A group of adventurers sit around the fire eating their first real meal under the peace of tranquil starlight since their three day dive through an abandoned mining cave they just cleared of threats for the town guard. A good deed has been accomplished and the local miners can return to work; a job well done. Smiles are shared across the flames and a recounting of epic moments are exaggerated and stretched for the entertainment of the group and everyone laughs and then ups that tale with their own version. Everyone knows it is just for fun, and a good rest has been earned. “Alright, now that we know what we can do, and that we can trust each other, who are you people? And why have you chosen a life on the road, risking your life for gold and loot?” the chipper mage asks, a new spellbook in his pocket and secrets of his own he hopes are not prodded into.
As a DM, it is this scene that I look forward to most in every campaign. If the work has been done on my end, and for each of my PCs, I get to sit back and watch as each player, whose backstory I know intimately, share what they are willing to about where they have come from, what they hope to accomplish, and why they chose to leave a life of relative safety (maybe) to wind up in an adventuring party risking their life on a semi-daily basis.
I love this moment. It feels real and honest, despite the hidden truths that may not make it to the light. This is where most characters actually get the first opportunity to be known. Yes, a couple fights may have already happened, and yes, the real skills and abilities of each class might have had an opportunity to shine. Maybe one of the PCs might have actually died if the Fighter didn’t crit on his desperate spear throw and that was a critical moment building trust and a bond between two players, but what about the motivations and the humanity of each individual in the group? What if you could build a bond between two players on an emotional level and start to value each other on an individual level as people and characters? That is what a compelling backstory can do and I want to provide some tips and a foundation to start at to help build a character so when this moment happens, you aren’t shuffling through some half-written notes about your character’s appearance, but you are not too sure how they got to be where they are right now.
The System that works for you
The trick about making a great backstory is knowing what you enjoy. The details I added, the factors I wanted to include, all work because it is what I enjoy and what I need to help me make a character I think is fun and want to play.
I can give you ideas, questions, my process, but none of that means it will light a fire in you about what character you want to play. Dear friends of mine that I love to DM for and really enjoy playing with would scoff at a backstory like Hargo for their characters. Some of them like to play up combat more than relationships and I love him for it. He makes really fun characters in combat that the party can rely on! Another friend always seems to want to play an ambiguous character that seems to have one foot in the door, ready to leave or turn on the party. And they have a process on figuring out how to make that end goal fit into the character they are making.
So, try and narrow down that scope and ask yourself what is the most fun aspect of D&D to you.
A good starting place is to look at the level your character is starting at.
What does it mean to be your level?
Most likely, you are starting at level 1. Maybe level 3 or level 5. This post is intended for first timers writing their first backstory, so I will be framing it at an introductory level. There will be a deeper and more intentional post about writing a backstory for more seasoned players later.
So the level your character is at says something about the amount of experience your character has had. Like I mentioned in my video about designing your first PC, a disconnect between your character’s level and the backstory you are roleplaying can have some weird consequences in the story. If you wrote that Leo the Silversword, great battle master and hero of the revolution is your level 1 PC to start of a campaign and he can’t even open a decent pickle jar or could die to two well placed rat bites, how awkward is it that he supposedly lead a revolt against a tyrant and won a duel against the corrupt king? So, as I stated before, your player might not be a hero, yet! And that is okay! We want to set the stage to earn the title of hero and make that sound believable and good when the timing is right. So let’s start small.
Good Questions to be Ready to Answer
This will just be a list of questions to consider if they are important to the development of your character.
Who are their parents? What did they do and how much influence did they have on your character? Any siblings? This can give a good sense of where your character is coming from. A starting place and foundation for the growth and development you can experience throughout the game.
What are some positive relationships you have from your hometown? What are some negative relationships you might have? Depending on your DM, these may be NPCs in the story later or the focus of stories you can tell to other players about why your character behaves in certain ways.
At what moment did your character decide that they wanted to become an adventurer? Are they moving towards a goal or away from their past? What motivates them to leave and do something different? Knowing this can help relate to other characters for doing the same thing, and help flesh out the bonds loyalties and goals your character has.
How did your character get from their backstory place and setting to the current story place and setting? If they are from a different town, why are they in the new town? What motivated them to do that? If the world map and other cities are important to your DM, linking your character to a hometown may help with later storytelling.
Why are they the class that you chose? Who trained them or how did they get their skills? I always find this useful and like to have a story component to why my character has different abilities and proficiencies. I just don’t like it when a big aspect of my character is just a feature on a sheet not explained in the story. Otherwise it just feels like a video game to me.
What would your character want to ask new friends? What are they curious about other people? (Sparking conversation and helping others get the opportunity to dive into their character can be great if that is the feel your group is going for.)
What is a secret or something your character would want to hide from the group? (I always try to throw one or two of these into a character if I can. Something small that I wouldn’t mind when the party finds out or I finally admit it, but also something that once it is revealed, it shows a layer of depth to character that also can build trust with the party once they know.)
Those are just a couple areas that can help get you started on fleshing out your character. If you have a sentence or two for each of those questions, I think you will find that making choices as your character, and playing as them in the game will become a little easier and they will begin to have a life of their own over time.
An Example Character
This is an example of a character I made for a campaign I was in for Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Hargo Bindy
Firbolg Cleric, Level 1
Hargo was raised in a remote halfling clan and adopted by his halfling parents, Fredrick and Darla Bindy. (He was mysteriously dropped off in the town, and doesn’t know his real Firbolg parents.) In fact, he thinks he is a halfling.
He has a love interest named Glory Flowersetter and was bullied by two halfing rivals, Philibert Shortbreath and Broony Figfarmer who called him names like “Cargo” because he was so big for a “halfling”.
One day, Hargo and Glory were walking in the woods picking flowers, like they have for years, when they were attacked by an owlbear that nearly killed Glory. When he grabbed her and ran her home, his town blamed him and ostracized him from the clan. (He was always an “outsider” to them).
Hargo followed his prayers and instincts and wandered through the wilderness for a month before dreams and his deity lead him to the coast. He was captured by slavers who used him for labor and they brought him to be sold at Saltmarsh where the campaign was beginning.
He is a cleric because his goddess approached him in his solitude and sadness and provided him with purpose and direction. She gives him his abilities.
His race as a Firbolg in a halfling community I described earlier, but in addition to that, when he sees other halflings, he speaks to them in halfling language and also does not know what a Firbolg is. First meeting one is going to be a huge moment in his development as a character.
Hargo is quick to ask people about their parents, their religion, and if they ever plan on going back home. He is wanting to figure out if he should ever try to go back home despite being outlawed from the town and blamed for the danger Glory got into.
Hargo’s secrets? Well he is ashamed of being outlawed and putting Glory in danger. He may lie about some of that to cover his shame. He also has a secret he doesn’t even know. His Firbolg parents dropped him off at the halfling community to rescue him from the capture and slavery their race were already facing (though he seems to have stumbled into that anyway). One day, he might learn that he is not a halfling at all, and he will confront his parents about where he came from and track down his real family later.
There is an example character that I have run before (and used a much deeper document to write out his backstory, but as you can see, just having answers to those questions and trying to link them all together in one cohesive story can push a character from being a Firbolg that does whatever their god asks them to, to being a well rounded character with conflicting emotions and motivations that he acts from and works through.