Six question character background?

[delericho]

A while ago, maybe August, someone posted a quick character questionnaire they give to players at the start of a campaign. It had only five or six questions as I recall, but I remember thinking that it was very good.

I use three or four background points: the anecdote, the quirk, the goal and (sometimes) the secret.

The anecdote is a single statement about the character's past. It can be pretty much anything that sets the scene. For example, "years ago, he served as a general in the Clone Wars."

The quirk is a single character trait relating to his present. For example, "he's a card player, a gambler, a scoundrel. You'd like him.

The goal is something the character wants to achieve in his future. For example, "I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father."

The secret if used is either something the character wants to learn, or something the character doesn't want other people to learn. For example, "I am your father!"

 

[Mighty Halfling]

I recently handed my DM a version of the character questionnaire.

Basically, I answered these questions:

1) How did you get from your childhood to your current status as an adventurer? (i.e. What's your background?)
2) Outside of a fight, what are you good at? (This may or may not be reflected in your skill list.)
3) What are your goals? (Short term, long term, etc.)
4) What are you passionate about? Why?
5) Who are your acquaintances and family? What's their current status? (Must have at least three.)

If you're so inclined, you are welcome to read my character bio, which I posted on my blog.

 

[arscott]

2- Family. Parents? Siblings? Extended family? Deceased members and causes.

I often see "Family" related background questions phrased like this, and I think they're all making a huge mistake. Unless you specifically want your party members unattached, you should also be asking about spouses and children. By only asking about parents and siblings, you're implying that the PCs should be single and childless, so unless that's something you're going for, then rephrase your question.


On the general topic of background questions, be specific! Don't use the same set of background questions for every campaign. Ask questions that will tie characters to the setting. Ask questions that help you and the player understand how a character might connect to the campaign theme.

Here's one I used for my dark*matter campaign:

Why did the demon-worshipping cultists choose you to sacrifice to their dark god?

That question told me something about the character (are they innocent? or do they already know too much?), and told the player something about the game world and their character's circumstances within it.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I often see "Family" related background questions phrased like this, and I think they're all making a huge mistake. Unless you specifically want your party members unattached, you should also be asking about spouses and children. By only asking about parents and siblings, you're implying that the PCs should be single and childless, so unless that's something you're going for, then rephrase your question.

In some cases, it could be because rather young, also adventurous (that is, not likely to be "tied down", at least yet! ) PCs are the norm. That's not unusual, for heroic fantasy (i.e., when starting out @ "Level 1", or some equivalent thereof).

Even quite a bit of the (potentially) associated fiction tends to go that way.