Player: Creative Character Backstories

If you are coming into a tabletop role-playing game, coming up with a character is one of the first things you'll need to do. And an important part of that is coming up with a back story for your character. However, it isn't an easy thing to do and can become harder as time goes on and your well of ideas starts to dry out. I know I still occasionally struggle with it but I hope some of what I do helps. If anyone has their own input, I'd be happy to hear it too.

Same Character Problem

It can be hard to play a new character sometimes. If you've played one for a while, it can be hard to switch to a new one. There is also another situation that can come up. If you are the only member of the party who died and your fellow players care a lot about party balance, they might very well want you to play a similar character in combat. This isn't a problem if you can switch from one class to another (wizard to sorcerer) but is one if they want you to play the exact same class. After all, that may be why everyone went with their classes: it created the best party. I won't be talking about the solution here, but felt this problem was common enough that it should be mentioned. Plenty of groups aren't nearly as prescriptive in their approach to forming a group. 5 bards? Sure. Why not.

New Background

Even if you end up making a fairly similar character mechanically, your choice of background can have a large impact on your character themselves. When I say background, I mean the big overarching details before the start of the campaign. It could be their place of origin, their profession or even related to their family. Such big changes tend to cause ripples through other aspects of a character so I find making this kind of change helps me come up with characters that feel different. In a system that lets you pick a background and have it result in a different character mechanically, the usefulness of this kind of thing is amplified because it gives you mechanics as well. I'd also include race in these section. It often comes with ramifications for who the character is in the world. If elves stay to themselves, why is this one radically different?

Prototype

Even if you pick a different background for your character, they might effectively end up acting the exact same. The difference would just be their origin story. Some people I know tend to start off with a prototype of an existing character and change things to come up with their own. I occasionally use it too, though the background technique tends to work out pretty well for me. You can also lift elements from multiple characters into a brand new one. It can result in some characters that aren't too exciting because everyone has seen them before, but it can also result in non-typical characters as well. All it takes is using an obscure character as your inspiration.

One player I had wanted to make a spartan like character using heavy armour, spears and shields. Incidentally he had just seen 300 recently. People usually pick a weapon with a higher damage dice, but the player made it work through clever use of the thrown property and a backup weapon. However, he also wanted to have a character that would make sense in such a background and so they constantly fought against their desire for rigidity in the face of new circumstances.

Flaws vs Quirks

I tend to find that finding real, meaningful flaws for your character is an incredibly powerful tool. Since they tend to be meaningful and large, they tend to touch multiple parts of a character and force you to come up with a differences. However if you want a radically different character, I find it's important that they aren't quirks. Quirks can help make your character unique and memorable in a scene, but they often don't change the fundamental underlying character. Sometimes you don't want something radically different but different enough, and for that quirks can go a long way. I find that some of the best flaws involve thinking of the character themselves, and the problems they would face in such a world. Classic examples are naivety, prejudices, mistrust, greed, apathy, and discontent. The question once you have one becomes why? Why are they like this, or lacking that particular thing?

When you find one, though they can improve and get addressed over the course of the campaign, it is best that they don't all completely disappear. I've seen it before where 5 sessions in, almost all of the flaws evaporated completely. I've also seen where they became less severe, but the character had to agonize in not letting them best them. Having somewhere else to go or something else to address works wonders.

Dungeon Master

I like to give my players a heads up on what the world they will be playing in is like. Many of the Dungeon Masters I played with were the same. Players can even bounce ideas off the Dungeon Master once they know, and get some ideas to be better integrated into the world. It's collaborative story telling, and you shouldn't be afraid to talk about things with your Dungeon Master. Some elements can come up naturally later over the course of the campaign. Doing so makes the character far more tied to the campaign. It can also inspire people to come up with new characters after hearing about where it will take place. Naturally, this is greatly affected by how strong the setting is. That human factor can still often make it easier for people to get the ideas flowing.

As a Dungeon Master, don't be afraid to introduce some new mechanic things to make characters unique. It's can be tough to balance, but little things can go a long way. If your player wanted a character with divine origins, would it be that harmful for them to be able to teleport their weapon into their hand using a bonus action? Or set a minimum armour class if you planned to attack your fighter while they didn't have armour?

Other Players

People in your group don't need to come up with their stories on their own. They can also team up to make stories that cross each other's path again and again. The great thing about this kind of approach is that it gives you someone to interact with and as a result come up with things you otherwise wouldn't on your own. Put another way, it becomes more like improv. This works great for some people can be very intimidating for others. One of the most memorable parties I had in the past involved to players who decided to play as members of the same organization. They were two fighters and a cleric of war on a campaign. Another involved two players who made their character brother and sister halflings.

DM & Players: Things That Just Make Sense

Every once in a while, there will be that moment a Dungeon Master realizes something that just makes sense for the situation despite what the rules say. It could even be a clever player who notices something that makes perfect sense in retrospect. It could be introducing two characters to each other. It could be trying to cover the bad guy in grease and catch them on fire. Regardless, these situations can come up in different ways and pose different challenges. They are also massively beneficial and are part of the magic that makes tabletop gaming such an amazing experience in my humble opinion.

Dungeon Master

In Combat Movement

There are many actions that can be taken in combat, many of which may not seem to make sense from an action economy standpoint. However, they can make sense from a character standpoint. The bad guy might make a dash towards the person holding what they want, and provoking opportunity attacks all the way there. You might also get the idea to fall back to a more advantageous position you didn't see before.

Big Bad Motivations

Often times the bad guys can be in a bit of a haze state, especially at the start of the campaign. We'll know what we want them to do, and what they are generally like but we won't know too much beyond that. Why are they doing what they are doing? What can make them stop? These questions are often overlooked. This is even more common for high ranked underlings. However, in the right moment we can find things that work surprisingly well. It can also be characteristics that we previously didn't realize. If an ally forces us to either hold our fire or launch a fireball anyway, not only is it a tactical decision but also a decision about the character of the person making the choice. Is using magic missile probably worse from the perspective of winning? Yes, but using it instead says something about the character. Aiming to wound or scare player characters away is a similar sort of thing.

Connected Plots

I've mentioned this before but dangling multiple plots in front of a party can be an extremely useful strategy. There are also other ways that players can be involved in more than one plot. It could be that something they need to save the world is also needed for a local noble to state their claim, dragging them into political situations. One of the most common times something just makes sense for me is when I'm dealing with multiple plots. In a particularly inspired moment (well, it seems that way at the time at least) I'll have an idea how to connect them together. It could be two plots that were previously unconnected or it can be another connection to add to the fabric of the campaign.

I do have to also give a bit of a warning though. One of the useful things about dangling multiple plots in front of a party is to gently let the party decide what kind of game they want to have and what interests them. However, if we just tie plots together anyway we can remove the element of choice. Instead, it will give more of an illusion of freedom since we will just connect the plots that didn't make it anyway. Of course, if it happens once it probably isn't much of a big deal. However, if you do it enough times that your players will expect it, it will probably be an issue.

Have Paper Ready

While genius can strike in the moment, it can be difficult to remember after the fact. Keep some paper ready for when these kinds of decisions are made. It would be a shame to have a good idea in the moment, start setting stuff up and forget it.

Player

In Combat Actions

Players, due to their decision making process being limit to their characters, often have a chance to more deeply think about their combat actions. While the rest of the party is taking their turn, players can still weigh their options. This often makes for rather creative attempts that aren't covered by the rules. These, more so than other situations, are particularly challenging.

Let's say a party member casts grease on an enemy and another party member tries to catch them on fire using a torch or a fire based cantrip (assuming D&D 5^th edition rules). What happens next? The issue is, like I mentioned previously, we risk setting a precedent. While we want this to be effective since it is creative and takes two player turns, we also don't want it to be more effective than a fireball, for example. We also don't want it to be the default combat action going forward either. It should have advantages, disadvantages and also some level of situational dependence. Unfortunately, this is more of a skill than an art from my experience, is learned through practice, and will also be partially dependent on the group in question.

Backstory

Often times many details are left until later when making a player character. Elements of backstory are a big one that come up often. If you are entering a campaign setting you've never even heard of before, it might take some time to get a handle on it so that you can make those specific details of your backstory. After spending some time in a certain area of with a particular character, however, inspiration can strike. Maybe this was their home city all along but they were trying to keep a low profile and didn't say anything before now. Maybe it turns out the player knows another character but since they were 8 years old at the time, they aren't recognized. Regardless of the means, that time being in a weeds tends to lead to that “oh, that makes sense” moment that helps the character get further developed. I've also seen plenty of players who like this kind of thing as a core part of their gameplay. They want to be thrown head first and improv their way through.

Player: Hitting A Slump

Players can hit a slump just like Dungeon Masters can. However, the ways to deal with them tend to be very different due to the nature of the role. In some ways, players have more tools to work with. In others, they aren't nearly as free. For this reason, I'll be talking about it in this separate post than the one I did focusing on the Dungeon Master side of the screen.

Being the Dungeon Master

Making the switch to Dungeon Master could help get over the slump. The role is vastly different so some people really do enjoy the large change. However, it's also a large commitment and usually needs more preparation time than being a player. You don't really want to start a campaign you don't think you can finish. I think it's also far more common to have Dungeon Masters who have previous experience as players than players who have previous experience as Dungeon Masters (though I have met the occasional Dungeon Master who started in that role and never left). This lack of experience can make things quite a bit tougher at first and more stressful. It's not that the switch can't be done or that it's necessarily a bad idea, but I can't blanket recommend it. It will depend heavily on the player in question.

Playing a New Character

As a player, your character has a large impact on your game. It's also quite common to fall into a pattern of making rather similar characters. These similarities are usually the personality of the character, or the class. Either way, trying something new in either of these categories can help make things seem new again. The switch between a martial class, a skill monkey class or a magic class tends to be the most pronounced in terms of changes. The way they handle themselves in combat and outside of it is different enough that it can make the game feel completely different. It often also leads to making different characters to suit the strengths of the new class, though this isn't always the class. Switching up the background of a character can also go a long way due to the large changes and challenge role-playing presents in those cases. It may also be worth thinking about your spell list from an in-world perspective. I also often see (I'm guilty of this too) spells being chosen for their usefulness in combat instead of if they make sense for a character to have. Choosing spells you wouldn't have normally can lead to interesting combat solutions and unorthodox utility use.

Working Through It

There are times in a campaign where things need to be done to lead to better and newer things. Sometimes it's worth just going along for a bit and hoping things change soon. This will of course depend on your previous experiences in the campaign and whether you can reasonably expect such a thing. However, it's worth considering and thinking about, particularly if you want to keep your character.

A New Twist

Sometimes, all it might take is a new dynamic or event to mix things up. To achieve this, you might decide to plan something with a fellow player. Stories between players can be just as important as the stories between the players and the Dungeon Master. I do need to say that you need to be a bit careful not to hijack things from the Dungeon Master in these cases. You can also try talking about possible twists or events that involve your character with your Dungeon Master. Having your character as a central part of an event has a way of opening up new role-play opportunities. It's important to note, however, that what I'm talking about here is if you are alone in your feelings. If everyone else around the table is feeling out of it, it could be that the campaign needs to be shaken up in general. Adding an event that has your player as a central focus might not be enough. It'll need to be more drastic in scope and involve the whole party.

So You've Ended Your Campaign

All campaigns eventually come to an end. Hopefully it was because of the natural end being reached instead of being left unfinished. Regardless, we have to make decisions about what we will do next and these decisions can be extremely important for the success of the new campaign. It's also not a very simple subject. As usual, I hope my thoughts on the matter will be of some help.

Rolling Into the Next One

One of the big things that need to be decide is whether a new campaign will be started right away or a break will be taken. When I say right away, I don't mean necessarily that things will continue on the old schedule. The beginning of a campaign has a way of often being more complex than a normal session because many details about the world, characters, player characters and the general story going forward needs to be thought up. However, you can still have the first session of your new campaign scheduled in 2 or 3 weeks. I typically like to do it this way because I find it is much easier to keep things rolling if the people involved know when the next session is. Trying to gather people back together after a break of unknown length can be its own challenge. In some cases, this is very hard to avoid. If it will be a month or so away it can be very difficult for people to predict if they will be free. However, if they already liked playing in your games and want more game time they will typically give it their best shot.

Switching the Dungeon Master

Rotating the roles can be a great way to mix things up. There are some people who like to play and some who like to run the game. If that's how the group runs and they are happy, that's great. However, I've also seen groups where people enjoy being on both sides of a game. It can also be helpful for a Dungeon Master to get some time to let their ideas stew. Being able to have a campaign going and still working on their next campaign can be an amazing blessing for a Dungeon Master. One thing that I will warn about, however, is some unintentional leaching. You might think of things that would make a great addition to the campaign you are playing in but would be out of place in your own. You also want to be wary of having your next campaign being too similar to the current one as well.

New Campaign Length

One of the decisions that tend to be made is about the length of a new campaign. Many people want to just keep the game going until interest is lost or they run out of things to do. Some, however, prefer to have an ending in mind and work towards it. A short campaign may just span levels 1-5. The nice thing about shorter campaigns is that they can be extended and built on if needed. It also means that a suitable and manageable big bad can be chosen for the planned range. The risk is that things may seem a bit disjointed if no thought towards the next possible extension is made before the end. I find many people make these kinds of decisions even if they don't realize it. These choices can be seen from elements such as world building, enemy choices, magic items presented and sometimes even player advice (when it comes to character building, some builds work better than others at certain level ranges).

Switching Groups

The end of a campaign can be a good time to switch groups if things weren't going well. I also find that it's easier to handle when a player leaves at the end of a campaign compared to leaving in the middle of one. That way, it gives time to find other players if needed instead of scrambling in the middle. There is also the barrier of getting the new players caught up and integrated so they don't feel left out, which is avoided when a new campaign is being made.

Taking A Break

Personally, I view this option as a last resort. I find it much harder to find the time later instead of when I already have time scheduled. It can also be a bit hard to jump back in due to some of the reasons I mentioned earlier. Campaigns can run longer or shorter than expected but they typically run a few months at least from my experience. However, if in a slump it can be a great way to get rid of fatigue and get excited about the game again. I've seen some people for who this works great. Personally though, I prefer playing anyway and the fatigue goes away on its own when new, exciting situations are encountered.

Player: Be Ready for Death

If you play tabletop role-playing games for long enough, you'll eventually have a character die. It could be that the rule system has character death as a feature, the Dungeon Master is out for blood, or your dice decided to hate you that day. Regardless, as players we still have choices on how to deal with it. I've talked about this topic on the Dungeon Master side so I thought I should be thorough and look at the player side too.

Be Ready

This is really more advice for newer players, but it still stands. Be prepared going into the game that your character could die. As a player, you are there to experience a story through your character. Even if you are there for the dungeon crawling, you will probably come back with at least one story you like to tell people. Part of that experience is having the world, or at least part of it, against you. Risk is part of the game but also part of the fun. It makes those close calls meaningful. However, when death does strike, you have to accept it and get on with the game. Your Dungeon Master might let you come back or be revived or something. Even if your character doesn't come back, there is still a story to experience and you don't want to make things less fun for your fellow players. Your death could very well add something to the experience.

Investment

Part of what makes a character death painful is the investment. We put time into coming up with our characters, their mannerisms, their motivations, their actions and everything else we need over the course of the game. However, if you know going into a game that death will be extremely common, you might want to think twice about investing a couple of hours coming up with a backstory. Many of the games I played like that, the Dungeon Master specifically warned us a head of time not to get too attached to our characters and not to bother writing short stories about them. These kinds of expectations often happen. How can you expect your players to spend hours making their backstory if they won't last 30 minutes? If your Dungeon Master makes it hard to die permanently though, don't be too surprised if they also expect you to take more care in your character's background. This might not be the case though, so you might need to ask them point blank (though they might like it if you do, they might not expect it). Instead, you might come up with a large part of it as the game goes along or other things might be more important.

Think Ahead

Kind of like the earlier “Be Ready” section, a piece of advice that I think is quite good is to think about your next character a little bit. One of the issues that come up due to character death is that the story can get muddled on the player's side of the screen. If this bothers you, you can tie your next character to either your previous character's history/death or even to another character's (this can be quite fun, though you might want to ask the other player for permission so you don't step on their toes). Since the new characters are related, it ends up building on the story of the previous character.

You don't want to do this every time, though. Sometimes, the campaign could really use that one character death that brings home the costs of what's going on or just some fresh blood. It also can seem way too convenient if characters die very frequently and you use the same technique every time. People only have so many cousins and brothers who want revenge. Think of this idea more like a consideration or a possibility and less like a general piece of advice.

Wanting a Change

Sometimes players plan out their character deaths. It's that classic situation of a player who doesn't like their character anymore and wants a new one. In that case, it's often great all around. There gets to be a character death that makes things seem more dangerous and the player gets a new character. Just like the earlier case, you probably don't want to overuse this. There is the occasional person who likes playing the redshirt and has fun with a character that rarely lasts the whole session. If that's not what you or your Dungeon Master wants though, remember it's not the only option. It could also make player death feel too scripted and odd in a campaign where player death isn't very common, and resurrection magic is a trip to your local abbey away.

All That Starts

Some stories run longer than others. Some characters have stories that are shorter than others. But if you have a story you remember fondly or makes you want to go play D&D or whatever system you like, you are doing it right. Sometimes character deaths are one of them.