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Ninjadeadbeard
2014-10-04, 03:31 AM
So I am playing in a Pathfinder game, and it's come time to retire my Half-Orc Monk. He's been...unfun. Very unfun. And his backstory has gotten to the point where the DM and I almost completely ignore it altogether.

So I need a new character concept! But I am drawing a blank. Absolutely nothing is happening in my head right now, right when I need something good. I'm really just looking for cool twists, or odd turns on old cliches. Let me be clear: I am NOT looking for mechanics (or else this'd be in the D20 section). I am looking for pure roleplay fun stuff. Does anyone have a cool character concept you've thought of, but haven't seen played out? Or a clever use of an old trope?

Seto
2014-10-04, 04:14 AM
Hmm... Depends of the tone of your campaign. I'm gonna assume classic, so obvious trope parodies are out.

First of all (and this is coming from me, who thinks the background is of paramount importance), I advise you not to think of an interesting background first, but of an interesting character. You're not going to play a backstory, but a character. A personality that fascinates you. A character that you think is so cool it'd be really awesome to play them. It can even be a rip-off (I'm talking strictly personality, not appearance or context) of one, or even several, characters from books/shows you like. The character I had the most fun playing, ever, was a mix between Greg House and Kriss de Valnor from Thorgal (she was NOT fun to be around, but she gained suprising depth over time and was very interesting to play).
So, find a character you'd like to play. What do they look like ? What can they do ? How would they react to situation A or B ? What traits make them stand apart ? What are their setbacks ? Once you've done that, background (and incidentally mechanics) will naturally come to justify your character concept and explain just how they got here and became the person they are now. A good tip is, in case you're going to write your background, make it the second section. In the first (shorter) section, give a presentation of the character as it appears to everyone that meets them, and them expand on the more hidden aspects of their personality.

So background is there to back up a character concept, not build it. With that in mind, here're a few ways to find nice character concepts.
- Take a trope and reverse it, or change a fundamental aspect of it. I use that one a lot. Dwarves are greedy ? Make a Dwarf, loyal, stubborn and everything, but he hates gold. (If that wasn't so mechanically terrible, I'd gladly play a Dwarven VoP Monk). Typically in this case, the background twist will be that the character somehow realized gold corrupted minds (perhaps he killed a friend over money and is atoning, perhaps his wife left him because she thought he spent their money too liberally), and is undergoing an extreme reaction to free himself from greed.
- Take a trope you like and humanize it, give it flesh. Make it more than a trope, make it singular (reality always is). The Paladin's a good example for that one. Paladins are boring and often badly-played and sooooo cliché (knight on a white horse please ?), but how heartwarming it is when one really gets to know an honest, kind but strong, well-played Paladin. I'd advise giving him something special on top of the trope, though, to really make the character yours.
- Change. I can't stress this enough. Do not think your character is a statue, however well-designed. Do not be afraid to seize in-game opportunities that will make your character cross lines or go back on them ; give them epiphanies ; when something bad happens, take it as an opportunity to roleplay. Now that's got nothing to do with background, right ? Well it does if your character begins play in the middle of a change. For example, my current character is a Half-Elf who, basically, was more Elf than Elves, and is currently undergoing a phase of rejection of that identity, and searching for her human self. I plan on making her attain some balance ; but we'll see where the story takes that idea. In other words, having your character, although awesome, be flexible, and setting their story not only in the past (background) but firmly in the future (further point of the story - you can even arrange with the DM to have an event happen) is a great way to keep yourself interested in playing them.

That was often more abstract than concrete, I apologize for that. A general guide to character interest maybe wasn't what you wanted. But in case it's useful, I felt like throwing that out here. More precisely, my answer to you is that I can't give you background twists without knowing what character concept appeals most to you, because that's what's supposed to come first (in most cases anyway).

EDIT : I let myself be fooled by the title. You wanted a character concept, which ultimately is up to you and will be better if you choose it than if we give it to you. But then my second part might be useful to you.

Ettina
2014-10-04, 06:36 AM
If you're not too sick of half-orcs, I've been thinking it would be funny to play a really dumb, strong half-orc wizard (say Int 10, Str 18). He was raised by a human wizard, and his dream has always been to be just like his adopted dad. Too bad his stats don't match up with his dreams.

Jay R
2014-10-04, 09:37 AM
You're looking for character ideas but not mechanic ideas? Then go get re-inspired by favorite fictional characters and ignore their mechanics.

Go re-read two of your favorite books, and re-watch two of your favorite movies. What part of the story was most fun?

If the coolest thing in The Three Musketeers was D'Artagnan accidentally getting in duels with all three, and then helping defend them against the Cardinal's Guard, then build a slightly clueless honor-based character with no French or rapier mechanics.

If the coolest part of The Hobbit was Bilbo talking back to the dragon, build a physically weak, high charisma character who is neither a halfling nor a rogue.

If the coolest part of the Discworld books is Carrot's origin, then build a character raised by a different race, who has the outlook of that race but the physical attributes of his own, but it doesn't have to be a human raised by dwarves.

After watching Aladdin, I built a building-climbing street rat (in Paris with a rapier).

Right after reading all the Tarzan books, I built a tree-living, human avoiding animal lover (who was a 2e elven thief/wizard).

Go look for inspiration where inspiration is stored - in stories.

Amphetryon
2014-10-04, 11:46 AM
a Mutagen Alchemist working off the 'Jekyll & Hyde' trope might be interesting, provided you avoid (or invert) the obvious Bruce Banner bits.

TheThan
2014-10-04, 05:32 PM
Here’s a few to chew on.

You’re searching for the man you need to exact revenge upon. The twist? He’s your father!

Your family member/significant other has been kidnapped and you’re out to rescue her. The twist? She chose to go with the bad guy and has become evil!

You’re a runaway prince/princess and wish to live your life free of the restraints of the court, the twist? You’re not really a prince/princess! Maybe you’re a look alike; maybe you’re just lying out your ass.

You’re a druid/ranger that lives deep in the forest; everyone is afraid of you and thinks you hate civilization. The twist, you’re the only thing keeping civilization safe from the monsters in the wild!

Roxxy
2014-10-04, 05:59 PM
Here's one I came up with a while ago:


The concept is that of a princess who grew up with the utmost wealth, beauty, and privilege, and, as the only child of an aging King, knew full well she would be Queen one day. It very much went to her head, and she grew up to become what is best described as an entitled b*%$~. As a pupil she proved quite good at (fighting/magic) and excelled at academic subjects, which only intensified her arrogance. Now in her late teens, she is quite literally a royal pain in the ass, looking down on those beneath her station, greatly exaggerating every small accomplishment she made and every minor slight against her, blowing through money at a surprising rate, sleeping with the worst the guard has to offer solely because it upsets her father, and totally ignoring any duties to her subjects. As the King lay on his deathbed from old age, he decided his daughter should not be Queen, for her behavior is not anywhere close to befitting one. So she was stripped of her status as heir, the throne passing to an uncle. Needless to say, she was pissed, considering her uncle an evil usurper, and tried to take the throne in a really poorly thought out coup attempt that didn't come close to success. Out of respect for her father and the child he once saw promise in, her uncle spared her life, but she is now banished from the realm, the Royal Guard having taken her blindfolded to a town several hundred miles from the border with some basic supplies and a meager amount of gold.

Should be able to work for any rank of nobility, and equally well for men or women.

ElenionAncalima
2014-10-06, 10:39 AM
I work with the DM for ideas about backstories that will connect to the campaign.

Even a rich and intersting backstory won't be fun if it never becomes relevant in game. Whereas a simple backstory can be a lot of fun if it has room to grow with the story.

Segev
2014-10-06, 11:29 AM
An elf in his now-mid-60s who was adopted a decade or so ago by a human couple after some tragedy orphaned him far from elven lands. He is still on the cusp of adolescence due to elves' slow physical maturation rate, but the friends and adopted siblings with whom he identified as peers when he was adopted drove him to mentally strive to keep up as they matured. Now, he's mentally a full-grown adventurer with only a few emotional throwbacks to his apparent age, but is just as capable as anybody else of his level in most circumstances and acts with a maturity more akin to a 20-something human.


A drow assassin who loathes women because he doesn't accept the matriarchal assertions of his culture, and whose additional perverse Lawful Evil nature is illustrated in part by his refusal to kill anybody without being paid for that death in particular. Uses nonlethal weapons when nobody is willing to pay him, and charges a minimum fee for even each "incidental" death on any particular job.


An ex-merfolk human who is on the run from the sea witch with whom he made a bargain that is yet to be kept while he strives to perform quests noble enough to win the hand of the princess with whom he fell in love and is his motive for said bargain.


A still-merfolk spellcaster who uses flight magic to navigate the world of land-dwellers.


A wandering adventuerer who claims - while pretending to be reluctant to reveal it and pretending to pretend to be a peasant - to be a prince of a distant kingdom. He's actually the peasant he pretends to pretend to be who decided adventuring was more fun and glamorous than being a stableboy or farmhand.


An apprentice kennelmaster who keeps getting roped into adventures, often with his loyal "family" of dogs at his side.


An old man who has retired from whatever peasant or merchant life he had now that all his kids are grown and his wife has passed away. He's taken up adventuring either out of necessity (having no other income, being dragged into it by events) or out of hope for something meaningful to do with his life (maybe a wish for a glorious death over a long drawn-out sunset, or maybe genuinely thinking that now is his chance to get out into the world and try this life out).


An ordained priest (but not a divine spellcaster) who has never had his faith rewarded with any signs of approval from his god, and is out desperate to find favor in his god's sight or discover why he cannot. Meanwhile, his faith is still strong enough that he preaches the word of his god to those whom he feels it might help.


A druid who is convinced that sentient races are as much a part of nature as anything else, and thus their activities are no less natural than a beaver's dam. He therefore seeks to cultivate man (and elf, dwarf, etc) as most druids to animals, and finds gardens to be as pleasing as the wilds. Cities are, to him, wondrous natural creations. Despite this seeming oddly friendly view of what most consider "unnatural" human works, he is almost more condescending than normal, viewing sentient races as his preferred animal stock to cultivate, herd, and nurture as a gardener or shepherd does his plants and flock.

Dapifer
2014-10-08, 07:42 PM
I work with the DM for ideas about backstories that will connect to the campaign.

Even a rich and intersting backstory won't be fun if it never becomes relevant in game. Whereas a simple backstory can be a lot of fun if it has room to grow with the story.

I greatly second this sentiment.

Even if you are playing a published adventure or campaign setting, working with your DM the details is most likely to produce a more rich experience, in my humble opinion.

Honest Tiefling
2014-10-08, 10:30 PM
Or, skip the DM and approach the players. An old friend or rival of theirs, or something else connected to their own PCs.