Writing Your D&D Character Backstory
Creating your D&D character can seem a bit overwhelming, especially if you're new to the game. You have to remember the numbers and abilities that tie into other numbers and your characters species- On top of that, you have to write a story for them? I'll admit, it gets to be a little much.
You can choose to not have a fully fleshed out backstory for your character, and build them with the world you're playing in. (Utilizing amnesia, forgetfulness spells, or curses are always good) Open ended backstories can become a great way for you and the DM to "Yes and-" your way into new plot hooks.
However daunting it might seem, writing your D&D character backstory can be one of the most fun things about the game.
No matter how you play your game, backstories can come in useful, for both role playing your character, and for the DM to write more interesting plot hooks surrounding specific character arcs. It can provide you with contacts in certain cities, allied factions that can help you out in a pinch, or recurring rivals that seek to undo your best-laid plans.
Without further ado, let's get into these tips and tricks I hope will help you through the process of writing your backstory.
1. Who are you?
The most important thing your backstory needs to cover is who exactly your character is. This is essentially what the whole backstory should be about; Building a fleshy cover for that skeleton you made on your character sheet.
A few major essential things your backstory should cover are:
Your name, age, and a physical description of your character.
Where you came from
Does this character have a family? Do they know who they are?
At least one character belief and/or goal.
Simple, right? Your backstory doesn't have to be a 60 page epic about how you went from your hometown to the town over and found a sword along the way.
Getting these things into a backstory is generally enough to begin role playing at a very basic level. It also provides you with a really good basis for adding more to the backstory at a later date, with your DM's approval.
2. Add a bit of Drama
Once you have a good understanding of who your character is, writing drama into your backstory will add depth to your character.
Does your character have love interest that was killed, breaking their heart? Or, maybe your barbarian resents her tribe for choosing a new leader above her?
Whatever the drama is, it's important to have some be open-ended. Unresolved trauma/dramatic events can be an early present for any DM, and gleefully they may unfold your characters story arc in front of you. (Some DM's are not as excited as I am about backstory integration, so make sure to talk to your DM before adding them in.)
Having a few dramatic events in your backstory can help tie your character to the world. Maybe they can't go back to a certain tavern since they got caught cheating at dice, or maybe they need to get to the church several months ride away as quickly as possible to stop their true love from getting married.
Your characters drama is what makes them more 'real'. Having talks with their new-found allies about their lives around campfires, or while in a lull traveling through hyperspace, these stories form unbreakable bonds between characters and will strengthen your own love of your character.
3. Play to your weaknesses
You are flawed, and so is your character. Every character should have at least one major flaw, and a handful of minor ones. When creating your character (unless you are particularly lucky) you should have an ability score in the minuses: Utilize It!
A character with a minus in charisma could be a lovely fool that always manages to say the wrong thing, or a grumpy teenager unable to express themselves properly.
Starting at level 1, your character is going to be inherently weak, whether that be due to lack of experience (EXP) or by some tragic mishap of having all of your powers and abilities stripped away. Writing for the situation is vital, you probably won't have achieved world peace, killed an evil demon, and reinvented the wheel before the campaign starts.
Whatever your character flaws are, there are some simple guidelines that I tend to follow when writing weakness into my character:
Don't go overboard.
Use your character sheet and stats to help.
Don't be a god when you're level 1.
Tie your flaws to your dramatic/traumatic section.
Remember, your flaws are what makes your character interesting, but don't have so many it intrudes on other players fun.
4. Work with your DM
It helps to ask your DM for help when it comes to writing your backstory, since they know how the world works.
With their input you can develop secrets to keep from the other players, write in rivals to challenge you at every turn, write additional characters that can help you out when you need a place to stay in the middle of nowhere.
Any DM worth their salt will help a player develop a character that they enjoy playing. After all, it is a game that we're playing for fun. Don't be afraid to do something weird and off the wall, characters that stray outside of the conventional character stereotypes are often really fun and interesting. That being said, character conventions are nothing to be scared of, adding a twist to the expected can be just as fun.
5. Do multiple drafts
Doing multiple drafts of a backstory is both a luxury and a necessity.
I know I've made many MANY drafts for my PC's, it's fun to scribble down little ideas throughout the day or add in cool details you find in books or on the internet
Sometimes, you simply do not have the time to do multiple drafts, asking your DM if you can change and add certain things once the story starts should not be a problem. If you are unable to do multiple drafts prior to starting, an evolving backstory in this way is a great way to compensate, so long as your DM is game and you don't just make up game breaking character changes midway through a vital encounter.
If you do have the time to do multiple drafts however, this is a vital thing to do. Drafting a characters backstory allows you to take a break, come back and adapt things, change the way some things are written, rethink and rework some of those weirder plot lines.
Making sure that you wrote things in a clear cut, simplistic way so that ambiguity doesn't end up leading to a big misunderstanding in the plot line is very important. More-so, the more drafts you do, the better you end up knowing your character, which, helps those who are new or not confident at role playing.
6. Write in the first person
This one should be obvious, it really helps to get into character.
Writing from your characters perspective allows you to make out-of-character notes within the backstory that clarify situations for anyone reading. Plus your character may have a skewed view of what happened in certain events.
Checklist
Here is a small checklist of things that you might want to consider putting into your backstory, some that I've written about above and some I will leave until a later post. Feel free to pick and choose what you put in and what you leave out.
Description of your character
Information on their hometown and family
The story of how they got their powers/abilities
A good friend that you've lost contact with
A rival
A major flaw
A few minor flaws
A secret
A mystery
An unresolved bit of trauma
A love interest
An object they need to get their hands on
Ties to a particular town / city / faction
A vice
A morally questionable belief or ideal
Odd quirks
I hope this post helped you to write your character backstory in some way, I will be doing a part 2 and further posts in my tricks and tips series, for players and DMs alike.
Thanks for reading my first ever post!
