AM
#20
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Date Joined:
Mar 13, 2007
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There's nothing like the look on a dm's face when you jump up in the middle of their introduction of some pivotal npc and yell 'there's the bastard that killed my parents'. Try it sometime.
What's even better is when you are doing this in a system that gives points to players for roleplaying their flaws, that lets them implement their background. "That's the bastard that killed my parents" flip a point to the ground "It was right after mercenary training, before he betrayed me" flip a point to the ground "back when I admired the guy, and watched him training the new recruits in combat, where I learned his every move" flip a point to the ground. At which point you proceed to beat the crap out of the guy, since you get the equivalent of combat advantage for the whole fight. Although three points down for a single person hurts.
Whats more fun is something like this, for a sci-fi game, when encountering a military alien docking bay. "Hey I recognize those alien control panels. They actually stole the ones I developed in flight school, that we should be using but aren't due to politics. I can fly these things" two points to the ground.
You could actually add this to D&D if you wanted.
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