Hi, guys

I like making characters in and writing character stories, but I especially like making ones that I want to play in future games. The character that I am making now is such a character. Although I don't have a particular table in mind at which I will play this character, I plan to in the future when the opportunity presents itself.  The events discussed below will focus mainly on the essential people in the characters' lives.

The character is called, Audhild, going by the name Hilda, most of the time. Although she would have been given a family name when she was born, she can not remember it, as her last name was never used during her childhood. She has taken the name, Sigurdsdatter as her last name, considering herself the High Cleric's child; as the High Cleric, Sigurd Eriksen is the closest person she has to a father. Although she is not technically his child and could not take his last name, she believes her choice of names honours someone she thinks of most highly.   

Audhild is twenty-six years old and has a seven-year-old daughter called Hræfn, which is usually translated into Raven, in the common language form, whom she has hidden away. Hræfn lives in a temple dedicated to Bahamut and is cared for by Audhild's adoptive father and High Cleric, Sigurd Eriksen, and ser Einarr, the Lord Commander of the Holy See, and Audhild's adoptive brother. The nursemaid, Alfhild, also plays a role. Alfhild has become too attached to Hræfn, and ser Einarr is highly suspicious of Alfhild's motives in connecting herself to his young ward, and as a result, watches them both like a hawk, and has begun training Hræfn to fight, and how to use a sword to defend herself. However, although he currently has no evidence that would allow him to take any further action against Alfhild, he is sure it is only a matter of time. Eventually, he will have the proof required to see Alfhild clapped in irons and dragged before the court of the Holy See. A court in which his words holds sway, and in the meantime, he will continue Hræfn's training. Ser Einarr swore to Audhild, who he considers a sister that as long as he drew breath, no harm would come to Hræfn and though it may cost him his fortune, his title, his command, even his life, ser Einarr will not betray that promise and will keep his oath to Audhild for as long as he lives.

Ser Einarr is a man of great pomp and circumstance who is seemingly ineffectual. However, he has amassed a great fortune, earned his title through countless battles, and risen from being a filthy street urchin to the Lord Commander of The Holy See. What's more, he inspires immense loyalty, courage and valour in the Knights under his command. He is a true master of the arts of war and an expert tactician who has never forgotten his humble beginnings despite rising to great heights.  Ser Einarr is a man blessed with a silver tongue, beloved by noble and peasant alike, but don't let that fool you; he is not all words, and when words fail, his blade is more than capable of finding its mark.

For his part, Sigurd Eriksen, also known as The Holy See, is the High Cleric of one of the few temples dedicated to Bahamut that still remains in the world. Sigurd is a quiet, contemplative man of unshakable faith. As a boy, Sigurd was the son of a petty thief, who was to have been part of a tribute paid to a red dragon, who, in return for allowing the town in which Sigurd grew up to continue, demanded that said town paid him in food. The demands of the dragon were chiefly for children, as he considered their flesh to be the sweetest tasting. However, before the red dragon could devour Sigurd, a gold dragon swooped down and attacked it. Emerging victorious after a long battle, the gold dragon flew off. Despite emerging the victor, the red dragon had inflicted terrible wounds upon her, that although not life-threatening, meant that she was forced to fly lower and slower than she otherwise would have. Giving Sigurd the chance to follow her on foot. Having already been almost eaten by one dragon, Sigurd was wary of this one, but he wanted to thank her for saving him, and so as she licked her wounds, he remained silent and at a respectable distance.  

Eventually, the pair struck up a conversation, and Sigurd learned that the Dragons name was Iegharal. Bowing low, he proclaimed her to be; The Most Majestic, Lady Iegharal, Defender of the Meek, Champion of the Skies, Saviour of Sigurd, who art most humble. Being given such a title by one so small amused Iegharal, who sought to know this human, who was brave enough to overcome his fear to speak to such a might being as herself in such a grandiose, yet matter-of-fact way, better.

As Iegharal questioned Sigurd, she became more and more curious about him, and the more Sigurd conversed with Iegharal, the less afraid he became of her. However, he was mindful to still remain respectful of her incredible strength and nobility. It was already well into the next day before Sigurd again bowed low and begged Iegharal to excuse him, as he was getting sleepy and did not want to appear rude. Iegharal gave him her leave but bade him return again once he had rested so that she could continue their discourse. This went on for many years; Sigurd would make his way to Iegharal's lair, where the pair would lose themselves in conversation until Sigurd tired, upon which he would beg his leave, only to return a few days later.  

From Iegharal, Sigurd first learned of the tenents and dogma of Bahamut and the difference between chromatic and metallic dragons and the origins of their ceaseless war. He also learned of many varied people who inhabited strange and distant lands and their many practices and traditions that Iegharal had visited during the long days of her youth that she had spent roaming the world.

As the years passed, however, Iegharal began to get restless, she would tire quickly, and Sigurd would often find her perched atop her lair, scanning the horizon. Concerned for his friend, Sigurd inquired if he could assist her, only to be told bluntly that the business of dragons was no business of mortals, and then one day, Iegharal and her treasures were simply gone. Sigurd returned to the lair several times, but he never saw Iegharal again, although, on one of his subsequent visits, Sigurd discovered a single treasure still remained. An ornate wooden staff lay against the back wall of Iegharal's lair. He was unsure how he had missed it before, but now it seemed to call to him. As he reached out his hand, he felt the warmth of Iegharal's presence wash over him. It was not like he had felt before, this presence was much smaller, but it was unmistakably hers, as though she had imbued the staff with a tiny fragment of her own spirit that filled a hole in Sigurd's heart and gave him newfound strength and purpose.  

It was with that purpose that Sigurd set out on a journey, to travel the world. He sought to explore from the deepest jungles, the tallest peaks, to the aridest deserts and most frigid wastelands. In his travels, Sigurd made many significant discoveries and met many people, both good and ill, but always kept the core tenents of Bahamut taught to him by his friend, close to his heart. Almost eighty years ago, to the day, Sigurd discovered the temple that he now calls home. Sigurd was old by then, his youth and most of his vigour spent. However, he still had the blessing of Iegharal to draw upon, and it was in her name that he resolved to rebuild the fallen temple into a beacon of hope and a place of learning dedicated to Bahamut. 

Sigurd became a Cleric late in life, but his journies around the world, the discoveries that he had made and the people he had met, had all helped build upon the knowledge he had gained through his conversations with Iegharal. Cementing his faith upon sold foundations and his experiences had given him an uncanny knack for seeing through a person's facade to the very core of their soul. 

By listening to a person telling their story, Sigurd was able to see the truth of their existence, as though all they were was laid bare before him, and so it was with ser Einarr, and later with Audhild. By listening to their stories, Sigurd had seen through the darkness. He had caught a glimpse of the truth behind the mask, and by giving them his love and guidance, understanding and support, he had calmed the raging darkness within them, lifted their spirits and allowed them to ascend to new heights. Indeed, he had become a father to them, where their own fathers had failed; Sigurd succeeded, he loved them as his own children, and they loved him in turn.  

Perhaps it is the power of the dragon that gives him such gifts. Or perhaps Iegharal, in her waning years, had simply helped a boy who was destined to be nothing more than a lowly thief, served in tribute, as a boar upon a platter, discover the greatness within himself.  

Sigurd has already lived far beyond his natural years, his life extended by the blessing of Iegharal. Now his time in the mortal world draws to an end, and the journey and adventures, the fight against evil, and all he has built, he passes to his children, ser Einarr and Audhild. For they are as much his children as if they were begotten of his own seed. All that he is, he has given to them.  

Despite his failing health, however, Sigurd still has time and strength to play with and entertain and teach his granddaughter. Audhild's daughter, Hræfn. Although her protection and guardianship, he leaves to ser Einarr.

With each passing day, Sigurd's health deteriorates. The other clerics have sometimes found him clutching his staff close to him, conversing with it, as though he was back there, as a boy in Iegharal's lair, going over and over old conversations with a dear friend. However, in a while, he is himself again and telling them stories of his misspent youth that they scarcely believe. Only Sigurd's children know the truth of his age. Where the other clerics see that he is ancient, they don't realise that his life was greatly extended, Iegharal's final gift to one she deemed worthy of carrying on her name and her legacy, and in these last years of his life, Sigurd is several hundred years old. A lifespan well beyond the reasonable expectation of any human. It is Iegharal's spirit, or at least the fragment of it that she placed into the staff, and which was transferred to Sigurd when he reached out for it, that has kept him alive all these years, but now even the dragons blessing has begun to fade. He can feel that he has precious little years remaining, desiring to spend them with his children and granddaughter, surrounded by the fruits of his long labours and keeping his faith until the end.

Or at least he would if destiny had not conspired to deprive him of the pleasure, in a twist of fate that leads into Audhild's past, the conception and birth of Hræfn, and how a Tiefling girl seeking shelter had come to be part of Sigurd's adopted family. A story that I have yet to finish writing because I am struggling with how to tactfully delve into the dark adult themes that are prevalent throughout Audhild's backstory, to the point where she seeks shelter and sanctuary at the temple, where she would eventually find a father, a family and a home.

There is much missing from the above story, including where the character is from, early childhood experiences, and how she came to have a daughter at such a young age.  I am struggling to write these following parts of the story because they deal with such dark, adult themes that I worry about the tone and how other players might react.  However, I would like to get your thoughts and opinions on what I have written so far, and specifically on the most important people, beyond her daughter, in Audhild's life.

Any thoughts that you might have on how I could address the adult themes of the next part of the character's backstory would be greatly appreciated.

However, keep in mind that although I am writing a detailed backstory, from the point where Audhild leaves home for the second time and becomes an adventurer, her story moves beyond backstory into front-story.  The purpose of having so much detail in the backstory is to allow the character to make reasonable decisions based upon the internal and external logic of the backstory, which helps to drive meaningful character development as her story moves into the present and beyond. 

I would also like your thoughts on how well I am achieving those goals so far.

Thanks, 

XD

I would be interested to know how large most people make their back stories? The above is huge and as another player or the DM I would get frustrated with having to read novels, especially if you have half a dozen people at the table all submitting such long stories it would get daunting.

I usually do 2-3 paragraphs with enough detail to explain where, what and why, but more explanation either comes up in game via player discussions, or is just extra fluff that will be forgotten. 

Yeah, that's a heck of a lot more backstory than I like when I GM.  I do not have the time or energy needed to sort through multiple long backstories to try and mesh them into a game I'm running.

Usually, all you need is your character's childhood, how they got into adventuring, and maybe one or two important or influential people who were in their life.

Not to agree with the above two posts, but while i didn't read it, i know that the length of the backstory is a moot point if you don't get the general idea across. Read it again. Could you understand your character's motivation, their alignment, and their general storyline if you didn't know who they were beforehand? Anyway, I would also like to say that a good backstory is the difference between Fighter Joe and Joseph Secrandil, renowned hunter of the most dangerous people alive. Make sure you have enough detail, but not enough to smother your DM.

Quote from 6thLyranGuard >>

Yeah, that's a heck of a lot more backstory than I like when I GM.  I do not have the time or energy needed to sort through multiple long backstories to try and mesh them into a game I'm running.

Usually, all you need is your character's childhood, how they got into adventuring, and maybe one or two important or influential people who were in their life.

 
Its true that I have not included much about the character herself in this section.  I am struggling with how to appropriately tell her backstory because it involves a demon worshiping cult, brainwashing, and rituals of forced reproduction, with the intent of creating a suitable mortal host for the soul of the demon that the cult worships. 

Even the characters escape from the cult involves the use of subterfuge, the gathering of information through the sexual manipulation of one of the cults acolytes, whom she then murders, so that that she can take his clothes and use them as camouflage, to aid her escape, and to prevent him from telling anybody the truth of what transpired between them.

What she does to escape from the cult, is quite evil, and her intentions are not entirely altruistic either.  She doesn’t want her daughter to be subjected to the tortures that she suffered, and become just another body used up and discarded, but she is also a manipulator and control freak, who is taking control the only way she can, by depriving the cult of its next intended target.  In that way, she wants to make it difficult for them, cause them problems and wishes for them to suffer as a result.

At the very start of her backstory she appears to be an evil person, harbouring dark desires of revenge and a deep rooted hatred of her true family and the cult that she was born into.  

That should be telling however.  Despite being born into the cult and knowing nothing else, despite the years of brainwashing, which should have stripped her of her will and turned her into nothing but a puppet, she is still whole and defiant, still capable of hating those who have hurt her, and still desires for her daughter not to suffer the same fate.  

Audhild Is a good person.  If given the chance,  and with the help and support and love and kindness that she was never given by her true family, she could truely become a great person, because she has an immense capacity for good within her, buried beneath her preconceived notions, the brainwashing, the years of torture, she has a good soul that although small and, malnourished and neglected, still shines brightly in the surrounding darkness.  That is what Sigurd saw when she told him her story in return for shelter at the temple.  That is why he gave her sanctuary, why he gave her his love, showed her kindness, helped her cope with and come to terms with her past, and eventually to transcend it.

Sigurd became the father that she had never had, and through his care Audhild emerged, like a caterpillar from a cocoon, into the true beauty that she was always meant to be.  A person who, at the end of her backstory, when her past catches up to her, and the cult come calling, she is willing to sacrifice her own happiness, to lead them away and save the people she loves.  She is willing to leave behind her child and her adopted family, the only place where she has ever felt at peace, and all the people she cares about and loves, because doing so would save them a cruel fate, and serve the greater good.  What’s more, she doesn’t feel so deeply hurt or traumatised as when she fled her first home as a child all those years ago.  Instead, she is able to find peace and a simply joy in knowing that she is doing the right thing.  

That does not mean that it isn’t upsetting for her, or that she will never feel lonely.  In fact, it is because she is sad and feels lonely on her journeys, that she seeks out others and joins a party.  The party become her surrogate family, not replacing the ones she left behind, but helping to make the journey that much more fulfilling, because she is sharing it with people she considers friends.

That is why I felt the need to spend so much time talking about Audhild‘s adopted family, and about Sigurd specifically.  They are central to the person she becomes, and it is upon that foundation that the characters future story can unfold. 

Audhild has experienced both sides of humanities nature.  She has experienced the purest darkness and the purest light, and she has chosen the light.  How she reconciles that choice with the reality of existence outside of the temple, and the life she will make for herself in the open world, that is Audhild’s story.  

A central thread that runs through the characters story though, where ever she goes, is her daughter the family she left behind.  They are never far from her mind, and she never gives up hope that one day her journey will take her back to them, even if they don’t come up on a regular basis, they are a large part of the characters past, and one that is extremely important to her.

I sometimes - half the time or so - write a (very) short story to go with my backstory/description, but unless most of it is clearly and explicitly tied to how the character acts and feels I keep it separate from the descriptive part. It's ok to have an elaborate backstory; it's practically convenient to keep the functional part somewhat succinct though.

Quote from Wertbag >>

I would be interested to know how large most people make their back stories? The above is huge and as another player or the DM I would get frustrated with having to read novels, especially if you have half a dozen people at the table all submitting such long stories it would get daunting.

I usually do 2-3 paragraphs with enough detail to explain where, what and why, but more explanation either comes up in game via player discussions, or is just extra fluff that will be forgotten. 

 D&D has a lot of what I think of as auxiliary games attached to the main one. One of them is backstory writing, whether for a character or a villain or a setting or whatever. Creation can be fun in its own right, but there is a point where it begins to feel like it crosses a line from cooperative storytelling to self-gratification.

I think if your backstory is more than 2-3 paragraphs, you probably need to make two versions - one for you and one for everyone else. It can still be helpful for you to know a lot about your character, but your allies probably don't need that information to get a rough sketch of you in their head.

Personally, if I get too involved in a backstory I usually end up shelving the character, or they turn into an NPC in my own campaign. I prefer the defining moments of the character to happen during the game rather than beforehand. I'm not so much playing who I was but who I am right now, and who I want to be in the future. A backstory can be helpful to set you on a trajectory or identify the challenges and obstacles you need to face in order to grow, but the most interesting part of your life should happen in the game, not in the backstory. That's what's more fun for me, anyway.

I've found that the longer and more elaborate a character's backstory is, the more disruptive the character tends to be due to the player insisting on how X, Y, and Z actions are (or are not) "in character" for them.  Also, they tend to be the players who wind up grandstanding all the time and take the spotlight away from other players.

Hi, everyone, 

Thank you for all your replies.  I have written more about my character, and although even I think it is getting too long now, the document that I have been using is now nearly 7000 words, and that is without any accurate detail.  I still wanted to share with you the next part that I have getting into a somewhat readable format. However, I will give you a preface that some people might find the themes disturbing, even though I have not gone into detail and tried only to be as explicit as was needed to get the point of the piece across to the reader.  

With that out of the way, here is more detail about Audhild.  I have tried to piece together the truth about Audhild's true identity and about how she ended up in the clutches of the Keepers of the Chrysalis Prince.

The character's surname is; Valentina, with her middle name being her mothers maiden name, Luitpold. She is called Audhild Luitpold Valentina. Unbeknownst to her, she also has a half brother, her fathers bastard child, born to a young scullery maid. Her half brother is two years younger than her and is called Ambros Blaga. She also has a younger sister five years her junior, born of yet more of her father's exploits with his female domestic staff, Annette Moritz. There are probably many more half brothers and sisters, but those are the only two that her father has accepted as his own children.  It is telling that he would accept two of his bastard children as his and dote upon them, yet did not fight so much when her mother gave Audhild to the Keepers, despite her being sent away, breaking his heart. It tells who is in charge of the family and who dominates the relationship between her mother and father. Perhaps explaining some of her father's actions.

Audhild does not know that these siblings exist, except for Ambros, whom she knew as a very young child, before being sent away with the Keepers. However, she can not remember Ambros as she can not remember anything before being given to the Keepers by her mother.  

Both Audhild's mother, Aaricia Veronica Luitpold, and her father, Esteban Emil Valentina, come from high noble dynasties and are the heads of their respective families. Aaricia can trace her bloodline back directly to a deposed Khan Kubrat, former monarch of her homeland. When her family fell from grace, they fled across the sea towards the Sword Coast, where they continued to travel on land. First stopping in Beregost, before making their way to Baldur's Gate where they spent the winter months, before travelling on to Waterdeep. They settled into life in Waterdeep and, after changing their name to Luitpold, soon began to rise once more in status and wealth. Thoroughly versed and capable, they played the game of kings with grace, subtly, and purpose, quietly climbing the social ladder and building a vast trading empire as they did so. By the time Aaricia was born, her family was already entrenched into the hustle and bustle of politics, having earned the titles and ranks that marked them as Waterdhavian Nobles.  

When she came of age, Aaricia was married to the youngest son of the Valentina trading company. It was a political move that would expand her families reach and power significantly, although the boy, Esteban, did not resist much. Aaricia was a beauty unlike any he had seen, and he had previously lusted for her from afar. He considered marrying such a beauty to be his crowning achievement, almost immediately falling into the throws of uncontrollable lusts. Not least because she was beautiful beyond compare, but also because she was highborn, and because his marriage to her, and the subsequent children, would significantly benefit his family. In short, Esteban's marriage to Aaricia might have been a political move, but their marriage was filled with passionate lusts that soon turned into a deep love and affection, at least on his part. Despite loving his wife with his entire soul, Esteban's cravings could not be entirely sated by just one woman, however. After a few years of marriage, he began to look for greener pastures, most often amongst the young maidens of his household staff. Aaricia puts up with her husband's infidelity because she doesn't much love him in the first place. Her goals are much more aligned with those of her family, which, unfortunately for Esteban, would draw him and his house into the dark, twisted world of demon worship.  

The Luitpold family are high ranking members, often thought of as one of the founding families of the Cult of Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince. Inducted into her families practices from being a tiny child, Aaricia believes wholeheartedly that "this is the way" and the only way for her family to reclaim their homeland from the usurpers. So, when her child was born a Tiefling, Aaricia was overjoyed, as she saw the hand of her God in Audhild's birth and looked upon her as potentially being the mother of her families salvation. When Audhild was six years old, against her father's feeble protestations, her mother arranged for her to be tested. When the tests came back, showing a high probability of Audhild being strong to survive the arduous process of the ritual, Aaricia gave her to the Keepers to take her and raise her in seclusion. Preparing her for the ceremony that she would eventually be subjected to when she came of age.  

From the time she was six, her last name was never used. The Keepers referred to her only as "Mother," or occasionally by her first name. Unable to accept that her own mother would give her to such cruel, evil people, she has forgotten everything from the age of six, cut it out of her memory, instead choosing the memories of born into the service of Keepers.  

Despite their cruel nature, the Keepers are not abusive to her if she does what she is told, but neither are they overly kind, and they have no compunction about subjecting her to trials and tests that hurt her to examine her and her progress. Furthermore, if she does not do what she told, the punishments hurt even more than the tests. She is under no illusion that any of them love her and believes herself to be entirely alone. Although she has met other children, who were also put through the same conditioning, none of them was strong enough to survive, and some only lasted a few months before she never saw them again, and others took their place. Audhild is never allowed to explore the hidden temple in which she is being kept. Her room is comfortable, and she is fed well enough, but she has not been outside since she was six and always escorted everywhere she goes upon leaving her chamber. On occasion, the keepers will take her to a playroom, where there are toys, and allow her a short time to play with other children. This is also a test, and her visits to the playroom dwindle away as she gets older.  

Audhild never sees the Keepers' faces; they are always shrouded in shadow, cast by the enormous hoods that cover the entire face practically. The acolytes, however, wear unadorned robes with much smaller hoods, so she can see much more of their faces. As she enters adolescence, she begins to find some of the acolytes reasonably attractive. However, she is never allowed to act upon her desires, and even the mere thought of it disgusts her. It is not that she is disgusted by her thoughts or desires, but rather, she is disgusted that she harbours such thoughts and lusts for her gaolers. For it is by this point in her life that she has begun to realise that the temple is her gaol, and that she will most likely never leave it alive.    

It is also around this time that she begins emulating the cold, manipulative behaviour of the Keepers. Her favourite game is to play with the acolytes assigned to take care of her, convince them to steal her things, or do something that she knows will get them in trouble. Her favourite method of convincement is her blossoming sexuality, which she uses to cloud their minds and bend them to her will, promising them untold nights of passion if they do as she bids. She has no intention of giving them what she promises, but the acolytes never get their promised reward anyway. Instead, she tells on them, bargaining the information with others in exchange for better food, games, or forbidden books, and when she is discovered, she plays the innocent child. Telling the Keepers that the acolytes she has manipulated into giving her what she wants were actually trying to woo her in an attempt to fulfil their own depraved fantasies. Those acolytes are never seen again, and one can only guess why, although Audhild doesn't think about what happens to them and doesn't particularly care. She is also growing more and more defiant, refusing to undergo tests or trials, even though she knows she will be punished for it, simply because she desires to exercise control. She likes having authority, controlling her surroundings, her own body and what happens to her, and control over others. Audhild knows that she does not have the ultimate control and will be punished for her defiance, but she doesn't care. She enjoys exercising the authority, control and power that she has and sees the pain of her punishments as a reward for her efforts, which prove she has lived another day.  

The Keepers are pleased, if frustrated by this development, as they believe their conditioning is working and that she is starting to exhibit signs that she will soon be ready for the ritual; she just has to pass one more test.  

It is now that Audhild gets a roommate for the first time. A girl her own age, she doesn't get along with this girl very well, and the girl is replaced with another. This goes on until the Keepers have found a girl that Audhild seems to be on friendly terms with. They then allow the two girls to develop friendships and get close to each other over several months. Eventually, the Keepers concoct a situation in which both Audhild and the girl are accused of a crime. Audhild protests her innocence and that of her friend. She knows that they were both in their room at the time, and up to this point, the Keepers have never punished Audhild for something she has not done.  

The Keepers tell Audhild that they want to believe what she says but that the evidence points to the contrary; however, they give her the chance to prove that what she says is the truth. Even if she was in her chamber at the time in question, somebody must pay for the crime, and all evidence points them. Therefore, if Audhild is innocent, she must prove her innocence by punishing her friend - the punishment is death. To prove her own innocence, Audhild must kill the only friend she's ever had.  

The Keepers expect Audhild to kill the girl, to save herself, but she does not. Instead, she refuses and says that she will take the punishment alongside her friend if that is her only option. The Keepers implore Audhild to reconsider, telling her that if she does not punish the girl, they will, and the punishment will be far worse than a quick, painless death, and Audhild will share in that suffering. However, she is unphased by the threat and tells them so, again proclaiming both of their innocence. The Keepers are disappointed by this, as they believed that Audhild was almost ready for the ritual. However, her defiance in this matter has proven them wrong, so they tell the acolytes to take them both back to their chamber. Later the girl is taken from their chamber for her punishment. When it is Audhild's turn to be punished, she grits her teeth and bears the pain. It seems to last much longer than usual, but she does not show any signs of giving in to it. When the punishment is over, she is then returned to her chamber, where she enquires about her friend, only to be told bluntly that she was told the sentence was death and that the girl is dead. That the Keepers had given a chance to end her life quickly, and she refused. So what did she care what happened to the girl anyway.  

Audhild doesn't know if they really did kill her friend or not, but that incident only served to harden her against them, more than she already was. It fixed into her mind that they were truly evil and that she was nothing like them and that she would resist them from now on, even to her dying breath.  

For their part, the Keepers were dismayed that Audhild had shown any good at all. Even if it had upset her, they had expected her to kill the girl. Killing the last shreds of her humanity in the process and becoming a cold, heartless monster worthy of being the mother of their God made flesh.  

Audhild's conditioning continued for several more years after that, but the Keepers had made a grave error that day. In killing the girl they had given to Audhild as a friend, somebody she had genuinely begun to care for and getting close to, they had turned her against them, and no amount of conditioning would ever overcome that. Or her newfound hatred for them and their cause.  

The last part, which is still not in readable order, would have detailed Audhild's escape from the Keepers, seeking shelter in the temple and how she became attached to Sigurd and began to consider him a father—leading up to her departure.  However, I have essentially given up on this backstory now, as it is getting too detailed and involved.  It is also getting longer and longer and seems to be turning into a novella.  However, I would give you the rest of my work in an attempt to detail it here, in case it serves as inspiration for any of you and yours. 

Feel free to keep on commenting and leaving your thoughts, opinions and constructive criticisms, and feel free to steal any of my ideas and adapt them to your characters if you so desire.  

Thanks, guys. 

XD

Yeah, besides the extreme creepyness of "blossoming sexuality" and using sex to first seduce someone and then murder them in cold blood and the edgelordiness of "I had to kill my best friend", this would be useless to me as a DM.

The first part tells us almost nothing about the actual character and what her mentor(?) did way back when he was an adventurer isn't really that useful or interesting when you are dealing with a complete different character. Also, as have been often mention by otehrs when it comes to your backgrounds, it seems that you are far more interested in writing characters in a story than characters for a game. The characters has pretty much gone through a few stories worth of adventuring already. I get a feeling more of her leaving Sigurd "for one last adventure" rather than starting out from the beginning.

Quote from Lostwhilefishing >>

Yeah, besides the extreme creepyness of "blossoming sexuality" and using sex to first seduce someone and then murder them in cold blood and the edgelordiness of "I had to kill my best friend", this would be useless to me as a DM.

The first part tells us almost nothing about the actual character and what her mentor(?) did way back when he was an adventurer isn't really that useful or interesting when you are dealing with a complete different character. Also, as have been often mention by otehrs when it comes to your backgrounds, it seems that you are far more interested in writing characters in a story than characters for a game. The characters has pretty much gone through a few stories worth of adventuring already. I get a feeling more of her leaving Sigurd "for one last adventure" rather than starting out from the beginning.

I see all the points that you are making.  Each of them contributed to me deciding to abandon the backstory. 

1. A novella is not suitable for backstory.
2. I cannot write about her backstory correctly because I need to keep in mind the sensibilities of other players.
3. The character would be a better fit for a manga, or a short story, than a game.
4. Audhild needs to be the centre of attention.  Her backstory almost demands it, which is not suitable for a game where collab is so essential.

In trying to write a backstory documenting Audhild as a person, where she comes from, who she is now and who she wants to be, I have written her out of any game character prospects.  Therefore, I will abandon the backstory, start again, and take what I have written and put it into a form of media where it fits better.  One can take full advantage of the written word and turn her into the story's main character, or villain, depending on how she develops as the story progresses.

I am going to do something sneaky, though.  I will keep the character in D&D, take aspects of her life, write a backstory for her that fits with being a game character, and then expand upon her entire backstory elsewhere in other media.  In short, the external press will act as the story of Audhild's past, her backstory in-game will become the story of her present, and the game itself will be the story of her yet untold future.

A single character, whose story spread across multiple forms of media, whose story is still unfolding in-game, I am not sure if that would work or not.

I agree with the idea of abandoning this backstory.

In the future, when you work on one, make sure to avoid "world building" in your background. You make up a lot of traditions, naming styles, languages, terms, these are all cool for writing your own setting. But you can't know if they will be appropriate to the DM's setting of whatever game you get into.

Be careful not to do for character backgrounds in an RPG, what one would do for main character backgrounds in a work of fiction. The backstory of an RPG character just should be enough for you to 'get started.' Then you should consider the lower level game to be the full and complete background of your character when he or she is level 15 or something. Remember that in an RPG, you can't start your character in media res like one might be able to do in a novel... you always start at the beginning of the campaign, even if the DM starts the initial adventure in media res (say, the whole party captured and trying to get out of the Abyss).

Another thing to remember, and I know this sounds harsh but it is strictly true even if you play with your best friends: at the table, no one cares about your character's background but you. You need the information to play the character correctly. The DM may need the information to help build adventures having to do with your character (but I would argue, you shouldn't expect the DM to do this or worse demand it). But the other players came to play their characters, and they are focused on their own PC, and not yours. Any table-time spent focused on your PC and her background is not about my PC and his background, and as a player, I'm going to be bored. I didn't come to the session to NOT play my character or to watch you play yours. Therefore, you have to be careful with this sort of super-involved background because you will be tempted to RP about it and nobody else is going to want to RP about it because they just don't care. Again, I know it is harsh, but it is true. (I mean, they might care a little bit, vaguely, after getting to know you and the character for many sessions, but they won't care about it the way you want them to or think they will.)

I think a lot of players, having watched good movies or TV shows or read good novels, get used to the idea of character backgrounds being unraveled slowly, one bit revealed at a time. So they make up an involved, mysterious, special, tragic past, and reveal it a little at a time to the table, thinking it will be as cool for them as our gradually evolving knowledge of Luke Skywalker was in the Star Wars movies. But it's not -- because those movies are entertainment, take place in a couple of hours, and are meant to be watched, not played. If you tried to RP the Luke story sitting at the table with the players of Chewie and Han and Leia and Lando, I guarantee you 100% that every time the GM and Luke's player started RPing long involved crap about his background with Vader, the other players would start rolling their eyes. And Lando, having just joined the game in the second campaign, would turn to Liea's and Han's players and say, "Seriously, you guys just sit around for whole sessions while Mark RPs his character and George RPs this weird old hobbit with the funny voice?" Lando's player would've probably quit the game 2 sessions in, and I wouldn't blame him.

This kind of thing works in a movie, but not an RPG. Billy, Lando's player, came to play Star Wars... not to watch Mark and George play Star Wars.

Similarly, the other players came to play D&D, not to watch you unravel the secret mysterious tragic unknown past of your character little by little over the course of 10 sessions or more. They don't care, won't remember what you said last session, and are not interested in your character's background. They want to RP about what is happening NOW, in game, at this moment, to their character, at the table (or on the Zoom).

"But the players do these involved mysterious tragic past on my favorite D&D show!"

Yup... it's a show. The players at the table know this -- they are playing D&D in front of a (possibly very large, vocal, and demanding) audience. An audience that tuned in to watch. So on a show like Chain of Acheron or Critical Role or Wildcards ETU, the backgrounds are much like those in a novel or a movie, because 99% of the people involved are the audience, which outnumbers the # of players by thousands or tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands). Those players understand the dynamic, and that even if they might rather be playing right now instead of watching, 10,000 people tuned in to watch Adelaide cast her ritual to talk to her dead cat (Wildcards) or Fjord dive down to the secret temple of his Warlock patron (Crit Role) or Judge commune with Asmodeus (Chain), and the audience needs to be given what they want or else the show will end. But unless you are involved in a show, the other players are not there to watch D&D, and no one else is watching, so you shouldn't set your background up in such a way that the other players are turned into unwilling audience members every couple of sessions as you and the DM side-track the entire evening into something about your character.

Always remember this when you get the urge to make up that hyper-cool background. Your fellow players want to play, not watch you play. Do not make up a background that will require the gameplay to be "all about your character."