"I rode a horse into war! I came back with my shield having won great fame. Now, I seek great treasure to match my glory, and I have taken up the profession of adventuring in order to reach this goal."

(High Level Soldier. Any Martial Class. Any Species.)

Life was hard as a child living on the streets of Mirros, from the crime to the grime, orphaned and homeless is no way to grow up. But it does make ya tough, and it does teach you some lessons like how to pick a lock, and if you’re not a dimwit it is possible to use those traits to get out of that life. Now that I’m out I aim to never go back, which is why I’m gonna now use those traits to get me rich.

(Any race, Urchin background, Rogue)

You're a gambler.

You owe too many of the wrong people too much money.

You must constantly be on the move and trying to make money to get out of trouble.

Anything where the basic personality is a self-focused merc. Lots of room for character growth if thrown in with a group of people and the character maintains a long association with them. Lots of hooks for enemies with unique flair once the character is endeared to the party. Fictional mobsters always seem to have creative shticks setting them apart from each other (rather than the truth being that they were rather bland copies of each other IRL, romanticized only in fiction and sensationalism--aka. also fiction). Gambling addiction optional and best to be researched before attempting.

i hate using digital dice even if im using the app i use regular dice

My name is Ol'os Nah, I was a smuggler, running illicit cargo up and down the waterways and rivers in my boat; The Century Eagle,  until I had to ditch some cargo to avoid the royal guard's inspection. I owe a sizable amount of money to the gangsters whose cargo I dumped and now, well now I just killed a bounty hunter they sent after me so I guess I'll have bounty hunters on my tail as well. I'm going to skip town and see if I can find a way to make some money and pay off this debt and hopefully not get accosted by more bounty hunters in the process.

*Any Race although Human would be my go to so you can get proficiency with Navigation tools, use Criminal for smuggling activities and any non-magic using class you like but Rogue would be best because you're a bit of a scoundrel at heart...or a scruffy looking nerf herder depending on who you ask.

I used to love tromping around the woods behind my house when I was younger, but one day I was set upon by a random goblin bandit who wanted what little I had. I didn’t have much, but what I did have was my dagger and I defended myself with it and prevailed, it was exhilarating. After that I trained night and day with the weapons and equipment I liberated from my attacker, and now I’m setting off to find adventure wherever I can.

Quote from lilpunk2008 >>

i hate using digital dice even if im using the app i use regular dice

 
Was this intended for the What's The Point In Digital Dice thread?

Otherwise, an unusual "character backstory" :D

Quote from Rob76 >>

My name is Ol'os Nah, I was a smuggler, running illicit cargo up and down the waterways and rivers in my boat; The Century Eagle,  until I had to ditch some cargo to avoid the royal guard's inspection. I owe a sizable amount of money to the gangsters whose cargo I dumped and now, well now I just killed a bounty hunter they sent after me so I guess I'll have bounty hunters on my tail as well. I'm going to skip town and see if I can find a way to make some money and pay off this debt and hopefully not get accosted by more bounty hunters in the process.

*Any Race although Human would be my go to so you can get proficiency with Navigation tools, use Criminal for smuggling activities and any non-magic using class you like but Rogue would be best because you're a bit of a scoundrel at heart...or a scruffy looking nerf herder depending on who you ask.

You are a scoundrel who is in love with someone who is royalty and a fugitive from the continent's imperial rule.

Having seen that person have a brief incestuous relationship, you don't have the courage to tell the person how you really feel.

Still, you decide that you'll protect that person with your dying breath.

😜

I was a dwarf miner dwelling deep in the grounds, obeying the deepdowner Grags and working hard like a dwarf should, when some insane miner carved a mine sign on the wall, summoning a terrible spirit of darkness. I fled to the surface world, even though that was forbidden by the Grags, but I fear that the spirit of darkness may still be with me. I have found that the surface world is much different than how the Grags described it and I am not over eager to return to the darkness below.

(Dwarf, Haunted One, Warlock, probably hexblade or fiend)

Not hard to see where you got the inspiration for that, given your name and PFP

Quote from EricHVela >>

Quote from Rob76 >>

My name is Ol'os Nah, I was a smuggler, running illicit cargo up and down the waterways and rivers in my boat; The Century Eagle,  until I had to ditch some cargo to avoid the royal guard's inspection. I owe a sizable amount of money to the gangsters whose cargo I dumped and now, well now I just killed a bounty hunter they sent after me so I guess I'll have bounty hunters on my tail as well. I'm going to skip town and see if I can find a way to make some money and pay off this debt and hopefully not get accosted by more bounty hunters in the process.

*Any Race although Human would be my go to so you can get proficiency with Navigation tools, use Criminal for smuggling activities and any non-magic using class you like but Rogue would be best because you're a bit of a scoundrel at heart...or a scruffy looking nerf herder depending on who you ask.

 

You are a scoundrel who is in love with someone who is royalty and a fugitive from the continent's imperial rule.

Having seen that person have a brief incestuous relationship, you don't have the courage to tell the person how you really feel.

Still, you decide that you'll protect that person with your dying breath.

😜

 Ah the plot hole of an intergalatic war far, far away that has never been retconned to my knowledge.

“I was in the back of house in the tavern cooking up a storm when suddenly 3 yahoos in black pajamas and hoods bust in high-kicking everyone’s buts and generally wrecking the my establishment. I laid into them with my trusty iron pot an’ gave ‘em what for. Now my pot and me are out lookin for the rest of those yahoos in their black pajamas to teach ‘em a lesson, and I’m travelin’ with a group of “adventurers” until I find those pajama wearin’ idgits.

(Any race, Folk Hero background, Barbarian)

Growing up, I was bullied by my older brother as I gained approval from our father, the leader of my Dragonborn clan.  I should've held my anger in and stuck to my ideals as a cleric, if I would've done so, I wouldn't have seemingly killed my brother after an argument.  I was banished from my clan, and I wandered, filled with anger, confusion, regret, and solitude.

I was a skilled chef searching for the best way to make the best recipes. One day, my beloved restaurant was attacked by monsters and I managed to fend them off with my cooking equipment. That day I also found that many monsters have parts that spice up any meal they are thrown in and I travel the world slaying monsters in order to collect their guts and gore for my cooking. 

(Any race, any martial class, should have the chef feat.)

I was abandoned on the steps of a monestary as a baby and on my 18th birthday the monks gave me a package and a letter that was left with me. The letter gave brief details form my mother saying she left me out of love as she was heading into darkness and the package held a box containing a single flintlock pistol. Days passed and then I head the voice, whispers telling me how to repair the firearm and forge ammunition, now I have left the monestary and look for sign of my mothers fate.

*Introducing Animus Ripley, variant Human with the Gunner feat, Acolyte for background and Hexblade Warlock for class, its heavily influenced by the NPC's of Anna Ripley and Orthax from campaign one of Cirt Role. I have just become rather enamoured by the idea of a hexblade using a firearm for their pact weapon and having a warlock based around Hex and not Eldritch Blast.

When my creator was finished with my services he simply set me loose in the world to find my own way, even though I had no idea where to go or what to do. Luckily for me my mechanical nature made me resistant to some forms of damage, my specialized design gave me a modicum of proficiency with certain tools, and the fact that I was built for success made me good enough at pretty much anything I attempt. Those attributes made me seem like a good companion for this group of adventurers, so they asked me to tag along, and now I know where to go and what to do.

Hmm, haven't done one of these in a while... here's my two most recent characters (both using subclasses from the Tal'Dorei Reborn book)

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I tried to get away from my drunken dad's constant scams by reviving the lost family tradition of distilling, but I think I might just be cursed. The dwarven distillery I apprenticed at to learn their ways, and the whole town around it for that matter, fell into the earth and got cloaked in evil mist after their miners dug too deep. The druids who rescued me couldn't fully remove the stain of that evil from my scales, so I crawled to the bottom of a bottle and onto a wagon train headed west to try and forget my past.

(copper dragonborn Circle of the Blighted druid)

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As a child, I was viewed as the Chosen One of a cult, but a group of adventurers wiped them out and rescued me. One of them raised me as his own and trained me to be a warrior, but now the power the cult leader saw in me all those years ago has started to emerge. I've got to learn to control these powers, and maybe find out what the cult has planned for me, before they find me again.

(halfling fighter/Runechild sorcerer)

Little Timmy Montague (no class yet, he's only 12, and no one told him)

Ma always said I was gonna be something big, and now she's gone I have to live up to it at a full 12 years old. The God's fought and goblins and orcs and gnolls raided and once I healed everything I loved was gone except for a bastard sword, a fishing pole, and sack of food. But along the way I gained two weird Ravens as friends, even if they bring weird dreams to me. 

I am old, very, very old, so old I have lost count of the years, decades, centuries…. I have spent most of my life drifting across the astral sea, and have seen things most people couldn’t comprehend, but still it bores me. Now I have come to the material plane to find something exciting to live for.

(Astral Elf, Astral Drifter, any class)

I was The Third of four children, Life was happy. Then My two Brothers and Father were murdered for fighting against those who wish to rule the world. Now, I hunt down those who killed them, and those who wish to rule hand over fist.