Druid backstory!

[Mystic_Lilly]

Hey everyone Im new to the forums as a poster but Ive lurked a bit.

I got invited to a game that's already running and the DM has asked "well show up, and have a character.". Building her (My wood elf Druid Lyvanna) was easy mechanically. Circle of the Moon Druid with a Staff of the Woodlands and a bag of holding. (Which is in line with character creation rules and magic item allowance the DM gave me.)

I did send him a copy of the sheet and he approved it (As well as a teensy bit of homebrew; discussed later) and said "Great, now where is her backstory..."

And now we find the fly in the ointment.

I did run through Xans and found the results.... a tad underwhelming. Maybe its because my character is starting at level 5; but there feels like some disconnect; and so I want to write something a bit more grand.

I was thinking some kind of big heroic thing; but Im not sure what would make a lot of sense for a Druid. I was thinking protecting her village from a natural disaster, or saving the forest from something disastrous but I cant get much further then vague ideas.

any advice?

Oh Homebrew! DM is letting me pick a handful of CR 1 or 2 creatures to advance with me as I level up. I took a peek at the rules to use to do that... and I feel super lucky he's even doing one.

Ive picked Dire Wolf, Giant Spider (my bargaining throw away if I need to), and I get to pick 2 more. I imagine one flying, one swimming makes the most sense longevity wise.

[Unoriginal]

Hey everyone Im new to the forums as a poster but Ive lurked a bit.

I got invited to a game that's already running and the DM has asked "well show up, and have a character.". Building her (My wood elf Druid Lyvanna) was easy mechanically. Circle of the Moon Druid with a Staff of the Woodlands and a bag of holding. (Which is in line with character creation rules and magic item allowance the DM gave me.)

I did send him a copy of the sheet and he approved it (As well as a teensy bit of homebrew; discussed later) and said "Great, now where is her backstory..."

And now we find the fly in the ointment.

I did run through Xans and found the results.... a tad underwhelming. Maybe its because my character is starting at level 5; but there feels like some disconnect; and so I want to write something a bit more grand.

I was thinking some kind of big heroic thing; but Im not sure what would make a lot of sense for a Druid. I was thinking protecting her village from a natural disaster, or saving the forest from something disastrous but I cant get much further then vague ideas.

any advice?

Oh Homebrew! DM is letting me pick a handful of CR 1 or 2 creatures to advance with me as I level up. I took a peek at the rules to use to do that... and I feel super lucky he's even doing one.

Ive picked Dire Wolf, Giant Spider (my bargaining throw away if I need to), and I get to pick 2 more. I imagine one flying, one swimming makes the most sense longevity wise.

Which background did you select?

[Mystic_Lilly]

Which background did you select?

Originally hermit but I decided that was a little bland so i went with outlander instead.

[Demidos]

So you want something big and heroic, but aren't high enough level to justify that?

What about a backstory where you were once that powerful, but in exchange for the power to save your village, you gave up much of your own self. Perhaps you gave up your powers (levels) or even gave away your own body and were shoved into a lowly nearby human form in exchange for a brief moment of power.

This sort of backstory provides lots of hooks -- Was it a demon you gave up your powers to? A spirit of the land? A fey trickster? A god, large or small? Can you get those powers back somehow? Is there a pact or code of conduct that you have been bound to? What happened to your possessions? Were they stolen? Can you get revenge on the spirit for tricking you, or fulfill your debt if their gift was greater than the worth of your powers?

Lots to think about!

[Mystic_Lilly]

well level 5 is about the level that characters can start fighting dragons and things Id say its early heroic.

But good ideas I will think on them.

[Catullus64]

My First Law of character backstories: If the DM has given you any information about the world of the game, let your backstory flow from that.

Think about the animals, weather, terrain features, fey and elemental spirits that were prominent in your home. (Especially the animals, moon druid.) Think about what relationships, beneficial and hostile, a community would have to those things. Make your learning of the Druidic arts a response to the spiritual needs of the community. You learned the Beast forms you did in order to learn from and communicate with the animals that were most vital/threatening to your home.


My Second Law of character backstories: Leave it in broad strokes.

The more finely detailed and elaborate your backstory, the harder it is for that backstory to resonate with and impact the actual events of the campaign. Until you actually play the game, you don't really know who your player character is (because you haven't yet seen her in action) and you don't know what her story is about (because the story hasn't started yet). Let the events of the gameplay, and your character's actions in it, inform you about backstory and prior characterization, not the other way around.

[J-H]

What's her call to action?

A) Is she leaving her home (of whatever sort) with a general motivation of "Go see the world and explore" or "Go get some experience, then come back" or "your family is in disgrace, leave if you want a good life"? This is often the generic adventurer background.
If so, what happened and, if she plans to return, how, why, and when?

B) Is she departing her home area in response to a quest, vision, message, prophecy, or threat?
If so, what was it?

What's in her will?
1-3 paragraphs of a last will & testament should help you fill in the blanks about some of her teachers, friends, allies, places, and maybe one or two people she has written out of her will because they're jerks.

What did she do before joining the party?
She's probably used her magic and skills in combat. What was it against? Wild beasts, civilized humanoids, uncivilized humanoids, extraplanar entities, monsters, or something else?

She probably has one or more scars. What caused them, and how? Does she have any fears of a specific creature as a result? Or, if she has no scars, is she perhaps a bit vain and careful in how she heals wounds as a result?

How did she get the Staff of the Woodlands? Gift, theft, or quest reward?

[Unoriginal]

To go further in the backstory, I suggest thinking of three details you find cool/fun/interesting:

-A detail about how they dress

-A detail about how they act

-A detail about what they like/dislike

And thinking about what those details evokes for you and what could be their origins.



Originally hermit but I decided that was a little bland so i went with outlander instead.

Mmmh, if your character saved a community they were part of, Folk Hero could have been appropriate, but the Outlander background makes me imagine your character was the "Wandering Hero shows up in a town that needs help" type like a ronin in a Kurosawa movie. Or maybe they were more like Conan in most of his stories set before he settled as king.


Maybe your character could have killed a renowned combatant in a duel? Or went Beowulf on a monster that was harassing a community? That could be how they acquired their Staff of the Woodlands.

An impressive solo fight could be against any being around CR 5... here's a few suggestions:

-a Xorn

-a Banderhobb

-a Catoblepas

-a Blood Hunter

-an Enchanter

-a Transmuter

-a Bone Knight

-a Gladiator

-a Master Thief

-a (lone) Kruthik Hive Lord

-a Leonin Iconoclast

-a Mezzoloth

-a Red Slaad

-a Sahuagin Wave Shaper

-a Sea Lion

-a Spawn of Kyuss

-a Tanarukk

Any of the above would IMO make for a pretty damn awesome fight, while still being possible for a lvl 4 to win solo providing favorable circumstances.

Lvl 5 is the "you're a hero on the country level" threshold, so it would make sense to have at one big feat such as this.

Would be particularly awesome if your PC took advantage of the rarely-used-or-talked-about ability of the Wood Elves to hide among any lightly-obscuring natural phenomenon, from rain to falling cherry blossoms.

[KorvinStarmast]

Ive picked Dire Wolf, Giant Spider (my bargaining throw away if I need to), and I get to pick 2 more. I imagine one flying, one swimming makes the most sense longevity wise. My suggestions.
Flying: Giant Eagle.
Swimming: Hunter Shark

As to your back story:
Note: In Tier 1, levels 1-4, the heroes take on a local problem and solve it.

Here's the local problem you solved as an Outlander Druid.

There was a coven of Green Hags (CR 5), or a green hag (CR 3), who were slowly ruining your local community via their shennanigans.

Here is some stuff from the MM about Hags ...

A hag that spends a long time in close proximity to a human settlement often depletes the community of good-hearted folk as they succumb to her evil and selfish plans. The mood of the town becomes unwelcoming, grim, moody, or outright hostile towards newcomes and travelers. Even after a hag has done her worst in such a place, she maintains leverage over her victims by holding out the prospect that someday she will undo the curses that she has lain on them. For that reason, local leaders won't allow any outsiders to act against her (which includes sabotaging adventurers who decide to confront her). Your Outlander druid had visited this village/town off and on. She began to see a change for the worse. For {You Pick the Reason Here} she decided to investigate the problem and solve it. She did (with maybe a few friends, or maybe a couple of your animal companions assisting). For her troubles, she was awarded by {local archdruid for the region maybe, or someone} that staff. She has since heard that there are other problems somewhere else ...

Good luck, and happy gaming! :smallsmile:

[Mystic_Lilly]

Hey everyone so much to think about thank you! It will likely take me a bit to sort through it all and I wanted to first say thanks!