Character ideas vs group compromise

[JAL_1138]

That's why I think knowing motivations is far more important than backstory or planned character personality development. Because just like in the real world, the character develops in conjunction with in-game events. Knowing how your character generally acts and reacts is more important than past or future, except insofar as how the past effects how you act & react, and how you act & react will affect the future.

Character motivations are the key to all in character decision making. Roleplaying.

I don't even necessarily know motivations beyond a general sense of "I'll find a reason to bite the quest hook" or "This character has chronic hero syndrome."

One of my most successful characters started off as a low-grade scam artist whose motives were usually "find a good tavern to cheat at cards in, get a few good meals, sleep indoors for a while, and make a bit of coin before moving on down the line" who ended up being involved with the leadership of a revolution against a tyrant because of a chain of events that started because he happened to be one of the only four schmucks in the immediate vicinity who could use a sword worth a dang and spontaneously (and somewhat reluctantly) grew a conscience when the s#%& hit the fan.