Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Character background stories- what are the most common tropes that appear?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7921973" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>I think you covered the biggest ones already.</p><p></p><p>Almost all fairy tales begin with family problems, so fairy tale backgrounds of missing parents or mysterious parentage are very common.</p><p></p><p>Also common in myth and fairy tales are strange and powerful mentors or teachers, and so again you see a lot of those. It's also very common (and convenient) for replacement PC mid-campaign to be protege's or minions of some important introduced NPC. If there isn't a specific mentor, then the player often wants to have been inducted into a secret society of some sort.</p><p></p><p>If you don't see a mysterious or powerful mentor, then almost invariably they have some sort of feral childhood where they did on their own.</p><p></p><p>If the circumstances of birth aren't unusual, then it's often usual to have parents or mentors murdered and so the character has a motive for revenge. More rarely, but still fairly common, some relative is still alive or in need of redemption or rescue, and so the motive is rescue or redeem the family member.</p><p></p><p>There are also quite a lot of characters who have a criminal past, and are either now released from prison or bondage or else are fleeing to keep their past from catching up to them. In some cases, when the player wants a noble but tormented character, then the character will have escaped from kidnapping or slavery.</p><p></p><p>Often the character has escaped from some sort of near death experience or disaster. If this was a widespread disaster, they are often the sole survivor.</p><p></p><p>As you mention, visitations by the deity and personal callings to serve are common for divine classes like clerics and paladins. It's been a while but I've also seen "child of prophesy" backgrounds where the player hints at some story arc they want to be involved in.</p><p></p><p>It's very common for fighter classed individuals to have some mundane profession like caravan guard, sailor, or member of the city watch just prior to beginning the adventuring career. It's also fairly common to have "third son of a minor noble that has inherited only a family sword and is out to seek their fortune" as background. Bonus points if the noble family is cursed, disgraced, exiled, or otherwise down on their luck.</p><p></p><p>One thing in the thread I haven't seen but I think is really cool is "Running away from a forced marriage." Good concept.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7921973, member: 4937"] I think you covered the biggest ones already. Almost all fairy tales begin with family problems, so fairy tale backgrounds of missing parents or mysterious parentage are very common. Also common in myth and fairy tales are strange and powerful mentors or teachers, and so again you see a lot of those. It's also very common (and convenient) for replacement PC mid-campaign to be protege's or minions of some important introduced NPC. If there isn't a specific mentor, then the player often wants to have been inducted into a secret society of some sort. If you don't see a mysterious or powerful mentor, then almost invariably they have some sort of feral childhood where they did on their own. If the circumstances of birth aren't unusual, then it's often usual to have parents or mentors murdered and so the character has a motive for revenge. More rarely, but still fairly common, some relative is still alive or in need of redemption or rescue, and so the motive is rescue or redeem the family member. There are also quite a lot of characters who have a criminal past, and are either now released from prison or bondage or else are fleeing to keep their past from catching up to them. In some cases, when the player wants a noble but tormented character, then the character will have escaped from kidnapping or slavery. Often the character has escaped from some sort of near death experience or disaster. If this was a widespread disaster, they are often the sole survivor. As you mention, visitations by the deity and personal callings to serve are common for divine classes like clerics and paladins. It's been a while but I've also seen "child of prophesy" backgrounds where the player hints at some story arc they want to be involved in. It's very common for fighter classed individuals to have some mundane profession like caravan guard, sailor, or member of the city watch just prior to beginning the adventuring career. It's also fairly common to have "third son of a minor noble that has inherited only a family sword and is out to seek their fortune" as background. Bonus points if the noble family is cursed, disgraced, exiled, or otherwise down on their luck. One thing in the thread I haven't seen but I think is really cool is "Running away from a forced marriage." Good concept. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Character background stories- what are the most common tropes that appear?
Top