(PF) Making my players roll for backstory Traits.

[Eldhusgaur]

I play with a group every sunday and have done so for a little over a year now, and one session from now it will be my turn to dm, so I figured I would spice things up a bit and homebrew a little backstory trait(future plot hook thing).
Now, I plan to have them roll a d12 and each number will have a corresponding trait.
Now, I have already created a few, but some of them just feel stale so I figured I would break my 2 year lurk here and ask for a bit of help, seeing as how you guys are a fountain of brilliance most of the time :)
This is what I got so far:

Trait 1: Haunted! An Eerie presence has haunted you for a long time, causing many a sleepless nights and startling frights.
You gain a +1 Trait bonus to Initiative and Attacks when flanking. You suffer a -2 penalty on saves vs. fear and gain no benefit from morale bonuses to saves vs. fear. When affected by a fear effect, your base speed increases by 10 feet and you gain a +1 dodge bonus to Armor Class. ( I consider this trait pretty well rounded and there is an obvious sidequest in exorcising)

Trait 2: Expirement! Kidnapped by an alchemist and expiremented upon when you were just a child. Luckily local law enforcement saved you from the expirement being completed but never caught the alchemist...
You gain twice the normal amount of hitpoints when resting and get a +4 bonus on stabilize checks. When affected by a bleed effect with a duration, increase that duration by 1 round. (I am not sure about how powerful this trait is, but I like the alchemist sidequest)


Trait 12: Goldmine! You recently aquired the deed to an abandoned goldmine, all you gotta do is clear the thing out.
(No buff stuff, just a sidequest to OWN a goldmine)


The remaining nine traits are incomplete so far, and I will most likely replace them with whatever you guys may suggest, all input and comments appreciated!
Edit:
Trait 7: Is this too much? Tireless suitors! Your character is constantly followed by suitors who would wed you! +4 to diplomacy checks on individuals of the opposite sex, -4 penalty to diplomacy checks on individuals of the same sex

[Ziegander]

They certainly are interesting, but my concern is with forcing background traits onto your players and whether or not they would be cool with that... To be clear, you're only having the players roll the dice once to acquire a single random trait, right? That's a lot better than having them randomly generate their entire backgrounds, but still, some of the traits might totally change the flavor of their character.

Imagine someone's writing out some gritty, no-nonsense tough-guy with nerves of steel. The character prides himself on grace under pressure and never flinching in the face of fear. Suddenly the player rolls a 1 on the d12 and now this tough-guy is a scaredy cat.

[Eldhusgaur]

I will give them a choice of a single reroll or no trait at all of course, I am no Tyrant (I think).

[Ziegander]

That works then.

Actually, this has made me consider a campaign in which each character's background is randomly generated. Roll for several background traits first and foremost. Then write up a background including most or all of the rolled traits. THEN choose your class and roll ability scores and begin. That could be a really fun creative exercise. :smalltongue:

[bloodtide]

Problem 1--You will get unhappy players with random traits. As will always happen with random rolls, some times people will get stuff they don't like.

Problem 2--You will get 'trait abilities' that are not useful to the character. They can't 'build' of something that is random, unless you let them role the trait first, then make the character.


Problem 3--Trait Balance. So player one gets a gold mine...wow, that does not do anything. But player 2 gets twice the normal amount of hit points when resting and get a +4 bonus on stabilize checks. Huge unbalance.

[Eldhusgaur]

Fun creative exercise indeed! You might want to look at the tieflings of golarion book, it has a d100 table for random traits your tiefling might have, such as never sleeping (but not immune to sleep), +1 to damage rolls after taking slashing damage and getting nourishment from ashes, cinders and such, might help with inspiration. :)


Edit: (Sorry about the double post, I don't post on forums often)

[Eldhusgaur]

Problem 1--You will get unhappy players with random traits. As will always happen with random rolls, some times people will get stuff they don't like. If the majority doesn't like the idea, I remove it, simple as that

Problem 2--You will get 'trait abilities' that are not useful to the character. They can't 'build' of something that is random, unless you let them role the trait first, then make the character. They still haven't rolled their characters so this should be fine


Problem 3--Trait Balance. So player one gets a gold mine...wow, that does not do anything. But player 2 gets twice the normal amount of hit points when resting and get a +4 bonus on stabilize checks. Huge unbalance.

Maybe I should change trait twelve to Trait 12: Super lucky! +1 luck bonus once per day on the first saving throw of each type? and maybe remove the stabilize check bonus?

[invinible]

I think the trait in this link: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Hermaphroditic_%283.5e_Trait%29 would be perfect for trait 5.