How long should it be . . to begin with as a level 1/low level character . . and should it get longer over time, as your character gains experience (if so, how long)?
What to include?
How to work in your character's motivation (for being an adventure)?
How to demonstrate your character's personality, flaws, virtues, quirks?
Does it have to take the form of a story, that is mainly defined by events? Could it be more of a psychological profile than an event driven narrative?
First or 3rd person? Present or past tense (or some combination)?
Is it better to be humorous or serious/heartfelt?
What could you do in writing your backstory to make your DM's job easier/better?
I think it depends widely on the sort of campaign you’re going to be running through… the fact that you’re posting here though makes me think it’s probably a more role play heavy sort of game so…
Have some named contacts still alive. These could be childhood friends, mentors, love interests, or authority figures. Either way, these people are going to be a wealth of role play and story opportunities if you meet any of them in the campaign. My first character had a number of friends and contacts that we met throughout the campaign.
As for the motivation, go wild! It could be anything. I know this is really vague advice but dnd is supposed to be a limitless open game. It could be a thirst for revenge, a desire to help, a missionary task from a religious background, a pact that you made that requires you to complete this quest, a way of making money, or even just simple wanderlust!
Generally make it sad, but not tragic. Sad backstories are a staple of dnd, but don’t feel a need to go overboard here. Make the backstory to fit the character, not just a huge guts-fest. If you really want to have a big Shakespearean tragedy of a backstory, then that’s fine, but I wouldn’t recommend it in most cases.
As for a story vs profile I honestly cannot choose for you, but a story does give you a much wider opportunity to flesh out the character further. If you really want, why not do both?
And finally, talk to the DM if you feel stuck. Ask them about the world, the locations, the factions, the creatures. As the forever DM I can tell you that this will probably not be annoying for your Dungeon Master, almost all DM’s want to show of the lore that they’ve designed for the world.
And most importantly, make it something that you actually want to role play. If you start to get bored of the character, then add something to make it more interesting to you. The point of this is that you get to have fun playing whoever this person will be.
Style questions are entirely "whatever works for you".
A good backstory should:
Give you reasons that you're off adventuring instead of having a normal life. (Talk to the DM about the game's initial setup; it may provide motivation.)
Ideally have elements that the DM can grab onto to make plot happen. This can be either thematic or specific characters and groups.
Not establish you as already being a cool badass. (If you're starting at low level.)
Not be too long
Not introduce elements to the world that don't fit. If you're introducing something new, you'll need to talk to the DM about it, and there may be revision in your future. Or in the DM's.
But really, as long as you (or the game's setup) have the first one covered, you're good. Significant backstory for a first-level character is optional.
make it sad, but not tragic. Sad backstories are a staple of dnd
Okay, that's interesting. I noticed that the art in the Player's Handbook is whimsicle, but it makes me feel sad. And the game and the characters are supposed to be fun, but there seems to be an underlying a sadness to their lives, as adventurers, perhaps sadness in the events that lead them to this life/lifestyle, which I suppose would make a certain amount of sense, they otherwise could have lived safer, more normal, more comfortable lives.
I guess I would prefer not to dwell on the sadness in creating my characters or their backstories (I tend to make them tragically flawed, psychologically, and the backstory/origin story might partially explain their psychological flaws ).
The most important part of a backstory is that any part of it which doesn't get revealed in the course of play may as well not exist. That's not to say a player can't keep secrets, but it means that players are working against the story when they keep secrets without some reason for doing so--and even when a player thinks they have a reason, there's an even more important reason which requires that their story gets revealed. As far as the story goes, to the best extent possible it should be in the voice of the character. It shouldn't take more than a page to tell, because longer backstories are a problem for the GM. At the end of the backstory, a character should have no ties which prevent them from adventuring and they should have a reason to join a group. Everything else is player choice.
make it sad, but not tragic. Sad backstories are a staple of dnd
Okay, that's interesting. I noticed that the art in the Player's Handbook is whimsicle, but it makes me feel sad. And the game and the characters are supposed to be fun, but there seems to be an underlying a sadness to their lives, as adventurers, perhaps sadness in the events that lead them to this life/lifestyle, which I suppose would make a certain amount of sense, they otherwise could have lived safer, more normal, more comfortable lives.
I guess I would prefer not to dwell on the sadness in creating my characters or their backstories (I tend to make them tragically flawed, psychologically, and the backstory/origin story might partially explain their psychological flaws ).
I'd say this is an easy fix to the problem of characters needing to be free from ties which prevent them from adventuring. Other fixes exist. It may be important to expand our stories to include them.
1. They introduce an interesting behavior / mechanic that is unique to the character…maybe they’re afraid of a certain kind of monster, or when faced with a decision, they always choose a certain option (I’m going left…I’m choosing option 2…etc.)
Nothing that will drastically affect the natural “flow” of the campaign…but something that other players might notice, and have fun with.
2. They provide a DM with fodder to throw at them…circling back to the first point; if the character’s backstory involved a harrowing encounter with a type of monster; the DM is free to use that monster to a “dramatic” effect.
Likewise, if the player works with the DM, the backstory can be implemented with certain NPC’s the character might encounter during the campaign, that the DM can use.
Note, it’s best that the player & the DM agree on the extent that the backstory will influence the campaign…to make sure that all the players still have a role to play…but if moderated; it substantially can elevate the fun factor.
One of my players, for example, was a native of Icewind Dale during “Rime of the Frostmaiden”…it was a one-shot originally, and became a fully-fledged campaign. The character originally did not have that much depth; but the backstory got expanded to a point where the player knew key figures in Icewind Dale.
This GREATLY raised the stakes over the course of the campaign, and served to unify the party, who now had a reason to help their comrade.
I use the 2nd person (as explained in my signature).
First and foremost: Your character's story is not more important than anyone else's at the table. Always keep that in mind. In that same vein, "It's what my character would do," is a lousy excuse. Don't try it.
Many, many, very many writers create outlines of stories for a more-detailed framework before getting too deep, but keep in mind that the adventure lies mostly ahead and not behind. If you're first level, you likely are not the emperor of a mighty magocratic nation. Even if something happened to strip your character of all abilities down to a first level character, the story hook of being the former emperor of a mighty magocratic nation might be more of a story hazard than hook. That's a case of a heavy backstory bearing down on what's to come which is the more important story of the two.
Your character's story doesn't need to be sad or tragic. That's not one of the 3 foundations. It might be commonplace in backstories to have sadness and tragedy, but it's still not necessary. Happy-go-lucky people go adventuring, too, and they can be quite enjoyable to play as your character and with whom to be in a party for someone else's character.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Is there a word count goal or word count goal range? I saw an ad for someone selling their services to write an original backstory and I think it was for 500 words. Is that in the ballpark, or does that even matter? (I've also seen much shorter ones and somewhat longer ones)
And am I right in assuming that if you update your character's story, as they gain experience, that it's okay for it to expand the length from there?
It seems like after the game starts, the backstory/story would mainly be for you, right? (like how you keep up with fun traits and idiosyncrasies that your character picks up along the way. . it seems like often the best of these things often crop up as a result of a bad roll )
Take notes about the character's experience through the adventures. There's a notes section that has an "Other" category in the character sheet and creator. Add them to the backstory when time allows, but for me, a "cheat sheet" of important stuff helps more than a lengthy backstory.
The backstory hooks are for the DM. The rest is for you. Some people like to spill their characters' backstory upon the first meeting. Some prefer that to be discovered through interaction during adventures. One group I watch has a mix of both, some told their characters' story at the table. Others only focused on what people could tell in a first impression and let everything else come to light along the way as relevant.
I've yet to find a character limit on any of the Notes categories. Type as much or as little as you want. If you want to turn your character's story before and during the adventure into a novel, you do you.
The best way to know what works best for you and the table is to try stuff.
Also... it might be good to have a healthy detachment from the characters. They could die after all. Don't get too deep that your character's death would devastate you. You're cooperatively creating a story. Anything can happen, even the worst.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
. That's not one of the 3 foundations. . . . . . .. Happy-go-lucky people go adventuring, too, and they can be quite enjoyable to play as your character and with whom to be in a party for someone else's character.
There are 3 Foundations? This sounds useful, could you tell me about them?
I like the idea of a happy-go-lucky, enthusiastic character
For me, the length is somewhat dependent on the level of the character as. The general guideline I go with is that a backstory should consist of a number of paragraphs equal to the PC’s starting PB, plus or minus 1 paragraph. A paragraph should consist of between 3-5 sentences. So, for any PC starting from 1st to 4th levels, should have a backstory somewhere between 1-3 paragraphs, or roughly 3 to 15 total sentences in length, a PC for a campaign starting between 5th through 8th levels should have a backstory somewhere between 2-4 paragraphs, or 6-20 sentences in length.
As to content, I like to know about home life, that’s helpful. (Live alone? Parents? Siblings? Significant other?), a single significant event in the PCs life, good or bad. (They won a contest, fell ill, lost a sister, helped their parent who was the greatest thingamajigger in the village, etc.) However, most importantly I want to know why they are an adventurer instead of a different life. (Why an armed monster chaser instead of anything less nuts.) That’s it, that’s all the backstory I need.
Everything else (person, tense, tone, etc.) is entirely up to the author.
I personally tend to write backstories in the 1st person, past tense, with a neutral tone. I am also a big proponent of the “Three Sentence Backstory,” however I do occasionally fill out the full 15 sentences.
make it sad, but not tragic. Sad backstories are a staple of dnd
Okay, that's interesting. I noticed that the art in the Player's Handbook is whimsicle, but it makes me feel sad. And the game and the characters are supposed to be fun, but there seems to be an underlying a sadness to their lives, as adventurers, perhaps sadness in the events that lead them to this life/lifestyle, which I suppose would make a certain amount of sense, they otherwise could have lived safer, more normal, more comfortable lives.
I guess I would prefer not to dwell on the sadness in creating my characters or their backstories (I tend to make them tragically flawed, psychologically, and the backstory/origin story might partially explain their psychological flaws ).
Happy, well adjusted people rarely take up the life of an armed mercenary for hire. Happy, well adjusted people stay home. Unhappy, malcontented people risk their lives in pursuit of fortune and glory by killing others and robbing graves. (Let’s face it, that’s what an “adventurer” is, a mercenary tomb robber.)
EricHVela, I think I might like the idea of an instructional manual for playing, rather that a narrative story. I think it's hard for me to come up with a story narrative of a reasonable length that says who this character is and how to play them, especially if the story ='s or revolves around one event . Mine tend to include this is the way she is, she did this once, she does this kind of weird thing habitually; she feels this way about that thing, this is part of her psychological makeup and what motivates her and makes her tick, maybe with some little narrative vignette(s) thrown in.
Also, I feel like I'm not really sure who the character is, until I've played them for a while. . . I think sometimes the backstory that you write, before the campaign starts, might be. em "wrong".
I think an important characteristic of a good backstory is enough vagueness and mystery to give the DM options to work it into the game. The classic example is Luke Skywalker. His backstory was vague, allowing for the "I am your father" moment.
The most important part of a backstory is that any part of it which doesn't get revealed in the course of play may as well not exist. That's not to say a player can't keep secrets, but it means that players are working against the story when they keep secrets without some reason for doing so--and even when a player thinks they have a reason, there's an even more important reason which requires that their story gets revealed. As far as the story goes, to the best extent possible it should be in the voice of the character. It shouldn't take more than a page to tell, because longer backstories are a problem for the GM. At the end of the backstory, a character should have no ties which prevent them from adventuring and they should have a reason to join a group. Everything else is player choice.
What is the best policy for sharing your backstory with other players, in the campaign? I always kind of want to . . but maybe a slightly redacted version. . I feel like maybe the actual secrets/plot twists + plot hooks, that you choose to leave for your DM (that he/she can choose to pick up on and use, or not) might should stay b/t you and the DM, until they are revealed (or not) in the game, maybe included in plot hooks would be at least some of the details about important people from your past who might later become NPC's (or not).
The most important part of a backstory is that any part of it which doesn't get revealed in the course of play may as well not exist. That's not to say a player can't keep secrets, but it means that players are working against the story when they keep secrets without some reason for doing so--and even when a player thinks they have a reason, there's an even more important reason which requires that their story gets revealed. As far as the story goes, to the best extent possible it should be in the voice of the character. It shouldn't take more than a page to tell, because longer backstories are a problem for the GM. At the end of the backstory, a character should have no ties which prevent them from adventuring and they should have a reason to join a group. Everything else is player choice.
What is the best policy for sharing your backstory with other players, in the campaign? I always kind of want to . . but maybe a slightly redacted version. . I feel like maybe the actual secrets/plot twists + plot hooks, that you choose to leave for your DM (that he/she can choose to pick up on and use, or not) might should stay b/t you and the DM, until they are revealed (or not) in the game, maybe included in plot hooks would be at least some of the details about important people from your past who might later become NPC's (or not).
There's a balance to be struck. If you reveal too much, you hog the limelight and risk boring the other players. I think the best strategy would be to reveal what it makes sense for your character to reveal in the game. If your group isn't much for roleplaying, then it makes sense to do more of a lore-dump at the beginning, rather than forcing that lore on your party later on.
The most important part of a backstory is that any part of it which doesn't get revealed in the course of play may as well not exist. That's not to say a player can't keep secrets, but it means that players are working against the story when they keep secrets without some reason for doing so--and even when a player thinks they have a reason, there's an even more important reason which requires that their story gets revealed. As far as the story goes, to the best extent possible it should be in the voice of the character. It shouldn't take more than a page to tell, because longer backstories are a problem for the GM. At the end of the backstory, a character should have no ties which prevent them from adventuring and they should have a reason to join a group. Everything else is player choice.
What is the best policy for sharing your backstory with other players, in the campaign? I always kind of want to . . but maybe a slightly redacted version. . I feel like maybe the actual secrets/plot twists + plot hooks, that you choose to leave for your DM (that he/she can choose to pick up on and use, or not) might should stay b/t you and the DM, until they are revealed (or not) in the game, maybe included in plot hooks would be at least some of the details about important people from your past who might later become NPC's (or not).
The best policy is not to share your backstory but to engineer scenes where the information in the backstory becomes relevant. So say, for example, that a character has a hook in their backstory that they once owned a powerful magical item, but they lost it and they've been looking for it ever since... That's sort of a player-order-form way of telling the DM, "hey, I want such-and-such an item." But that doesn't mean much by way of the creation of character. The way you get personality out of that hook is in the scene where the character reveals this motivation and another player's character gets to ask, "why does this item matter so much to you?" That's when backstory becomes story and we can learn things like, "it was my mother's and I regret every day without it," or "my brother gave it to me; he would have been twelve today..."
Okay, this is all very helpful (perhaps counterintuitive).
So, when it comes to characters and backstories, perhaps in addition to just making the backstory too long and over-sharing with the other players. there is such a thing as trying too hard, providing too much specific detail about them and direction for how they will evolve, making your character too much of an awesome badass, to start out, making it all about you/your character, making too many in game decision based on "this is what my character would do", and getting too emotionally attached (to a character that lives their life on the edge).
How long should it be . . to begin with as a level 1/low level character . . and should it get longer over time, as your character gains experience (if so, how long)?
As long as you want it to be. I've always told my players that if they can write a compelling backstory in 2 words then, by all means, write only 2 words. If they need 10 pages, they can write 10 pages. The length of the backstory is literally the least important bit you want to worry about. You needn't worry about extending your backstory, unless you count all the notes you jot down during the campaign to also be part of your backstory.
Two absolutely crucial pieces of information: motivation and character. Why does your character want to be an adventurer? Are they yearning for the excitement of the unknown? Did a rival slight them in the past and now they are seeking vengeance? Maybe they left home to accomplish something seemingly trivial but got swept up in something far larger? These are just ideas off the top of my head, you can have a million reasons why your character would want to go on an adventure. If you don't like anything, you can always just say that they needed some fresh air and ventured just a bit further beyond then what they were used to.
It is also important to introduce your character, like you point out: personality, flaws, quirks, etc. What is important here is that it shouldn't be a "list": Try figuring out situations that showcase your character traits rather than just saying "I'm a hardworking artisan and kind to animals, too." To stick with this example, you could always say something like this: "Even as a small child, I found it important to help my father in his pottery workshop. When there was no work to be done, I would play with our dog, and I'm not ashamed to say that I passed on some good meat for him, too."
Does it have to take the form of a story, that is mainly defined by events? Could it be more of a psychological profile than an event driven narrative?
First or 3rd person? Present or past tense (or some combination)?
The only answer I can give you to these questions is whatever works for you and whatever doesn't drive your DM mad. I have a player whose backstory is basically a snippet from a family codex because the character wants to live up to the ideals in that codex. Another wrote an entire short-story about a lifechanging event in the life of their character, only eluding to past events vaguely.
What could you do in writing your backstory to make your DM's job easier/better?
These are questions you should discuss with your DM. If the DM has a grimdark setting in mind, a heartfelt story might not be such a good idea (unless you want that warmth turned against your character during the campaign). I always encourage some humour in serious backstories, to take away some of its edge but that is entirely up to you.
As for making your DM's job easier, that is entirely up to the DM. Again, I highly encourage you to talk some things through with them so that you actually know what is required, what is good to have but not required and what to exclude. I can only talk from personal experience, but I always talk to my players after reading through their backstory to iron out some kinks and to see what they feel is the most important part of their backstory, how heavily they even want their backstory to influence the story, and if they have some sort of personal goal in mind for the character (e.g. Do they want their Fallen Aasimar to be seeking redemption? Do they want their farmboy looking for vengeance to be consumed by it or letting go?).
The best advice I can give you is to sit down, write something (even if it's only 2 words), take it to your DM, and talk things through with them.
How long should it be . . to begin with as a level 1/low level character . . and should it get longer over time, as your character gains experience (if so, how long)?
What to include?
How to work in your character's motivation (for being an adventure)?
How to demonstrate your character's personality, flaws, virtues, quirks?
Does it have to take the form of a story, that is mainly defined by events? Could it be more of a psychological profile than an event driven narrative?
First or 3rd person? Present or past tense (or some combination)?
Is it better to be humorous or serious/heartfelt?
What could you do in writing your backstory to make your DM's job easier/better?
I think it depends widely on the sort of campaign you’re going to be running through… the fact that you’re posting here though makes me think it’s probably a more role play heavy sort of game so…
Be Excellent to one another. Rock on dude.
Style questions are entirely "whatever works for you".
A good backstory should:
But really, as long as you (or the game's setup) have the first one covered, you're good. Significant backstory for a first-level character is optional.
Okay, that's interesting. I noticed that the art in the Player's Handbook is whimsicle, but it makes me feel sad. And the game and the characters are supposed to be fun, but there seems to be an underlying a sadness to their lives, as adventurers, perhaps sadness in the events that lead them to this life/lifestyle, which I suppose would make a certain amount of sense, they otherwise could have lived safer, more normal, more comfortable lives.
I guess I would prefer not to dwell on the sadness in creating my characters or their backstories (I tend to make them tragically flawed, psychologically, and the backstory/origin story might partially explain their psychological flaws ).
The most important part of a backstory is that any part of it which doesn't get revealed in the course of play may as well not exist. That's not to say a player can't keep secrets, but it means that players are working against the story when they keep secrets without some reason for doing so--and even when a player thinks they have a reason, there's an even more important reason which requires that their story gets revealed. As far as the story goes, to the best extent possible it should be in the voice of the character. It shouldn't take more than a page to tell, because longer backstories are a problem for the GM. At the end of the backstory, a character should have no ties which prevent them from adventuring and they should have a reason to join a group. Everything else is player choice.
I'd say this is an easy fix to the problem of characters needing to be free from ties which prevent them from adventuring. Other fixes exist. It may be important to expand our stories to include them.
I’d say that the best backstories do two things:
1. They introduce an interesting behavior / mechanic that is unique to the character…maybe they’re afraid of a certain kind of monster, or when faced with a decision, they always choose a certain option (I’m going left…I’m choosing option 2…etc.)
Nothing that will drastically affect the natural “flow” of the campaign…but something that other players might notice, and have fun with.
2. They provide a DM with fodder to throw at them…circling back to the first point; if the character’s backstory involved a harrowing encounter with a type of monster; the DM is free to use that monster to a “dramatic” effect.
Likewise, if the player works with the DM, the backstory can be implemented with certain NPC’s the character might encounter during the campaign, that the DM can use.
Note, it’s best that the player & the DM agree on the extent that the backstory will influence the campaign…to make sure that all the players still have a role to play…but if moderated; it substantially can elevate the fun factor.
One of my players, for example, was a native of Icewind Dale during “Rime of the Frostmaiden”…it was a one-shot originally, and became a fully-fledged campaign. The character originally did not have that much depth; but the backstory got expanded to a point where the player knew key figures in Icewind Dale.
This GREATLY raised the stakes over the course of the campaign, and served to unify the party, who now had a reason to help their comrade.
I use the 2nd person (as explained in my signature).
First and foremost: Your character's story is not more important than anyone else's at the table. Always keep that in mind. In that same vein, "It's what my character would do," is a lousy excuse. Don't try it.
There's an excellent thread for practicing to create a foundation for a backstory in 3 sentences. (Read the first post to get an idea how to practice.)
Many, many, very many writers create outlines of stories for a more-detailed framework before getting too deep, but keep in mind that the adventure lies mostly ahead and not behind. If you're first level, you likely are not the emperor of a mighty magocratic nation. Even if something happened to strip your character of all abilities down to a first level character, the story hook of being the former emperor of a mighty magocratic nation might be more of a story hazard than hook. That's a case of a heavy backstory bearing down on what's to come which is the more important story of the two.
Your character's story doesn't need to be sad or tragic. That's not one of the 3 foundations. It might be commonplace in backstories to have sadness and tragedy, but it's still not necessary. Happy-go-lucky people go adventuring, too, and they can be quite enjoyable to play as your character and with whom to be in a party for someone else's character.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Is there a word count goal or word count goal range? I saw an ad for someone selling their services to write an original backstory and I think it was for 500 words. Is that in the ballpark, or does that even matter? (I've also seen much shorter ones and somewhat longer ones)
And am I right in assuming that if you update your character's story, as they gain experience, that it's okay for it to expand the length from there?
It seems like after the game starts, the backstory/story would mainly be for you, right? (like how you keep up with fun traits and idiosyncrasies that your character picks up along the way. . it seems like often the best of these things often crop up as a result of a bad roll )
Take notes about the character's experience through the adventures. There's a notes section that has an "Other" category in the character sheet and creator. Add them to the backstory when time allows, but for me, a "cheat sheet" of important stuff helps more than a lengthy backstory.
The backstory hooks are for the DM. The rest is for you. Some people like to spill their characters' backstory upon the first meeting. Some prefer that to be discovered through interaction during adventures. One group I watch has a mix of both, some told their characters' story at the table. Others only focused on what people could tell in a first impression and let everything else come to light along the way as relevant.
I've yet to find a character limit on any of the Notes categories. Type as much or as little as you want. If you want to turn your character's story before and during the adventure into a novel, you do you.
The best way to know what works best for you and the table is to try stuff.
Also... it might be good to have a healthy detachment from the characters. They could die after all. Don't get too deep that your character's death would devastate you. You're cooperatively creating a story. Anything can happen, even the worst.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
For me, the length is somewhat dependent on the level of the character as. The general guideline I go with is that a backstory should consist of a number of paragraphs equal to the PC’s starting PB, plus or minus 1 paragraph. A paragraph should consist of between 3-5 sentences. So, for any PC starting from 1st to 4th levels, should have a backstory somewhere between 1-3 paragraphs, or roughly 3 to 15 total sentences in length, a PC for a campaign starting between 5th through 8th levels should have a backstory somewhere between 2-4 paragraphs, or 6-20 sentences in length.
As to content, I like to know about home life, that’s helpful. (Live alone? Parents? Siblings? Significant other?), a single significant event in the PCs life, good or bad. (They won a contest, fell ill, lost a sister, helped their parent who was the greatest thingamajigger in the village, etc.) However, most importantly I want to know why they are an adventurer instead of a different life. (Why an armed monster chaser instead of anything less nuts.) That’s it, that’s all the backstory I need.
Everything else (person, tense, tone, etc.) is entirely up to the author.
I personally tend to write backstories in the 1st person, past tense, with a neutral tone. I am also a big proponent of the “Three Sentence Backstory,” however I do occasionally fill out the full 15 sentences.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Happy, well adjusted people rarely take up the life of an armed mercenary for hire. Happy, well adjusted people stay home. Unhappy, malcontented people risk their lives in pursuit of fortune and glory by killing others and robbing graves. (Let’s face it, that’s what an “adventurer” is, a mercenary tomb robber.)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
EricHVela, I think I might like the idea of an instructional manual for playing, rather that a narrative story. I think it's hard for me to come up with a story narrative of a reasonable length that says who this character is and how to play them, especially if the story ='s or revolves around one event . Mine tend to include this is the way she is, she did this once, she does this kind of weird thing habitually; she feels this way about that thing, this is part of her psychological makeup and what motivates her and makes her tick, maybe with some little narrative vignette(s) thrown in.
Also, I feel like I'm not really sure who the character is, until I've played them for a while. . . I think sometimes the backstory that you write, before the campaign starts, might be. em "wrong".
I think an important characteristic of a good backstory is enough vagueness and mystery to give the DM options to work it into the game. The classic example is Luke Skywalker. His backstory was vague, allowing for the "I am your father" moment.
What is the best policy for sharing your backstory with other players, in the campaign? I always kind of want to . . but maybe a slightly redacted version. . I feel like maybe the actual secrets/plot twists + plot hooks, that you choose to leave for your DM (that he/she can choose to pick up on and use, or not) might should stay b/t you and the DM, until they are revealed (or not) in the game, maybe included in plot hooks would be at least some of the details about important people from your past who might later become NPC's (or not).
There's a balance to be struck. If you reveal too much, you hog the limelight and risk boring the other players. I think the best strategy would be to reveal what it makes sense for your character to reveal in the game. If your group isn't much for roleplaying, then it makes sense to do more of a lore-dump at the beginning, rather than forcing that lore on your party later on.
The best policy is not to share your backstory but to engineer scenes where the information in the backstory becomes relevant. So say, for example, that a character has a hook in their backstory that they once owned a powerful magical item, but they lost it and they've been looking for it ever since... That's sort of a player-order-form way of telling the DM, "hey, I want such-and-such an item." But that doesn't mean much by way of the creation of character. The way you get personality out of that hook is in the scene where the character reveals this motivation and another player's character gets to ask, "why does this item matter so much to you?" That's when backstory becomes story and we can learn things like, "it was my mother's and I regret every day without it," or "my brother gave it to me; he would have been twelve today..."
Okay, this is all very helpful (perhaps counterintuitive).
So, when it comes to characters and backstories, perhaps in addition to just making the backstory too long and over-sharing with the other players. there is such a thing as trying too hard, providing too much specific detail about them and direction for how they will evolve, making your character too much of an awesome badass, to start out, making it all about you/your character, making too many in game decision based on "this is what my character would do", and getting too emotionally attached (to a character that lives their life on the edge).
As long as you want it to be. I've always told my players that if they can write a compelling backstory in 2 words then, by all means, write only 2 words. If they need 10 pages, they can write 10 pages. The length of the backstory is literally the least important bit you want to worry about. You needn't worry about extending your backstory, unless you count all the notes you jot down during the campaign to also be part of your backstory.
Two absolutely crucial pieces of information: motivation and character. Why does your character want to be an adventurer? Are they yearning for the excitement of the unknown? Did a rival slight them in the past and now they are seeking vengeance? Maybe they left home to accomplish something seemingly trivial but got swept up in something far larger? These are just ideas off the top of my head, you can have a million reasons why your character would want to go on an adventure. If you don't like anything, you can always just say that they needed some fresh air and ventured just a bit further beyond then what they were used to.
It is also important to introduce your character, like you point out: personality, flaws, quirks, etc. What is important here is that it shouldn't be a "list": Try figuring out situations that showcase your character traits rather than just saying "I'm a hardworking artisan and kind to animals, too." To stick with this example, you could always say something like this: "Even as a small child, I found it important to help my father in his pottery workshop. When there was no work to be done, I would play with our dog, and I'm not ashamed to say that I passed on some good meat for him, too."
The only answer I can give you to these questions is whatever works for you and whatever doesn't drive your DM mad. I have a player whose backstory is basically a snippet from a family codex because the character wants to live up to the ideals in that codex. Another wrote an entire short-story about a lifechanging event in the life of their character, only eluding to past events vaguely.
These are questions you should discuss with your DM. If the DM has a grimdark setting in mind, a heartfelt story might not be such a good idea (unless you want that warmth turned against your character during the campaign). I always encourage some humour in serious backstories, to take away some of its edge but that is entirely up to you.
As for making your DM's job easier, that is entirely up to the DM. Again, I highly encourage you to talk some things through with them so that you actually know what is required, what is good to have but not required and what to exclude. I can only talk from personal experience, but I always talk to my players after reading through their backstory to iron out some kinks and to see what they feel is the most important part of their backstory, how heavily they even want their backstory to influence the story, and if they have some sort of personal goal in mind for the character (e.g. Do they want their Fallen Aasimar to be seeking redemption? Do they want their farmboy looking for vengeance to be consumed by it or letting go?).
The best advice I can give you is to sit down, write something (even if it's only 2 words), take it to your DM, and talk things through with them.
What's the worst that could happen?