D&D 5E Query for DMs: How do you get the most of characters' backstories?

[WhosAChaoticGoodBoy]

Hi folks!

As the title suggests, I'd like to pick my fellow DMs brains to see what you all do to get the most out of player backstories. Said another way, do you do anything specific when reading backstories to inspire material for the campaign?

Appreciate your insight/advice!

 

[iserith]

My philosophy is Show, Don't Tell.

I ask players to produce a backstory or statement about their character that is no longer than a Tweet (140 characters). I think that is sufficient space to succinctly get across the main points of the character from which we can all build on that during actual play as the player is inspired by the events of the campaign.

As an example, one of the players in my current campaign wrote for his wood elf monk/wizard: "As darkness corrupted his home, Amyr felt it creep into his heart as well. Now the city's vices keep him from returning to his elven roots." In the campaign we're playing, there happened to be a wood elf village. Because he left some space for me to build on his backstory, I was able to add some NPC family members that resented him leaving them behind. This worked perfectly to create an engaging social interaction challenge and flesh out the backstory.

 

[Ganymede81]

In my CoS campaign, I've done a lot to implement the PCs backstories into the game.

In the group, there's a former wizard's apprentice that narrowly avoid being a demon sacrifice, a sorceress whose dragon mentor was slain by adventurers, a cleric who's on the lam after murdering a prominent thieves' guild boss, and a fighter and former mob enforcer that lost it all in a hand of cards.

I added in all sorts of stuff to reflect their backgrounds. Strahd toyed with the fighter's penchant for gambling by offering a Deck of Many Things. Illusions of corpses at the abbey and gibbet were instead visions of lost loved ones. Arrigal knows of both the fighter and cleric from their previous criminal reputations. Lady Watcher is constantly trying to get the demon summoning tome that the wizard protects. The bone room in the castle looks like it is filled with freshly butchered dragon bones to the sorcerer. Etc.

 

[Guest 6801718]

I have a couple of questions that I ask my players. I ask them for things to help role play, like asking for personality quirks or if they have an object of sentimental value. Sometimes asking what their greatest success and greatest failure was will get them thinking.

The thing I had the most success with though is giving them a hand in creating a small piece of the game world. Every campaign starts somewhere. So I ask them who their friends and family are in the town/city/village where the games starts. Then I ask if they have relatives or friends in other parts of the world. It gets them thinking about their personal history while getting them more involved in the game world. They will care about the world more if their character is a bigger part of it. I don't buy into the whole adventurers are orphans with no living relatives. They are people in the world who have connections and a history. So when you ask them about their family and friends, it gets them thinking more about the character's life.

The simple answer of how to get more out of a character history is simply to ask for more. See what they give you and ask them questions about it. Ask for more details on interesting things from their background. Then you can sprinkle in stuff from their backgrounds as they adventure. I try to get this stuff ahead of the actual start of the game, so I can place all their NPCs and stories in the campaign ahead of time. That way it feels more natural. Though you don't always have that option with some groups.

 

[ccs]

I just ask them to tell me about thier characters.
Where they're from,
Why they're adventuring,
And any other details that strike me given the backgrounds/skills/classes/races they pick.

Like I've said before, you don't have to wrote War & Peace, but you have to give me something beyond name & mechanics....

After that I simply listen to what they say throughout play.

 

[Carbonfiber07]

Said another way, do you do anything specific when reading backstories to inspire material for the campaign?

Yes. I do everything I can as a DM to work in certain aspects of a character's backstory, even if it involves changing a few things from what I had previously planned. YMMV, but I have found that it engages the player a bit more, especially when it comes out perhaps piece by piece over the course of several sessions (and not necessarily consecutive sessions).

By way of example, for my latest game, a player made a wood elf monk. His backstory involved a harsh treatment via the monastery where he lived/trained because he was captured as a youth trying to steal from it. The capture involved some consequential damage to the order itself, but instead of killing him, or throwing him into the dungeons, the order gleaned his potential and brought him into the folds, but was not kindly to him during this period.

Now, I had no intentions when formulating the skeletal plot of my campaign to have any particular monk order involved. But, given his creativity (and I am not doing it justice with my summary above), I certainly plan to have it play some part in the game.

 

[CydKnight]

I have been letting all player characters develop their own individual backgrounds usually after giving them a brief, general direction of the campaign they are about to begin in a Session Zero. Often one or more players do ask for input from me even if it's just to run by me what they've created. With this method, I can work in player backgrounds as I develop the campaign and even develop quests based on them IF the players are open to pursuing quests based on their individual backgrounds.

Usually I have several PC levels worth of the adventure generally laid out in advance. I then consider each of the individual player backgrounds and see how they might fit into what I have so far if at all. As I gain/develop more material, I continue seeking places to work in those backgrounds.

If all players are open to pursuing campaign quests based on their individual backgrounds, I will eventually develop one for each character and insert it at the appropriate time/place. This way each player gets the opportunity to shine and perhaps take on a leadership role for the party.

 

[Croesus]

A few thoughts on this subject, though not directly answering the OP's questions:

1. Sometimes a player doesn't really know how they want to develop a character until they've played the character a few times. It's perfectly fine to add/expand the backstory later.

2. Players will put in differing levels of effort into their character motivations and backstories, so don't force it. I have a couple players who just want to show up, kick backsides, and take names. I've given them multiple opportunities to give me hooks for their characters, but they're just not interested. Rather than push them, I just focus on developing stuff for the players who are interested in this.

3. Over the years, I've seen a lot of emphasis on backstories, which is good. But I'm more interested in what the characters' goals are. In my current campaign, we have a drow rogue who wants to build her own hideout, ala the Continental from the John Wick stories. There's also a storm cleric who wants to build a temple to his god on an island, so he can convert the inhabitants. Those things give me useful hooks for future adventures, and help tie the characters to the ongoing campaign. Backstories only get you so far - at some point, they tend to get resolved (avenged my fallen family, unlocked the secret scrolls, etc.).

Just my two cents...

 

[pdzoch]

I approach it in two stages.

First: I look for a common thread in the group's character's backstory. It is great when the players collaborate on their own, but that does not always happen. I do not force it. I want the players to play the character they want to play, not the ones that make sense to me and the current adventure plan. Sometimes there is a good story there, sometimes there is not. I do tap into their backstories for some inspiration for the initial adventures, but the adventure does not have to be tied directly to each backstory. Some times, only one or two backstories may have a connection -- i.e. their uncle sent them, their patron has tasked them, etc.

Backstories provide for me NPCs who act as direct agents for the players, indirect influence in the campaign world, and possible villains to be defeated. Backstories provide campaign details, cities, towns, schools, and churches. Backstories provide cultural events (such as holidays), historical events (such as wars), historical relationships (conflicts between kingdoms, towns, guilds, and schools). These are the player's addition to your campaign world and make the character have more relevance in the game.

The player characters are heroes and should feel important and relevant to your campaign world. As soon as they sense that, they will engaged the campaign world in a more meaningful way.

Second: Let the backstory relevance evolve and progress over time. Some players take time to flesh out their character's back story. They may be inspired by the adventure. Some players may has small elements in their character's backstory that make perfect sense in the campaign as it progresses. Do not be afraid to the rare gems buried deep in a character's backstory and pull that out as a tie in the campaign or adventure. The players will be pleasantly surprised and will eventually develop that aspect of their character's history more.

I think it is critically important to listen to the players as they describe their characters, their actions and their motivations during the game. It tells you much more about their character than what they write down. I have no problem tapping into a stated bit of character history as a seed for future adventures or campaign elements. I found that players who are reticent to write a backstory still have one in their mind that they describe during the game. Use it.

 

[woonga]

In my starter set campaign, the PCs didn't use the pre-gen characters, but I took inspiration from that to try and incorporate plot hooks for each PC that tied into their backstory. Throughout the campaign, each character got a moment in the spotlight, either through an NPC, encounter, item or reward that tied directly into the backgrounds that they (loosely) set up at the beginning. However, what I think has worked best is that, now that their characters have had some time to evolve, I'll take a moment every few sessions (usually at the start of a session, or right before/after a long rest) to ask the characters to tell me how their character is feeling, and even what they've learned about the other characters. Since backstories evolve as the game plays out, this gives them a chance to elaborate on those backstories to give me new ideas for relevant personal hooks, and also to understand how their characters' motivations have evolved.

For example, our Paladin wanted to chase a dragon from a certain village that had been a sacred pilgrimage site for their holy order. Great! But what happens after that happens? What's driving them now? It might be new details they'll add to flesh out the backstory, something that's interested them from the campaign, or (ideally) a little bit of each! It's led to cool RP moments for the players, especially by getting, and keeping, them invested in each other's backstories (and future stories).