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Brock Samson
2010-01-28, 08:10 PM
The General and the Specific:

The General - I was curious as to what people think is needed to make a good backstory? What necessary ingredients do you find tend to work well? How do you not get pigeonholed into feeling like a one-dimensional character? Etc...

Specifically - I'm about to start my first ever Star Wars campaign. It looks like some kind of 4th Ed nonsense (sorry), and the setting we're in is at a time where the Jedi have already been nearly all killed/disbanded. I'm a force user though through natural talent (Soldier 1/Jedi 1), and need myself a backstory. So, any help here would be appreciated. I tend to use the Force more and rely on combat little less (I'm thinking at least) and so think ample use of Mind Trick and Fold Space (basically a short range teleport) could be lots of fun. So I was thinking those, especially Mind Trick, could be helpful in incorporating into my character's personality. Perhaps he's a happy-go-lucky guy without a care in the world - out seeking personal fame or fortune or just adventure and thrills? Perhaps he's devoutly religious. On an adventure to discover something? Find missing relatives/friends?

Ideas please!

Xenogears
2010-01-28, 08:17 PM
I like to start with a basic personality and then just wing a backstory during gameplay. Someone says something in game and I respond in whatever comes to mind and it slowly builds into a more complete backstory and personality.

randomhero00
2010-01-28, 08:23 PM
Easiest way is to base it off a personality from a famous fictional character, like batman, then modify as needed.

Kaun
2010-01-28, 08:36 PM
Easiest way is to base it off a personality from a famous fictional character, like batman, then modify as needed.

for example.

Parents died,

Went all emo,

Went to prison,

Went to ninja school,

Blew up ninja school,

Pined after Katie Holms.

Now we convert it to SWG.

Parents died,

Went all emo,

Went to prison,

Went to jedi school,

Blew up jedi school,

Pined after Katie Holms.

DONE!!! and packed full of awesomeness to boot!!

randomhero00
2010-01-28, 08:41 PM
Better yet, create it after your user name, BROCK F**KING SAMPSON that's who!

valadil
2010-01-28, 11:16 PM
I usually take a couple traits I want to play and combine them. Usually the traits will come from characters I've seen on TV. I won't rip off a character wholesale, but I'll pick and choose one aspect of each character buffet style.

Then it's just a matter of explaining all those personality traits into a single person. What comes out is often unique even if the sources aren't.

I find I get a lot more out of dialogue and story than biographical history. This means I'm prone to writing several pages of backstory. Other posters here tell me this is nothing more than wankery. But my GMs like it so I continue to do it.

I can post examples if anyone's interested.

drengnikrafe
2010-01-28, 11:43 PM
I use the "Ten Minute Backstory", because I'm still a weak backstory writer. Then, I disregard most of that if I get into a mood, and I just write page after page of valuable information about my character.

If I don't, I usually end up writing a backstory like...
Well, for this 6 int, 18 str character with 4 ranks in climb... He didn't study in his youth because he was too busy working out. He worked out by climbing a cliff by his house over and over.

DabblerWizard
2010-01-28, 11:49 PM
Here's a nice link to help flush out your character concept:

http://www.miniworld.com/adnd/100ThingsAboutUrPCBackGround.html

Voice of Reason
2010-01-29, 12:33 AM
I usually take a couple traits I want to play and combine them. Usually the traits will come from characters I've seen on TV. I won't rip off a character wholesale, but I'll pick and choose one aspect of each character buffet style.

Then it's just a matter of explaining all those personality traits into a single person. What comes out is often unique even if the sources aren't.

I find I get a lot more out of dialogue and story than biographical history. This means I'm prone to writing several pages of backstory. Other posters here tell me this is nothing more than wankery. But my GMs like it so I continue to do it.

I can post examples if anyone's interested.

I concur. It is usually easier to figure out what you want a character to be like, and then try to roleplay that character for a little while. Eventually, you'll figure out exactly how they would react to a given situation, and they begin to take on a life of their own, rather than starting with "Ok, so I'm NG, therefore I need to find a way to accept this set of beliefs..."

Of course, this leads to the infamous backstories with page after page of first-person dialog (I average about 3-5 pages when doing first-person backstories. My max is 13, and that took forever; it was fun though).

So, for your purposes, I would recomend just figuring out where your character came from, where their basic moral compass is, and what kind of personality are they going to have (stoic, humorous, strong, self-depreciating, etc.) and just run with it for a session or two. You've got enough to jump-start dialog for a while, and it should help you get a much better idea of where your character is coming from.

Dimers
2010-01-29, 03:14 AM
A GM will rarely understand a complex, detailed backstory exactly the same way you understood it when you wrote it. A GM has to balance main plot, NPC motivations, and the other PCs' stories in determining what gets spotlight time. So a GM is unlikely to make satisfying use of backstory. I've had some good GMs, Zeus bless 'em, and they really do try ... but it's a struggle. So I recommend against spending much time thinking it over. Take a half-hour or an hour. Other posters' suggestions (the Ten-Minute guide; developing details during play) gibe with my experience of what works well in actual games -- have a general idea, and become comfortable with letting a lot of it ride.

TheOOB
2010-01-29, 03:44 AM
I personally like to keep it simple. Why do you adventure, what motivates your character, where did you learn your skills, and what is one or two events in your past the GM can use as a plot hook.

Longer back stories actually work better if the game has been running a little while, a) because then people will care about the character enough to pay attention to the story, and b) because you'll know more about how you role play the character.

In my games I typically explain my character in broad strokes, keeping it down to a paragraph or two. On occasion I might wright maybe a page about a particular event, but I rarely bring it up until it is relevant.

For example, in the Exalted game I am playing I described my character, a Daen Caste Solar Exalt named Glorious Kai the Celestial Dragon, basically like this.

Glorious Kai was the best warrior in his small village, and perhaps the best mortal swordsman in the entire north. One day his village was attacked by an Outcaste Terrestial Exalt seeking to destroy the shrine to the Unconquered Sun the village worshiped at. Glorious Kai challenged the Exalt, but despite his superior swordsmanship he was no match for the power of a essence user, his near lifeless body catapulted deep into the shrine where he found the Orichalcum armor and sword hidden inside. Contact with the celestial artifacts awakened the essence in the warrior, granting him the power of the Unconquered Sun, which he used to easily defeat the Dragon-Blooded Warrior

So that's it, that's the basics, I established that he was a strong warrior even before he became an exalt, how he got his artifacts, and even hinted at his brave yet impulsive nature(anyone who knows the setting knows that a mortal attacking an exalt solo is suicide, no matter how much a better fighter you are). I also added another event to create a possibility for a villain to match my character.

Glorious Kai traveled all through the north before he winded up with his Circle, fighting mosters, saving towns, heroic stuff, always accompanied by his best friend, and perhaps the only warrior more skilled than he, Blade of the North Wind. Glorious Kai was on top of the world, until everything came crashing down as the Wyld Hunt descended upon him, consisting of no less than a dozen skilled Terrestial Exalts. Despite his earthshattering might, Glorious Kai was no match, and a luck strike on the essence wings of his armor catapulted him out of the fight, leaving his partner to fight and die alone. Glorious Kai would have died himself had a myserious benefactor saved him, treating his wounds, and repairing his armor, asking only for a favor at a future date in return. Glorious Kai learned of the limits of his own power that day, and while he mourned for the loss of his dead ally, the Deathlords began to train their new undead recruit, hell bent on obtaining revenge against the friend who abandoned him to die.

And in there I dropped two plot points, a death knight who wants my character dead, and a mysterious friend whom I owe a favor two(the identity left ambiguous so the GM can adapt it to his liking).

And that's pretty much all I said about the character to start. The rest everyone just figured out. I didn't need to talk about how reckless and over the top he is, the figured that out when I ran straight twords an essence cannon, parrying the beam rather then running like a sane person. They learned about my characters sense of honor when I refused help in a duel, even though I would die(my party didn't listen to me). I only told people more when my nemesis came up, and by then I had already learned a lot about my own character.

So anyways, if you take anything from my (sizable) rant and shameless character plug, it's start with broad strokes. You can always add more detail later, but it's hard to adapt a character once you've written a 20 page biography.

Rhiannon87
2010-01-29, 10:27 AM
This is pretty much always my starting point for characters. I work until I've got this filled out, and by the time I'm done, I usually have a lot more ideas to dump into the "additional notes" section, things on family and history and such.


Name:
Age:
Sex:
Height/Weight:
Hair/eye color:
Appearance:

Birthplace:
Occupation:
Education:
Home Life:
Religion:
Race:
Community Status:
Hobbies:

Morals:
Ambition:
Disappointments:
Achievements:
Temperament:
Attitude towards life:
Attitude towards people:
Abilities:
Qualities:
Flaws:

Additional Notes:



From there, they tend to grow and morph and evolve as I play them, and I make alterations as necessary.

Prime32
2010-01-29, 11:27 AM
One of the most detailed backstories I've created (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6880.0) was the result of combining a number of idea I'd had over time, some flavourful and some mechanical (from "what would happen if a warforged was created from livewood which contained a dryad" to "cloaker mounts are hax").

valadil
2010-01-29, 11:36 AM
A GM will rarely understand a complex, detailed backstory exactly the same way you understood it when you wrote it. A GM has to balance main plot, NPC motivations, and the other PCs' stories in determining what gets spotlight time. So a GM is unlikely to make satisfying use of backstory. I've had some good GMs, Zeus bless 'em, and they really do try ... but it's a struggle. So I recommend against spending much time thinking it over. Take a half-hour or an hour. Other posters' suggestions (the Ten-Minute guide; developing details during play) gibe with my experience of what works well in actual games -- have a general idea, and become comfortable with letting a lot of it ride.

I very strongly disagree with that. Well, I agree that a GM who misinterprets my character is a problem. My worst experiences in gaming have all come from a disparity between the character I'm playing and the one the GM is running a game for.

Anyway, the more I write the more will sink in. All my best characters have been the ones with 10+ pages of backstory. After that much reading, the GM has to have come conception of who I'm playing. And if your character is interesting enough, you'll get the GM hooked on that character too.

That said, I guess I'm lucky for having GMs that encourage that sort of backstory. I've met some who just skim what I send them, and I've given up on giving them more than a paragraph about my characters.

Brock Samson
2010-01-29, 12:56 PM
Once again, all of you guys rock! I used to previous link and ended up with a very full 4 pages of notes and realized I know exactly who I want my character to be, what his history, present, and possible future is. Identified his friends, family, and lover. Awesome. Thank you!