90 February 2019
BUILDING ON
BACKSTORY
Words by Richard Jansen-ParkesTHE DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE TO ROLEPLAYING
Some characters have already led an epic life before
they arrive on the table; others only reveal their past
over hours of gaming. Either way, rich backgrounds
can often make for unforgettable stories
M
orris was never a
particularly complex
character, and this was
re ected in his backstory.
A tale slim enough to be
laid out in a single WhatsApp message, it
explained that the young wood elf had set
o for a life of adventure after rejecting his
family’s habit of hunting for sport, training as a
ranger in order to preserve the wilderness and
the creatures that lived there.
It was a small chunk of history, especially
when compared to the multi-page essay penned
by the party’s bard, but it did everything it
needed to; there was a reason for adventuring, a
link to their motivations and a rough end-goal of
protecting the world’s wildlife. It wasn’t the kind
of thing, however, that you’d expect later quests
to hinge upon.Nobody, therefore, thought to make a
connection between Morris and the masked elven
monster-hunters they met in a tiny woodland
settlement. eir personal interest in him was
written o as just one of the many worrying quirks
of the blood-hungry hunters, alongside the array
of pungent heads and trophies hanging from
their saddles and a preference for their meat to be
served extremely rare.
Soon after, the party was lured out to an
isolated logging camp with reports of a monster
attack, only to nd a well-prepared trap waiting
for them. eir leader claimed that if Morris was
so concerned about the plight of the hunted, he
should experience it himself.
Still, the rather oblivious elf seemed blissfully
unaware of any possible connection until one of
his comrades turned to him and asked why the
masked villain had the same hair as him. Andhow they knew his history. And why they’d just
called him “brother”.
With a smile, Morris’ extended family
unmasked, grinning smiles lled with pointed
teeth, and announced that the party had a ve-
minute head start.EARLY YEARS
Adventurers, heroes and renegades don’t just
pop into existence fully-formed – unless, that is,
you’re playing in a universe lled with rampant
ash-cloning. e noble knight probably served
as a fresh-faced squire to a more senior warrior,
the bounty hunter might have learned her trade
on the neon-lit streets of her hometown and
the wisecracking gangster likely started o his
career as just another faceless henchman.
is, essentially, is their backstory. Usually
it comes in a wonderful blend of history,
family drama and secrets that gets written up
on character sheets, emailed to the GM or
stored in some neat little notebook.
Exactly how deep this history goes varies from
player to player and game to game, of course. A
knockabout one-shot where the party whomps
a few goblins in a hillside cave isn’t likely to draw
on a character’s extensive family tree quite as
intensively as a multi-year campaign set in a
sprawling shared game world, for example.
Some titles place such importance on it that
they come with built-in backstory generators
that can truly tie a character into the game world,
such as RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.
If you run through every aspect of the lengthy
character generation, you’ll be able to name
which historical battles your grandmother
fought in and run o a detailed description of
your upbringing.