Character Backgrounds

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

A Mixed Bag

I've always wanted to use an adapted Hackmaster system. The player creates creates the character's stats and then either rolls for or chooses certain basic elements of the character's background: social class, relatives, handedness, handicaps, level of honor, and initial wealth.

Nothing else just chooses from the list.

After the player and character have survived a session or two and gotten use to each other, then the player goes back and puts in the details.

This way the player can try out how he or she likes to play the character and then go back and describe why the character actually acts that way.

But the player does start with enough material to play with.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

I start the campaign with a 30 point buy, but I give out points based on how good the writeups are. Most players are 32 point build, ive had one or two 33 points.

I give them a few weeks after playing to write it up. You usually don't get a real 'feel' for a character till you played it a few times. Points handed out are based on meaty background I can use, not length or skill at english.

 

[Cedric]

Depends on the campaign, for me.

A while back I ran a gritty, low-magic, farmer's children drafted into a distant war campaign. I had the players put together their family trees (four generations), brief family history, and a few notable ancestors... all set against a fairly detailed background of about 16 villages surrounding a 700-citizen "town". Then I had them describe their characters: basic motivations, major childhood scars, and 3 Windows of Opportunity (basically, three "unusual" or "unique" things about each character, such as being in a particularly rich or poor family, having an exotic appearance, being literate, etc.). Then I set about ripping them from their home and marching to war against an enemy they'd barely even heard legends of.

More recently, I'm running a super hero game where naught more than appearance and "publicly known powers" is defined at the beginning of the game - each of the characters has a slightly mysterious past, which they will reveal (or create) as the campaign goes on.

I think there's room for both (and all in between), depending on what you want to evoke with your campaign.

Very nice...I like it a lot. Hope you don't mind me stealing parts of that first one with the gritty, low-magic, farmer's world...

Cedric

 

[seasong]

Very nice...I like it a lot. Hope you don't mind me stealing parts of that first one with the gritty, low-magic, farmer's world...

Not at all! Heck, I'm pleased!

This old web page of mine for AO Character Creation has more details, if you just want a setting-specific example. It lacks a few things that I never got around to (mainly "promised" marriages and owned heirlooms), but is otherwise complete.