|
I cant say Ive heard of this but if so , thats a great thing. Having said that however, I wouldnt make it too long as the gm isnt going to have a whole lot of time to read that stuff.
The reason I do it is that I dont think the character can exist without a backstory, although thats because I love the whole concept of how a character can fit into the setting and why he joined the pathfinder.. in effect how he became what he is (an adventurer).
The more interesting challenge is how the scenarios eventually shape the character.. if at all.
|
You don't get a bonus to your fame for handing in a written (or typed) backstory to your GM.
I don't thing the GM would have time to digest it at the start of a game, as was mentioned up thread. Also i think it would be quite subjective.
However I try to write a back story for most of my characters. It is a good exercise to help me
figure out who they are.
|
You should use a backstory to inform your roleplaying of the character, but you don't have to start with one.
My first character was a Cheliaxian halfling rogue. I started out imagining him being a slave that secretly worked against the desires of his faction leader. As I got to understand the prestige and fame rules, I used the free faction change to shift him to Andoran, and decided he had escaped and joined in the efforts to free others. (This meshed well with a certain scenarios Andoran faction mission.) Once he had earned enough PP, I looked through the vanities in the field guide and had him buy into a caravan. So he now oversees caravans that carry escaped slaves to freedom.
None of this was written before I generated the character, but has naturally grown out of the actions he has taken in session and out.
|
|
Backstory is fine, but you won't have time to share it during sessions.
In my experience, back story isn't nearly as important as roleplaying your PC during the session, during normal interactions. How is your PC different than everyone else? If you didn't tell me OOC, would I even know your PC was a dwarf?
In prior campaigns I've had players create detailed and compelling backstories, but they played their PC flat and without life. Now, I think it's better to create a simple backstory initially, and have a great roleplay concept in mind. Basically, how is your PC going to be memorable?
|
I do know that for some character concepts that skirt the edges of "normal" (even for Pathfinder), it doesn't hurt to have a background ready in case a GM or a fellow player is interested and asks.
The Separatist Archetype is a good example of when I, as a GM, would be interested in finding out the background of the PC if one is available. Purely my own curiosity, and most likely done after the game if time is of the essence.
|
Several Living City players have told me that the ancient practice of writing six adjectives to describe your character is actually a challenging and rewarding experience. Whenever I feel I don't have a thorough grasp of a character, I attempt to find six separate ways to define them, and I've never walked away disappointed.
|
|
Several Living City players have told me that the ancient practice of writing six adjectives to describe your character is actually a challenging and rewarding experience. Whenever I feel I don't have a thorough grasp of a character, I attempt to find six separate ways to define them, and I've never walked away disappointed.
I actually know of several online test based RPGs that require this exercise as part of setting up a character. It works out well.
|
|
For Minimus, I do the following:
Define five life changing events in one sentence or less.
Hand this list to player on your left. They list seven skills based on those events.
They hand the sheet to the player on their left; that player assigns two special abilities. It gets handed back to you.
You assign your skill ranks to the seven skills.
You can give up one of your special abilities, or you can have the GM assign you a drawback and keep both of them.
You define two characters who would, in the immortal words of a friend, "Lie to the police on your behalf and not ask why", and one character who dislikes you, but who would help you if you called in a big enough marker.
Define one secret your character is trying to keep.
Define an initial problem your character has to solve.
An abbreviated form of this is pretty good for defining a character for PFS play.
Writing a backstory should NOT get you additional fame or PA benefits; it's too subjective, and imposes too much work on the part of GMs. Writing a backstory in 100 words or less is a good way to define your character for the obligatory character intro portion of setting up play.
|
|
Several Living City players have told me that the ancient practice of writing six adjectives to describe your character is actually a challenging and rewarding experience. Whenever I feel I don't have a thorough grasp of a character, I attempt to find six separate ways to define them, and I've never walked away disappointed.I actually know of several online test based RPGs that require this exercise as part of setting up a character. It works out well.
All good advice. I don't think you need to write an elaborate back-story. But a guideline may help you role-play.
I personally like favorite expressions that my different characters like to use, written somewhere on their sheets. I find that these sayings help me remember parts of backstory, and what the character is about.
I haven't heard either of receiving extra points, but I can't say it's not possible.
|
|
I haven't heard either of receiving extra points, but I can't say it's not possible.
There's no mechanism in the PFS rules to allow a Judge to give a player any concrete in-game benefits (such as extra Prestige, extra GP or XP) for having written a backstory for their PC. A Judge who does so isn't following the rules.
That said, if a player shares some of his character's background with the Judge (particularly if it's relevant to the mission or situation in question), then some Judges may incorporate that information into the game.
For example, one of my PCs is a pirate (rogue archetype) from Riddleport. When I played a scenario which took place in Riddleport, and dealt with pirates, the Judge used this fact to tailor some of the NPCs' reactions to her ("Yo, Xan, welcome back ta town. Sorry, but da boss said we gotta beat ya up."). It probably didn't have a substantial impact on the mechanics of the adventure, but certainly affected the flavor of what happened.
|
|
I find that I write my best back stories once my character has his first session or two under his or her belt. I truly don't get to know them until I've seen them react in certain situations...and they often surprise me. (I have a Half-Elf rogue that was supposed to be the brooding type...turns out he's a bit of a smart ass who enjoys his mead!)
For this reason I generally tend to stay away from games where the GM assigns an essay as a prerequisite for playing.
It would make your character's memorial service more interesting. ^_^
|
|
The only reward for creating a backstory for your character is the extra fun you have role-playing him, especially in those scenarios which allow for a little extra RP between PCs and the NPCs.
A character backstory is very important to me though, and I can't really play a character unless I know who he is and what he wants out of life. Otherwise I'm just playing an overly complicated board game.