I'd have to say my most recent character. She's a Fire Genasi who was adopted just to make her adoptive family look good, and is treated terribly behind closed doors.
Among other fields, my legal portfolio contains cases of serious abuse and neglect, as well as involuntary civil commitment. On any given day, I likely see horrors beyond what most folks can imagine.
One of my current characters is born of that experience - his backstory is filled with severe trauma, gaslighting, and violence drawn from my professional experiences - the details of which almost certainly would earn a forum ban. However, that is not the most important part of his character. As someone who works in a field defined by dark backstories, I also get the experience of seeing people who get the help they need, and the hard work of dedicated individuals who help those afflicted by horror come out the other side. Mental health professionals, foster parents, CPS workers. The unsung heroes often overlooked due to the focus on the monsters they save children from.
The character is an homage to them - he has experienced things darker than most people can come up with in imagination, but was rescued by someone who took him out of that environment, adopted him as his own, and got him the help he needs to move forward. Starting his journey, he still holds scars from that past, but, like so many in the real world, his Dark Backstory (TM) shapes him, but does not exclusively define him.
Should be an interesting character to play, with a very different take on something that has become a bit of a cliche within TTRPGs.
One of my more SFW stories (others include just some very dark themes) is about a sea elf who was enlisted in the royal navy, and rose in the ranks with natural aptitude and charisma. He eventually reached the highest rank and was generally well liked although he never cared for elite circles. At the peak though, a pirate began scourging the seas and he was tasked with hunting them down. When we finally came across them, they turned out to be a pirate queen, and not just that, but it was his childhood friend he had left behind years ago when he enlisted in the navy. Naturally, the flames of desire ignited and he let her go. They managed to run into each other a few more times, in each instance she somehow got away. They knew it was borrowed time, so they hatched a plan to run away together. When the time came, they were to meet in a special, but remote spot along the shore. However, someone had heard of their plans and turned them in, and as he went to the cave to meet her, they were set upon by the royal guard and taken back to the capital. They were both sentenced to be executed, but when the day came he was granted a pardon without explanation (later revealed to be the work of the princess for her own reasons) but he was forced to watch the pirate queen's execution.
He was sure he was going to be decommisioned anyway, so he planned to leave himself, but before he could leave new came that the princess had fled and despite reservations, he was sent out with others, to find the princess. Eventually he did find her, but their ship was assaulted on the return trip, pulled through the depths into another realm, where they spent a few years working on a plan to get back...
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I'd have to say my most recent character. She's a Fire Genasi who was adopted just to make her adoptive family look good, and is treated terribly behind closed doors.
Among other fields, my legal portfolio contains cases of serious abuse and neglect, as well as involuntary civil commitment. On any given day, I likely see horrors beyond what most folks can imagine.
One of my current characters is born of that experience - his backstory is filled with severe trauma, gaslighting, and violence drawn from my professional experiences - the details of which almost certainly would earn a forum ban. However, that is not the most important part of his character. As someone who works in a field defined by dark backstories, I also get the experience of seeing people who get the help they need, and the hard work of dedicated individuals who help those afflicted by horror come out the other side. Mental health professionals, foster parents, CPS workers. The unsung heroes often overlooked due to the focus on the monsters they save children from.
The character is an homage to them - he has experienced things darker than most people can come up with in imagination, but was rescued by someone who took him out of that environment, adopted him as his own, and got him the help he needs to move forward. Starting his journey, he still holds scars from that past, but, like so many in the real world, his Dark Backstory (TM) shapes him, but does not exclusively define him.
Should be an interesting character to play, with a very different take on something that has become a bit of a cliche within TTRPGs.
One of my more SFW stories (others include just some very dark themes) is about a sea elf who was enlisted in the royal navy, and rose in the ranks with natural aptitude and charisma. He eventually reached the highest rank and was generally well liked although he never cared for elite circles. At the peak though, a pirate began scourging the seas and he was tasked with hunting them down. When we finally came across them, they turned out to be a pirate queen, and not just that, but it was his childhood friend he had left behind years ago when he enlisted in the navy. Naturally, the flames of desire ignited and he let her go. They managed to run into each other a few more times, in each instance she somehow got away. They knew it was borrowed time, so they hatched a plan to run away together. When the time came, they were to meet in a special, but remote spot along the shore. However, someone had heard of their plans and turned them in, and as he went to the cave to meet her, they were set upon by the royal guard and taken back to the capital. They were both sentenced to be executed, but when the day came he was granted a pardon without explanation (later revealed to be the work of the princess for her own reasons) but he was forced to watch the pirate queen's execution.
He was sure he was going to be decommisioned anyway, so he planned to leave himself, but before he could leave new came that the princess had fled and despite reservations, he was sent out with others, to find the princess. Eventually he did find her, but their ship was assaulted on the return trip, pulled through the depths into another realm, where they spent a few years working on a plan to get back...