Yes, character looks, eye / hair color, height and weight, god they worship along with friends/companions. The campaign we are currently playing, the background for one of the PC's, she is a human female fighter who is an escaped slave from orcs. Her goal in life is to kill as many evil people as she can and to free her friends and family. 2 other PC's in the party, a dwarf and a human male fighter have taken on her quest, swore to help her. And it just so happens we are going to start A1-A4 very shortly!!��
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D&D 5E Questions for adventurers
- Thread starter Lanliss
- Start date
Storyteller Hero
Adventurer
I can share one very basic fact that has existed in storytelling since the dawn of humanity.
Conflict is what makes a story interesting. Conflict emerges from the dichotomy of change, and resistance to change.
What is most important about a character is to know what their objectives are, and what they will do to fulfill those objectives. From there, we ask why they are pursuing their objectives, what it means to them. How the character pursues his/her objectives and deals with challenges against that pursuit is what will truly give shape to that character.
When obstacles are placed to prevent or hinder the character from achieving the objectives, that's when the story gets interesting - the conflict begins.
Conflict is what makes a story interesting. Conflict emerges from the dichotomy of change, and resistance to change.
What is most important about a character is to know what their objectives are, and what they will do to fulfill those objectives. From there, we ask why they are pursuing their objectives, what it means to them. How the character pursues his/her objectives and deals with challenges against that pursuit is what will truly give shape to that character.
When obstacles are placed to prevent or hinder the character from achieving the objectives, that's when the story gets interesting - the conflict begins.
KahlessNestor
Adventurer
I like character backstory details, but I admit to being intimidated by being given a questionnaire. I immediately froze up on your first question about dreams. My muse doesn't perform on demand 
I don't claim any great DM insight. I am starting a campaign with a simple thing I stole (from [MENTION=17773]BAW[/MENTION]lie or @isterith ?) from the WOTC boards (or as best I could remember it) and asked them to provide me with a Friend, a Foe, and a Contact. This is something I noticed is in Traveller character creation as well.
I prefer a more conversational style than a questionnaire. Start with the Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. Look for things they reference and ask, "You're a Folk Hero. I see your flaw is "The people I grew up with know my secret and I can never go home." Ask the player what the secret is. Where is home?
Then read the backstory. "So your family was killed by an orc band. Who was the leader?" It's okay if they don’t know. "What tribe were they? You don't know? Can you describe the banners they flew? There's always banners or totems."
Any NPC in a backstory should be named. No "My grandfather" or "my sister". These are people you're intimate with. If they don’t know, ask them if it's okay if you name them. They can always be changed by the player if he comes up with something and they haven't entered the story yet.
Sure, sometimes the muse abandons you, and you can find out a lot during play. ("Huh. I did not know she hated halflings. Interesting.") But I think asking a few questions conversationally and plugging a few holes will get some creative juices flowing.
Sent from my SM-G900P using EN World mobile app
I don't claim any great DM insight. I am starting a campaign with a simple thing I stole (from [MENTION=17773]BAW[/MENTION]lie or @isterith ?) from the WOTC boards (or as best I could remember it) and asked them to provide me with a Friend, a Foe, and a Contact. This is something I noticed is in Traveller character creation as well.
I prefer a more conversational style than a questionnaire. Start with the Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws. Look for things they reference and ask, "You're a Folk Hero. I see your flaw is "The people I grew up with know my secret and I can never go home." Ask the player what the secret is. Where is home?
Then read the backstory. "So your family was killed by an orc band. Who was the leader?" It's okay if they don’t know. "What tribe were they? You don't know? Can you describe the banners they flew? There's always banners or totems."
Any NPC in a backstory should be named. No "My grandfather" or "my sister". These are people you're intimate with. If they don’t know, ask them if it's okay if you name them. They can always be changed by the player if he comes up with something and they haven't entered the story yet.
Sure, sometimes the muse abandons you, and you can find out a lot during play. ("Huh. I did not know she hated halflings. Interesting.") But I think asking a few questions conversationally and plugging a few holes will get some creative juices flowing.
Sent from my SM-G900P using EN World mobile app
BoldItalic
First Post
I'm a great believer in group backstories. Ask the players how their character relates to each of the others. Invite them to do this together without involving you. Let them create a collective backstory as a group of adventurers. It will be richer and more interesting than a set of individual backstories that can at best be generic because whilst the players don't necessarily know anything much about the adventuring world you are about to throw at them, they can make up anything they like about the way they fit together.
Let's try it here.
Suppose my character is an old and rather grumpy wizard called Ino. First person to reply, post something about an imaginary PC and how yours relates to mine. How did we meet? Do we get on well? What have I told you about myself? Next person pick up on that, and so on. Let's see what kind of narrative we can build, right here.
Let's try it here.
Suppose my character is an old and rather grumpy wizard called Ino. First person to reply, post something about an imaginary PC and how yours relates to mine. How did we meet? Do we get on well? What have I told you about myself? Next person pick up on that, and so on. Let's see what kind of narrative we can build, right here.
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Guest 6801718
Guest
After a long gaming career, I actually have a pretty good size group of like-minded gamers. We love really digging into our characters and fleshing them out. Some of the group were either new to D&D or new to pen and paper rpgs all together. So they asked for some help in bringing their characters to life a bit more. So I came up with some questions to help them out.
Describe your best friend.
Who are your family and friends that are close to you?
What is an unusual quirk or habit you have? Something like whistling absentmindedly or biting your fingernails when you're nervous.
What is your most prized possession?
List at least five personality traits (positive or negative) that your character has.
Describe a hobby or passion your character has.
What goals does your character want to accomplish outside of adventuring?
I shuffle through them, depending on the campaign or what we want to do. I used to have other questions too, but I couldn't remember them to post here. Basically anything that gets them thinking or helps them add a little something to their character to be unique. It doesn't necessarily have to be something that will get used in an adventure. Just something that makes role playing a bit more fun for them. Though now, I don't usually have to ask any questions. My group just comes up with all this stuff on their own at character creation. Which is handy for our zero sessions, so they can figure out how they all know each other or how they came together. They really feed off of ideas from others at the table. Man, I'm a lucky guy with my game group.
Describe your best friend.
Who are your family and friends that are close to you?
What is an unusual quirk or habit you have? Something like whistling absentmindedly or biting your fingernails when you're nervous.
What is your most prized possession?
List at least five personality traits (positive or negative) that your character has.
Describe a hobby or passion your character has.
What goals does your character want to accomplish outside of adventuring?
I shuffle through them, depending on the campaign or what we want to do. I used to have other questions too, but I couldn't remember them to post here. Basically anything that gets them thinking or helps them add a little something to their character to be unique. It doesn't necessarily have to be something that will get used in an adventure. Just something that makes role playing a bit more fun for them. Though now, I don't usually have to ask any questions. My group just comes up with all this stuff on their own at character creation. Which is handy for our zero sessions, so they can figure out how they all know each other or how they came together. They really feed off of ideas from others at the table. Man, I'm a lucky guy with my game group.
Allow me to provide an example of one of the characters that caused me to decide on this.
One of my players created a Dwarf Outcast. He was a creative child, and had big plans for becoming a Forge Master. However, while working on one of his experimental weapons, he got a bit excited. Sparks flew a bit wide, and burned down his home around him, with his family inside. The punishment for murdering family is either Death or Exile for Dwarves, so he exiled himself before they could execute him. Now he works as a guide, who literally had no reason to stop being a guide.
This was a good, creative backstory, but led up to a character who essentially cannot be pulled into the adventuring life. Luckily, once I ran these questions by the player, he decided that his character would be trying to earn his way back into Dwarf society. I am not saying we could not have arrived at the same outcome without these questions, but the circumstance would not have come up if I had the questions in advance.
One of my players created a Dwarf Outcast. He was a creative child, and had big plans for becoming a Forge Master. However, while working on one of his experimental weapons, he got a bit excited. Sparks flew a bit wide, and burned down his home around him, with his family inside. The punishment for murdering family is either Death or Exile for Dwarves, so he exiled himself before they could execute him. Now he works as a guide, who literally had no reason to stop being a guide.
This was a good, creative backstory, but led up to a character who essentially cannot be pulled into the adventuring life. Luckily, once I ran these questions by the player, he decided that his character would be trying to earn his way back into Dwarf society. I am not saying we could not have arrived at the same outcome without these questions, but the circumstance would not have come up if I had the questions in advance.
aco175
Legend
I like having backstory if the players can provide one. I had several people play that are not good with this or too young to come up with this. They both were mostly power gamers. Having a sheet to fill out would be good to have and cause players to think about their characters. I may go with the friend/foe/contact idea to add flavor to the game.
Tony Vargas
Legend
These are some questions our DM asked about our characters a while back:
What is your characters first or earliest memory?
What is your characters first experience with death? Was it a pet dying? A sibling? A parents? A grandparent? A stranger? Describe this event. How old was your character? How did it effect you that moment when you realized that you would die.
Describe your family life. How many sibings you have?. were you raised by both or one of your parents? A grandparent perhaps? Let me know give as much detail as possable. Were you an Orphan?. Defined as both parents being dead in your childhood and being raised by others.
What is your greatest, primal, fear - one that evokes a fear response, rather than an abstract or intellectual fear.
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Guest 6801328
Guest
Try using some of the Bonds from Dungeon World?
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