Creating a character -- Part III: Background suggestions

[Tarbo]

A character's background is what makes the difference between a set of numbers and a flesh and blood (imaginary) character. In our experience, most people have trouble in creating a past life for the character to have had.

In previous installments, we went over the basic notions of character creation, and listed a few common pitfalls that people have to contend with when fleshing out their newborn avatar. In this part, we will consider a number of suggestions.


Past Life

Most people weren't born adventurers; they were pressed into a life of adventure in some way or the other. Perhaps they never really fit into society; perhaps they are hiding from debt collectors; perhaps they are escaped criminals; or perhaps they really did want to be an adventurer when they grew up.

There are few rules when devising a past life, other than to keep it modest (you don't want to have an army general working for food). We do ask the character not have significant fighting experience, since everyone starts out with a basic, inexperienced character.

Occupation

A past life fills in the holes in a character's history. Was she a hard worker, toiling on farms or in carpenter shops? Was she a lounge lizard, hanging around in drinking establishments and earning coin by finagling it out of haphazard passerby's with charm and wit? Was she a performer, finding gratification in the cheers of an audience? If your character hasn't been an adventurer all her life, she has been something else in the meantime!

A past occupation does a lot to help people flesh out their character. Law enforcement will have a different take on rules and regulations than a thief. A beggar will appreciate a blanket more than a painting. Each will have their own take on a situation.

Other people

Are there people of significance in the character's past? Perhaps relatives (parents, siblings, even children), a mentor, lover(s)... Supporting cast can give flavour to a character, especially when there is mention to how the mutual dealings are or were.

This is also a part to be taken on with care. After all, the supporting cast should not be a list of retainers that your character can readily fall back on if she's in need (that would be unfair towards other players), or pit her against opponents way out of her league!

Moderation!

Most characters that are über are really just very, very lame. Assume that no-one will be impressed by how cool a character is. Hosts are on the lookout for characters that they can help shape a future, that they can work with in a game. Apply moderation when working out your character's background.


Reasons

The life of an adventurer is not enviable. When farmers and merchants sleep comfortably in their beds, adventurers pull out a bedroll and a (hopefully dry) patch of ground. Soldiers are being paid regardless of whether they are needed, while adventurers get paid on completion of their mission, either by selling found loot or by their employer. Adventurers need to rely on their wits, equipment, and allies to survive to the next day. All in all, being an adventurer is not always a great deal of fun.

So why did your character choose the adventuring life? Was it a conscious choice or has she stumbled into it somehow? Does she crave anonimity or rather fame and glory? A few possible reasons follow.

Quick coin, no questions asked

People turn to adventurers when conventional means can't help them reach their goals. The mission could require specialist equipment, disregard for personal safety, or a moral flexibility not easily found in regular people. To most employers, adventurers are minimum-wage commandos. The good part is that employers tend not to picky on who they recruit for a single mission, as long as they get the job done.

Characters could be in need of quick coin to help them out of a bind or the gutter. She could have had a run of bad luck and needs some quick money to get back on track, or perhaps she needs to pay off a debt for an unscrupulous collector who's due for his next visit. The pay from a single assignment could mean the difference between problems and reprief.

Thrills

Adventurers face more hazards on a daily basis than most people do in a lifetime. For people who like living life in the fast lane, adventuring is a means to go borderline and still make some coin out of it. You never know what you're walking into, and for some people, this is half the pay.

Perhaps your character is an adrenaline junkie, or she likes pushing herself to the limit to prove her worth. Perhaps she lives for the smell of heated metal in a swordfight, or perhaps she gets a kick out of seeing people die on their knees. To everyone looking for thrills, adventuring is just the way out of dull existence.

Fame and Glory

Throughout history, fame and glory have always been a reward on their own.

Successful adventurers have a name that is known in the circles of society. Famous people have a say in affairs and don't get bossed around like normal folk. When you're famous, you're not a deviant, you're a pioneer; you're not insane, you're eccentric; you are not wrong, you are misunderstood.

Characters looking for fame and glory do so for many reasons: to clear their names from past slander or misdeeds, to be fawned over and have a fan club in every cottage and hamlet, to read people's faces when their reputations have preceded them into a room. They could be walking into a forefather's footsteps, hoping to uphold family honour and tradition, or they could just be out to make a name for themselves.

Treasure

Who knows what spoils await the daring? Whether on the hunt for knowledge, rare artifacts or just ever more money, a life of adventuring offers the prospect of many riches to the successful. For as long as sentience has existed, there has been greed and those who follow this ancient impulse of human nature ('human' in the broadest sense, here).

The character has a thirst for the spoils of adventure. Whether she's in it for rare and precious artifacts, raw wealth, servants, or to accumulate power, the character is in it for her immediate benefit. (This doesn't need to make the character callous; she's just less attracted to the romantic notion of adventuring than to the potential treasure.)

Personal Quest

The character has some personal quest that she cannot accomplish without getting her hands seriously dirty. This can be as diverse as the imagination, from searching for a lost relative to seeking out a way to bring down an opponent. Characters with a personal quest take other assignments as they come, building up the wealth, allies, and equipment to see her own path to the end.


Conclusion

We went over a few building parts involved in the creation of a character background, in particular a character's past life (if any) and her reason for adventuring. Giving these two basic blocks some thought will go a great length into helping anyone flesh out a character that will get accepted into a group.


If you have any questions, feel free to contact the author of this article.