D&D General Oh Please give me some Happy Backgrounds!!

[Misanthrope Prime]

Unless you think every single soldier in existence comes from a tragic home situation, I don't think that tragic backstory is really much needed for an adventurer.

If they didn't come from a tragic background they'd be officers, not soldiers.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

i don't know anything about kender except them being an excuse to be a compulsive kleptomaniac with an inbuilt justification to bat their eyes innocently when asked to explain themselves.

I’m pretty sure that was the description of Kender in the books. That’s all I was saying. Just agreeing with you that wanderlust is a reasonable reason for an adventurer to go on an adventure.

okay i'm sure that's great but thats not what i meant, i meant a people who value the resulting story more than the treasure aquired or any good the deeds themselves achieved, the 'adventurers' go off specifically so that when they return everyone can hang off their words with excitement and tension, like Bilbo storytelling to the kids at his birthday near the start of fellowship.

The second part of my comment wasn’t directly a response to your comment (which is why I put the 3 asterisk between my response to you and to my comment. ) I don’t disagree with the points you made.

I was simply adding my input to the discussion, which was that lots of hard working, happy people with families see injustices in the world and make a point of going out to help strangers. Just look at the flotilla that was trying to bring supplies to Gaza. That seemed like a potentially dangerous excursion for no gain except to help people.

Helping people is often the foundation of an adventure.

 

[TravDoc42]

Some of my favourite PCs I've played have been motivated by wanderlust and academic curiosity. I love the idea of a character who wants to learn more about the magical world they live in, as it's a desire that I have myself! I am curious to a fault, so I make characters like that!

I also make characters who are socially awkward and tend not to fit in exactly at first, a trend that has nothing to do with my autism, I swear.

 

[AlViking]

My characters have had pretty even split between tragic backgrounds and normal if not exactly idyllic lives. The latter tend to be driven by either wanderlust and adventure or a desire to help others. Perhaps they feel a calling or, while they had a good childhood, just don't see where they fit in. If you're the 4th son of a farmer and everybody is doing well there's not really enough land to divvy up for each child. In some cases one of the parents was from a previous campaign and the character grew up hearing tales of glorious battles and deeds so they want to follow in the parent's footsteps.

As far as a character being an orphan, that just gives me the opportunity to introduce family members that have been searching for them. I always tell people that no one grows up in a vacuum, everyone has someone from their past that was important to them. A friend, someone who was kind to them during troubled times or raised them, something. If they don't provide details I feel free to add them later on. I don't usually pick on family members, but that sister you thought died so you could be an orphan with no connections? Sounds like a good choice for an ambiguously evil NPC.

 

[TravDoc42]

I always tell people that no one grows up in a vacuum, everyone has someone from their past that was important to them.

This is an excellent piece of advice! "No person is an island" is a saying for a good reason, and this mindset allows for creative development of bonds, in a meaningful way!!

(This is my way of thanking you for the advice I'm about to steal! )

 

[Piperken]

In the last campaign I got to play in, 3 of the other players all had these horrific backstories. Abuse, substance abuse, torture. You name it. Then you had my halfling monk - Jammy Sixtoes. Loving family. Really nice home. Even after the family was inevitably killed, the master that took me in was still more or less kind and generous. Everyone else? Left to the wolves, scarred, tortured, broken. It was freaking hillarious.

I'm actually thinking that I'm just playing against the grain because I keep making happy characters. Or at least characters that don't have tragic backstories. My Paladin Dragonborn in Hoard of the Dragonqueen had a loving family near Beregost. Still does. My Thayan Druid of Fire in Decent into Avernus had a fairly happy childhood in Baldur's Gate. Two parents, couple of siblings, aunts, uncles. Honestly, it would be so refreshing to see a player come to the table with a character that wasn't another broken shell with dead family and a horrific childhood.

Merely curious but in this campaign, did the table runner do anything with the fact the majority of players had something dark in their PC's past?

Separately, if I were at this table, I'd be heartened to see a character who was stable and well-balanced!

 

[Mannahnin]

That’s what John McLane said. Sometimes adventure finds you.

While that is true, there still generally needs to be some buy in on the part of the PC. Bilbo agreed to be a burglar. McLane was a cop who felt obligated to stop the bad guys. Had McClane been a student on a trip around Europe, he'd have stayed hidden in the bathroom or came out and surrendered.

I don't think you need to have a horribly tragic background to be an adventurer, but you do need buy in, and typically some sort of something in your background to explain why you'd risk your life. Being a cop, or retired ex-special forces who just wants to be a cook or something.

McClane goes to great lengths in the movie NOT to be the one to take on the bad guys. To get the local cops on it and to duck and hide until he's basically forced to take them on himself.

Matt Colville used it (in a video on engaging players with plot) as a prominent example of a protagonist trying NOT to go on the adventure, and the adventure chasing him up a tree.

 

[Mannahnin]

This is an excellent piece of advice! "No person is an island" is a saying for a good reason, and this mindset allows for creative development of bonds, in a meaningful way!!

(This is my way of thanking you for the advice I'm about to steal! )

Heck yeah. I am reminded of a Reddit post from some years ago about giving your DM ways to threaten and personalize a plot or game to your characters.

 

[TravDoc42]

Heck yeah. I am reminded of a Reddit post from some years ago about giving your DM ways to threaten and personalize a plot or game to your characters.

I love that idea!! Also stealing that

Thank you!!

 

[payn]

I'll take the edgy backgrounds over the few male gamers i've had who always showed up to sessions zero like this. "My new PC is also a promiscuous supermodel lesbian like my last PC"