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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8216398" data-attributes="member: 29398">I've maybe once, long ago, had a player hand me a written backstory without any input or prompting from me - and if memory serves that character was a one-hit wonder in any case: dice are cruel sometimes.&nbsp; On a few other occasions I've had characters come in with backstories established elsewhere, as they were previously played in another campaign and have jumped across.Far more often I've sat down with a player and gone through some background construction together.&nbsp; After initial roll-up we know the characters race, gender, age, spoken (and sometimes written) languages, past profession/secondary skill(s), and optionally maybe a quirk of some sort e.g. it might for some reason be down a couple of toes on one foot; and until-unless the character shows it's going to last longer than the ice cube in my drink that's all we need.At some point later, the backstory kinda gets built around those elements - or at the very least can't ignore them - and we then factor in some other randomly-generated elements e.g. number of living siblings and-or half-siblings, are parents still alive and-or together, what are each of those people doing, etc.&nbsp; The player might then factor in the character's established personality and maybe figure out events or details that made it that way.&nbsp; From here the player's pretty much free to dream up whatever she likes, within reason and within the guidelines already established as noted here.As a player I don't worry much about backstory until-unless my character lasts a while, with rare exceptions if-when something too good not to use leaps to mind right away.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8216398, member: 29398"] I've maybe once, long ago, had a player hand me a written backstory without any input or prompting from me - and if memory serves that character was a one-hit wonder in any case: dice are cruel sometimes. On a few other occasions I've had characters come in with backstories established elsewhere, as they were previously played in another campaign and have jumped across. Far more often I've sat down with a player and gone through some background construction together. After initial roll-up we know the characters race, gender, age, spoken (and sometimes written) languages, past profession/secondary skill(s), and optionally maybe a quirk of some sort e.g. it might for some reason be down a couple of toes on one foot; and until-unless the character shows it's going to last longer than the ice cube in my drink that's all we need. At some point later, the backstory kinda gets built around those elements - or at the very least can't ignore them - and we then factor in some other randomly-generated elements e.g. number of living siblings and-or half-siblings, are parents still alive and-or together, what are each of those people doing, etc. The player might then factor in the character's established personality and maybe figure out events or details that made it that way. From here the player's pretty much free to dream up whatever she likes, within reason and within the guidelines already established as noted here. As a player I don't worry much about backstory until-unless my character lasts a while, with rare exceptions if-when something too good not to use leaps to mind right away. [/QUOTE]

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