Backstory format

[Crazyfailure13]

Random thought on my part, as a GM I like to have backstory to the characters that I'm running a game with, and have them have some depth, but that tends not to be the easiest thing to find, though this is just with some players.

Or sometimes It's like a player makes a book for his characters life,

What I want to ask is their anyone out here on the forums, that use a format or list to create character's backstory that can be applied universally, and makes them more compact or detailed?

[Grinner]

You know, I remember reading about something like this in that Dragon Magazine compendium. Let me see if I can dig it up.

Edit: Okay. That was easier than I expected. It's called the Seven Sentence NPC. I've never used it before, but it looks like a good idea.

You need to write seven short descriptions, each one sentence long.

• Occupation and History
• Physical Description
• Attributes and Skills*
• Values and Motivations
• Interactions with Others
• Useful Knowledge
• Distinguishing Feature

*Just note anything unusual, such as high traits, low traits, or special skills.

[Crazyfailure13]

That looks like it would work, Having never read the dragon mags (and fearing to do so because of various negative things I've heard about it.) I would never have found this.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

I don't use any specific format, though I've seen a pretty good looking list of questions around somewhere. It had the usual things you'd expect ("Where are you from?" "Why are you adventuring?" and a few more unique ones like "List three people who are important to you" and "What are your biggest goals?")

Usually I just take what my players give me and then ask questions to round things out. ("You say your mentor was murdered. What kind of man was he?" and so on.) I've been running my current game for over a year and I'm still coming up with questions for the players to flesh out bits of backstory that stand a better chance than I'd ever planned on of becoming important.

[Craft (Cheese)]

I like to use a quick and easy format I call 3 Fears, 3 Shames.

First, the fears. What's got this character worried, keeps 'em up at night? Pick 3. They should be immediate, concrete fears, not vague, abstract ones.

Bad example: "I'm worried bandits will come and attack my home."

Good example: "I'm worried Riggi will figure out where I'm hiding, and come to exact revenge."

The latter is good because it implies other facts about the game world: We've established the existence of Riggi, and some past event this character committed that would make Riggi want him or her dead. We don't need to think up who Riggi is or what that event was right now, we can do that as the game progresses.

Next, the shames. What does this character not like to talk about? It might be a dark secret... or it might just be an uncomfortable memory. Either way, if it comes up, they'll likely get upset. Pick 3.

Examples.

"When I was 12 I caught my Uncle attacking my little sister. I did nothing to stop him."

"That bar I tend to on 3rd street? After 2 AM they start selling... seedier services in the basement. I prefer to keep my nose out of it."

"Yes I used to worship the cult of Dagon, and if it's alright with you I'd like to put that part of my life behind me. The Order of Pelor kept me imprisoned for 2 years before determining I was safe to re-enter society: They don't need your help to hurt me even more."



Why do I frame characters in terms of Fears and Shames? Because they provide quick and easy seeds for conflict. The conflict's the juicy part. The Fear and Shame system cuts out all the other stuff and gets us to what we want. Yeah, those roses you tend to in your backyard are nice and all, but that's not what we're here for.

The best part? They fractal. Fears and Shames apply just as well for defining populations as they do individual characters. You can use 'em to quickly build a situation in a town, city, or even nation.

[Unseenmal]

My group has used the 10 Minute Background to great success. It gives a good bit of info the DM to use to create plot hooks and there are a bunch of examples.

[Deepbluediver]

I follow the general rule of "not more than half a page for every 5 levels", since most high-level characters tend to have a little history behind them.

The DM doesn't need to memorize every detail, since he's not playing the character. Instead the DM should be able to get some idea of who your character is, what his (or her) motivations are, and maybe a few potential hooks for people your character hasn't seen in a while in case the DM needs to kidnap some one from you past to be hero-bait.

The DM doesn't need a blow-by-blow description or how you earned every single experience point in your life, certainly. Please remember though, that some people enjoy writing and making long, detailed backstorys. Their character might be some one like Elmira the Bard, expert gambler, drinker, crafter, savior of Bluedragonsville, and rebel against the wicked Baron Everglot; and this is part of the game that is fun for them.


Edit: I really like Craft_(Cheese)'s post; that's a good way to start things if your really blanking on what to do for an original idea.

[Deathkeeper]

The longest backstory I've ever written was 2 1/2 pages double-spaced, and that was because my GM told me my five-sentence summary was too short, and I was feeling a bit spiteful. Admittedly, it could have easily fit on one page if I hadn't made it a first person narrative.