You’ll be creating your own characters for this game subject to the following conditions,
- The character(s) must be brand-new Level 1 characters.
- The character(s) must not be neutral evil or chaotic evil (lawful evil is OK; in fact, some of the GM created NPC’s who might be accompanying you will be lawful evil!).
- The character(s) must not be orc or half-orc; they’re not welcome in these lands and they very rarely survive to the age of maturity.
- Your character(s) must own at least one set of clothes (each!).
Otherwise, it’s all wide open. You can have as many characters as you like and their character classes/subclasses can be from the 5.5E D&D Player’s Handbook or something from a 5E guide that hasn’t been supplanted by a 5.5E version. If I don’t happen to own the source that you’re using, I may ask you for copies of the pages describing your character type so that I can GM it properly.
The most important things to do will be to pick your character’s race/class/gender and to think about your character’s morality. What does your character think is right and wrong? In the kingdom of Archea, the site of our adventure, slavery is an everyday practice. What does your character think about that? Is it OK as long as it’s just orcs and other contemptible creatures who are enslaved? Or is it OK to enslave humans and elves too?
Also in the kingdom, successive kings and their governments have tended to be lazy and corrupt. Is your character angry about that? Or are they looking forward to getting a piece of that corruption for themselves? Or do they just not care? Hopefully you’ll be able to come up with a reasonably well-developed set of beliefs and morals that may inter-relate with your character’s background.
And then that set of beliefs and morals might evolve during the adventure… or they might come into conflict with the beliefs and morals of another character… or with the beliefs and morals of society at large… and all of that would certainly be grist for an interesting story…
If you’re playing a magic-using character, also spare some thought as to the sound and appearance of your character’s spells. While all magic missiles in this game have the same range and do the same damage, they all sound and appear different based on the characteristics of the spellcaster, the school of magic they studied under, etc. Does your character’s magic missile look like a ghostly arrow that swooshes toward the target and embeds itself in their flesh? Or is it a ghostly skull that flies toward the victim and starts gnawing on their arm while saying, “Nom, nom, nom!”
As for the rest of your character’s backstory, you’re welcome to flesh it out as much or as little as you please at this time. You can do some of it now and then add to it later, when the game is in mid-session and new ideas come to you. Just let me know about what you’re thinking throughout so that,
- I can make sure that it doesn’t conflict with any of the important game elements that you might not know about yet and,
- I can incorporate your character’s backstory into the adventure’s story wherever possible.
If you want to roll dice and figure out your character’s attributes, saving throws, etc, you can. Or you can save it for our Session Zero where you’ll also be able to pick the brains of the friendly crew of seasoned nerds.
You should not spend any of your character’s starting money yet because the presence of the Adventurer’s Guild will change your decisions on how to spend (for instance, you can rent weapons and armor from the Adventurer’s Guild). In addition, I’m sure your character will want to coordinate expenditures with all of his or her new best friends so wait until Session Zero to talk things over and figure out who’s going to buy the ten-foot pole.
Here’s a few more questions/exercises I borrowed (stole) from RPG author James D’Amato to help get your creative thinking going regarding backstory!
What formative events shaped who you are now?
- Growing up you experienced something that you never wish to revisit. It could be the desperation of extreme poverty, the isolation of social rejection, or even the guilt associated with having done something wrong. What have you learned should be avoided at all costs? What measures do you take these days to avoid this?
- Before you truly understood your abilities, you unintentionally caused harm with them. What did you break or whom did you injure? How did you make up for your mistake (or did you)? What did this situation teach you about managing your strength?
- As an adolescent or younger adult, you stood up against something stronger than you to fight a perceived injustice. What did you lose in pursuit of your ideals? How did this event shape your response to wrongdoing as an adult?
- When you were a child, someone close to you hid a truth from you. As an adult, you realized that person’s deception. How did the lie shape you? Did the truth hurt you? How do you approach deception as an adult?
- During your training you risked your life for something and were rewarded for it. How close did you come to death? What was the nature of your reward? What do you take into consideration when risking your life nowadays?
What drives you forward?
- You are at death’s door. Your breath is shallow and ragged. Your joints cry and ache. Every part of you longs to lie down and rest, come what may. What image appears in your mind that inspires you to keep fighting?
- The trail is cold. Following every clue has led you back to the same place of uncertainty from which you started. You can feel icy dread creeping over you as you consider the possibility of reexamining everything that brought you to this point. What physical object do you instinctively reach for at this moment? What comfort does it bring?
- In the pursuit of righting wrongs, the line between good and evil has become blurred. You have done things you could never have imagined doing before, but you are not sure if that has crossed a line. What words guide you toward your moral center? Who said them?
- You are faced with a locked chest deep within a dungeon. On your journey down, you have faced many clever traps and seen valuable rewards. What treasure could be hidden inside that makes you want to open that chest despite the risks?
- You and your part are facing a serious problem and cannot agree on a solution. You have argued until you are blue in the face and the temptation to simply go your own way is strong. What moment from your past makes you try one more time to find agreement with the other members?
Five things that are in your backpack… but really shouldn’t be…
- Growing up, you were taught that a specific item was important to your identity. On the road, you have found little use for it. Every time you see it among your belongings, you make an excuse to keep it. What is it and where did you get it?
- This was part of an old superstition you were taught as a child. It has since proven to be untrue. What is it? And have you ever tried to use it?
- When first venturing out, you grabbed this. It seemed like something useful you would need on the road. You are still waiting for the perfect opportunity to pull it out. What is it and when do you plan to use it?
- You purchased this intending to learn how to use it. You keep putting off that learning experience. Now throwing it away would be admitting that you will never learn that skill. What is it? And how long would it take for you to actually learn how to use it?
- This is an article of clothing for which you have a sentimental fondness. It is damaged to the point of being unusable or it could be replaced by a more suitable item… but you have never let it go. What is it? And who made it?
How do you feel about a specific member of your party? What prior interaction have you had with that person that makes you feel this way?
- “So-and-so has a heart that is not meant for battle. I wish to protect that.”
- “No matter how dangerous our destination might be, I feel safe with so-and-so watching my back.”
- “The quiet nobility I see in so-and-so makes me question all of the things I have been told about people like them.”
- “I have come to appreciate so-and-so’s cunning as a force on par with any weapon or magic.”
- “So-and-so is stronger than they know. I want to help them find that strength without suffering the losses that I have.”
- “I have pledged myself to study the mysteries of the cosmos and unravelling the secret truths of the world. But so-and-so’s wisdom surprises me at every turn.”
- “I don’t truck with many gods, but so-and-so’s care means I owe something to at least one.”
- “No matter how tired and battered I am from the day, a few moments by the fire with so-and-so cheers me to my core.”
- “So-and-so is a quiet and serious person. I feel privileged as their friend to have seen the warmth they hide away.”
- “I know so-and-so is good at keeping secrets, because they hold so many of mine.”
- “I will never forget the terrible power I know so-and-so holds at bay. Part of me hopes to see it again.”
- “It took me a long time to understand so-and-so, but now that I do, so much of their strangeness feels like charm.”
- “So-and-so and I could spend all night comparing scars and still have new stories to tell one another come morning.”
- “Part of me knows that protecting so-and-so will be one of the most important missions in my life.”
- “The road is lonely, but I am certain that if I can spend a little more time with so-and-so, I will feel distinctly less lonely.”
- “Few travel a road as long and winding as mine, and so I keep few friends. I know so-and-so sees me as one, but I fear I will disappoint them.”
- “So-and-so has suffered a terrible ill because of me. It is my duty to do things as well as I can.”
- “I resent the way so-and-so makes me regret the terrible things I have been forced to do.”
- “I delight in nothing more than irritating so-and-so and dreaming up new ways to do it.”
- “So-and-so is wise and works hard to guide me but I know they are holding something back.”
- “I am jealous of so-and-so but would never want to carry their burdens.”
In addition, if your character’s backstory has them moving from some other country to Archea, tell me what that other country is like. Is it a monarchy? A democracy? A kleptocracy? A matriarchy? What are the people who live there like? What keeps them up at night? What made your character decide to leave? I’ll leave some countries on the world map unnamed and fill them in with the name(s)/characteristics of the various countries that your character(s) have come from.
Finally, if your character is old enough to have had some life experiences prior to adventuring, be sure to write those down. If a roll comes up that could be influenced by your background, the GM will likely grant some pluses based on your background. For instance, if you spent 10 years working to serve a noble’s court, you probably learned a lot about how nobles interact. This would certainly bring you some pluses if you were to pretend to be a noble during the course of this adventure…
(13th Age is a roleplaying game that has this as a formal mechanic and your GM rather likes it so wants to try it here…)