((Note, this is continued from p 19 for further explanation))
Backgrounds
Do you remember the story of Brother James and his romantic characters?
Well, it is time to think of what you least desire to see in your game sessions.
A background is expressed as something your protagonist is good at. In fact,
she is such an expert that it would be a waste of time to challenge her with this
particular facet of life. If I were to abhor violence—well, which I do, but I like to
imagine a little bit of it in my game—I could pick Sword master as a background
instead of an aspect. William would now know that I do not want combat and
violence within the narrative of the game. Certainly, there might be a passing
mention of how I vanquished some foe at the battle of something or other, or
of how I defeated a rival in a duel. But all these happen, as the dramatists say,
off-stage. What happens on-stage is the types of things we players enjoy, what
we have written down as aspects.
Backgrounds do not have ranks. They are neither invoked nor are they compelled.
They exist merely to give us a little more information about your character
and indicate the types of things your character does in the background of
play.
It is always a good idea, as it is with aspects, to discuss these things collaboratively
even if just to make sure that there is some theme or subject left to play
on-stage.
You may write up to three backgrounds. If you cannot think of any subject
you wish to avoid in such a way, you need not take any background at all.
As per usual, James will write Romantic lover as a background
for his character. The outlaw’s amorous behavior is
well known throughout the land, but those exploits will not
be a focus of our adventures.
((The next page is a bunch of key words for things you might want to background in the game - omitted for brevity))