Need help making a backstory without any context

[Jarmen4u]

I have a character I'm making for a friend's game, but his world is really strange in that it's not really explained well where the characters come from. Essentially the story for the original party was their spacecraft (the DM loves spelljammer and old D&D so there's lots of that in his games) crashlanded on this alien world, but beyond that, any new characters just get "found" by the party with little explanation. I really like the character I've made for this game and I want to give him a story, but I'm finding it difficult given the circumstances. Any ideas?

[Venger]

do you want to... tell us anything about your character?

[Swaoeaeieu]

in that case you might want to stick with a vague-ish backstory that explains his manerisms and build.
what kind of build/character did you make?

[Bronk]

I have a character I'm making for a friend's game, but his world is really strange in that it's not really explained well where the characters come from. Essentially the story for the original party was their spacecraft (the DM loves spelljammer and old D&D so there's lots of that in his games) crashlanded on this alien world, but beyond that, any new characters just get "found" by the party with little explanation. I really like the character I've made for this game and I want to give him a story, but I'm finding it difficult given the circumstances. Any ideas?

You could give him pretty much any story you want, then just end it with 'And then you also crash landed onto the planet.'

For example, you were a member of a royal family who got abducted and tossed into a pirate ship. You were in the process of being rescued when the pirate ship lifted out of the water and started flying away! However, a stray flaming arrow from a well meaning archer killed the navigator and set some of the sails on fire... The navigator's apprentice tried to fill in, but their math was tragically off, the ship ended up around the wrong planet, the sails failed, causing an accident on board... and you crash landed onto the planet. You were the only survivor. (Or you fought your way out, and then there were no survivors, or maybe they're still looking for you for revenge.)

Or, all that could have happened years ago, and you've been living as a hermit in a cave all this time.

Or you were pulled into an astral rift when a teammate foolishly put a bag of holding into a portable hole.

Or your party suffered a spell mishap when a rogue tried to teleport you using a scroll.

[denthor]

Base the story around the skill chart. How long have you been here? Have minor contacts if you have been there for months . Friends enemies

[nintendoh]

Creepy blank. Reference chthulu. Profit

[Sheogoroth]

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/more-character-options/pfbggen/
For the lazy.

[Jarmen4u]

do you want to... tell us anything about your character?

Yeah, sorry about that. He's a human male Warblade, which by virtue are gloryhounds who essentially worship combat itself. He's in his 30's, so well into his prime, but seasoned in combat as well. I'm trying to flesh him out more, but again, I don't have much to work with as far as the setting itself, other than Arduin-esque 'extremely potent magic in the world causes **** to happen' such as all wild animals are way bigger than normal. Also, all the people who crash-landed were humans, but over time the magic changed them into the 'standard' fantasy races like dwarves and elves, but without the racial stigmas (since they don't have the race's culture).

[Venger]

Yeah, sorry about that. He's a human male Warblade, which by virtue are gloryhounds who essentially worship combat itself. He's in his 30's, so well into his prime, but seasoned in combat as well. I'm trying to flesh him out more, but again, I don't have much to work with as far as the setting itself, other than Arduin-esque 'extremely potent magic in the world causes **** to happen' such as all wild animals are way bigger than normal. Also, all the people who crash-landed were humans, but over time the magic changed them into the 'standard' fantasy races like dwarves and elves, but without the racial stigmas (since they don't have the race's culture).

Okay. Not to be combative, but just as a writing exercise for you, ask yourself the following questions:

What makes my guy different from any other warblade? If someone knows warblades are gloryhounds and hawks, what does my guy have true about him that adds to that? It doesn't have to contradict the one-word personality you have in mind for all warblades, but it can if you want to.

You might go for a kind of john carter of mars thing and be a two fisted pulp hero on another world. show off your martial prowess and make a name for yourself. warblades fit pretty well in that aesthetic with their larger than life traits.

[Jarmen4u]

Okay. Not to be combative, but just as a writing exercise for you, ask yourself the following questions:

What makes my guy different from any other warblade? If someone knows warblades are gloryhounds and hawks, what does my guy have true about him that adds to that? It doesn't have to contradict the one-word personality you have in mind for all warblades, but it can if you want to.

You might go for a kind of john carter of mars thing and be a two fisted pulp hero on another world. show off your martial prowess and make a name for yourself. warblades fit pretty well in that aesthetic with their larger than life traits.

Well my unique rolled trait from the DM is that I'm a barfighter, which gives me bonuses to hit and damage (like +2 or +3 I think) with any improvised weapons I can find in a tavern (which kind of gives me a nice quirk to my story).

Due to how we rolled stats, my character has very high Str/Dex (dex slightly higher) and Int, with 12 Cha, 10 Con and 9 Wis. I was going to try to use this to shape how I play his personality, but I don't really know how, based on these stats. I've always found it difficult roleplaying high Int low Wis, and his charisma isn't quite high enough to play the Playboy type (unless playing it poorly would follow his low Cha).

Also: I'm not sure what the meaning of 'hawk' is in your comment, I've never seen it used in that context. What does it mean?

[Venger]

Well my unique rolled trait from the DM is that I'm a barfighter, which gives me bonuses to hit and damage (like +2 or +3 I think) with any improvised weapons I can find in a tavern (which kind of gives me a nice quirk to my story).

Due to how we rolled stats, my character has very high Str/Dex (dex slightly higher) and Int, with 12 Cha, 10 Con and 9 Wis. I was going to try to use this to shape how I play his personality, but I don't really know how, based on these stats. I've always found it difficult roleplaying high Int low Wis, and his charisma isn't quite high enough to play the Playboy type (unless playing it poorly would follow his low Cha).

Also: I'm not sure what the meaning of 'hawk' is in your comment, I've never seen it used in that context. What does it mean?

You asked for help with your backstory, so I am talking about your character's background, not his mechanical powers. What about your guy's personality makes him different or interesting?

Those stats are horrifying. Did your gm make you roll all your stats in order or something? put a low-positive at least in con and the rest you can live with if he doesn't let you point buy like a normal person.

your abilities do not dictate how you are allowed to roleplay. just rp the character you want to do .

"hawk" means someone who is pro-war.

[Jarmen4u]

You asked for help with your backstory, so I am talking about your character's background, not his mechanical powers. What about your guy's personality makes him different or interesting?

Those stats are horrifying. Did your gm make you roll all your stats in order or something? put a low-positive at least in con and the rest you can live with if he doesn't let you point buy like a normal person.

your abilities do not dictate how you are allowed to roleplay. just rp the character you want to do .

"hawk" means someone who is pro-war.

Yes, I rolled stats in order, with a d20. It's a ****ty way of rolling, but it's an option that grants you extra rewards (like better starting equipment, extra level, feat, etc).

And I know that you weren't asking about the mechanical powers, but I figured that it could in some way shape the way he plays. I was initially inspired to make this character from this art (https://i.imgur.com/sMvL9iY.jpg) that I saw online. I've honestly never been that good at building personalities from scratch, so I was going to base him as a sort of tough guy who was a bit of a bully as a kid, but started reading a lot because he'd be chastised for being simple. He communicates best through combat, and as such, he's not the best at holding normal conversation, though this can be seen as a crude stoicism from the outside.

I'm sure there's more I can come up with to fill him out more, it's just really difficult for me. I'm good at stealing from other existing things, but it's challenging to invent something out of thin air.

[Venger]

Yes, I rolled stats in order, with a d20. It's a ****ty way of rolling, but it's an option that grants you extra rewards (like better starting equipment, extra level, feat, etc).

wut. that's a terrible way of determining your stats. do you not have the option to point buy? how does rolling stats give you all that other stuff? are you rolling on a chart or something?


And I know that you weren't asking about the mechanical powers, but I figured that it could in some way shape the way he plays. I was initially inspired to make this character from this art (https://i.imgur.com/sMvL9iY.jpg) that I saw online. I've honestly never been that good at building personalities from scratch, so I was going to base him as a sort of tough guy who was a bit of a bully as a kid, but started reading a lot because he'd be chastised for being simple. He communicates best through combat, and as such, he's not the best at holding normal conversation, though this can be seen as a crude stoicism from the outside.

I'm sure there's more I can come up with to fill him out more, it's just really difficult for me. I'm good at stealing from other existing things, but it's challenging to invent something out of thin air.

That sounds great. Honestly, for an rpg character, that sounds like enough to go on. Think of an rpg character like a tv character. You might establish a handful of characteristics before you start, but through play you will learn new things about your guy with your friends as you do adventures.

There isn't anything wrong with using characters from shows or comics or whatever you enjoy as influences. Once you do that and play a few sessions, you'll have something original soon enough.

[Jarmen4u]

wut. that's a terrible way of determining your stats. do you not have the option to point buy? how does rolling stats give you all that other stuff? are you rolling on a chart or something?
The normal way to roll is just 4d6d1, no point buy. The idea behind the optional "epic rolling" (what he calls it) is that you're taking a risk by rolling like that, with a much higher chance of a very low score (I've seen someone get, in order, 4 9 7 13 20 3), so you get a bonus during chargen, usually including an extra level, feat, and/or custom magic item of the DMs creation (they're usually pretty nice and original since he's a really old old school DM, supposedly knew gygax before D&D got big etc).




That sounds great. Honestly, for an rpg character, that sounds like enough to go on. Think of an rpg character like a tv character. You might establish a handful of characteristics before you start, but through play you will learn new things about your guy with your friends as you do adventures.

There isn't anything wrong with using characters from shows or comics or whatever you enjoy as influences. Once you do that and play a few sessions, you'll have something original soon enough.

I guess I just feel like it's not enough for me, like I have a hard time staying in character sometimes but when I have a solid background it's easier to stay immersed. This is the background of my favorite character, Seigmeyer. It's kind of a mess bc I'm typing this on my phone at a bar, so apologies for any run-ons or poor formatting.

Seigmeyer was a Radiant Servant of Pelor who was part of the Primary Temple of the setting, and he wouldn't heal you unless you tithed to his church by giving him gold (not a lot though). Secretly, Seig was sending most of the money he earned back home to take care of his father, whose tailoring business collapsed after the death of his wife caused him to spiral into a crippling depression. Outwardly, Seig was a Prince Charming appearance, long flowing blond hair, etc.

When I played this guy, I was almost always roleplaying perfectly, and I never felt like I had to try too hard to think of what his wants and desires were.

[Kobold Esq]

The normal way to roll is just 4d6d1, no point buy. The idea behind the optional "epic rolling" (what he calls it) is that you're taking a risk by rolling like that, with a much higher chance of a very low score (I've seen someone get, in order, 4 9 7 13 20 3), so you get a bonus during chargen, usually including an extra level, feat, and/or custom magic item of the DMs creation (they're usually pretty nice and original since he's a really old old school DM, supposedly knew gygax before D&D got big etc).


This is kind of interesting to me, though I think I'd only do it as a "secondary" campaign for novelty factor, just to see how it worked out. I imagine you'd get a lot of unbalanced builds (in the sense of characters that are amazing at one or two things, but **** elsewhere)

[Jarmen4u]

This is kind of interesting to me, though I think I'd only do it as a "secondary" campaign for novelty factor, just to see how it worked out. I imagine you'd get a lot of unbalanced builds (in the sense of characters that are amazing at one or two things, but **** elsewhere)

It's a fairly high lethality game that he runs, so it's a nice change from the standard character builds. From what I understand, he's been running this world for over 10 years with different players and a couple regulars.

[bahamut920]

I see a character kind of like Adell from Disgaea 2. Straightforward, kind of naive, and prefers to solve his problems with his fists, but occasionally surprises his friends by solving a complex intellectual puzzle in a matter of seconds.

[Jarmen4u]

I see a character kind of like Adell from Disgaea 2. Straightforward, kind of naive, and prefers to solve his problems with his fists, but occasionally surprises his friends by solving a complex intellectual puzzle in a matter of seconds.

Never played it, but that sounds kind of like what I was going for. Though I was going to justify his score with being well-read, since he's got decent knowledge skills. And there's also the whole Warblade thing of 'gotta prove I'm the best fighter here'