Coming up with character backgrounds

[Maraxle]

What do you guys think is the hardest part about coming up with backgrounds for your characters? Is it as simple as having the time to sit down and write it, or do you have any other problems with it?

I find that my players tend to give very little detail in their backgrounds, if any. Does anyone else have this problem in their group? Have you come up with any remedies?

 

[Wormwood]

Maybe your players just don't like writing up detailed backgrounds.

Some players love 'em, some don't. If they're happy with everything else in the campaign, then I wouldn't worry about the backgrounds.

 

[fba827]

What do you guys think is the hardest part about coming up with backgrounds for your characters? Is it as simple as having the time to sit down and write it, or do you have any other problems with it?

I find that my players tend to give very little detail in their backgrounds, if any. Does anyone else have this problem in their group? Have you come up with any remedies?

Some people simply don't like that aspect of it (that it is all "flavor" junk that happened before).

Some people simply don't know what to write -- if they do not know the game world well enough, they would be hesitant to write down a town or something

Some feel that by writing one, they tie themselves to something (be it a place or a resultant personality)


reasons can vary ...

 

[GMVictory]

Sometimes my players don't have any ideas or feel like they are being given some kind of homework assignment. I found a pretty decent background character questionnaire on the net and use it regularly.

A quick and simple 25 or so questions asking about family, friends, enemies, personal attitudes, etc. Players have no problem filling something like that out.

I just warn them that if they end up with a friendless, orphan who simply stepped out of the cosmos fully trained and equipped, than the character's origin is now mine to do with as I please...

 

[fba827]

Sometimes my players don't have any ideas or feel like they are being given some kind of homework assignment. I found a pretty decent background character questionnaire on the net and use it regularly.

A quick and simple 25 or so questions asking about family, friends, enemies, personal attitudes, etc. Players have no problem filling something like that out.
<snip>

Aye -- the questions offer guidance... this is sure to get the players critically thinking on a focused topic rather than just having them sit down.... after a while though, you'l find that some ppl don't need the questions and can better think outside the box, so to speak...

 

[GMVictory]

Yup. Usually new players use it, but after a couple/three times they start having their own ideas and don't. Which is fine for me, saves paper, ink, etc.

My experienced players will either hand me something they've written or will fill out the questionnaire anyway so I can have a reference sheet on their background.

 

[Deadguy]

I really do think that if you are going to ask the players to write up background for their characters it also behoves the DM to give them some setting background. Even in a setting like the Forgotten Realms that has been detailed extensively, you'll get a lot better input if you tell them about your places, your NPCs and your timeline. Doing that helps avoid the backgrounds that just don't quite link into the story you want to tell as DM, and perhaps lets you feed out some plot hooks in advance.

One point that I don't think has been adequately mentioned is that some players, whilst keen on having a background for their PC, find that coming up with a complete background during ceration to be too much or too dull. Instead they prefer to develop the background in play, linking into events that transpire around their characters. Handled properly, development-in-play background creation is a real joy, since it keeps the PCs connected to the campaign and story.

 

[Drawmack]

I hand my players an outline and tell them. Fill this in and you'll be okay go above and beyond this and you'll get some bonuses from it. The outline covers all the things I like to use for plot hooks, then extras that players hand it are what makes each campaign unique. My players know this and I usually get 8 - 12 page backgrounds.

 

[Agback]

G'day

Some players [tell me that they] don't so much design characters at the start as discover them through play: it may take several sessions for such a player to discover what a character is like, and it is a mistake to decide on formative events befroe you know what you want them to form.

Other players can't bring themselves to write dull background, but have learned through experience that GMs usually waste or spoil interesting background.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Kilmore]

Heh, I remember a nifty piece of work from a past decade called "Central Casting", being a book in which a person randomly rolls up his or her background.

We used the heck out of that thing.

A few years later, after the sixty-second old lady dropped dead at the character's door with a knife in her back croaking "keep it away from... them..." we decided to let it go.

But still, I'm really surprised that no one decided to come up with a third edition version of the idea.