Character background creation

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FrobizDarkmage	Character background creation	Lead	[-]
Posts: 77 (02/15/02 11:21:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None I was curious what others use to develop background for a character. Sometime you roll him up and it just hits you, but other times... My personal favorite is a book by Taskforce Games called Central Casting Heroes of Legend. It's a bit chart heavy, and need a bit of modification to fit d20, but it is great. What does everyone else use?
Divero Bisana	Re: Character background creation	#1	[-]
Posts: 890 (02/15/02 11:35:49) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	my brain but it hasn't been working properly lately. Sometimes I just make up a character to fit the skills and feats I've given him and other times I make up the history and then allocate skills and feats based on that. ------------------------------- Only God will give you answers less often than I.
kahluah82	Re: Character background creation	#2	[-]
Posts: 1701 (02/15/02 12:22:51) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	much the same as Divero.. sometimes i think of the character background and fir the creation around that, and sometimes i look at how my character is made and create the background over that. A great resource I've found is the Hero Builders Guidebook... in my opinion, it is a must to any serious or even half-hearted role-player. got some great character combinations, and a few handy tables at the back if you're -really- stuck for a background to your freshly rolled character. Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside the dog, it's too dark to read.
Azyr	Re: Character background creation	#3	[-]
Posts: 193 (02/15/02 12:26:35) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The Hero Builder's Guidebook? You're kidding, right? About the only thing useful in it is the list of names at the end, and that's only for a DM deperately in need of an NPC name and stuck for ideas! "Now the question you're probably asking yourself is "did he make two wishes or three?" and I have to admit that in the chaos and confusion I kinda lost track myself. But bearing in mind this is a Ring of Wishes, the most powerful artifact in the world, and could blow your head clean off, the question you're really asking yourself is; "Do I feel lucky?" Well? Do ya, punk?'Hari Cal'ahan, Mage Police.
FrobizDarkmage	Re: Character background creation	#4	[-]
Posts: 77 (02/20/02 11:18:45) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	From the quick look at the Hero Builders Guidebook that I took, it seems to be loosely based and a very scaled down version of Central Casting Heroes of Legend.
Unregistered(d)	Re: Character background creation	#5	[-]
Posts: 0 (02/20/02 17:34:30) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I always have a character in mind before I ever roll. Usually after thinking about what kind of PC I want him to be I come up with a background. Rarely, do I ahve to deviate from that. -------------------- I don't like being right, I am just really used to it...
SamualBellamber	Re: Character background creation	#6	[-]
Posts: 2416 (02/20/02 18:12:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I always, always, always have a concept drawn up and written out before I ever roll a single die. And sources of inspiration come from all walks of life....silly TV shows, history books, a picture, a news anchor, a singer............or right out mine own imagination. I personally dislike tables and what not....but hey if it gets you to make a background and personality to your character other than the Fireball throwing wizard or the Giant Hacking Swordsman, I say go for it. --------------------------------- Samual Bellamber aka Another incarnation of Dan Baicy The American Media: Now with 75% more flags to pander to your new found patriotism.
Modren	Re: Character background creation	#7	[-]
Posts: 119 (02/20/02 18:34:29) Young Dragon Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Usually I have the concept before the character, but occasionally I need to create a character in a hurry. When in this situation I use the 20 questions from the Shadowrun books. What is the characters sex? The choice is simple but it can make a difference biological, social and psychological. What is the characters physical size? Tall skinny dwarf, short stout elf or just plain average. What is the color of the characters hair, skin and eyes? What color is his hair how is it worn. There are racial types among demi-humans, Asiatic elf, Negro dwarf pretty much any combo. What is the characters general appearance? Does he stoop or stand tall, dress stylishly or inauspiciously, look intimidating or casual, attractive? Any special distinctive features face shape or limbs? What might someone seeing the character for the first time think? Where was the character born? A child growing up in tribal lands has many different experiences than one that grew up in sprawling city What is the characters age? You have to decide if the character was in the vicinity when any major events transpired and decide how they affected him. What was the characters family? What did the parents do? What was the familys means of support? Were the parents married, separated or divorced? What was family life like? Any siblings? Where are they and what do they do? Do you still keep in contact with your family? Has the character begun his own family? Is the character married, divorced or separated? Does the character have any children? Does he want any? Where or how was the character educated? Did the character go o school? Where? Was it private, public, government or church sponsored? Where did he learn his skills? Advanced schooling? Has the character ever done anything else for a living? Did the character ever make money doing anything else before? Did he like it? Would he go back to it? Why didi he stop doing it? What about the characters religious and political beliefs? Guaranteed argument starters but the are important questions nonetheless. Does the character have any defined beliefs? Did he ever change them? What is the characters moral code? Does he kill? When did he decide that he could? Is killing acceptable? Under what circumstances? Where does the character stand on related issues like capital punishment, abortion and euthanasia? Does the character have a sexual ethics code? Or does heven think about it? Does the character have any goals? Is this all the character wants to do? Does he have any ambitions beyond the here and now? Is he satisfied with the way things are? If not how does he plan to change things? How long will it take? Is he willing to wait that long? Why does the character adventure? What path led him here? Does he do it for the thrill? The money? The powers that be? One step of a personal plan? A political statement? What event or circumstance would make the character stop? What is the characters personality? Is the character pessimistic? Idealistic? Radical? Conservative? Resigned? Easy-going? Militant? Aloof? Intense? Bombastic? Obsessive? Superstitious? Extroverted? Introverted? Ambivalent? Rational? Opinionated? Passionate? Questioning? What special qualities does the character possess? Not necessarily referring to skills but what the character does well? Does he get along well with others? Is he skilled at taking care of business? Prioritizing? Planning ahead? Are there certain things the character just cannot do? Get close to people? Perceive himself realistically? Think clearly under stress? Handle money well? What does the character hate? Races? Demi-humans? Government? Religion? Sentimentality? Family? Society in general? What does the character love? A view from the seashore? Tall uuildings? Quiet times? Music? Art? Specific person or place? What is the characters name? What is his birth name? What name is used now? Did the character choose it, or was it a nickname or a joke? There are some people who live in a dream world, and there aresome who face reality; and then there are those who turn one intothe other. - Douglas Everett
Laguna	Re: Character background creation	#8	[-]
Posts: 3519 (02/25/02 19:16:18) Local user Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I don't think that anyone would need to go quite THAT into their character backround, but maybe they do, and that's what it looks like written down. Man, that's a ton of things to think about. When creating a character, you don't want to make them out of a checklist like this Shadowrun thing that Modren was talking about. Creating a character like that takes the fun out of it. Think of a basic backround, then think "how would this affect him/her for their entire life?" Then think if anything happened which would change or strengthen previous beliefs. You don't need to write an entire chapter book about this character. Haha, wouldn't it be horrible to spend about a month creating this very intricate backround for a character, only to have them killed during the 1st session? ***We didn't make him sacrifice his dog, we "persuaded" him into doing it.
boring7	creation	#9	[-]
Posts: 5013 (02/26/02 22:10:06) Ancient Wyrm Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I usually just fall into it, or steal an idea from somewhere else. In the case of my latest creation, I started (as usual) with what character class I wanted to play, followed with a specific vocation (you can generalize a lot, but you gotta pick something to specialize in if ya wanna survive) now that I know who this character is gonna be, I come up with why they were gonna be that way, including what they did, any role-play behind specific PrC's (if they are starting at high-level) and so on. One thing for sure, I always prefer to start with a character concept and story before I plot my powergaming twinks, otherwise there's no challenge to it. And, there's no rhyme or reason to the character, and thus no direction.
Cadet Hulk	Re: creation	#10	[-]
Posts: 1329 (03/02/02 09:09:30) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	First go for the general idea: Half-orc wizard. Int 16. Next basic background: I want this guy to grow up among humans. Also, he saw and became interested in magic. Mabey he wasn't able to get magic training right away. Hmmm... Hero Builders guide book: Using the tables inside, it is decided that he started out in a upper-class family but became a refugee. Why? Orc attack destroys town, since there are obviously orcs around. This sets back magic training (already difficult to get being 1/2 orc), so he joins the city gaurd (or whatever); takes level of combat class to start out. Doesn't quite fit concept, but make it barbarian to allow going all-out on wizard levels later. Personality: Already somewhat planned as part of basic concept, he is trying to show that half-orcs are good as more than hired muscle. There. That's just an example, but it's more or less how I do every character. Paid for by the Coalition to Fight Drinking Glasses that are Twice as Big as they Shoud Be.

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Character background creation

Character background creation

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