Let's Write a Better Backstory

There are many traps you can fall in to when writing a backstory for your character, here’s how to avoid some of them.

The first pitfall that people make is that it isn’t level appropriate. It is very tempting to write about some heroic acts that you character has done in the past, some feats of daring. This can be bad. If you are starting out as a 0XP, level one character you will have done no adventuring! Your backstory is a starting point, a way of explaining how your character got to where you are starting the game and a way of explaining why they have a specific type of personality. During your session zero or preliminary chats and character building your DM will let you know what level you will start at; take this information in before you write a backstory.

A big faux pas is not listening to the DM in your session zero. This is where they will set out the game world and the level of fantasy that you will be playing in. If magic is a restricted practice in their world and your backstory contains a giant wizarding school you can see how that would step on your DM’s toes. If you are out for revenge then ask yourself why you would stop in your quest to join an adventuring party to do odd jobs. If a bad guy has your spouse then why would you be opening and running a tavern in Waterdeep? Try to make your backstory fit with their world, your DM has already put in a lot of work behind the screen on world building and plot; do not make them feel like their work was for nothing. Collaborate with your DM and flesh out the important things that you should know about your character.

A big trope in the hero epic is filled with tragedy. We’ve been telling this story since humans could tell stories. You don’t have to do this, your character can be normal! You can be the hero from humble beginnings. The story you’re about to undertake is the epic, make this adventure the one that the Bards spread far and wide.

The life of an adventurer is dangerous and strange if we sit down and think about it. This lifestyle will appeal to a select few types of personality types. Give your characters a reason for adventuring, this could be desperation, owing a debt, religious purpose or being slightly crazy. This would explain why they are going into dark holes underground to fight powerful and scary monsters!

Try to keep your backstory simple. If there are lots of plot threads that you are leaving open you are just creating a lot of homework for your DM to do, not to mention the time it will take to read all of your work.

Some backstories can be guilty of trying to make the game all about your character. Unless you’ve talked privately with your DM about it, avoid large scale antagonists unless you’re given the go ahead. There are thousands of stories occuring in the world concurrently and yours is only one of them, do your party members a favour and let them have some space in the narrative.

Do not forget to give your character some flaws. A squeeky clean hero is boring and honestly unrealistic. If you are frightened of something it will give you an opportunity to react in a different way and have some fun roleplaying, at the very least your character will have something to work on or a way of bonding with another party member.

An exercise that I get my players to do is to write out a brief family tree (if the characters know their parents etc) along with a a brief summary of the important NPCs in their backstory. A name, age, race, sex, gender, profession and description get the creative juices flowing. As a DM this gives me NPCs to potentially pepper into my story and inhabit my world. There are no more meaningful NPCs than those actually made up by your players.

Ultimately your backstory is supposed to get you thinking about who your character is and the reasons behind their actions. For your DM it is a way for them to naturally fit your character into their game world so that everything feels as real as possible and a reference guide as to how to appeal to your character. A DM can only know so much about how your character feels without randomly pushing their buttons in game until they get the response they need for the storyline.

For some excellent activities and writing prompts you should check out James D’Amato’s book: The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide. I picked mine up from my Friendly Local Gaming Store for £9.99 and it was worth every penny. It is brilliant for helping you think about tiny little details that make your character feel real and lived in. Thinking about these these little things can inform a lot of your roleplaying and got me into my character’s headspace a lot quicker than I would usually do. The book itself is in three sections depending on what level your character is at and then gives you some prompts like: what’s in your pockets, a personal religious festival and even personal sayings. There are helpful random tables to roll on if you are stuck or feel particularly chaotic that day. I cannot recommend it enough and you’ll be supporting a great voice in our community in the process.

I hope this has helped you out, remember that collaboration is the name of the game here. Keep an open dialogue with your DM and if they need you to alter your backstory for narrative purposes, it’ll feel more realistic if you do.
May you roll well!