Welcome back to the second installment of Building Memorable D&D Characters.  In the first part we talked about how a character’s choice of race and class can be used to develop a more interesting and compelling hero; this week we shift our focus to the character’s background in general, covering two primary topics.  First we’ll look at the benefits of good character backgrounds and how they can improve your campaign, and then we’ll examine some techniques and suggestions on building that memorable background.

 

Background Benefits

Over the past few months I have addressed character backgrounds in a couple of different articles.  Class-Based Character Backgrounds and Character Hooks both offered up a variety of suggestions and talked about the importance of the well developed back story for characters.  A good background helps build memorable characters in several important ways; by strengthening verisimilitude, by helping develop character traits, linking your character to the setting, and by giving the DM a host of campaign hooks to work with. 

 

Strengthening Verisimilitude

Most campaigns depend almost exclusively on the DM to provide good narrative and colorful descriptions in order to bring the setting to life.  Players can help when they build backgrounds that strengthen their character’s realism in the minds of everyone at the table.  Even simple things such as the name of his hometown or how he got the scar on his forehead brings a character to life and makes him feel more “real”.   This in turn strengthens the believability of the entire setting.  When your wizard describes how he studied magic at the fabled Crimson Tower of Kazahd under the tutelage of Grand-Master Yarin Blackflame, suddenly the world seems bigger and more complex (and thereby more real), than just the small part of it the PC’s interact with. 

 

Developing and/or Reinforcing Personality

Out here in the real world most of us interact with dozens, perhaps hundreds of people a week.  Each person we interact with has some sort of past history that influences (some would say dictates) what kind of person they are.  Many of a person’s personality traits are a direct result of their past experiences and life events.  Back story is a great way to give an explanation for your character’s mannerisms and personality traits while simultaneously building more depth and complexity.  When you play your character as a “gruff, angry dwarf who drinks too much”, he might be seen by others as just another dwarf.  But when his story of lost love, betrayal, and a vendetta against the brother who tried to have him killed is revealed, your character will be seen in a whole new light and become much more memorable for the effort. 

 

Linking the Character to the Setting

No one exists in a vacuum.  People are affected by many things including their environment, the people around them, historical events, and a host of other elements that shape and influence who they are.  Creating a compelling background is the perfect opportunity to tie the character into the campaign setting.  Suppose your character grew up an orphan in the city of Cornerstone because his parents were killed by the Blacktemple Slasher, a mysterious killer who strikes a series of victims culminating on the summer solstice once every fifteen years.  Now its fifteen years later and the party finds themselves in Cornerstone on the trail of a sinister cult that seems to have connections to the slasher.  By linking the character’s back story to the world around him we create context and a sense of his place in the grand scheme of things especially when we link past to present events.  The character is no longer an “outsider looking in” but instead becomes a part of instead of apart from, the setting.  Not only does this bring a character to life, but it also leads me to my next point. 

 

Hooks for the DM

Even if using both a published setting and adventurers it is still an enormous task for the DM to bring the world to life and make the campaign interesting and exciting.  Well done backgrounds can be a huge help to an overworked DM.  A good character back story is a great source for plot hooks, new NPC’s, and adventure ideas; all things that every DM can always use a few more of.  Whether used for a “side-track” adventure or linked to the primary campaign arc, character based plot hooks can be extremely versatile.  They not only inspire the DM creatively, but they also tend to “draw” players deeper into the story and give them a greater reason to care about the events and people around them.  Maybe all of the characters in the campaign you’re running are from the same small village.  When the village, and its people (maybe even the PC’s family members) come under peril the stakes become that much higher.  Plot hooks taken from characters’ backgrounds make the players feel more “connected” to the world and less like observers. 

 

Building Backgrounds 

Creating a cool character background can be a fun exercise in creativity.  I frequently have my players work on backgrounds together along with me (the DM).  Not that the players can’t come up with a cool back story on their own, but I’ve found that the group can have a great synergistic effect on the creative process.  Additionally as DM, I can offer setting and campaign specific information that may assist in the character’s background development such as the names of important people and places.  Also building characters as a group is the perfect way to start creating the relationships between the heroes.  [A complete Building PC Relationships article can be found here.]

 

I find that great backgrounds tend to generate when a player asks “Why” and “How”.  How did my character become a priest?  Why did he choose Pelor as his patron?  Why does my elf act like a loner? How does being a war veteran affect my character’s personality? Why is my character trained in Intimidate?  The answers to these questions and hundreds more, can become the foundation of a memorable character’s background.  You don’t have to write a ten page story but just touching upon a few key points can really bring your character to life.  Also don’t feel as though you have to create the entire background when you roll up a character.  Leave things open for you and your DM to flesh-out as the campaign progresses.  In great fiction truly memorable characters tend to slowly reveal their back story over the course of the tale because it really illustrates the changes that take place within the character while he struggles along the hero’s journey.

 

However you and your group decided to make characters, there are many aspects of a person’s life history that can be used to build a good background. 

 

Geography & Nationality

A character’s nationality and the predominant geographic region he hails from both have substantial impact on who he is.  In our world if I was to describe a person as a New Yorker, or an Englishman, or an Arab, you would instantly begin painting a picture of the person in your mind.  It wouldn’t be a complete picture of who the person is, but at least it would begin to give us a frame of reference for how he might be different from others of his race.  Likewise, a character born and raised in an unforgiving badlands is bound to be very different from one who was raised on a tropical isle. 

 

In many D&D settings a character’s race is often much more pronounced than his nationality (with Eberron being a notable exception).  Using both race and nationality can produce a much deeper and more complex character as well as breathing even more detail into the setting.  Two dwarven characters raised in two separate city-states that have been at war with each other for decades are likely to be very different characters, especially if one of the city-states is a militant monarchy and the other a theocratic republic.  Below are a few suggestions as to how a “nationality type” might affect a character:

 

Feudal Monarchy: For people raised in this kind of nation “social class” and “station” tend to be important aspects of life.  For some it may justify their arrogance and natural superiority, for others it may have been the driving force behind their leaving.  One’s perspective is usually based on whether they were part of the noble class or found themselves little more than serfs.  A character from such a nation may be very respectful to a “superior” or someone of greater station in life.  If of noble birth he may demand respect and obedience due his position.  Alternatively a character may be the classic rebel, refusing to be anyone’s vassal.  Regardless of where they stood on the social ladder characters from these nations are probably well-versed in the rules of society, decorum, and “proper behavior”. 

Tribal Society: Many describe a tribal or clan-based society as undeveloped or even primitive, but that is a very narrow view.  Tribal societies, and the characters that come from them, are often in tune with nature and draw upon the primal power source.  These people frequently hold druids and shamans in higher regard than clerics and paladins.  Characters raised in these societies may view their ancestors’ spirits as sacred and recite tales of their deeds around the campfire.  Some characters may feel intimidated or out of place in a more “sophisticated” region, while others might pity the corrupted ways of “civilization”. 

Imperial State: The citizens of the imperial state believe that it is their manifest destiny to conquer the world and bring their “enlightened” ways to all people.  In such a society citizens may truly believe that the strong and wise (themselves) should rule the weak and ignorant (everyone else).  Many of the people from such a place will have a military mindset and may enjoy such things as gladiatorial blood-sports.  The character from such an empire may also look down his nose at “lesser” races and feel that it is only right for his people to rule them and save them from themselves.  

Tyrannical Theocracy: Regardless of the alignment of the patron deity a nation governed by the church could become tyrannical police-state.  While on the surface the citizens may seem to be faithful, pious, and enlightened, that may stem more from fear and draconian laws than from religious belief.  People from such a society might range from simple believer to self-righteous zealot.  A character may be among the faithful or perhaps an accused heretic on the run from the inquisition.  Either way characters raised in such a society will likely look down on “heathens”, be well schooled in church dogma, and obedient to the clergy. 

 

One final note on nationality; your character may or may not he “fit in” with his people.  He could be a paragon of national patriotism or fight against everything his countrymen stand for.  He might even be embarrassed by his people or ashamed of his culture.  Either way should inspire a good background.

 

Terrain and environmental conditions can also have a substantial impact on a character’s background.  An arctic nomad will have very different views on the world than a jungle dwelling savage.  Having spent much of his life in a specific type of environment a character will undoubtedly be more familiar with the flora and fauna of his home region as well as being more adept at survival in those conditions.  Likewise, drastically differing climates may find the character a “fish-out-of-water”.  Below are a few examples of ways in which geography-based elements may impact your character’s background:

 

Arctic or Mountainous: Anyone raised in a cold, extreme environment is bound to be rugged, self-reliant, and likely skilled in reading weather patterns and knowing when to seek shelter from an incoming snow storm.  The character may also be accomplished is several skills related to his home environment such as fire building, rock climbing, and shelter construction.  Other traits he might possess are an aversion to temperatures over 65 degrees or the fact that he never seems winded at lower elevations. 

Deserts or Badlands: Another type of extreme environment that is usually barely habitable is deserts, badlands, and other arid wastes.  The people that inhabit such hostile climates are usually of hardy stock and have great respect for the power of nature and how unforgiving it can be.  Desert dwellers are frequently skilled at finding fresh water, working with horses, and are frequently nomadic in nature and good at navigating by the stars and constellations.  Characters from these types of environments often wear loose, layered clothing and tend to be more active at night.

Jungle or Forest: Densely forested regions run the gamut from steamy, tropical jungles to cool, evergreen forests in the sub-arctic.  People who live in these resource-rich regions often have a great respect for nature and “mother earth”.  Although fey creatures are usually associated with woodlands virtually every race has their share of forest bound settlements.  Characters hailing from these regions tend to be skilled in tracking, the use of camouflage, and tree climbing but are rarely adept at things like animal handling or metalworking.  People from these areas may be uneasy in wide open spaces such as deserts and grasslands.  They may also find themselves on edge under the open night sky without a comforting tree canopy overhead. 

 

Education & Occupation

People are often identified by their educational level and choice of occupation or vocational skills.  As such these are both great areas for background building.  A character’s education can say a lot more about him than just how learned he is, it can also affect his speech patterns and choice of words, his mannerisms and habits, and might even be an indication of how sophisticated he is.  A person of low education may come off as a bit simple, or kind of a good ole boy, where as someone who attended an Ivy League school, might seem arrogant and self-important.  In a fantasy setting it is probably more important to look at the type of education a character may have been exposed to than the level of education.  Below are a few examples geared more toward a high fantasy setting such as in Dungeons & Dragons.

 

Religious Seminary: Depending on the god, or gods worshipped, the “feel” of different religious institutions varies greatly.  Regardless of the religious dogma or specific teachings most of these places produce similar traits in their students.  Characters with a formal, spiritual-based education tend to be pious, dedicated, and faithful believers.  Even those people who don’t strive to become members of the clergy but were educated in the temple usually have great familiarity with the rites, rituals, holy days, and important figures in their religion.  Alternatively a character may have grown to feel oppressed and judged by his peers and now finds that he has turned his back on the gods and wanting nothing to do with religion. 

Military Academy: A military education usually strives to produce lots of similar people, individuality often being frowned upon.  A person educated in a militant environment is frequently formal, conservative, and rigid.  Characters who are a product of such an education may be of any class although their approach to things, rather swinging a sword or casting a spell, will frequently be focused, intentional, and mission-oriented. 

On the Mean Streets: Many characters are the product of the “school of hard knocks”.  Maybe they were orphaned at an early age or perhaps ran away from a bad situation.  However it happened they are a byproduct of growing up learning things the hard way.  Characters growing up this way may be clever and sly but also paranoid and suspicious of others.  Most then likely they are from an urban area and may be uncomfortable with a rural or wilderness environment, perhaps even fearful. 

 

Occupation and vocation can also shape and mold a character.  Even though most campaigns feature characters as “adventurers” a PC might have had some other occupation prior to dungeon delving.  Perhaps a ranger was once a bounty hunter or a paladin the sergeant-at-arms for a major temple complex.  If a character had an occupation how might of it influenced his abilities.  For example many vocational apprenticeships are often the place where a character received their training in a skill. 

 

A former occupation is a great place to create all sorts of interesting character hooks.  Perhaps the character has an old mentor or maybe he once trained his own apprentice.  Lots of NPC relationships come to mind with a character’s occupation.  There could be an old rival looking to show-up the character or settle a score.  Maybe the character once served in a city guard and a former inmate has a vendetta.  The character may have belonged to any number of guilds or worked for all manner of employer.  There are hundreds of possible fantasy-setting occupations a character may have been part of and any can provide dozens of interesting hooks for a character’s background.

 

Family & Friends

The last aspect of a character’s background that bears mentioning are his friends and family.  Every player should jot down a least a few quick notes about the people in his life.  I like to have my players come up with the following:

• Names of parents.  Whether they are living or deceased, and where they live.
• Number and names of siblings.
• Names of three close friends.
• Names of three associates or contacts.
• Name of at least one rival or enemy.

 

Even without going into detail just a few quick notes can be really useful.  As a DM if you have each of your players come up with these people you have the names of 20 – 40 good NPC’s that are each already connected to the characters and a part of the setting.  Need to impart some information, have the character’s contact one of their old buddies.  Need a victim for the heroes to rescue, looks like mom is going to be in trouble.  Remember, building realistic worlds is often more about the people then the places and things.

 

In Conclusion

Good backgrounds provide context and reason for a character’s actions and make them feel more realistic in the minds of the players.  The more you understand who your character is, and why he is the way he is, the more memorable he will become.  It is also important to keep in mind that although a good background may suggest certain roleplaying elements, such as your character’s personality, moral code, or even his decision making processes, it should never be viewed as a “straitjacket”.  In fact, great characters are often the ones who are forced to act in a way contrary to their nature and are frequently the most exciting, and memorable, to play. 

 

That’s all for this week’s installment of Building Memorable D&D Characters.  Next week we will take a look at Character Quirks & Flaws, those little idiosyncrasies that make us all too human (or elven, or dwarven, or dragonborn, or, well you get the idea).