I am trying my hand at a more condensed backstory, because I usually tend to write multiple pages of backstory. Any thoughts? Too much of a "main character"? Any tips?
(we call him Jeff, because I am bad at names and haven't found something fitting yet)
Jeff is a Hobgoblin. He is a Blue-nosed War-born, which is a kind of big deal. He was always seen as blessed by Maglubiyet and as destined for greatness. His legion saw and treated him as some kind of lucky charm. Because of this status, they did not take him to the academy when his magical talents were discovered, but the Warlord took Jeff as his personal apprentice instead. One day, the Legion set camp in ancient Elven ruins. Some scouts found a strange and ancient globe in the ruins, and brought it to the Warlord, who intended to examine it. Jeff wasn’t allowed to help with this particular matter, and thought little about it. But over time, the Warlord started to act strangely. All the high-ranking officers behaved differently. They started to wear strange symbols that had nothing to do with Maglubiyet. Hobgoblin society had always been brutal, but there had been clear rules to this brutality. Now, everything became more and more chaotic. It spread like a sickness through the Legion. Jeff brought it up in front of the Warlord, but was dismissed. As he insisted, he was nearly decapitated by his former master. He, and a couple of other Hobgoblins had to flee from the camp. He had to decide what to do. Joining another legion would mean to abandon his people. He wouldn’t do that. Never! He was pretty sure that all this had something to do with the magical artifact. He had heard stories about spirits that could posses people. But he didn’t know enough about this matter. The humans, though… they possessed great libraries and knowledge about magical artifacts. He heard his Lord speak about that. So he set out to gather the knowledge and power necessary to free his people. Even if that meant to live amongst humans for a while.
I saw your topic before under quickly loose interest on your characters so here's what I think:
Thats a pretty solid and good backstory. There's not much of a main char either so no problem on this matter. You have aknowledge what made that hobgobling grow a wizard. Also his loyalty to his people and the reasons behind he becaming an outlander adventurer within human realms. And finelly, he has a defined porpouse wich can led him to a full campaing where he must grow powerfull.
So, my tip is: don't focus too much on solving that matter over his Warlord too soon. Keep in mind that the DM may include this into the campaing, but your main focus meanwhile is to grow a powerfull wizard, which include focus on other tasks that maybe don't even relate on that original porpouse, or maybe are part of it, as find lost tomes on that matter within a ruin or travel to hostile lands to reach some guy who might help.
Your task now is to build the road within that starting point and the grand finale for your char. Enjoy any new discovery, friends, obstacles and chalanges you face until that and you may not loose interest on this one.
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I am trying my hand at a more condensed backstory, because I usually tend to write multiple pages of backstory. Any thoughts? Too much of a "main character"? Any tips?
(we call him Jeff, because I am bad at names and haven't found something fitting yet)
Jeff is a Hobgoblin. He is a Blue-nosed War-born, which is a kind of big deal. He was always seen as blessed by Maglubiyet and as destined for greatness. His legion saw and treated him as some kind of lucky charm. Because of this status, they did not take him to the academy when his magical talents were discovered, but the Warlord took Jeff as his personal apprentice instead. One day, the Legion set camp in ancient Elven ruins. Some scouts found a strange and ancient globe in the ruins, and brought it to the Warlord, who intended to examine it. Jeff wasn’t allowed to help with this particular matter, and thought little about it. But over time, the Warlord started to act strangely. All the high-ranking officers behaved differently. They started to wear strange symbols that had nothing to do with Maglubiyet. Hobgoblin society had always been brutal, but there had been clear rules to this brutality. Now, everything became more and more chaotic. It spread like a sickness through the Legion. Jeff brought it up in front of the Warlord, but was dismissed. As he insisted, he was nearly decapitated by his former master. He, and a couple of other Hobgoblins had to flee from the camp. He had to decide what to do. Joining another legion would mean to abandon his people. He wouldn’t do that. Never! He was pretty sure that all this had something to do with the magical artifact. He had heard stories about spirits that could posses people. But he didn’t know enough about this matter. The humans, though… they possessed great libraries and knowledge about magical artifacts. He heard his Lord speak about that. So he set out to gather the knowledge and power necessary to free his people. Even if that meant to live amongst humans for a while.
I saw your topic before under quickly loose interest on your characters so here's what I think:
Thats a pretty solid and good backstory. There's not much of a main char either so no problem on this matter. You have aknowledge what made that hobgobling grow a wizard. Also his loyalty to his people and the reasons behind he becaming an outlander adventurer within human realms. And finelly, he has a defined porpouse wich can led him to a full campaing where he must grow powerfull.
So, my tip is: don't focus too much on solving that matter over his Warlord too soon. Keep in mind that the DM may include this into the campaing, but your main focus meanwhile is to grow a powerfull wizard, which include focus on other tasks that maybe don't even relate on that original porpouse, or maybe are part of it, as find lost tomes on that matter within a ruin or travel to hostile lands to reach some guy who might help.
Your task now is to build the road within that starting point and the grand finale for your char. Enjoy any new discovery, friends, obstacles and chalanges you face until that and you may not loose interest on this one.