Mountain Dwarf with gigantism, barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian)
My family loved me, really they did, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t also a source of embarrassment to them and, sadly, I can’t say I really blame them: a dwarf with gigantism sounds like a bad joke, and any dwarf pushing 6 feet tall is a freak of nature! It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if we lived in a more diverse area, but in a 99% dwarven city, there was no disguising or accommodating my differences. (Oh! How I envy those who don’t need to be careful crossing thresholds lest they smack their head against a doorframe and I couldn’t even stand up straight in some of the older buildings!)
I couldn’t be a craftsman like half of my family because my hands were too big to fit the tools, nor a miner like the other half since I was too big to fit in the mines, so I became a salesman instead, except I wasn’t any good at that either. When the business I put my heart and soul into failed, I left town to seek my fortunes on the road. Even for non-dwarfs (like elves and humans), I’m a big guy; maybe it’s time I stop holding back my temper and really let loose like my warrior ancestors used to.
As a young child, Frosty was the sole survivor of a shipwrecked vessel who then grew to adulthood alone on an uncharted, tropical island — at least that’s what the crew who finally found the runty, half-feral, adult, white dragonborn managed to piece together from the wreckage as they plundered it. The deeply superstitious captain, felt that the gods had used a storm to push his ship far, far off course but saved it from smashing against the same reef that had sunk this other vessel because they, in their divine wisdom, wanted the dragonborn (named Frosty by his crew) to be taken from the island and brought back to civilization, but the captain felt his responsibility ended there and abandoned the dragonborn once they reached port. The crew wasn’t as heartless as their captain and, during the journey back to port, gave Frosty lessons on how to talk and wear clothes, important concepts like money and property ownership (because he kept stealing their stuff and destroying things), and basically how to be a person. They scraped together a few provisions for him to have and found an adventuring party for him to join, since he was obviously a skilled at fighting and wilderness survival and was clearly unnerved by the multitude of unfamiliar sights and sounds in the busy port.
I don't care about length (one of mine is four pages long) but there should be a shortened version available that summarizes everything (3-5 sentences) because, let's be real, most people aren't going to want to read a mini-book just to get to know a character that may or may not matter to me. I actually found my self-imposed maximum to be helpful to my character creation process because it forced me to determine what was truly important for my characters and cram a lot of details inside a small space.
Tarlach, half-elf celestial warlock: Was nearly sacrificed to an evil entity, but this being was defeated at the last minute by a mysterious intruder, and Tarlach was lead out of its lair by a ghost of one of its victims. But Tarlach always felt that this entity would come back to claim him again one day, so he traveled to find something to help him prepare for that time, eventually making a pact. He went the the setting location as part of a mission from his patron.
Executor, reborn way of mercy monk: Woke up in the wilderness one day to realize he was dead, and had little recollection of who he was in life. Follows the first person who found him on a quest to find his identity. (He accidentally killed a family member in life, and became undead after a resurrection ritual gone wrong.)
Entrin, human circle of spores druid: Born with telepathy, he was distressed by what he often found when peering into other minds, and his family had no idea how to handle the psychological effects this was having on him. On day he left to be a hermit in the swamp, learning primal magic from the nature spirits whose minds he preceded reading. The capture of one of his few friends brought him back into civilization, joining the party on a rescue mission.
Lacton, kenku horizon walker ranger: Got lost on his way home, and learned how to hunt fiends because of a crisis in the place he found himself. Lacton was selected for a mission from the Emperor for his deeds, but it went very badly, and now Lacton’s stuck even farther from home.
In terms of what these say about the kinds of backstories I like, the common thread I see is that everyone is searching for something. Protection, the past, a lost friend, and a home. This shows why they’re going out and taking these risks, but are goals that allow them to participate in situations not directly related to them, because who knows what will get them closer. There’s also an undercurrent of past failure, which I think resonates with me for personal reasons.
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A good backstory ties your character into the DM’s world in a meaningful way.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
André Rusimovsky
Mountain Dwarf with gigantism, barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian)
My family loved me, really they did, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t also a source of embarrassment to them and, sadly, I can’t say I really blame them: a dwarf with gigantism sounds like a bad joke, and any dwarf pushing 6 feet tall is a freak of nature! It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if we lived in a more diverse area, but in a 99% dwarven city, there was no disguising or accommodating my differences. (Oh! How I envy those who don’t need to be careful crossing thresholds lest they smack their head against a doorframe and I couldn’t even stand up straight in some of the older buildings!)
I couldn’t be a craftsman like half of my family because my hands were too big to fit the tools, nor a miner like the other half since I was too big to fit in the mines, so I became a salesman instead, except I wasn’t any good at that either. When the business I put my heart and soul into failed, I left town to seek my fortunes on the road. Even for non-dwarfs (like elves and humans), I’m a big guy; maybe it’s time I stop holding back my temper and really let loose like my warrior ancestors used to.
Frosty
white dragonborn, barbarian
As a young child, Frosty was the sole survivor of a shipwrecked vessel who then grew to adulthood alone on an uncharted, tropical island — at least that’s what the crew who finally found the runty, half-feral, adult, white dragonborn managed to piece together from the wreckage as they plundered it.
The deeply superstitious captain, felt that the gods had used a storm to push his ship far, far off course but saved it from smashing against the same reef that had sunk this other vessel because they, in their divine wisdom, wanted the dragonborn (named Frosty by his crew) to be taken from the island and brought back to civilization, but the captain felt his responsibility ended there and abandoned the dragonborn once they reached port.
The crew wasn’t as heartless as their captain and, during the journey back to port, gave Frosty lessons on how to talk and wear clothes, important concepts like money and property ownership (because he kept stealing their stuff and destroying things), and basically how to be a person.
They scraped together a few provisions for him to have and found an adventuring party for him to join, since he was obviously a skilled at fighting and wilderness survival and was clearly unnerved by the multitude of unfamiliar sights and sounds in the busy port.
In my opinion, a backstory should include:
I don't care about length (one of mine is four pages long) but there should be a shortened version available that summarizes everything (3-5 sentences) because, let's be real, most people aren't going to want to read a mini-book just to get to know a character that may or may not matter to me. I actually found my self-imposed maximum to be helpful to my character creation process because it forced me to determine what was truly important for my characters and cram a lot of details inside a small space.
My backstories:
Tarlach, half-elf celestial warlock: Was nearly sacrificed to an evil entity, but this being was defeated at the last minute by a mysterious intruder, and Tarlach was lead out of its lair by a ghost of one of its victims. But Tarlach always felt that this entity would come back to claim him again one day, so he traveled to find something to help him prepare for that time, eventually making a pact. He went the the setting location as part of a mission from his patron.
Executor, reborn way of mercy monk: Woke up in the wilderness one day to realize he was dead, and had little recollection of who he was in life. Follows the first person who found him on a quest to find his identity. (He accidentally killed a family member in life, and became undead after a resurrection ritual gone wrong.)
Entrin, human circle of spores druid: Born with telepathy, he was distressed by what he often found when peering into other minds, and his family had no idea how to handle the psychological effects this was having on him. On day he left to be a hermit in the swamp, learning primal magic from the nature spirits whose minds he preceded reading. The capture of one of his few friends brought him back into civilization, joining the party on a rescue mission.
Lacton, kenku horizon walker ranger: Got lost on his way home, and learned how to hunt fiends because of a crisis in the place he found himself. Lacton was selected for a mission from the Emperor for his deeds, but it went very badly, and now Lacton’s stuck even farther from home.
In terms of what these say about the kinds of backstories I like, the common thread I see is that everyone is searching for something. Protection, the past, a lost friend, and a home. This shows why they’re going out and taking these risks, but are goals that allow them to participate in situations not directly related to them, because who knows what will get them closer. There’s also an undercurrent of past failure, which I think resonates with me for personal reasons.