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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8256222" data-attributes="member: 42582">This is interesting.Here is the background I wrote for Thurgon, my BW PC: Thurgon is the descendant of earls (arms: a bear rampant above a sword dividing a shield), but Auxol, his ancestral estate (1½ days on foot, or about 25 miles, South-east of Adir, the nearest large town) fell to the darkness 66 years ago. Thurgon has not set foot there for over 5 years, since he left to take service with the Iron Tower. Thurgon’s father is deceased, but his mother Xanthippe (now 61 years old) still lives on the estate. So does his older brother Rufus (40 years old)., the 9th Count of Adir (although for the past 66 years that title has counted for little, having been usurped by others). Thurgon’s 23 year old younger brother, Vuryang, also lives on the estate, with his 18 year old bride Eisette. Thurgon has never met her, but heard news of the wedding 8 months ago. Although Auxol is now owned by servants of evil, the family continues to manage it. Xanthippe ensures that the estate serves as a bolthole for refugees. Rufus is sympathetic to their plight, but sees them ultimately as someone else’s problem. His interests are more mundane (it is fairly common knowledge that he has a 3 year old illegitimate son with a middle class townswoman). Thurgon trained in the Iron Tower, a stronghold of those who serve the Lord of Battle. The arms of the tower are crossed battle axes in front of a shield with the sun rising above it. Thurgon left the Iron Tower only weeks ago. The Knight Commander of the order sent him forth into the wilderness. He does not know why.I don't know if that counts as "long" or not.BW is a lifepath PC build system, and Thurgon's Life Paths are Born Noble, Page, Squire, Religious Acolyte, and Knight of a Holy Military Order. To give the background further teeth, I picked up the following character elements in PC building (using the resource points earned from my lifepaths):Relationship: Xanthippe (Mother, on family estate) Reputation: +1D last Knight of the Iron Tower Affiliations: +1D von Pfizer family; +1D Order of the Iron TowerThe relationship with Xanthippe means that I (Thurgon's player) can bring her into play whenever the fictional positioning is apt. With my other relatives, I have to make a Circles check with the bonus die from my affiliation. The same process applies to meet members of my Order.For me, this all gives me a sense of who Thurgon is. And the dynamics of play reinforce it: with those build assets invested in the reputation and affiliation, I as a player have an obvious incentive to lean into Circles checks as a way of engaging the situations the GM establishes. Which I do. So these elements of Thurgon's life figure prominently in play.This is further reinforced by the GM doing the job the rules instruct him to do, and framing situations that play on Thurgon's relationships (ie his mother, and family more broadly) and Beliefs (which include a Belief about the family estate, Auxol, as well as a statement of faith - The Lord of Battle will lead me to glory - and one that reflects membership of the Order - I am a Knight of the Iron Tower: by devotion and example I will lead the righteous to glorious victory).For me at least, the feel is very different from when I first rolled up a D&D character and entered the world of B2 KotB with no personality or history besides a name. And it's also different from games I've played where the PC had a backstory but the actual focus of play was basically unrelated to that (eg going on a fetch quest for a powerful NPC).A module like Dragonlance obviously tries to be closer to what I like about BW and my BW PC, but it relies on completely different methods - "story before" - to do it. I think the BW approach is superior, both from the point of view of immersion in character and from the point of view of player agency.</blockquote>

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