5 Questions to Help You Build a Better Backstory for Your D&D Character
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ธ.ค. 2024
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5 Questions to Help You Build a Better Backstory for Your D&D Character
We came up with 5 areas that will help you flush out your character specifically in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Those areas are your character class, race, Background, alignment, and ability score or ability stats.
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In one of the 2 campaigns I'm running at the moment, one of my players is playing a half-orc blacksmith, reluctant hero type.
He says he's a blacksmith, his fellow adventurers treat him as a blacksmith, he IS a blacksmith by heart.
The actual class he's playing is barbarian, but we've renamed the "rage" part of the class into "disappointment". Goes hand in hand with the reluctant hero backstory.
Instead of "he starts frothing at the mouth, he tightens his grip around his war-hammer with his nails digging into his palm and he charges screaming", he roleplays "I see the goblins, I go "Oh, man... Really? Not this again!" and I dive into the fray to save my friends".
We say "disappointment", we roleplay "disappointment", but we actually use the "rage" mechanics.
The reason he's an adventurer is that he grew up in a small town, with only 50 or so people, and no fighters among them whatsoever. So whenever there was some kind of trouble, like bandits at the road just off the inn, or a beast in the crop fields in the south, or anything like that, naturally everyone turned to the 7 foot, 280 pound half-orc who pounded tempered steel for a living with his huge hammer.
He's working out great as the party's main pain sponge (he's going Bear Totem and has a 21 AC at lvl 4), plus he's the one who's repairing everybody's weapons and armor for free.
Hardcore necro on your comment, but wanted to just say I love this. Really cool idea
14:00 - When I play noble chars I usually just make them the last child in a big family, thus they can't really ever hope to inherit anything and set of on a life of adventure in order to make something of themselves.
I've seen this done, but the character was evil, so he was adventuring with the party so he would be nowhere near the assassinations of his siblings, that he orchestrated. Also even if the assassinations failed, he'd be able to retire comfortably with the money from his adventurers.
So what you're saying is a short story with 15,000 words, commissioned cover art, detailed maps, and an appendix is too much?
Been playing D&D since 1974 (43 years) Find the 5e interesting and fairly easy to learn & play. Keep up the good work!
A lot of my characters backstories were formed after reading through the PHB and see a class ability or something in the dice charts of backgrounds. It starts with a simple concept that eventually gets more in-depth when i start asking myself the same kind of questions you all brought up in the video.
Related to who trained you, what did you do to acquire your particular choice of skills? How did you learn the languages you speak? So if your extra language is draconic, maybe a summer with a dragon born friend, maybe you are a self-taught obsessive, maybe you knew a friendly priest of Bahamut?
Personally, My character learned Draconic from a kobold who worked at the same circus as I did...
My character knows Runic and Fey languages.
I mean, I feel like even if you are someone who dislikes strict alignment, thinking about it in the beginning at the very least is a good way to go "what is my characters moral compass". obv they can be more open ended and flexible as things go on, but a simple "is my character a good guy, bad guy, or a bit of both" is an important question to ask yourself. or of not specifically using actual alignment words, ask yourself a few morality questions. some can be a bit easy and not grey to get the basics, and then maybe ask yourself a few greyer questions to really see where your character is on the line.
Just because you dislike alignment, doesn't mean your character will not fall somewhere on the moral spectrum
Hahonryuu people who don’t like alignment just don’t like that their lawful evil pc is NOT acting neutral or even chaotic evil
Shobu-
I saw another video about 5 questions to help flesh out your backstory and was worried you guys were plagiarizing that list. However, that list was like
1.where were you born?
2.who are your parents?
3.where are your parents now?
4.what were you doing before?
5.why did you leave?
I think just providing simple answers for all these questions (including the questions from both lists) can cobble together a pretty cohesive and telling backstory that is basically the "tldr" you mentioned.
In my game I'm playing a Tabaxi ninja(monk of shadows/assassin) and I had a mentor from my caravan of Tabaxi gypsies. The caravan died in fire lit by a cult (we are playing princes of the apocalypse) and I was taken in by the emerald enclave. My mentor's soul was saved in a ring of mindshielding and he continues to teach me.
It's not an enormous back story but I can use it to extrapolate about all sorts of things
Chad Rydjord we wouldn't do that intentionally. 3, 5, 7, and 10 are common numbers to use for list videos.
We've referenced and even done videos inspired by other vids. So isn't really a need to plagiarize someone else work when could just do a video response to it.
Nerdarchist Dave
I am sorry my comment came off in an accusatory tone, I know you guys would have referenced the video if you were going to discuss that list. I'm a big fan and was glad to hear the list you guys came up with. (I felt your list of questions was superior) I did (poorly) point out that I was wrong for my concern, and I would like to do so once more.
So again, I'm a big fan and I'm sorry if you felt slighted in any way by my comment. Dave, you're the best.
Hey Nerdarchy I think you should try to collaborate with "Puffin Forrest" a channel with 1.4k subscribers who makes really funny animations about D&D and other tabletop rpg's.
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Holy shit this comments age is amazing
I would say Allignement is how your character see stuff now since events over the course of the adventure can change the character view.
Just like you could start out very mistrusting of other due to bad experince in the past and as the adventure goes on learn to trust again or have the mistrust validated
I say alignment is stupid and can just be ignored. It shouldn't be something the player should choose. It should be the DM.
@@Cloud_Seeker Allignement is pretty intresting but require a little reaserch and re-reading to understand it.
8 is not "bad" any more than 12 is "good". 8 is just slightly below average, but well within "normal". That said, attributes do tell a lot about strengths and weaknesses of character.
I can easily see a poor noble becoming an adventurer. Due to things like dividing inheritance among children, disasters, mismanagement, bad harvest, etc, a noble family can become so poor, they have to sell assets... or go to war or adventuring, since these guys are actually trained to fight from an early age, unlike commoners. Historically it was actually a legitimate concern that some commoners, like merchants, were richer than some nobles.
1Maklak 12 in the guides say that it's about average but 8 would be just mentally challenged or whatever you are dealing with while 6 is genuinely bad at that thing I would say 7 as well
Though when we're talking about powerful adventurers, eight is bad, generally.
10 .5 (3d6 so 3*3.5) is average for most people. Adventurers use the 4d6, drop lowest statline, so their average is a bit higher. 8 is pretty low, but not crippling and still within what would be considered normal. 8 is a weakness, but not a fatal weakness. Sure, use it for fleshing out the character, just don't go overboard with it.
I had a halfing bard, he is an author (erotica ) he told stories to the other orphans but he lies about his past because he's ashamed of his simple beginnings. When he grew older he joined a ship and learned how to fence from the ships captain. He overtly flamboyant and ostentatious to cover up that he still feels left like that abandoned little boy in the orphanage.
Joining a new campaign within the next few days. It's been a while since I've played DnD or wrote a character backstory, so this was very helpful. Thanks guys!
I am just going to throw this one out. You must have a need. A goal you want to achieve.
I like to roll my stats..take the good with the bad...but you have a chance to get a awesome character.
I began with Nobel as background but as I wrote my Backstory which change from the original more darker tone, I came to relize that Faceless would fit my character better since I took a new indencity
*flesh out, flush out implies toilet worthy things :D
Your D&D Murder Hobo in 5 steps : 1) Who taught you your murder hobo skills? Did you kill them for the XPs? 2) Stereotypical Murder Hobo or Special A-Hole? 3) Calculating hobo or random hobo? 4) Rising from psycho to mere sociopath, or the other way around, degrading mental health ? 5) Formative years: member of a baby gang or Damien from The Omen ?
I'm making up my back story as I go on. But my characters background is he never knew his parents. He was adopted by dwarves so he adopted good but he love to cause mischief. Started to steal to survive after family who raised him died. Gets seen by older rouge and gets taken under her wing and she teaches him all she knows. That's all I've gotten so far. (I'm new to DnD btw)
Wait a second here. How can you be adopted and rasied by dwarves and then having to steal to survive? That is a contradiction unless your new dwarvf parents competely refused to feed you or didn't have money for food themselves. You can't take the "my parents died so I had to survive on my own" and "I live with foster parents that take care of me". Either your parents (real of foster) takes care of you or they do not.
Do not try to play both sides. You can't have your cake and eat it. If you try you will just have a uneaten cake while not geting enough to have your fill. Also a "Rogue" is not really a thing. What you are talking about are theives and criminals (not all rogues are theives or criminals). I got a rogue as well. He was rasied with mercs and learnt to fight using guerilla tactics. He is a tracker, scout and skirmisher. He is not a criminal in any way.
The Rogue class is more a expert class. They made to solve problems with wit as they are not straight up fighters.
What you are talking about here you basically joining a gang and becoming a criminal.
@@Cloud_Seeker the dwarf family died. “after family who raised him died.” They stated that his character didn’t know his birth family, so it’s the dwarf family they were referring to that died. So it does make sense.
@@BattleKing00 I think you missed my point. Here is the background.
1. Is born.
2. Family dies and he becomes an orphan
3. He is adopted and gain a new family.
4. Have to steal to survive as he live a life where he has to fend for his own as he got no one that provides for him.
5. Goes back home to be provided by his new family.
I was in no way even remotely talking about the death. I was talking about the fact you can not play the "I lived alone on the streets after my whole family died" trope, and then still have a family that cares for him. Either this guy adoptive parents are complete jerks. Or it is a narrative contradiction.
@@Cloud_Seeker you missed one detail which is what I was talking about.
1. Is born.
2. Family dies and becomes an orphan.
3. He is adopted and gains a new family.
4. New family dies and becomes an orphan once more.
5. Has to fend for himself on the streets.
6. Roguish character picks him up and takes care of him.
So he is playing both tropes, but not at the same time.
As Gary Gygax said: "Your character's backstory takes place from levels 1 - 6."
Good thing my group usually starts a campaign at lvl 5.
@@BattleKing00 Whenever I DM, I always start at 1st. I love that humility that the PCs must have. It's fun watching them squirm, and then as their characters grow, the get so proud of them. Those experiences from levels 1 thru 4 are priceless - you and your group are really missing out!
I could make a half-elf whose mother was a shadar kai and he is looking for his sister who was taken by a cult looking to exploit her powers. Both him and his twin are oracles and they are psychically linked. They can sense when one another is in danger and that is how he knows his sister is alive. He is a shadow sorcerer as his mother was from shadowfell and he is starting at level 1 because he is not at full power. Him and his sisters powers are more potent when they are in close proximity to each other and they communicate through telepathy. So to him being without his sister is like being a bard without their song. He has strong motivation to join the adventuring party to get her back. They look identical and both have black pupiless eyes and pale skin and have a habit of speaking in rhymes and riddles. These riddles and rhymes hold impressive insight and clues. I am making him for adventures league.
JAYYYNNNEE. The man they call JAYYYNNNE.
Gotta figure out a way to work that into my campaign as a folk hero.
That was my first thought too.
First question should be from player to DM...
Will this backstory fit the realm they will be from?
F Huber thank you!
Another thing is if you're playing a variant human using the feat you take can be used.
16:05 omg thankyou
What about an Arcana Archer? Where would they get their powers?
Perhaps they were a soldier and student in the arcane arts and found a way to infuse magic into arrows and bows. Or learn from a a wizard how to do it. Or was born with magic but can't use their magic like sorcerers and can only use weapon to project their magic (kinda like a wand but its a bow and arrows)
Lots of flaws but I think these are good. I know this was 7 months ago but I just thought I'll help out anyway
If 10 is average, an 8 isn't that bad. It means you have a 5% lower chance to pass a check than the guy with 10. You don't need to say your character is crippled because they have an 8 dex. It's more like a SLIGHTLY clumsy person.
Monster Bash 5% is barely noticeable off the field
My monk lowest stat a 3 but the second lowest is a 16 highest 18
I've been having trouble distinguishing the past of my character from the present. Making a half-orc bard who left his tribe to find fame. For background I'm left choosing entertainer, but that doesn't describe his time with the tribe. Should the background be something that you're no longer doing?
Thats something to discuss with your DM. Some DMs might let you mix two backgrounds together like taking the skills and starting equipment from one, the feature trait from another then mixing the ideals, bonds, ect. Typically the background is your past before you started adventuring like choosing the outlander to represent being apart of the tribe before you left.
With that character, you could have chosen either Entertainer or Outlander. It really depends on what skills you want and whether you want to highlight more that he was an entertainer or that he was part of a tribe.
Alex Jones I love half orcs as acrobatic dancers
Rule #1 NEVER more than two paragraphs, and preferably one!
Could you have a character with no backstory? Like even if he/she has amnesia the amnesia is part of their backstory.
Rai Sahota yeah but you should slowly fill in the blanks or hell let the DM see if they want to slowly feed you information on your backstory. Allowing you to view them as a diffrent from you as someone who has forgotten their past would.
Like a sort of Wolverine remember/can't remember thing?
Rai Sahota clone spell gone wrong.
James Trowbridge that would be really cool. Like you could meet the original and have an existential crisis
Absolutely. I could imagine doing this with the help of the DM. Just let them feed me my own story.
Depending on the group and you, you'd have to be alert to the risk of something like this hogging too much spotlight, though.
As a DM, I'd definitely go for it, but there's a lot of trust that has to be there for it to be fun.
I made this back story for my Al 5e character. I have a half orc who's Father stuck around after he was seduced by a female elf farmer.(my character takes more after his dad physicaly but a mix of his mom and dad on his personality and believes) his mom raised monsters(non humanoid monsters) on her family farm just out side of any kingdom land(nomans land) (they married a about a week before my character was born) his personality was good toward most monsters(less became aggressive or is know to be aggressive against humanoids) and most animals ( only reason he wouldn't be good to an anime is if it attacks) and injoys Being around the tame/ trained animals and monsters(being a round humans/ humanoids he does not know or his parents did not give the ok to be around, he wouldn't restrain his blood lust for) (tented to cuz trouble when he went to town lol) when he was 15 the family's land became Pat of one of the near by kindoms without their knowledge when it expanded. At 17 he was drafted into war(16 is minimum age for demihumans to be drafted in said kingdom) war lasted 5 yrs but my character got discharged do to an injury to his leg that the medics(healers)could not heal properly (where low level citizen class healers) and now adventures as a berserker do to turn that his time in the service causing PTSD rages to help take care of the farm(he was injured about 14months in to the war and only got 1 promotion from private do to his aggressive personality to humanoids causing trouble following orders on occasion) he also adventures a life of sourts. He was save by one of small group of fellow Demi human soldiers in one of his blood lusts on battle field. So he also sends money to the members of said groups family that died in the war to help out(none died saving him , but 1 got injure with a minor wound that was healed)do to my characters injury he limps and move at 25ft speed unless raging. When raging he moves at normal speed.(30ft.) This is the back story for my 5e half-orc. BTW his mom had Asian like facial features and last name (lee is his and his moms last name) his name is fang lee.
The note about the Asian looks is ment only to describe how his mother looks she is not an half elf but her grandparents came from a culture that resembled Japanese culture so she also has some nod toward that as well.
Plz let me know what u guys think of it's back story. And if u r a sjw or part of any other social advocating point group(anything else like a sjw) then plz don't comment in less it is not to just hate on my backstory( I put this here only cuz of the stupidity of ppl in ur kinds of groups that do stuff like try to claim that orc's r racist when they r more a specie turn a race)
@@ichigoaso1494 I like your backstory. It has a lot of thought, progression and a quirk/weakness. I just found that it was very hard to read. If you improved your grammar and stopped using brackets, or just used less, it would be great. Also, was your father the orc or human? Was your birth mother the orc or human? Or was your birth mom the elf that is mentioned and your dad an orc? I am a bit unsure about that.
@@BattleKing00 father was the orc mother was human with Japanese like culture (meaning has etiquette like a Japanese person, common traditions in her family, and dresses like a a Japanese woman)
Also if I remember I answer that.
@@ichigoaso1494 then who was the elf farmer?
Also sry if u had trouble reading do to bad grammar. I also have had trouble with handwriting, spelled, and grammar (last is only when writing or typing),but with speaking reading and vocabulary (meaning I know a lot of word and what they mean) was always my strong suit when it comes to English language, and before u ask yes English is my first language.
The origination of your character?
Do 5 questions on building a better evil player character. I'm starting an evil campaign next week! OR Commenters, help me! Evil charlatan magician bard, go!
#NERDARCHY!!!
I find that some players have such long and elaborate backstories that all I can think is why are only level 1 still? or why would you bother associating with the other player's characters since they don't fit your story's in any way and to continue to adventure with them you would need to discard or otherwise grow past it. Mostly this is with hammy wannabe thespians
WrongParadox if I have an epic backstory at lv1 it’s because I’m a beleaguered veteran, hanging on by a thread of sinew and remembering the armored beast he was an era ago.
This was the first time I was disappointed in one of your videos. Everything you said was extremely obvious. This video can be boiled down to "look at your character sheet".
I mean, that is all a backstory is in D&D: look at your character sheet and figure out how all of that info becomes a character in game. Just because these are relatively simple suggestions doesn't mean that they are not useful. There are plenty of people, especially new players, who do not think about why a noble prince would be sleeping in an inn in a backwater town, or why a character has less dexterity than even an average peasant. Videos like this are designed to help people who are either newer to the game or who are having trouble with these topics improve. You are welcome to your opinion, I won't try to deny that, this is just why I see your complaints as things that are not necessarily bad.
Why exactly is that bad? Sometimes, the extremely obvious to someone is not obvious to someone else. Like. When I looked at my character and saw the stats 14, 13, 13, 12, 12 and 11 I only saw one thing. A mediocre character not really good at anything, but slightly good at most things. So I decided that I should focus on focusing on skills. If I am not good at attributes, why not skills. As we needed a ranged fighter and someone good at stealth, traps and recon the obvious pick was rogue as we had a Cleric and Paladin. Half-elf to focus on as many skills as possible.
So. Why should a half-elf be a rogue and why should he hang out with a forge cleric and a paladin? He obviously isn't a thief or criminal, so why not embrace the legal path and instead be from the army or a band of mercs? A expert scout and tracker as that is his role in the party. XGtE have a archetype for just that so it gives me 10 skills at level 3 to work with, and having expertise in perception and stealth is just great. So my scout rogue was born. He was supposed to be this incompetent daredevil, that will eventually die to a trap. But he instead turned out to be the most interesting character in the group (as he is mediocre with a ego that makes he think he is the best), and a tactical nuke that deals the most damage in the group (because he is created mechanically well).
Looking at your character sheet and make a character out of what you got is actually something that is great. If you got a stupid character you need to take that into account. If you have someone that is not charismatic you should also take that into account. You should not make a stupid character when he got good intelligence.
@@allenfortenberry9924 I do not fully agree with you that background is just to write your character into a story. If you do that characters tend to be reactive and not proactive. Your characters should be driving the plot, not just following it along. You need a backstory for that. You need to know who you are and what you are. You need to create a character profile, even if most of what that character profile say will never show up. The background is not just to write you into the story, but to explain who you are.
@@Cloud_Seeker Maybe I did not explain myself well enough, but I did not mean to say that a characters backstory was solely meant to say why your character was there t the beginning of the story. That is an important part, and one that I think not a lot of newer players think about, but when I said that a backstory is used to make your stats into a character in game, I meant a full character. From why you happened to be in that random in to your characters motivations and everything in between. The backstory should take the info on your character sheet and help you make that full character that interacts with the world in a believable way, that is what I meant when I talked about making a character in game.