Firstly, Woot first forum post!
Up until this point the group that I play with has been fun but we have lacked any real RP. We recently started the carrion crown AP and I thought it would be an excellent time to start. However, I'm unsure of how to really begin. Does anyone have any advice on how to construct a good back story and actually RP it? Also, any advice on how to get the in-character stuff to flow properly and feel natural?
I'm planning on playing a Inquisitor/fighter gestalt character with either Cayden Cailean or Adabar as a deity.
For me this is really a group activity. Its like a costume party. You and 100 other people in Halloween getups is a blast. You and everyone else in streetclothes is just wierd.
I know this is blasphemy to some of the true role players(tm) but i usually work on the mechanics and then come up with a story/personality that makes sense for it.
An inquisitor of Cayden Cailean would be fun loving, happy go lucky. He's glad to be on an adventure, eager to work up a thirst fighting evil so the ale tastes so much sweeter and the wenches look so much lovlier.
Smile when you go into combat. Cheer like a football game is about to smart. Role play doesn't stop when the mini's come out...you find the spot on the battle mat where the most action is going to take place and you RUN there, beat the snot out of everyone...
then when the fights over patch them up and buy them drinks.
Well, first of all you are going to have to decide the single most fundamental question about role playing.
Is it about just acting out whatever the player wants whenever the player feels like it, without regard to the character's actual stats, abilities, skills and backstory, or is it about acting out a character by basing that character's actions on the actual stats, abilities, skills and backstory.
This is a huge raging debate with routine accusations of "badwrongfun" on both sides.
I am a RPer of the second type. I believe role playing means playing the character according to actual stats, abilities, skills and backstory. So keep that in mind for the rest of this in case you are in the other camp, in which case you should move on to the next answer to your question.
I always try to build a backstory that ties into the character's stats. Sometimes that means I build a backstory and then create the character to match, sometimes it means I build the character and create a backstory to match. Either way if I want to play a clever character, I'm going to want that character to have a reasonably high intelligence. Even if the character is a rogue or a fighter.
I usually will want to work with the GM on building any character. I'm going to want to know the basic outline of the GM's campaign and any significant campaign world activities, conflicts, customs or history that I can use for my backstory. This gives the GM an opportunity to build some character specific hooks for my character if they desire (most do). Even if the GM is running an adventure path, some GMs will customize or introduce custom elements, so even in your case it's worth a quick conversation with the GM.
If I have a class I want to play and have the opportunity to, I will sometimes look for role playing opportunities that synergize with that class. For example, my current level 8 druid has a backstory of being a half-dryad who was raised in a dryad grove. This has given me a wealth of role playing opportunities such as having the character be completely ignorant about the use of coins and wealth and having to learn all about gold and the entire economic system over time.
If I am wanting to play a very complex character I will usually go for a dramatic backstory. My 4e ranger was raised in a slaver compound after his parents were murdered and he and his sister were sold into slavery. Developing this backstory provides a rationale for many aspects of his personality including his choice of class and his choice of weapon. It also drives him to be very unlikely to be friendly with anyone who owns or markets in slaves.
I will also sometimes work race into the backstory as I did with the half-dryad, but not always.
The things I am going to do with backstory is try to answer these questions:
1. Where did he come from?
2. What, if any, traumatic events did he suffer as a child?
3. What psychic scars, if any, have those events left?
4. How social is he? What sort of friends did he have?
5. Is his family still alive? What is his relationship with them?
6. What does he want out of life? Fame? Riches? Revenge? Love?
7. What, if any, quirks does he have? Does he do drugs? Gamble? Womanize?
8. What does he think about religion? Does he follow a particular deity? How devoutly?
9. How does he pursue his life goals? Is he selfish? Altruistic? (this is where I usually determine alignment)
10. What sort of sense of humor does he have? What does he find funny? Is he a three stooges sort of guy or does he have more refined taste in comedy?
That's a start.
Ask questions. My best RP characters have started as just a mental image. From there I ask myself. Who is this person? What motivates him? What are his goals? What are his likes/dislikes? Where is he from? How was he raised? etc. Once you understand who you're playing you'll know how they will react in different settings.
They're all right, so I'll just add my advice as well.
A lot of these steps they're laying out start to come second nature once you get more practice. For me, I have an idea, and the more I focus on that idea, the more it comes to life. Another question that I missed in my (admittedly) skimming, is "Why". Why does the character do this? What motivated that? And before that?
Always keep in mind that if you take two steps away from your focus, you get more information to build a bigger background.
For instance: "This character likes daggers a lot."
{WHY}: "They are small and easy to use, easy to hide."
{WHY}: "Growing up, you couldn't keep anything large, it would be taken or stolen."
{WHERE}: "The orphanage.. It was alright, but the streets were better"(?!?)
{WHY}: ...etc.
Or, if that is not quite your angle, try to think of who would play your character if the RP was a movie. A Cleric that was played by Jude Law would be much, much different than a Cleric played by Jason Statham, and such.