I would use my background as inspiration for sure. Using my three PbP characters below I'd list their goals as follows:
Lerithyn - As a Kor banished from his homeland he has ties there that he must rekindle. Its been 10 years since he's seen his tribe and he left on bad terms. He'd like to fix what he broke and retrieve a stash of items he had left behind. He'd also like to learn the secret art of stone enchantment that the Kor are known for - It'll make any future as an Artificer much more fulfilling.
Kayn - Kayn is a noble of Luskan that's been knighted by the Temple of Tempus. Ultimately he'd like to clean up his city, but that's far-fetched as far as Luskan is concerned. An immediate goal would be to bring honor to the Temple in war or a great conflict. He has a wife-to-be, so he also wants to marry (with the temple's blessing) - But he fears his children may fall to the temptations of evil that Luskan seems to breed.
Lero - A pirate's life is hard sometimes but Lero is torn between a lover waiting for him in port and the appeal of the skyship he sails on. An immediate goal would be to captain his own ship in service of the Renegades. Ultimately he wants the oppressive Consulate to be overthrown and the leaders of the Renegades to take control of the flow of Aether. At some point he may want to settle down with Lillith, but that goal cannot be accomplished until the Consulate and what it stands for is overthrown.
When designing a character, you need to separate the character's goals and motivations into two separate piles.
Background Drivers are the story things that fit into epic plotlines. Your sister was kidnapped by a vampire and you want to find her, your family was disgraced by a blue dragon disguised as a noble, you want to avenge your friend's death, you seek to stop a war. These are the large scale things that the DM can hold in reserve and work the storylines into the bigger overall story.
However, the most common way for players to design characters that don't work in a campaign are to only create these background drivers. You also need:
Adventurer Drivers. Your character is first and foremost - beyond any of that background stuff - an adventurer. Their main motivation needs to enable them to go on whatever adventure the DM chooses to put in front of you. That's part of the 'contract' between DM and players. The DM spends time designing adventures: you do your best to go on them. If your character is principally interested in rescuing his sister, then why would they want to go into the goblin mine? Why help out that village against the ogres? You have to ensure that basically anything the DM can throw at you provides some for of motivation. You need to assume that for at least 5 levels of play, your Background Drivers will not appear in the game. So you almost always need to choose:
Motivated by fabulous wealth - not just wanting 100gp to start a butcher's shop, but your character may dream of limitless wealth so that they can either (a) enjoy being a rich kid or (b) achieve a major goal that wealth is required for. If your character seeks a fortune, then it's easy for the DM to motivate them. The reward is the motivation.
Motivated by a desire to help others - the character is a true Good aligned character. Their sympathies are easily engaged. They will use their skills and risk danger because it's the right thing to do. Probably the easiest way for a DM to get you into a quest this way. The outcome is their motivation.
Motivated by thrill seeking. Your character just loves killing stuff, being in danger, and what not. Maybe they want to record their wild stories in books. Maybe they are fascinated by magic. The adventuringitself is the motivation, not the reward.
Lastly, a desire for power of a non-monetary nature can work, although it has to be carefully done so as not to be overly specific. If your character only cares for elven magic, then what happens when they need to go into the Abyss? A desire to learn more mystical arts so that they can achieve one of their other Background Drivers can work.
Harmony, tiefling bard- Acquire a magical lute, see the sun again (Icewind dale), compose a famous song, and become the leader of all of Icewind Dale.
Breeze, tabaxi monk- Get revenge on the gnolls who destroyed her home, find someone who will actually agree to race her, sell a painting for a decent price, and have one combat where she isn't knocked unconscious.
Grace, dragonborn barbarian- Prove herself worthy of her heroic draconic ancestor, find a magic axe, and prevent the party rogue and artificer from killing each other.
Agnomally, gnomish sorcerer- Make everyone see that dragons aren't all bad (HotDQ- we'll see how that goes), prove her might is not tiny through draconic ability, and spread cheer.
Our DM has asked that we comes up with a list of things (only a few) that our characters want to accomplish before they die or the adventures end.
What are the motivation of your characters and what would be there list of things they want to get done before they end?
I am thinking of things like:
Find lost sister or what happened to family/friend.
Maybe start an order of your chosen deity.
Any ideas or what you have chosen in your character backstory and ideas?
I would use my background as inspiration for sure. Using my three PbP characters below I'd list their goals as follows:
Lerithyn - As a Kor banished from his homeland he has ties there that he must rekindle. Its been 10 years since he's seen his tribe and he left on bad terms. He'd like to fix what he broke and retrieve a stash of items he had left behind. He'd also like to learn the secret art of stone enchantment that the Kor are known for - It'll make any future as an Artificer much more fulfilling.
Kayn - Kayn is a noble of Luskan that's been knighted by the Temple of Tempus. Ultimately he'd like to clean up his city, but that's far-fetched as far as Luskan is concerned. An immediate goal would be to bring honor to the Temple in war or a great conflict. He has a wife-to-be, so he also wants to marry (with the temple's blessing) - But he fears his children may fall to the temptations of evil that Luskan seems to breed.
Lero - A pirate's life is hard sometimes but Lero is torn between a lover waiting for him in port and the appeal of the skyship he sails on. An immediate goal would be to captain his own ship in service of the Renegades. Ultimately he wants the oppressive Consulate to be overthrown and the leaders of the Renegades to take control of the flow of Aether. At some point he may want to settle down with Lillith, but that goal cannot be accomplished until the Consulate and what it stands for is overthrown.
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@subsistcyber really like all of your character concepts, but i just want to say that i love lero, might take inspiration :)
My character lives only to serve Kthanid and destroy any and all aberrations.
His ultimate goal is to defeat Xanathar.
When designing a character, you need to separate the character's goals and motivations into two separate piles.
Background Drivers are the story things that fit into epic plotlines. Your sister was kidnapped by a vampire and you want to find her, your family was disgraced by a blue dragon disguised as a noble, you want to avenge your friend's death, you seek to stop a war. These are the large scale things that the DM can hold in reserve and work the storylines into the bigger overall story.
However, the most common way for players to design characters that don't work in a campaign are to only create these background drivers. You also need:
Adventurer Drivers. Your character is first and foremost - beyond any of that background stuff - an adventurer. Their main motivation needs to enable them to go on whatever adventure the DM chooses to put in front of you. That's part of the 'contract' between DM and players. The DM spends time designing adventures: you do your best to go on them. If your character is principally interested in rescuing his sister, then why would they want to go into the goblin mine? Why help out that village against the ogres? You have to ensure that basically anything the DM can throw at you provides some for of motivation. You need to assume that for at least 5 levels of play, your Background Drivers will not appear in the game. So you almost always need to choose:
Thanks, I'm taking this and not crediting you
My current characters:
Harmony, tiefling bard- Acquire a magical lute, see the sun again (Icewind dale), compose a famous song, and become the leader of all of Icewind Dale.
Breeze, tabaxi monk- Get revenge on the gnolls who destroyed her home, find someone who will actually agree to race her, sell a painting for a decent price, and have one combat where she isn't knocked unconscious.
Grace, dragonborn barbarian- Prove herself worthy of her heroic draconic ancestor, find a magic axe, and prevent the party rogue and artificer from killing each other.
Agnomally, gnomish sorcerer- Make everyone see that dragons aren't all bad (HotDQ- we'll see how that goes), prove her might is not tiny through draconic ability, and spread cheer.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep