Help with Character Background

[Kuhntar]

Hi all,

Well I am new to this and I was wondering how I should go about writing my background. I think I know who my character is but how do I go about writing it? Should it be like a journal entery or should the story be told by a gaurdian like a flash back? Or just having the character start out trying to remember how he got to where he is?

 

[FireLance]

Hi Kuhntar, and welcome to ENWorld!

There are no rules for how you should write your character background. Any of the approaches you mentioned should be fine. You can even do it up as a simple paragraph similar to the "About the Author" notes you find in books.

 

[Kuhntar]

Can someone post some examples that I can look over. Or maybe some linkage?

 

[armorclass10]

Whatever is fun for you. By the way welcome to the world of DnD, I am assuming when you said you were new to this you meant the game.

 

[FireLance]

Do you have the 4e Player's Handbook? If so, at the back of each Race section, there are a few descriptions of characters of that race that would make fairly good, if simple, character backgrounds.

Here are the excerpts from a preview of the Elf section on the WotC website (scroll down to the end):

Varis is an elf ranger and a devout worshiper of Melora, the god of the wilds. When a goblin army forced his people from their woodland village, the elves took refuge in the nearest human town, walled and guarded by soldiers. Varis now leads other elves and some human townsfolk in raids against the goblins. Although he maintains a cheerful disposition, he frequently stares into the distance, listening, expecting at any moment to hear signs of approaching foes.

Lia is an elf rogue whose ancestral forest burned to the ground decades ago. Lia grew up on the wasteland's fringes in a large human city, unable to quite fit in. Her dreams called her to the forests, while her waking hours were spent in the dirtiest parts of civilization. She joined a group of adventurers after trying to cut a warlock's purse, and she fell in love with the wide world beyond the city.

Heian is an elf cleric of Sehanine, the god of the moon. The elven settlement where he was born still thrives in a forest untouched by the darkness spreading through the world, but he left home years ago, in search of new horizons and adventures. His travels lately have brought rumors to his ears that danger might be brewing in the ancient forest, and he is torn between a desire to seek his own way in the world and a sense of duty to his homeland.​

 

[Aus_Snow]

There are a few questionnaires designed for this purpose, that are lying around the internet somewhere, and that might prove useful. For instance, this one - a case of 'cull liberally', methinks. I found one with a slightly saner number of questions here, but it seems as though there are still many alternatives available.

Or there's the short short. . . really damn short story approach - say, a couple (or maybe a few) paragraphs of prose. Just start writing and see what comes out.

You could go about it a number of other ways too, of course - for example, come up with a small number of pivotal events, things that changed his or her life in a significant way, set them on a new path, whatever, then write up each of them briefly but in enough detail to give them a bit of depth.

Or write a description and character sketch of the PC from the perspective of their best friend / ex / family member of choice, etc. This one can be really interesting, but possibly rather challenging, relative to other techniques.

Or there are the many random (or partly so) 'lifepath' generation methods scattered throughout RPGs, supplements, websites and fan-made documents, wherever you look. You could generate some stuff with one or more of those, then build on it.

Really a matter of what appeals to you, in the end. Perhaps try a few methods, see what works.

 

[S'mon]

As a GM I generally appreciate PC background being short, a concise paragraph or two, especially for 1st level PCs. After all, you may not live long! A higher level PC or a campaign where the PCs are predestined to be heroes might warrant a longer piece. Some players write nice short fiction, but that should probably be ancillary to a basic paragraph of description.

 

[Nightson]

I go for a personality, past, plot hooks approach when designing characters.

Personality is a rough idea of how you plan to play the character.

Past should generally be on the shorter side, a little bit on their early to late childhood, keep the mundane stuff short it can still be there, but try and make space devoted to something roughly equivalent to how important it would be to your character.

Plot hooks are things the DM can throw out that you've agreed to recognize and pay attention to. Things like an old spurned lover, a rival from the magic school you went to, veterans from the brief war you fought in, priests from that temple you stole that thing from, anything that your DM could plop down in front of you and you'd follow.


Here's an example I'm pulling up from memory, a multiclass sorcerer/rogue named Dahlia.

Personality: Dahlia rarely speaks, doing so only when absolutely necessary, she prefers to get her point across through gestures and other nonverbal communication. She's cautious, and although she is a kind person at heart, she's mistrustful and too often believes the worst of people. If she gives her word, she does absolutely anything in her power to fulfill it.

(I'm getting tired so these parts are going to be briefer the usual for me)
Past: Got abducted by slavers when she was a teenager, killed her parents, took her and her brother. When they got to the big slave city, the stress unlocked her latent sorcerer powers and she lit the place on fire. She managed to escape (her brother was held in a different place and didn't) and fled into the streets. She grew up there, taking to thievery and learning silence. Her small talent in magic served her well enough that her life was not miserable. When she tried to track down her brother, she was told that he had died in an escape attempt. After a run in with some adventurers passing through the city, she decided that it was the life for her and set out to seek her fortune.

Plot hooks:
Brother: She was told he was dead, but she never saw a body, and those types of records and people aren't always reliable. Dahlia's brother might be alive and well, maybe he escaped in the attempt, maybe he didn't and is still a slave.
Slavery: Dahlia harbors an intense dislike for it, although recognizing it as a social problem and not one that can be solved by one person, she has no problem showing her disgust for slavers or slaveholders and will be more then happy to sabotage any slave trade or free any slaves should the opportunity present itself.
Adventuring Party: In the actual character history I had more on them, but they had a big impact on Dahlia and she'd be interested in anything having to do with them.


Anyway, that's how I do it, you just got to find the method that suits you.

 

[Kuhntar]

Thanks everyone. This is the type of info I was looking for. I just didn't know how long or short to make the background. Since its my first character I think I will be using the old orphan chliche. But if anyone is interested let me know and I will post it.

 

[Kuhntar]

Here is my background I know its nothing new but if anyone is willing to help me buff it up I would appricate it. Oh yeah its a 3.5 campaign

Name: Kuhno
Race: Human
Class: Monk
Stats: Str 12, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 18, Chr 6

The Journal of Spearos:

3/11
The red moon told of spilled blood and the smoke in the air merely confirmed the destruction of another village. I made the three day ride to what was once a peaceful farming community known as Stosberg. As I scanned the burnt buildings it was hard to dispute that the Dark Times where here. There was carnage there that would make even to strongest of men shed tears of sorrow. I am not ashamed to saw that I myself wept at the now familiar site of families burnt to death in the remnants of the town hall.
As I was making my living as it were, looking for bits of precious amongst the rubble, I found a small boy not more than six or seven summers. He is in a sorry state but what else would be expected. I know of a monastery to St. Cuthbert that is a few days ride from here where he will be taken care of and given a home.

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Anighus:

Today, Kuhno left the monastery. I have tried my best to make the child comfortable but he always knew he didn’t really belong here. The poor child was always picked by the other orphans. Not so much for his physical talents or, nearly the lack of, but because of his status as my favorite pupil. Oh no one would ever call him smart but his ability to read a situation was something handed down by St. Cuthbert himself. Why he would call Samara’s name even before she tried to through an egg at his head during meditation time. I believe Kuhno knew she picked on him because she liked him but he knew he was going to leave here and continue his path. In all my years of living and worshiping St. Cuthbert seldom have I seen a wiser person.

May the gods keep you safe, and you find your destiny.