"I'm a somewhat experienced writer..."

I was gonna say, if your thumbnail is your face, you look like a Harvard professor or something akin to that.

Also fair. Creativity can come in surprising ways though, so just encourage it when you see it and you'll create a culture of trying untested ideas at your table - that's where creativity thrives. I use the term table metaphorically of course.

This has some ideas that may get your players started, or at least get them thinking about how to develop a backstory. Of course, some of this is more applicable to writing a novel or short story, so they should use what they can use and disregard the rest. You could also try to come up with a table or set of tables for your players to roll to determine parts of their characters' backstories, but that will take a lot of work, which is why I suggested the existing ones. I found some more interesting ideas here, and Google will probably have loads of others. I just used "character backstory writing prompts" for my search, so you can tailor it as you like.

Turtleneck + Gray Beard = Harvard Professor. Now I have an alternative to plague doctor if Halloween is a thing this year.

I don't care if the government tries to "cancel" Halloween this year, I'll still celebrate it. Jokes aside, you do like like an incredibly smart person if that is indeed your face. If it isn't, you're still probably a smart person.

I read a critique that claimed it should not be obvious if a story is character-driven or plot-driven. I don't know how much I agree with that - not sure I can interpret it to mean what it's supposed to mean.

To that point: I think that the players are character-driven and the campaign is derailment plot-driven (and reactive to the characters' narrative).

To that point: We have to let some parts of our character drift about in the elements of the story beyond our control - even against our intents. ("Best laid plans" and all that rubbish...) There was an article here on DDB regarding forward-story versus backstory. It focused heavily on a lack of backstory meaning freedom to create any story going forward. I'm of the mind of moderation - not so much backstory as to leave no room for a forward story and no so little backstory as to have no foundation for a character upon which to build a forward story.

That balance is difficult for me. At some point during backstory, it stops being a foundation and becomes my character that I don't want to give control to anyone - defying probably the one actual requirement of D&D roleplaying: our story and not my story. If I cannot roll back the story in my brain as well as "on paper", I might as well rip up the sheet and start again. When to stop is a learned technique, though. I'll keep trying to find reasonable balance so we all can write the story going forward. Writers write. Painters paint. Sculptors sculpt. RPers RP. Practice.

You bring up a good point. Perhaps it needs to be said that a good backstory describes the events that got your character to the start of the adventure. Most of the "plot points" in your character's backstory should be tied together, although some loose ends are okay. It leaves room for the campaign to be responsive to character backstories if there is an unresolved rivalry in your character's backstory, for instance. For the most part, the backstory should be the character's past and remain there. It describes the events that make the character act the way he does, after all.

As to the our story element, a backstory can give some history between two player characters involved in a campaign, and this can be a lot of fun to roleplay also. I've done this before and even had a dramatic confrontation with one of the characters in a campaign I played. We even left it unresolved - my character believed he was acting in the best interest of the troupe, and the other player's character believed he did the right thing, even though it broke up the troupe. Ultimately, it had no effect on the campaign story arc, but it was fun to play out a resentment that I imagined my character to be harboring. I imagined it to be cathartic for my character as well - so much so that he started acting friendly to the other character since they had once been friends. Although my character, being a prankster, did continue to have fun at his expense, it wasn't malicious after that. So to that end, it did affect party dynamics. I think that if I hadn't developed my character's backstory to at least include that sticking point, I would have missed a memorable roleplaying opportunity.

I need help coming up with a full backstory for my Half-Orc Bard.

His name is Beludim Woods, and he's 20. His main character trait is that even though he acts happy and upbeat, he's actually very sad and lonely. He had a very rocky relationship with his father, a Half-Orc named Gell Woods. He started to rebuild his relationship with him at age seventeen, but before they could reconcile, Gell was killed by a young Red Dragon. Beludim quit his job as a hero of his village (Folk Hero Background) and became a Bard like his father. He seeks vengeance on the Red Dragon.

He has three siblings: Rrath (Male Half-Orc. True Neutral), Ubada Jr. (Female Half-Orc, Neutral Good), and Kansif (Female Half-Orc, Neutral Good). They are a Criminal (Fighter Class), Artisan (Barbarian Class), and Academic (Cleric Class) respectively. Kansif has been missing for 3 years.

His mother is named Ubada Sr., and she is a Wizard that works as a farmer.

His best friend is a female Halfling by the name of Olivia Tosscobble, a Lawful neutral Rogue.

His love interest is a Wood Elf named Vrago, a Rogue. Beludim wishes that Vrago had come with him on his journey, which he hasn't.

If you need any more details, just ask.

I can definitely help you out with that, if you'd like assistance. I've written backstories for people before, so your character should be easy. Interesting race/class choices!

I would love for some help! And thank you! I'm actually really proud of this character.

Sure! I'll message you the backstory directly once I'm finished with it. It shouldn't take too long.

Thanks!

Beludim Woods might look intimidating to some, but his green skin and tusks hide a genuine heart of gold. Instead of fighting with brute strength, Beludim chooses to weave magic through words and song.

Beludim was born in the village of Mikthesh, along with three siblings, Rrath, Ubada Jr., named after their mother Ubada Sr, and Kansif. Beludim's family all had different roles. Rrath was a criminal, stealing from the less fortunate. Ubada Jr. refused to let gender define her, developing a fondness for battle and violence, often brawling for gold. Beludim's other sister Kansif took up school, volunteering at local temples. Beludim enjoyed music and listening to tall tales and stories of heroic adventurers, but his father often looked down his nose at Beludim. Because of opposing points of view, Beludim and his father often butted heads and clashed violently with both word and fist.

One day, as Beludim was in Mikthesh entertaining the children with tales and stories, word reached his pointed ears of his father's death at the hands of a tyrannical red dragon rising to power. The dragon's name was Kylrit, the Eternal Fire. Deeply saddened, Beludim left his family, swearing to kill the dragon before he drew his last breath. As Beludim traveled, he made friends. A perky halfling named Olivia Tosscobble quickly found a place in Beludim's damaged heart, always happy and outgoing. Beludim even developed close relations with a wood elf named Vrago, who wouldn't accompany Beludim on his quest despite their love for one another.

Though sad and downtrodden at times, Beludim can always brighten a room with his song and talent. His magical skill is strong, and he uses it to keep others from falling into sadness.

Name: Lorarila

Race: Half-elf

Class: Warlock (Undying patron)

The elves are the most recent inhabitants in the forest, but they are also the ones who have left the most lasting mark on it.

When the first stragglers reached the trees, telling half stories of having been driven out of their lands, the ancient inhabitants of the forest, the Dryads and the Treants, and all the other spirits, thought little of them. They were never properly allowed to resettle there, but after long consultations the spirits decreted that the newcomers could be allowed to live among them, albeit separated, as long as from their presence wouldn't come harm the forests.

With that, the proper immigration of the elves into the forest they called the Forest that Breathes; Eyran Serin in their dialect: the vast mangrove forest that lies in the Great Dragon bay. The forest itself lais on a massive web of leylines and it's this peculiarity that guided the elves in their migration: the forest was one of the few points which was likely to reach for them where they could continue the  practice of their customs and traditions. Those customs, especially their birth and funerary practices, were not properly harmful to the forest, or to anyone else, but still they had unpredictable consequences on the very fabric of the forest, leading to its current state of war.

Those elves use to bind the soul of their newborn to the very nature of the places they call home: ritually at their 29th day of life they are brought to a leyline nexus, where the elders of their clan tattoo the Glyph of the Return on the crown of their heads: at their death, the mark would summon their souls back to the forest. Those very spirits could then be accessed in areas where the magic is strong, to offer confort and counsel to the living. For this reason many youths are pushed to travel and pursue different paths in their life, so that the pool of knowledge could always grow bigger and better with any elf.

When an elf dies in the Forest that Breathes, their body is collected, mummified to keep it as long as possible, armed and armored as in life, and then left scattered in the forest. In times of need, or just to better interact with their living kins, the souls of the dead elves can inhabit and reanimate the bodies.

For the first few generations things seemed to proceed peacefully. Then, the spirits of the forest started perceiving a change in the spiritual plane of their home. The bound souls of the elves were coalescing within the magic-heavy background of the forest, approaching something that seemed like sentience: young but growing in power and knowlege with the death of any elf.

What was worst for the spirits was that they had no way of control over this new consciousness, as it was based exclusively on elves' mind and souls and was alien to them. The only solution they could find was making the elves stop their practice and wait for the consciousness to disperse itself into the forest, otherwise they could only destroy the leyline hotspots where the binding rituals are conducted, and this was deemed unacceptable.

When they were asked, the elves refused. Rather than explaining their reasons and risking a new refusal, the spirits decided to wage war and either drive the elves away or exterminate them.

It seemed a simple plan, but they didn't realize how powerful and numerous the elves had become. Plus, every casualty made the gestalt consciousness grow in power and awareness. Fearing defeat, and the end of the forest as they knew it, the dryad Saerriefrie Cypresscrown decided to resort to an extreme solution: awaken the great Green Dragon Rhansedra, hoping to make her a powerful ally.

Saerriefrie's gambit paid off: despite her condescension to non-draconic life forms, Rhansedra loves the Forest that Breath and considers her property and to her the practices of the elves mean theft and invasion. She was willing to help the dryads and the treants, but but in return she would spread her influence throughout the forest. Saerriefrie agreed and Rhansedra made the dryad an half dragon.

In the following years, the balance of the war, until then in favor of the elves, became uncertain again. Half dragon Treants and Dryads started joining the fray, while trees started growing scale-like leaves and release poisonous mists. Finally, a worrying number of green dragon Wyrmling started fighting against the eves. 

All of this meant that the spirits actually had a chance to win their forest back. However, all those changes brought by the dragon and Saerriefrie started having the same effect on the forest that the arrival of the elves had: an ever growing presence that threatens to encompass the whole forest, but at least the dragon promised Saerriefrie that she wouldn't leave the original inhabitants alone and Rhansedra started growing ever fonder of the dryad.

To cope with this new shift, the elves decided to seek allies among nearby human tribes. Eventually a few half-elf children were born and the elves were delighted to learn that not only those children grow faster than a pure blood elf, they could also commune with the souls, just like them, and had an easier way to draw raw power from the spirits. They were the first Warlocks of the Forest that Breaths and the forerunners of a new offensive.

Lorarila was born in the Fyfe Esari (Whispering Leaves) clan of the elves living in the Forest that Breathes.

As the custom dictates, in her 29th day of life Loralia was brought to a leyline nexus in a pond. There the elders tattooed the Glyph of the Return on crown of Lorarila's head and her genealogy on her back: all her noteworthy deeds would be added and at her death the skin would be removed, treated and kept in her clan's archives. Running out of free space in life, thus having more than one sheet in the archives, is considered a mark of great honor (for the same reason, purposely harming one's back in a way that cancels the tattoos is taboo).

The clan of the Fyfe Esari basically is a single, large family and its children were raised with the participation of most of the adults. Lorarila's childhood went by with as much lightheartedness was possible to balance with her learning and weapons training. She was lucky in being born in one of the areas more firmly in the hands of the elves, so the war was something she never experienced first hand, even though her parents brought Lorarila and her siblings to see its effects more than once.

When she reached 20 years of age (maturity for an half-elf, even though her pure blood siblings were older in years but much less mature), Lorarila was brought once more to the elders and to the nexus. Once more she was presented to the spirits of their forebearers, and they found her worthy of receiving their Pact. That was the rebirth of Lorarila as a Warlock of the Forest that Breaths, receiving the vertical green line above the left eye and meeting warlock Ilimaer, who would be her master for the ritual three years of apprenticeship.

That was the first time Lorarila faced the war and her deeds earned new lines on her back, as well as new scars.

After that period, once her master deemed her able to protect herself and properly use their power and that of their patron, the time of the journey came. Lorarila has to leave the Forest that Breaths and, for at least the next ten years, she is supposed to travel the world, experiencing and learning news that couldn't be found in the forest. On her return she will be considered an adult member of her clan.

This looks like the beginning of a rich lore for the world which contains the forest you created. I like the spirit consciousness - like a manifestation of what can arise from ancestor spirit worship. In true elven fashion, it is tied to the forest and the Weave (or that's how I think of your lay-line network) and considers itself a guardian of the forest - though the Sylvan creatures and spirits think otherwise. I like how they have a lesser of two evils mindset in their alliance with the green dragon and turn a blind eye to the effects of their choice, too. It is a believable twist. This is some good world-building.

Totally agree with crowbr76. I love the way you indoctrinated elven tradition and rituals, especially giving the reader a sense of the setting. Very well-done.

Thank you, crowbr76 and TieflingsRule.

The Forest that Breathes is something I've been thinking about for long, I'm glad I managed to do it justice. I'd also like to expand the idea. I always enjoy some world-building and there are more possibilities I'd like to explore.

Actually, I'm quite new to D&D and it wasn't clear to me what the Weave was. When I wrote I was thinking of Ley Lines in their classical sense, or that the forest was heavily saturated with Wild Magic. But anyway, the result would be more or less the same.

Well, if you want to expand on the Forest, head on over to World Anvil. Their accounts are free, and the amount of stuff you can do on there is crazy.

Epic! This is amazing! TYSM!

Quote from TieflingsRule >>

Well, if you want to expand on the Forest, head on over to World Anvil. Their accounts are free, and the amount of stuff you can do on there is crazy.

 I will give it a look.

This is just an half-idea, but the Forest could also work as a Sorcerous Origin. The Divine Soul could work good enough, but something more death/spirit oriented may be better.