To all DMs & players:
How much of a background do you feel a character at 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th level should have vs requires to have when written up (at those levels)?
I do extensive backgrounds for all my characters, regardless of level. However, what is included in those backgrounds is subject to level. Then again, I'm an author, and nothing keeps those author-senses sharp like some good character development
I write detailed back-stories as well, regardless of the character or level. That's how I generally get ideas for my characters.
A friend of mine goes so far as to draw out his characters' stories in comic form.
-Kurocyn
I don't care at what level its written really, as long as it includes all the major events of a character's past.
Minimum at any level is 1 page and 2 pages is enough(I encourage my players to write more).
To all DMs & players:
How much of a background do you feel a character at 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th level should have vs requires to have when written up (at those levels)?
I have only ran long-term campaigns so I have no experience with people creating backgrounds on characters at 5th, 10th or beyond.
I give from 250 to 1000 (usually around 500) experience points for a solid background involving parents, siblings, upbringing, training, hatreds, prejudices and other things that explain the skill set for the character. I find that by giving a material reward I see some really strong backgrounds for the campaign that I can use to pull from to spawn great adventures that really intwine the characters into the setting.
I don't lay down very specific requirements. That takes the fun out of it. I do work over concepts with players to try and smooth over their concepts, and maybe give them some ideas I get as we talk. The stories I tell tend not to be ones I come up with and plug characters into--they are usually pulled straight from PC backstories, so a good backstory is a good way to get your character plugged into a major part of the plot.
I do have pretty exacting ideas about what being a 1st leve character means as opposed to a 5th level character, as opposed to a 20th level character.
First level character's haven't done much yet. Their lives so far have been preparing them to be what they are and giving them desires and aspirations that they will seek in the future. They're at the beginning of their path--often very literally giving their mom a kiss on the cheek and packing up a backpack full of trail rations from the local merchant.
Fifth level characters are established. They're the meat and potatoes of adventurers and other folk out there at the top of their game. They've got some story behind them and some big things they've done but they still blend into a crown. They have finished a lot of the projects that brought them out this far or are near to doing so, but along the way they've found real goals and organizations to pledge themselves to. They are often ready to stop wandering aimlessly and push forward as part of an institution they agree with.
Twentieth level characters have reached a real turning point. They have enough power and renown that many folks pass from here into being an institution of their own--founding a kingdom, forming a monestary, creating an order, or even more often to disappear forever into the quiet life of bringing up the next generation. 20th level characters (well humans anyway) are not spry youngsters anymore. They are in their fifties with grey hairs and worries and responsibilites. They are mighty, but the road ahead is daunting. Many are disintegrating faster than they are growing, since becoming better at anything they do is becoming increasingly unlikely. A few stay around, trying to recapture the glories of youth, and they are fearsome indeed--but most see an easier, more rewarding road, and begin to invest in their legacy.
I agree with all of the above.
And to stir the pot a little more. What do you do with players that write up characters (full stats, skills, feats, magic items etc) but have no background at all beyond a name and a one sentence reason for being where the current party is?
The characters were made to replace their other characters that died fighting a death giant (souls sucked out and such, no chance at raising or resurrection).
Well I can totally understand that. A character dies and you make a new character, you aren't going to be able to come up with 14 levels of historical depth just like that.
That said, you're going to want to take your next possible opportunity to hash over the backstory of these characters with their players and together try and wring out 14 levels of deeds, desires, misfortunes, friends and enemies. This process will probably take a while--but as long as you can get a good skeleton for a character from each of them, then you can work together over the next few sessions brainstorming all the big lifechanging events that come from a lifetime of adventuring. 14th level is pretty high, remember. Characters should probably be in their late 30's at least, probably with a vastly accruing pile of titles, lands and responsibilities. They may have families by now--probably more common than not. They've seen a lot--some of it pretty awful stuff probably, but then some of it hopeful.
I'd encourage you guys to really explore it together.
Then again, there's always the possiblity that the players are just kind of "meh" about the new guy they've made and don't want to delve deep into the secrets of his past. If not, then one of two things. Either step up and flesh a lot of the stuff out yourself and suprize them with it over the next few games. Or on the other hand, just move on to other characters and give the spotlight to those who do care. Either way works depending on who your players are.
/soapbox
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I agree with all of the above.
And to stir the pot a little more. What do you do with players that write up characters (full stats, skills, feats, magic items etc) but have no background at all beyond a name and a one sentence reason for being where the current party is?
** spoiler omitted **
Don't want to include a RoRL spoiler. But #3 introduces some NPCs who have a handful of levels on them and suggest they could be made into PCs should it be needed.
I think this approach is best.
I don't like overly penalizing Players for a character death (level/xp loss, lots of gold, etc usually means players re-roll rather resurrect) I think its penalty enough to *Somewhat* shoehorn the Player into playing something they may not necessarily be thrilled about.
Example. Characers dies in the jungles while fighting half-fiend thri-kreen barbarians. Possible races should be limited to whats immediately available. Possible classes (especially prestige classes) should be limited to whats immediately 'common'. Not a lot of Knights with Full Plate riding a warhorse in the Thri-Kreen jungle, so thats out. An Olman (greyhawk jungle human) Favored Soul of some 'Aztec' deity? Yeah, no problem. In addition, I like to tie the character in some...helpless way. Rescuing them from the Thri-Kreen prisoner pit for example.
Most important is the "Magic Item Spawning System" needs to be avoided. This is where Players 'let' their characters die, whose gear is distributed among the other characters. Then a 'new' character arrives already equipped. Rinse and repeat with the other characters and soon the PC wealth will be out of control.
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Most important is the "Magic Item Spawning System" needs to be avoided. This is where Players 'let' their characters die, whose gear is distributed among the other characters. Then a 'new' character arrives already equipped. Rinse and repeat with the other characters and soon the PC wealth will be out of control.
I used that system once to survive a seriously lethal DM. Walk into a few traps, knowing that the DM won't give me a chance to pull my arse out of the fire, and then repeat for a few sessions. Basically raised the PCs to a level where they could compete with his monsters.
Obviously not ideal though.
The players who write up one sentence may be a) there to kill things, b) uninspired, c) beer n pretzels players who aren't there for any kind of deep immersion or involvement, d) embarrassed about their lack of writing skills, or e) all of the above.
Have you read Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering? (The DMG II also had a fair amount of this in there.) It's not always good to force folks to write backgrounds when they aren't into it. One alternative that seems to work well is to sit down with the player for five to ten minutes, ask them questions, and you write it down.
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I do not push my players to give an indepth backstory but when I have one I use it to push the plot.
I ran a spymaster campaign for a single player and that player had a great detailed backstory and that story was an integral part of the campaign. In the backstory he had travelled to Waterdeep from Cormyr and was very detailed about his family. He travelled with a troupe of actors and the leader of that troop was his mentor. Most of the people in the troupe were involved in the real business of the actors. It was a great story...
It helps if the DM gives the players enough information before the campaign starts to enable them to create something that fits. When we started our Forgotten Realms campaign our DM said our characters would be starting in Silverymoon but should not be from there. We had to do three characters each (which initially started in a previous campaign when we only had two players and now most of the other players love playing multiple characters anyway) so as a means of getting my characters together I had two travel to Waterdeep with their trades, set up in the yard of another tradesman for a while, then take on his daughter a apprentice and head off for Silverymoon where they were working (gnome illusionist locksmith, elf fighter bowyer/fletcher, human rogue apprentice locksmith) with a cart and a couple of tents that made up a travelling workshop. I even sketched out the apprentice's family and their home/workshop where the locksmith and bowyer had stayed and worked for a while.
I thought I'd done quite well. DM didn't say anything was amiss although we only discussed it briefly at the beginning of the first session. Lo and behold, when the game started our first task was to escort someone back to Waterdeep. So, when we arrived, naturally my characters were going to stay back at the apprentice's parent's place and work from there around anything else that came up. No way, said the DM. All the other characters will be staying at the Yawning Portal so your characters are too. There has been one short notice job but nothing so far that cannot be handled by meeting friends in the evening for a chat and a drink so I still have no idea why my characters are there. It rather puts a player off, so do discuss these things BEFORE you start the first adventure.
It helps if the DM gives the players enough information before the campaign starts to enable them to create something that fits. When we started our Forgotten Realms campaign our DM said our characters would be starting in Silverymoon but should not be from there. We had to do three characters each (which initially started in a previous campaign when we only had two players and now most of the other players love playing multiple characters anyway) so as a means of getting my characters together I had two travel to Waterdeep with their trades, set up in the yard of another tradesman for a while, then take on his daughter a apprentice and head off for Silverymoon where they were working (gnome illusionist locksmith, elf fighter bowyer/fletcher, human rogue apprentice locksmith) with a cart and a couple of tents that made up a travelling workshop. I even sketched out the apprentice's family and their home/workshop where the locksmith and bowyer had stayed and worked for a while.
I thought I'd done quite well. DM didn't say anything was amiss although we only discussed it briefly at the beginning of the first session. Lo and behold, when the game started our first task was to escort someone back to Waterdeep. So, when we arrived, naturally my characters were going to stay back at the apprentice's parent's place and work from there around anything else that came up. No way, said the DM. All the other characters will be staying at the Yawning Portal so your characters are too. There has been one short notice job but nothing so far that cannot be handled by meeting friends in the evening for a chat and a drink so I still have no idea why my characters are there. It rather puts a player off, so do discuss these things BEFORE you start the first adventure.
I have always written fairly detailed backgrounds for characters that i have played. these have a knack of growing as the character advances, more hooks and quirks appearing as the character developes.
in an online game i played in the DN gae special items for those players that wrote decent backstories... this might be a way to encourage it in players... the old carrot and stick approach... just be careful that the carrot aint too big!
well, in a pick me up game or just single adventure they are much less important than for a campaign; for my campaign I give a lot of background in the form of what the character would know due to the training and life they had before the game starts; everyone should have several contacts; a few enemies or bullies; some trusted friends; this sort of thing; more if higher charisma; less if lower charisma; they should know local happenings and perhaps heard a story or two about wars or famine in other areas; again, adjusted by their chosen profession. This also benefits the gm as you have lain a few adventure threads with each character so the party doesnt just flounder around looking for something to do.
I just use the old UA for birth and birth order and social class and stuff like that; then we do an reaction encounter roll for the important people in your life; ie; mom, dad, aunt, uncle, mentor, and such if you have them; with good rolls these people might give you gifts to start you on your new life.
I have found that this is enough to give players a comfort zone about their characters without being to much or two little.
In my current campaign, we're doing something a bit different than usual. We almost play in two different times/modes: on camera (the current adventure where the group is all together) vs. off camera (individual character stuff between games) or present vs. past. The characters get developed as they gain levels: so with a successful wisdom check during the present story the amnesiac/reincarnated paladin plays through a memory of his previous life or the player of the nefarious rogue engages in untethered paladin-free skullduggery. It depends on what the players want to do, but I try and write them something either in the present or their past between games in order to flesh out the character and the setting some more. With email/facebook/etc. it's pretty easy to keep in touch between games and the PCs feel important when they each get their own camera time independent of each other.
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Contributor
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I now worry less about how much background players generate for their PCs than I used to, both as a player and a DM. I used to encourage (and create) a lot more, but it can be an excercise in frustration if that background never comes into play, just as it can be a frustration trying to reconcile player-generated background with your existing campaign.
I do feel it is important to justify why the character is where they are, and hopefully bind them to the rest of the group a bit. Other than that, I don't worry about it too much.
The problem is, if you try make background that is not integral to the plot, then extra work is needed to make it relevant. If it's not relevant, than why worry about it? (including, why bother generating it or forcing disinterested players to generate it?) But if you do all the work to make the plot and background interwoven, it can lead to problems, such as, the character dies and now all those existing plot threads are hanging all over the place.
If you are a very adaptive DM with the wherewithal to continually work the PCs' backgrounds into the story, your players will feel enthusiastic about generating their background stories. Most games I play, I don't have time to do more than tie in what develops on its own.
If you really want, you can just start adding details to their background in play. "You turn over the body in the alley, and are surprised to see that it is your step-sister, who ran away from your abusive father when she was fifteen. You haven't seen her since."
But honestly, unless you are ready to work with them to make their background tie into the campaign, there's no reason to force them to develop a bunch of irrelevant background.
Well for starters I can understand the "doing a lot of work for nothing feel" that often appears at high level. It is hard to work a lot of background in at that point. It usual is worked into the main storyline and that gets ugly.
"What do you mean my cousin now works as the high priest of Kyuss?!?!?"
But it also means that they can't have a connection to the world where I can weave in a small adventure that helps them feel good.
"Dear son,
We are afraid that the village might starve this year as we are unable to harvest the fields do to the constant harassment of goblins and wolves. Please help.
-Love your father and mother"
Not even close to their CR but relieves the stress & danger they have been facing and lets them see how far they have come in power. (Helps prevent the "power creep" idea by making them look back.)
And I'm not talking about a lot of background just some background, any background. They play the same characters no matter their alignment or class. (They play themselves as they have little role-playing base to jump off of character wise. Motivating factor for adventuring? "Uh because I'm an (insert class here) so I (insert stereo typical class motive here).")
It drives me batty. I reward the ones that do have a background, role-play, etc. The others just don't get it. As of next campaign I am giving out the handout I've made on the requirements of a background before your character "exists" and can be played. I’m also thinking of forcibly giving their characters those background tie-ins so that they have to deal with whatever I want for the story. If you don’t make any character background then you don’t get a say because your character didn’t come out of a freaking void.
Hmmm did I put this on the rant page yet or not? It almost sounds like I should.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I find it helps with mixed groups (newbies and veterans) by letting the newbie design a background that explains how her character got to where she is today. It grounds her in the world more and the player gets the chance to see tidbits thrown her way. "Look, I got a letter from mom! She says the fort's gone quiet and everyone is worried about the Ogre sized banjoes they found!"
It also can motivate the more jaded players to have a background develope.
To turn this on its head, what kind of character background questions do you ask of your players?
I tend to right several paragraph backstory for my 1st level characters.
My players tend not to right anything but some of them usually have a fairly complex backstory that the tell me. For a long time I had problems getting our group to roleplay so I've gotten to the point where the ones with good backstory are much more likely to survive than the one who don't have one ("My purpose in life is to invent a crossbow that shoots rocks" is not an acceptable backstory/character description).
Well for starters I can understand the "doing a lot of work for nothing feel" that often appears at high level. It is hard to work a lot of background in at that point. It usual is worked into the main storyline and that gets ugly.
"What do you mean my cousin now works as the high priest of Kyuss?!?!?"
But it also means that they can't have a connection to the world where I can weave in a small adventure that helps them feel good.
"Dear son,
We are afraid that the village might starve this year as we are unable to harvest the fields do to the constant harassment of goblins and wolves. Please help.
-Love your father and mother"Not even close to their CR but relieves the stress & danger they have been facing and lets them see how far they have come in power. (Helps prevent the "power creep" idea by making them look back.)
And I'm not talking about a lot of background just some background, any background. They play the same characters no matter their alignment or class. (They play themselves as they have little role-playing base to jump off of character wise. Motivating factor for adventuring? "Uh because I'm an (insert class here) so I (insert stereo typical class motive here).")
It drives me batty. I reward the ones that do have a background, role-play, etc. The others just don't get it. As of next campaign I am giving out the handout I've made on the requirements of a background before your character "exists" and can be played. I’m also thinking of forcibly giving their characters those background tie-ins so that they have to deal with whatever I want for the story. If you don’t make any character background then you don’t get a say because your character didn’t come out of a freaking void.
Hmmm did I put this on the rant page yet or not? It almost sounds like I should.
They have yet to learn that RPing is a great way to make your character dear to the DM and therefore less likely to meet an unfortunate and ghastly demise...
They have yet to learn that RPing is a great way to make your character dear to the DM and therefore less likely to meet an unfortunate and ghastly demise...
So very true.
I now worry less about how much background players generate for their PCs than I used to, both as a player and a DM. I used to encourage (and create) a lot more, but it can be an excercise in frustration if that background never comes into play, just as it can be a frustration trying to reconcile player-generated background with your existing campaign.
I like a very loose and very brief initial outline for characters' histories. I then let the details be fleshed out later as the campaign unfolds.
For example, we may know that a character grew up in a fishing village on the Nyr Dyv, but we may not make up any further details until just before adventure number 5, in which brother Jed will show up looking for help.
To turn this on its head, what kind of character background questions do you ask of your players?
To be honest I ask only some short questions to see if they have any idea of their character's motivations, why they are possible going to fit in with the current group, why they are at (enter location of intial meeting here). Then they usually get the look of "You haven't thought of this at all have you?".
I like a very loose and very brief initial outline for characters' histories. I then let the details be fleshed out later as the campaign unfolds.
For example, we may know that a character grew up in a fishing village on the Nyr Dyv, but we may not make up any further details until just before adventure number 5, in which brother Jed will show up looking for help.
I also like that way of developing a character. It allows for expansion of ideas of traits of your character. I don't want a 3000 word essay on your character's childhood.
I don't want a 3000 word essay on your character's childhood.
Oh, I love those! They make great kindling.
Yay! I get to reference one of my favorite e-books, "Zen and the Art of Dungeon Mastering." Here's some neat questions for the players to answer, I usually try n' get at least a single answer. Also, the personality traits from Player's Handbook II are good to help build a character, and the traits & flaws from Unearthed Arcana.
From "Zen & The Art of Dungeon Mastering":
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1. Who were the character’s parents?
a. Did they raise the character?
i. If not, why?
ii. If not them, who?
2. Did the character have any childhood friends?
3. Any siblings?
a. Where are they now?
b. Does the character stay in touch with them or have they become separated?
4. What was childhood like for the character?
a. Calm and peaceful or turbulent and traumatic?
5. Does the character have any or did the character have any role models?
a. Describe them.
6. What did the character do before they entered the story?
7. Who trained the character to do what they do now?
8. What are the character’s moral and religious beliefs?
a. What lengths will the character go to defend those beliefs?
b. Who or what taught those beliefs to the character?
9. Does the character have any unusual habits or physical traits?
a. How do others tend to react to them?
10. What is the general reaction to the character of other characters?
a. Why, in the character’s opinion, do they act that way?
11. Can the character kill?
a. Why would the character kill?
12. Do they have any enemies at all?
a. Would or could the character kill them?
13. What kind of relationships does the character currently have?
14. Do they have any close friends?
a. If so, who?
b What are they like?
15. Bitter enemies?
a. If so, who?
b. What are they like?
16. Does the character have any mental problems (phobias, etc)?
a. If so, what are they?
b. What do they stem from?
17. How does the character generally treat others?
18. Do they trust easily, or not?
19. What does the character look like?
a. Do they have any scars or tattoos?
b. How did they get them?
20. What is the character’s normal daily routine?
21. How do they feel when it’s interrupted for whatever reason?
Next, sit down with your DM and consider these questions:
1. Was the character present during any key events in the history of the campaign world?
a. How did that event affect the character?
2. Does the character have a notorious or celebrated ancestor?
a. What did they do?
b. What do people assume about the character when their ancestry is known?
c. Does the character actively try to live up to the reputation, try to dispel it or to ignore it?
Finally, consider these questions:
1. What are the character’s dreams?
a. Ambitions?
b. Goals?
2. How do they seek to obtain them?
3. How does adventuring fit into this dream, or does it at all?
4. Does the character ever want to have a family of their own someday?
a. If so with who or what type of person?
5. Has the character ever considered the possibility of their own death?
6. Have they made a will?
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Now some of these might be obvious "DM, please screw with me" kinda questions, but they do go a long way in helping a player flesh out their character without being overly specific.
In my current campaign, which started at the end of 2nd edition, I told the players to do something different. In an effort to make the characters more rememberable, I told them to roll up heroes not characters. A hero is a character who has a big campaign focus/destiny and with the hopes of it becoming fulfulled someday. The characters always start out at 1st level.
Each character (hero) has a very extensive background which when written up, covers anywhere from 3-5 pages. I like to leave a lot of loose ends in backgrounds because then I can utilize them as the campaign progresses. The biggest challenge is getting the players to actually write things. My experience is that the more in depth the background is, the more so the personality becomes. Once the player starts to come up with some ideas, we talk about it, and I start throwing out questions for them to consider. This usually helps them fill in gaps or increases the details for particular issues in the background. Designing the mechanics of the character doesn't take any longer in my campaign, but I usually give a couple of weeks (or more) for the personality and background to get developed before we actually play. As the campaign gets going, I also allow the players to fill in some missing details early on in the character's career. Our style of playing allows campaigns to go on for years so rolling up a character is a monumental moment at my house.
In turn, as a DM I try to avoid the situation of having a character die to early. Anyone who is going to put the effort into good character development should at least receive the honor of being able to get the individual off the ground. I try and avoid premature disasters. Once the group is off and flying, the chips fall where they may, but by that time, everyone wants to put the effort into bringing characters back from the dead.
Damn, Lil, that's alotta qustions. Think that many questions would scare some players, and make them nervous about their background.
Not really. Just say "Answer any ten of these questions." Most people can usually do that, though if they're total beginners, I might say "Answer 5."
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I write up extensive backgrounds for all of my characters.
Nobody I play with regularly does so, and when I run a game for them, I don't put any demands on them. They just want to roll dice, and that's all good fun as well, although it's deeply frustrating to me when I am in my third session as a player and the GM doesn't know what *race* my character is, because he didn't really care to read the first sentence of my character description...
Still, once I accepted that I was writing the character backgrounds for my own enjoyment, and that the GM would never read it or use any of it, I found my zen place.
My players fill out a questionaire for each of their characters. It is two pages and probably takes about an hour to do. For the first one I encountered resistance. Now they not only complete it willingly, but get really excited about it. It has enhanced gameplay tremendously.
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My players fill out a questionaire for each of their characters. It is two pages and probably takes about an hour to do. For the first one I encountered resistance. Now they not only complete it willingly, but get really excited about it. It has enhanced gameplay tremendously.
For one of shamgar's Pbp's I filled out his questionnaire and it help a lot with my character, made him one of my better.
I tend to make very extensive character histories that include things such as where the character was born/grew up, where they have travelled, who their parents were, any siblings and any other thousands of mundane questions. One thing I do try to do is to leave loopholes for the DM to interpert into adventure hooks. It is no fun for the DM if you make the background so iron tight that there is no room to play with any of the people mentioned in said background.In my opinion, the best thing is to concentrate aliitle on your family and a lot on yourself in the background to leave a little "wiggle" room.
So very true.They have yet to learn that RPing is a great way to make your character dear to the DM and therefore less likely to meet an unfortunate and ghastly demise...
I agree completely. I was running Burnt Offerings and the PCs were delving through the Catacombs of Wrath. Unfortunately, while they were fighting the deformed goblin, it managed to get a lucky critical on the party sorceress, which if I had gone through with it, would have killed her outright. As I was about to roll for damage behind my DM screen, I happened to catch a glimpse of her character portrait which she so lovingly drew and the three page background accompanying it. Luckily for her, I couldn't go through with killing her and left her at -8. Very near death, but not quite.
Damn, Lil, that's alotta qustions. Think that many questions would scare some players, and make them nervous about their background.Not really. Just say "Answer any ten of these questions." Most people can usually do that, though if they're total beginners, I might say "Answer 5."
That's BRILLIANT. I've seen PC questionaires before, but I have never seen anyone suggest you only ask players to fill out part of it. that's a great way to jump start characters, especially if they have to jump into an ongoing game without much time to consider a background.
I like 1/2 to 1 page for new characters, but I allow anything. I just worn players that less than 1/2 a page means your character doesn't really stick out from the background masses, and more than 1 full page emans I as dungeon mistress aren;t going to remember it all.
A quick desripton of the background elements you consider mostm important for your character is great. I like suggesting a few thngs, like why you are aedventuring (because *I* don't know why, and if you don't tell me I may accidentally remove that reasons, or make it seem impossible to fulfill, and you end up with no reason to go avedenturing). If you have anyone in your background you can visualize seeing in play, I want to know about them.
Generally, we then ignore backlground for a session or two while characters gel. Then I start asking questions (often over chat), to spark more development and prepare to invoke backstory in the game.
It also depends on my player. I have some who could write 12 pages of background, and it all boils down to "Harn Ravenwood is a priviledged son of a long line of heroes. He wants to prove himself. He's a coutrly knight/bard." That's fine, but I don;t need the personality of 47 "close"reklatives, descriptins of the 3 castls he grew up in, and bad porn abut his first experience with a dryad. There's nothign wrong with some of that, but too much and I end up with tons of material I won;t remember, and I may not want to invoke any of it for fear I'll protray one of his 3rd cousins wrong, and forget the name of his summer home in an ic conversation.
On the other hand, I have players who can tell me everything I need to know (at least at first) in a single paragraph. Here's an actual character background from a player in one of my old games:
"Boa was born in a small fishing village. He has a snake-shaped brithmark, so he was thoguht cursed and sent to the local marsh to die as an infant. The local marsh hag took him in, trained him as a sorcerer, and covered him in tattoos. He became the arcane assistant to his village, which he still loved. His village was burned to the ground and everyone killed by raiders working for Baron Guiseippe, who Boa hates. It also made Boa hate bullies and tyrants. The hag later died, and he's now out looking for enough money to build a stronghold with servants and guards, since he's convinced the old hags 2 sisters are going to come find and eat him. He loves anythng with a snake motif."
Now, there's lots of room for development there (they sent him to die, and he still loves them? Why?), but all that can wait for later. right now I know what he's looking for, who ihe is likely to run to and run from, and what kind of treasure is special to him. Perfect, and easily remembered. I'll ask for more details once I know where a given adventure is headed.