It really depends on your group on what is cringe and edgelord and what is not. You have to know your audience. For example, I watch horror movies for the jump scares, and that is all it takes to satisfy me; on the other hand, my friends have higher standards and more demands than I do, and they do not really care about jump scares. For D&D backstories, before the campaign officially start, just talk to your group about it during session zero and see what their preferences are. Some people like the more cringey and edgelord stuff while others do not. Some might want vague short backstories while others want more detailed and long ones.
If you find a group that likes the same stuff as you do, then honestly just go ham in your backstory and maybe even have an extended session zero so everyone have extra time to enjoy that one aspect of D&D more. I am not at your table, and probably none of the posters here are either, so do not let any of us decide how you and your group should play and have fun with D&D. There will be haters, naysayers, and snowflake boomers on this forum who think they are so special that D&D revolves around them and only them. If you do listen to them for whatever reason, take their opinions and views with a grain of salt. There are honestly some outdated, irrelevant, and just downright sick and harmful attitudes that some people have, so do not take their advice and word at face value. Just because they might have a group to play in that tolerates or accepts them for the last 40 years does not mean your group will, and not only will they be considered problem players at your table, they are most likely considered problem players in other tables for the last 40 years too.
If your group does not care about backstories too much, you can and still SHOULD write a backstory for your character because it is FUN for YOU and you want to do it. However, as others on here have said, I would also recommend writing a short-summarized version so you are not forcing others to read a novel.
As for both your old and new character back stories, I do not have a huge problem with either of them. That being said, I am not a GM who cares too much about backstory, so you are free to write however much you want or not write one at all at my table, although if you do write a long one, I would appreciate a short summarized version of it. While the queen of air and darkness could potentially be an issue due to her power level interfering with a GM's worldbuilding, if it were at my table, as long as players' homebrew deities do not piss me off, those deities do not have to worry about me exterminating them like gnats.
My two cents on the topic. I think it comes down to character psychology rather than history.
It can be useful to know what specific events shaped your character. However, I think more important to your character's capacity to be interesting is knowing how they think and having a sense of what they would do and what they wouldn't do. Defining limits of their personality and communicating those to your fellow players make a character way more interesting. Having a character have beliefs and moral principles are also really important for making them interesting. From there you ask questions: why do they think that? who game them that token? Why do they know how to speak Elven?
It almost doesn't matter about backstory. Backstory should serve as a means, not to give a character an identity and thereby make them interesting. A backstory should serve to explain how the character, who is already interesting, became interesting. It is the explanation, not the engine of interest.
My favourite and best received character's back story was : noble who was scouted for the Royal Guard of Cormyr, seconded to the lord's alliance. She was/is interesting, but that backstory isn't particularly stunning. But the character had a number of really interesting, tiny details. Like she wears a silver brooch of her family crest carved by ancient dwarves. I don't think that plot point came up directly, but it surely informed how she treated dwarves, just as her position as a noble, and therefore a pillar of the bastion of civiilisation, informed how she treated monsterous races. This was before the whole "orcs are people" debate, but as a matter of fact (and rationally derived from my guesses how someone charged with defending the realm from monster incursions, including orcish warbands) she thought they were savage brutes. Which is also interesting as it meant that her treatment of people could differ wildly based on how she perceived them. That's interesting character building, if I may be so self-serving. That a character is very courteous as a matter of principle but then talk incredibly condescendingly to the half-orc ranger and praise him for overcoming his savage heritage is interesting. In the parlance of our YouTube times: that's content.
A person who can talk to plants is interesting. But I'm interested how this person treats people. Specifically, what their view would be on farmers or people who intentionally cultivate and reap plants. I'm interested in how that person sets up camps and what rules they have regarding setting up a fire. I'm interested in their diet: would such a person be strictly carniverous? After all, plants are their friends. Or do they have rituals of thanksgiving for plants that must be observed? Sure, their motivation for adventure is important, but that's not really a huge obsticle.
If you have questions, or can cause other people to ask questions about your character and how they fit into the world: that's interesting. If a character is Stabby McMurderface whose entire family is dead? That's not interesting. I know how that character is going to react and I can intuit their place in the world. Unless you establish boundaries on such a character, it won't be interesting. But even Stabby McMurderface can be interesting if you do. Like Stabby might have a creed or a ruleset that explains who can be stabbed and who must never be stabbed. Why Stabby decided to take up the life of stabbing can also be interesting. That Stabby's entire family was butchered and there began Stabby's campaign of revenge against the world is not interesting. Not unless you can tell me whom against and why they want revenge.
Anyhow. That's my two cents. Don't focus on backstory, focus on character: focus on the little details that make your character a person and an individual. The rest will come naturally.
what I always find amusing is the player who brings a 20 page backstory and history for his 24 year old human character. Way back when I may have actually told a player, this is great, but you have written the backstory to a level 16 character we are starting at level 1 so I am sorry your going to have to wait to play him.
Now an elf player, brining me his background for his 150 year old elf, I dont mind of it is a little more involved, but I am still careful to make sure there is no experiance in there that makes the player more experienced then they should be.
Considering either one of them (24 yo human or 150 yo elf) could have the Soldier background and have served two tours in a war prior to 1st level…. What’s “more experienced than they should be” supposed to be?
If you consider that 2-3 fights at level 1 gets you to that next level then for me personally there needs to be a clear reason why after serving 2 tours and fighting many enemies they are not more “experienced” in game terms.
But I am generally talking about players (and I have had this) who give me a story about how parents where killed, they spent 2 years planning and plotting and them avenges that murder, they then met the love of their life, married, she was killed or kidnapped or cursed, they avenged her and so now they are here having lost everything twice.
I will say it one more time. If I had to choose between a player who said "I am just starting out as an adventurer", but knows the rules cold, and realizes their char is there to complement the group's objectives, versus someone who gives me a 2 page treatise on the injustices against their family, how they are actually royalty, "here is a picture of my char", but does not know the rules of the game, I know which one I would take every time.
Hell, even if they knew the rules equally well, I would still take the player not interested in a background for their char. That person seems to be me more invested in the group as a whole as opposed to the other one throwing up flags that say "I will need me-time in the game".
I will say it one more time. Who the **** asked for two gorram pages?!? I don’t want 2 ****ing pages.
All I asked for was 3 little sentences.
One little sentence. Two little sentences. Three little sentences. Ha ha ha….
(It’s the same number of sentences as the number of licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.)
that right there is a rarified reference.
Which one, The Count from Sesame St., or the Tootsie Pop?
If you consider that 2-3 fights at level 1 gets you to that next level then for me personally there needs to be a clear reason why after serving 2 tours and fighting many enemies they are not more “experienced” in game terms.
The difference between level nothing and level one is quite staggering: one or more class abilities, at least four skill proficiencies, proficiency with at least a handful of weapons and potentially all of them as well as shield and armor proficiencies. The difference between level 1 and level 2 is a whole lot smaller. Plus, "Soldier" is an actual, official background and it's not the only one that suggests already having had significant experience prior to becoming a lvl 1 adventurer - Criminal, Outlander, Gladiator, Urchin, all of these to me are pretty likely to have done a lot more in their pre-adventuring days than they will do going from lvl 1 to lvl 2.
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I will say it one more time. If I had to choose between a player who said "I am just starting out as an adventurer", but knows the rules cold, and realizes their char is there to complement the group's objectives, versus someone who gives me a 2 page treatise on the injustices against their family, how they are actually royalty, "here is a picture of my char", but does not know the rules of the game, I know which one I would take every time.
Hell, even if they knew the rules equally well, I would still take the player not interested in a background for their char. That person seems to be me more invested in the group as a whole as opposed to the other one throwing up flags that say "I will need me-time in the game".
I will say it one more time. Who the **** asked for two gorram pages?!? I don’t want 2 ****ing pages.
All I asked for was 3 little sentences.
One little sentence. Two little sentences. Three little sentences. Ha ha ha….
(It’s the same number of sentences as the number of licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.)
that right there is a rarified reference.
Which one, The Count from Sesame St., or the Tootsie Pop?
both I have to say.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
It turns out that when I went for session 0 yesterday that the whole group had made squishy casters that were no good in a fight. The group needed a decent tank who could hold enemies attention while the rest (all ranged caters, with two specialised healers) pummelled them with magic. The rest of the group also had better concepts and characters for their casters than mine, so I asked the DM if I could make a different character that better fit the group's needs. She said yes, and I spent about an hour making a paladin.
I still want to play Sifa, though, so I might try to remake her to be suitable for AL so that I can play her as and when I have the time.
I will post in the stories and lore forum about my new character and then edit this post to link you guys to it so that you can see what I ended up with after all.
XD
edit: as promised, here is my post about the character that I have ultimately ended up with after session 0 and seeing what everyone else had made, and learning more about the world we will be playing in. Misao Mei Ling
People who've had adventures in real history, tend to start off as sailors, soldiers, runaways, or vagabonds. They might luck their way into some gang of pirates or criminals, or find themselves behind enemy lines with a thousand mile trek to get home.
What if your characters are living average medieval lives when they get co-opted into some war by some tyrannical warlord? Or what if they're tricked into going on an 'adventure' by an unscrupulous sea captain? What if they're travelling on board a ship that gets wrecked on a jungle coastline? Or what if they're just farmers and blacksmiths in a village that gets overrun by some rival tribe? And from there they'll use their natural talents in magic, fighting, or thievery to make their way through whatever the gods throw at them.
Not that I'm casting aspersions on backstories - but it feels a little artificial for characters to want to become adventurers as some kind of way to make a living, because that's not how adventures happen.
This is how I structure my stories as a dm assuming a group of people who find themselves in a series of situations that make them then become advetntures
People who've had adventures in real history, tend to start off as sailors, soldiers, runaways, or vagabonds. They might luck their way into some gang of pirates or criminals, or find themselves behind enemy lines with a thousand mile trek to get home.
What if your characters are living average medieval lives when they get co-opted into some war by some tyrannical warlord? Or what if they're tricked into going on an 'adventure' by an unscrupulous sea captain? What if they're travelling on board a ship that gets wrecked on a jungle coastline? Or what if they're just farmers and blacksmiths in a village that gets overrun by some rival tribe? And from there they'll use their natural talents in magic, fighting, or thievery to make their way through whatever the gods throw at them.
Not that I'm casting aspersions on backstories - but it feels a little artificial for characters to want to become adventurers as some kind of way to make a living, because that's not how adventures happen.
Not that I'm casting aspersions on backstories - but it feels a little artificial for characters to want to become adventurers as some kind of way to make a living, because that's not how adventures happen.
Historically there are countless examples of people who though "this life is boring, I want adventure!" Of course, many of those people turned to soldiering, seafaring or vagabonding to sate their lust for adventure so yes, that is very much how adventures can happen.
People who've had adventures in real history, tend to start off as sailors, soldiers, runaways, or vagabonds. They might luck their way into some gang of pirates or criminals, or find themselves behind enemy lines with a thousand mile trek to get home.
What if your characters are living average medieval lives when they get co-opted into some war by some tyrannical warlord? Or what if they're tricked into going on an 'adventure' by an unscrupulous sea captain? What if they're travelling on board a ship that gets wrecked on a jungle coastline? Or what if they're just farmers and blacksmiths in a village that gets overrun by some rival tribe? And from there they'll use their natural talents in magic, fighting, or thievery to make their way through whatever the gods throw at them.
Not that I'm casting aspersions on backstories - but it feels a little artificial for characters to want to become adventurers as some kind of way to make a living, because that's not how adventures happen.
In real life, you may be right, although that is subject to historical interpretation. Did Julius Caesar do this, or was his goal the collection of fortune and political power? Did the Borgia Popes not plot their way into the popedom?
In the fantasy genre, it is common for the main character to dream of being a great wizard or fighter or rogue, although it is also common for the main character to get dragged into it unwillingly, be they a simple hobbit from the Shire or a farm boy from Emond's Field, far away from everything...
I have been thinking more about the character concept that I made for my character, Sifa Celestine. After considering what you all had to say about my original character concept, I have decided that I need to change it. I aged the character up to the point where she’s middle aged. I then made her a single mother who has two adult children who have already left home to start lives and families of their own. Then I said that because she never married, and, with her children gone, she starts to feel bored and lonely and begins to spend more and more time in her garden looking after her plants.
Eventually she started talking to them and to her surprise they talked back.
What surprised her the most though was that she could actually understand them and have a conversation with them.
That backstory seems to stupid and boring though. There is no real excitement in it, no drama or trauma or anything like that and it’s not very long either. It’s basically the backstory of a lonely middle aged woman who discovers she can talk to plants and then goes on an adventure for some reason. I had this idea that she goes on an adventure to learn more about the powers she’s discovering she has, but that just seems like a stupid and boring idea.
I’ve been trying to make a character and a backstory that’s normal and not a total cringe fest like the last one but I’m really struggling because I feel like it’s either stupid or boring and when I try to make it exciting and full of lore and stuff, it feels like I’ve wrote the backstory of an edgelord.
How do you make boring backstories like this cool and interesting, without being cringe or turning your character into an edgelord?
Thanks
XD
I love this, its sounds quirky. Keep it simple and basic, a few pages of basic info for the DM to get an idea of your character. But I'd add what her goals are, so the DM can try to tie and weave your character into the story.
For example, I created a character who's parents were still alive (no story of woe), he was from a clan and his goal was to set out and prove his worth and graduate to a warrior. In order to do this, he needed to hunt down a Bear, take the hide and teeth and make an amulet before returning. Basically a Barbarian Dwarf hitting level 3 Bear Totem, at this point he would be known as a Bear Warrior. His other goals were to make a name for himself (which would reflect highly on his clan) and help to make his clan and settlement prosper by bringing back gold and trophies. His weakness is that he has never been alone, and has always had company. Simple, no edginess or stories of woe. Plus during his adventures (campaigns) my character would develop from his experiences. So far he now finds magical substances suspicious, has found a silver weapon and named it after its previous owner and has a fancy hat from a dead pirate captain he killed.
I would love to know what you did to your character in the end and what class and race you chose (please let me know).
I have been thinking more about the character concept that I made for my character, Sifa Celestine. After considering what you all had to say about my original character concept, I have decided that I need to change it. I aged the character up to the point where she’s middle aged. I then made her a single mother who has two adult children who have already left home to start lives and families of their own. Then I said that because she never married, and, with her children gone, she starts to feel bored and lonely and begins to spend more and more time in her garden looking after her plants.
Eventually she started talking to them and to her surprise they talked back.
What surprised her the most though was that she could actually understand them and have a conversation with them.
That backstory seems to stupid and boring though. There is no real excitement in it, no drama or trauma or anything like that and it’s not very long either. It’s basically the backstory of a lonely middle aged woman who discovers she can talk to plants and then goes on an adventure for some reason. I had this idea that she goes on an adventure to learn more about the powers she’s discovering she has, but that just seems like a stupid and boring idea.
I’ve been trying to make a character and a backstory that’s normal and not a total cringe fest like the last one but I’m really struggling because I feel like it’s either stupid or boring and when I try to make it exciting and full of lore and stuff, it feels like I’ve wrote the backstory of an edgelord.
How do you make boring backstories like this cool and interesting, without being cringe or turning your character into an edgelord?
Thanks
XD
I love this, its sounds quirky. Keep it simple and basic, a few pages of basic info for the DM to get an idea of your character. But I'd add what her goals are, so the DM can try to tie and weave your character into the story.
For example, I created a character who's parents were still alive (no story of woe), he was from a clan and his goal was to set out and prove his worth and graduate to a warrior. In order to do this, he needed to hunt down a Bear, take the hide and teeth and make an amulet before returning. Basically a Barbarian Dwarf hitting level 3 Bear Totem, at this point he would be known as a Bear Warrior. His other goals were to make a name for himself (which would reflect highly on his clan) and help to make his clan and settlement prosper by bringing back gold and trophies. His weakness is that he has never been alone, and has always had company. Simple, no edginess or stories of woe. Plus during his adventures (campaigns) my character would develop from his experiences. So far he now finds magical substances suspicious, has found a silver weapon and named it after its previous owner and has a fancy hat from a dead pirate captain he killed.
I would love to know what you did to your character in the end and what class and race you chose (please let me know).
She was going to be a Druid of The Circle of Dreams. However, at session 0 it became apparent that my group needed a tank. They had also come up with better characters than Sifa and had a better idea of who their characters were, so I made a different character. I am try and rework Sifa to make her AL legal, so that I can still play her as and when I get the chance.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
New to this site but have been dabbling in D&D for a while now and decided to find a community. This seemed like a good place to start.
The key to making a good character and backstory in my opinion is an arc. It doesn't need to be fully flushed out at the start, as the DM cannot predict how you will act or what will occur that will change your character's perception of the world. You cannot either. If you want a truly reactive and evolving character a rigidly structured backstory (or origin story) can actually hamper you. This is one of the problems that can arise with an edgy or vengeance-driven background which is often the go-to can actually be stifling, as a single goal is less flexible for you and the DM to work with. The idea that a character's motivation has to involve a chip on their shoulder or some great burden need not exists.
You can have an excellently crafted backstory but you don't actually need to expressly state it to anybody aside from the DM. You can flush out their backstory and origins through the actual campaign during the moments between combat, interactions with the other players. It is the difference between an exposition dump and a well-weaved story. the background can be in-depth but keep it simple to start and reveal as you go through actions that would entice the other players to ask about your character and how they behave. Make them interested and then they will ask about your character's past as the player will become interested in it, having their character now tied to them. A mix of less edgy stories is a good counterpoint to other characters. The retired gardening mother is the most interesting character in a group of battle-hardened war vets, who all have similar experiences and expertise.
If your DM is into it they can use events to promote social interactions with the group during travel or conversations occur between groups at the changing of the guard for example. These are great chances for individual characters to form relations and give information in a way that isn't an information dump.
Anyway back to your original post. The idea you have is fantastic and very flexible.
She's a mother of adult children who are no longer with her. That in itself is a powerful motivation that could fuel non-violent or aggressive behavior depending on how protective a mother is. If her kids had families perhaps she simply wanted to go and visit her grandchildren and got sucked into an adventure along the way.
For example:
One day while talking to the plants in her garden a tulip whispers the name of her children to her and then withers away. That night she has dreams of her children, they are vague but vivid. She is contacted by a spiritual entity that tells her to tend to her "Garden" which means her children or family and they need her. It tells her to find her children to follow its children the flowers and trees. She is shown a particularly vivid wild looking flower that tells her to seek it out.
When she awakens her druidic magic has unlocked and she sees the world a bit differently, as she has been touched by the circle of the dreams. The flower from her dreams sits amongst the others in her garden. She speaks to it and it tells her cryptically a direction to go and to look out for these flowers that only she can see to lead her to her goal. It warns the path is dangerous and she will need the help of others to make the journey.
Not edgy, but still a compelling story of why she would take on a potential life of hardship and why without years of training she would have druidic magic aptitude. The flowers would also give the DM and you a way to direct and justify a normally not necessarily brave or explorative person to go into locations they would generally avoid. Anything for the love of a child after all. It could also allow a way for the DM to speak directly to your character through plants as needed.
Alternatively, mushrooms and fungi actually are connected through networks, and swapping trees, plants, and dreams for learning of potential trouble from fungi could lead her to be a druid of spores.
If you wanted to go edgy later on it's as easy as making the entity that told her to go on the journey have ulterior motives or introduce a tragedy later on with the help of the DM if you are craving that edge and a character pivot.
Perhaps this kindly druidic mother's children are never really defined beyond being her daughters, and the rest of the party finds out later that she is actually a hag. The children she had are her two daughters that form her coven and that is why she is concerned for them. Also explains her magical abilities more if needed.
I hope you use this character concept in the future. I think it's a great start with a lot of potential to avoid cliche! Lots of plot twists and ways you could build her.
Think of what motivates people of all types to do things in real life. Any of those can be viable for a character, don't feel too boxed in by the need to be epic out of the gate.
A small comment on party composition. This is just my opinion but a party should not need specific composition. If you have a DM who's highly experienced or into homebrew, this problem does not exist. The story and enjoyment of the game should not be stifled by mechanics in my opinion. If you lack healers ohh look you found a crate that fell off the back of a wagon. Wow it's filled with healing potions! how fortunate. If a party is squishy you can just give them an NPC or a pet that serves to be little more than a meatshield and weave it into the story based on the setting or characters' backstory. I however know that not everybody is into that sort of thing due to balance issues, but that sorts itself out with time and experience. Like is said that is just my opinion.
For example: if you had used the druid and the party was a bag of squish, she finds a seedling that grows into a tiny tree person who resembles one of the kids. It cannot attack but it regenerates life every turn making it somewhat resilient and can be used to draw enemy attention, maybe it can grapple too. Depends on what you need. When the party grows to a point it's not needed anymore it simply withers away or has an event occur that justifies why it disappears. Perhaps this signifies time is running out and something bad is happening to her kids strengthening her resolve or it's a moment of heartfelt sacrifice for the party that allows them to escape a situation where they bit off more than they could chew.
The first couple of levels can be very unsafe so sometimes a party needs a helping hand until they get their teamwork together.
Anyway hope some folks find this somewhat helpful.
Thanks for your reply IamSteelKittens and welcome to DDB. I really like your answer and will come back to it again after I have had time to fully read it and formulate a proper response. I wanted to give you a quick reply right away though so that you didn’t think that you had taken all that time to create such a wonderful reply for nothing.
It really depends on your group on what is cringe and edgelord and what is not. You have to know your audience. For example, I watch horror movies for the jump scares, and that is all it takes to satisfy me; on the other hand, my friends have higher standards and more demands than I do, and they do not really care about jump scares. For D&D backstories, before the campaign officially start, just talk to your group about it during session zero and see what their preferences are. Some people like the more cringey and edgelord stuff while others do not. Some might want vague short backstories while others want more detailed and long ones.
If you find a group that likes the same stuff as you do, then honestly just go ham in your backstory and maybe even have an extended session zero so everyone have extra time to enjoy that one aspect of D&D more. I am not at your table, and probably none of the posters here are either, so do not let any of us decide how you and your group should play and have fun with D&D. There will be haters, naysayers, and snowflake boomers on this forum who think they are so special that D&D revolves around them and only them. If you do listen to them for whatever reason, take their opinions and views with a grain of salt. There are honestly some outdated, irrelevant, and just downright sick and harmful attitudes that some people have, so do not take their advice and word at face value. Just because they might have a group to play in that tolerates or accepts them for the last 40 years does not mean your group will, and not only will they be considered problem players at your table, they are most likely considered problem players in other tables for the last 40 years too.
If your group does not care about backstories too much, you can and still SHOULD write a backstory for your character because it is FUN for YOU and you want to do it. However, as others on here have said, I would also recommend writing a short-summarized version so you are not forcing others to read a novel.
As for both your old and new character back stories, I do not have a huge problem with either of them. That being said, I am not a GM who cares too much about backstory, so you are free to write however much you want or not write one at all at my table, although if you do write a long one, I would appreciate a short summarized version of it. While the queen of air and darkness could potentially be an issue due to her power level interfering with a GM's worldbuilding, if it were at my table, as long as players' homebrew deities do not piss me off, those deities do not have to worry about me exterminating them like gnats.
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My two cents on the topic. I think it comes down to character psychology rather than history.
It can be useful to know what specific events shaped your character. However, I think more important to your character's capacity to be interesting is knowing how they think and having a sense of what they would do and what they wouldn't do. Defining limits of their personality and communicating those to your fellow players make a character way more interesting. Having a character have beliefs and moral principles are also really important for making them interesting. From there you ask questions: why do they think that? who game them that token? Why do they know how to speak Elven?
It almost doesn't matter about backstory. Backstory should serve as a means, not to give a character an identity and thereby make them interesting. A backstory should serve to explain how the character, who is already interesting, became interesting. It is the explanation, not the engine of interest.
My favourite and best received character's back story was : noble who was scouted for the Royal Guard of Cormyr, seconded to the lord's alliance. She was/is interesting, but that backstory isn't particularly stunning. But the character had a number of really interesting, tiny details. Like she wears a silver brooch of her family crest carved by ancient dwarves. I don't think that plot point came up directly, but it surely informed how she treated dwarves, just as her position as a noble, and therefore a pillar of the bastion of civiilisation, informed how she treated monsterous races. This was before the whole "orcs are people" debate, but as a matter of fact (and rationally derived from my guesses how someone charged with defending the realm from monster incursions, including orcish warbands) she thought they were savage brutes. Which is also interesting as it meant that her treatment of people could differ wildly based on how she perceived them. That's interesting character building, if I may be so self-serving. That a character is very courteous as a matter of principle but then talk incredibly condescendingly to the half-orc ranger and praise him for overcoming his savage heritage is interesting. In the parlance of our YouTube times: that's content.
A person who can talk to plants is interesting. But I'm interested how this person treats people. Specifically, what their view would be on farmers or people who intentionally cultivate and reap plants. I'm interested in how that person sets up camps and what rules they have regarding setting up a fire. I'm interested in their diet: would such a person be strictly carniverous? After all, plants are their friends. Or do they have rituals of thanksgiving for plants that must be observed? Sure, their motivation for adventure is important, but that's not really a huge obsticle.
If you have questions, or can cause other people to ask questions about your character and how they fit into the world: that's interesting. If a character is Stabby McMurderface whose entire family is dead? That's not interesting. I know how that character is going to react and I can intuit their place in the world. Unless you establish boundaries on such a character, it won't be interesting. But even Stabby McMurderface can be interesting if you do. Like Stabby might have a creed or a ruleset that explains who can be stabbed and who must never be stabbed. Why Stabby decided to take up the life of stabbing can also be interesting. That Stabby's entire family was butchered and there began Stabby's campaign of revenge against the world is not interesting. Not unless you can tell me whom against and why they want revenge.
Anyhow. That's my two cents. Don't focus on backstory, focus on character: focus on the little details that make your character a person and an individual. The rest will come naturally.
Motor pool.
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Which one, The Count from Sesame St., or the Tootsie Pop?
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The difference between level nothing and level one is quite staggering: one or more class abilities, at least four skill proficiencies, proficiency with at least a handful of weapons and potentially all of them as well as shield and armor proficiencies. The difference between level 1 and level 2 is a whole lot smaller. Plus, "Soldier" is an actual, official background and it's not the only one that suggests already having had significant experience prior to becoming a lvl 1 adventurer - Criminal, Outlander, Gladiator, Urchin, all of these to me are pretty likely to have done a lot more in their pre-adventuring days than they will do going from lvl 1 to lvl 2.
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both I have to say.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Thanks for all your replies, guys.
It turns out that when I went for session 0 yesterday that the whole group had made squishy casters that were no good in a fight. The group needed a decent tank who could hold enemies attention while the rest (all ranged caters, with two specialised healers) pummelled them with magic. The rest of the group also had better concepts and characters for their casters than mine, so I asked the DM if I could make a different character that better fit the group's needs. She said yes, and I spent about an hour making a paladin.
I still want to play Sifa, though, so I might try to remake her to be suitable for AL so that I can play her as and when I have the time.
I will post in the stories and lore forum about my new character and then edit this post to link you guys to it so that you can see what I ended up with after all.
XD
edit: as promised, here is my post about the character that I have ultimately ended up with after session 0 and seeing what everyone else had made, and learning more about the world we will be playing in. Misao Mei Ling
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
What if there's no such thing as an 'adventurer'?
People who've had adventures in real history, tend to start off as sailors, soldiers, runaways, or vagabonds. They might luck their way into some gang of pirates or criminals, or find themselves behind enemy lines with a thousand mile trek to get home.
What if your characters are living average medieval lives when they get co-opted into some war by some tyrannical warlord? Or what if they're tricked into going on an 'adventure' by an unscrupulous sea captain? What if they're travelling on board a ship that gets wrecked on a jungle coastline? Or what if they're just farmers and blacksmiths in a village that gets overrun by some rival tribe? And from there they'll use their natural talents in magic, fighting, or thievery to make their way through whatever the gods throw at them.
Not that I'm casting aspersions on backstories - but it feels a little artificial for characters to want to become adventurers as some kind of way to make a living, because that's not how adventures happen.
This is how I structure my stories as a dm assuming a group of people who find themselves in a series of situations that make them then become advetntures
It can be. Both are valid.
Historically there are countless examples of people who though "this life is boring, I want adventure!" Of course, many of those people turned to soldiering, seafaring or vagabonding to sate their lust for adventure so yes, that is very much how adventures can happen.
In real life, you may be right, although that is subject to historical interpretation. Did Julius Caesar do this, or was his goal the collection of fortune and political power? Did the Borgia Popes not plot their way into the popedom?
In the fantasy genre, it is common for the main character to dream of being a great wizard or fighter or rogue, although it is also common for the main character to get dragged into it unwillingly, be they a simple hobbit from the Shire or a farm boy from Emond's Field, far away from everything...
Most original and refreshing back story I can remember. If you want to play an edgelord, go ham, just remember to laugh at how comical it is.
I love this, its sounds quirky.
Keep it simple and basic, a few pages of basic info for the DM to get an idea of your character. But I'd add what her goals are, so the DM can try to tie and weave your character into the story.
For example, I created a character who's parents were still alive (no story of woe), he was from a clan and his goal was to set out and prove his worth and graduate to a warrior. In order to do this, he needed to hunt down a Bear, take the hide and teeth and make an amulet before returning. Basically a Barbarian Dwarf hitting level 3 Bear Totem, at this point he would be known as a Bear Warrior. His other goals were to make a name for himself (which would reflect highly on his clan) and help to make his clan and settlement prosper by bringing back gold and trophies. His weakness is that he has never been alone, and has always had company.
Simple, no edginess or stories of woe. Plus during his adventures (campaigns) my character would develop from his experiences. So far he now finds magical substances suspicious, has found a silver weapon and named it after its previous owner and has a fancy hat from a dead pirate captain he killed.
I would love to know what you did to your character in the end and what class and race you chose (please let me know).
She was going to be a Druid of The Circle of Dreams. However, at session 0 it became apparent that my group needed a tank. They had also come up with better characters than Sifa and had a better idea of who their characters were, so I made a different character. I am try and rework Sifa to make her AL legal, so that I can still play her as and when I get the chance.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Hello,
New to this site but have been dabbling in D&D for a while now and decided to find a community. This seemed like a good place to start.
The key to making a good character and backstory in my opinion is an arc. It doesn't need to be fully flushed out at the start, as the DM cannot predict how you will act or what will occur that will change your character's perception of the world. You cannot either. If you want a truly reactive and evolving character a rigidly structured backstory (or origin story) can actually hamper you. This is one of the problems that can arise with an edgy or vengeance-driven background which is often the go-to can actually be stifling, as a single goal is less flexible for you and the DM to work with. The idea that a character's motivation has to involve a chip on their shoulder or some great burden need not exists.
You can have an excellently crafted backstory but you don't actually need to expressly state it to anybody aside from the DM. You can flush out their backstory and origins through the actual campaign during the moments between combat, interactions with the other players. It is the difference between an exposition dump and a well-weaved story. the background can be in-depth but keep it simple to start and reveal as you go through actions that would entice the other players to ask about your character and how they behave. Make them interested and then they will ask about your character's past as the player will become interested in it, having their character now tied to them. A mix of less edgy stories is a good counterpoint to other characters. The retired gardening mother is the most interesting character in a group of battle-hardened war vets, who all have similar experiences and expertise.
If your DM is into it they can use events to promote social interactions with the group during travel or conversations occur between groups at the changing of the guard for example. These are great chances for individual characters to form relations and give information in a way that isn't an information dump.
Anyway back to your original post. The idea you have is fantastic and very flexible.
She's a mother of adult children who are no longer with her. That in itself is a powerful motivation that could fuel non-violent or aggressive behavior depending on how protective a mother is. If her kids had families perhaps she simply wanted to go and visit her grandchildren and got sucked into an adventure along the way.
For example:
One day while talking to the plants in her garden a tulip whispers the name of her children to her and then withers away. That night she has dreams of her children, they are vague but vivid. She is contacted by a spiritual entity that tells her to tend to her "Garden" which means her children or family and they need her. It tells her to find her children to follow its children the flowers and trees. She is shown a particularly vivid wild looking flower that tells her to seek it out.
When she awakens her druidic magic has unlocked and she sees the world a bit differently, as she has been touched by the circle of the dreams. The flower from her dreams sits amongst the others in her garden. She speaks to it and it tells her cryptically a direction to go and to look out for these flowers that only she can see to lead her to her goal. It warns the path is dangerous and she will need the help of others to make the journey.
Not edgy, but still a compelling story of why she would take on a potential life of hardship and why without years of training she would have druidic magic aptitude. The flowers would also give the DM and you a way to direct and justify a normally not necessarily brave or explorative person to go into locations they would generally avoid. Anything for the love of a child after all. It could also allow a way for the DM to speak directly to your character through plants as needed.
Alternatively, mushrooms and fungi actually are connected through networks, and swapping trees, plants, and dreams for learning of potential trouble from fungi could lead her to be a druid of spores.
If you wanted to go edgy later on it's as easy as making the entity that told her to go on the journey have ulterior motives or introduce a tragedy later on with the help of the DM if you are craving that edge and a character pivot.
Perhaps this kindly druidic mother's children are never really defined beyond being her daughters, and the rest of the party finds out later that she is actually a hag. The children she had are her two daughters that form her coven and that is why she is concerned for them. Also explains her magical abilities more if needed.
I hope you use this character concept in the future. I think it's a great start with a lot of potential to avoid cliche! Lots of plot twists and ways you could build her.
Think of what motivates people of all types to do things in real life. Any of those can be viable for a character, don't feel too boxed in by the need to be epic out of the gate.
A small comment on party composition. This is just my opinion but a party should not need specific composition. If you have a DM who's highly experienced or into homebrew, this problem does not exist. The story and enjoyment of the game should not be stifled by mechanics in my opinion. If you lack healers ohh look you found a crate that fell off the back of a wagon. Wow it's filled with healing potions! how fortunate. If a party is squishy you can just give them an NPC or a pet that serves to be little more than a meatshield and weave it into the story based on the setting or characters' backstory. I however know that not everybody is into that sort of thing due to balance issues, but that sorts itself out with time and experience. Like is said that is just my opinion.
For example: if you had used the druid and the party was a bag of squish, she finds a seedling that grows into a tiny tree person who resembles one of the kids. It cannot attack but it regenerates life every turn making it somewhat resilient and can be used to draw enemy attention, maybe it can grapple too. Depends on what you need. When the party grows to a point it's not needed anymore it simply withers away or has an event occur that justifies why it disappears. Perhaps this signifies time is running out and something bad is happening to her kids strengthening her resolve or it's a moment of heartfelt sacrifice for the party that allows them to escape a situation where they bit off more than they could chew.
The first couple of levels can be very unsafe so sometimes a party needs a helping hand until they get their teamwork together.
Anyway hope some folks find this somewhat helpful.
Cheers
Thanks for your reply IamSteelKittens and welcome to DDB. I really like your answer and will come back to it again after I have had time to fully read it and formulate a proper response. I wanted to give you a quick reply right away though so that you didn’t think that you had taken all that time to create such a wonderful reply for nothing.
Thanks
Forge
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.