I used to use these things but the fact is, is that most players resented having to do it and I only ever got responses from one player.
I've found that if a DM wants to have deep character PC's in his games, that he has to have two prerequisites: time and knowledge.
What I mean by knowledge is that the DM has to be thoroughly versed in the campaign world he's running, whether homebrew or company setting. Asking a player to give you an in-depth character description when you, as the DM, know jack-all about the campaign world is somewhat unfair.
Time is required to develop these characters. Lives get in the way and even with plenty of time on ones hands, it's not necessarily easy to come up with such things on call. Some people also find it more difficult than others and shouldn't be discriminated against by demanding they have something done by a certain time.
With these two factors, I believe, the best way to make good character backgrounds, personality, motivations, etc. is to COMMUNICATE with the player. Simply throwing them a sheet of questions doesn't do anything except get a sheet of answers thrown back at you which, ultimately, doesn't really help the DM very much anyway.
However if you sit down and discuss player preferences and guide them through your world, answering questions and asking them, I think most people will find that not only do you get a much richer history that is INTEGRATED into the campaign setting, but the player will be much more excited about their character since they can 'see' the character in each scenario that was created between you. It also makes the character much more 'alive' since sitting down and writing, "My character likes olives," is great and all, but in a brainstorming session between DM and player, it would be more like, "Oh! And since he grew up near the Mountains of Thyme and often played with the children of Olivia, he has a keen like for pickled olives which the mothers of the town used to put out for the kids to eat during rest times!"
I've found that if a DM wants to have deep character PC's in his games, that he has to have two prerequisites: time and knowledge.
What I mean by knowledge is that the DM has to be thoroughly versed in the campaign world he's running, whether homebrew or company setting. Asking a player to give you an in-depth character description when you, as the DM, know jack-all about the campaign world is somewhat unfair.
Time is required to develop these characters. Lives get in the way and even with plenty of time on ones hands, it's not necessarily easy to come up with such things on call. Some people also find it more difficult than others and shouldn't be discriminated against by demanding they have something done by a certain time.
With these two factors, I believe, the best way to make good character backgrounds, personality, motivations, etc. is to COMMUNICATE with the player. Simply throwing them a sheet of questions doesn't do anything except get a sheet of answers thrown back at you which, ultimately, doesn't really help the DM very much anyway.
However if you sit down and discuss player preferences and guide them through your world, answering questions and asking them, I think most people will find that not only do you get a much richer history that is INTEGRATED into the campaign setting, but the player will be much more excited about their character since they can 'see' the character in each scenario that was created between you. It also makes the character much more 'alive' since sitting down and writing, "My character likes olives," is great and all, but in a brainstorming session between DM and player, it would be more like, "Oh! And since he grew up near the Mountains of Thyme and often played with the children of Olivia, he has a keen like for pickled olives which the mothers of the town used to put out for the kids to eat during rest times!"
