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.
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.