D&D: Five Ways to Start Your Next Character’s Backstory
Making a new character? Well you’ve got to have the perfect backstory. And here’s five quick ways to get that started!
When you make a new character in D&D, one of the more delicate parts can be coming up with the perfect backstory. You might know that you’re going to be playing a Paladin/Hexblade/Sorcerer powerbuild (if the game lasts long enough for your build to come online), but have you thought about why? Or who they were before the adventure begins?
That’s where a good backstory comes in. But creating a backstory is a delicate balance. Too much, and you lock yourself into a character who can never change or live up to the ideal you had in your head when making your backstory. Too little and you might have a hard time grabbing hold of whatever hooks the DM is throwing your way.
But we’re here to help. Here are five questions to keep in mind when starting your next backstory.
What Makes You an Adventurer?
This is probably the most important question to answer. Why, when sensible people would run away from the goblin bandits/necromancer/dragon, does your character run towards them? It can be for as simple a reason as they want to be a hero. Simple, easy-to-understand motivations are the easiest to play around with.
Fame and fortune. Avenging a fallen mentor/teacher. Finding a lost/missing loved one. Falling in love. All the classic stories are classics for a reason. And under these big umbrellas are whole fields of nuance.
Where Did You Come From?
Everyone’s got to come from somewhere. Even if the answer is “my character doesn’t know because their past is a blur” you’ve got an answer. And a built-in motivation in the form of “figure out where I came from”. But find a spot on the map, if your DM has a custom world, this is the perfect time to talk with your DM about where you might be from.
Want to get your backstory a little bit of time in the spotlight? Talk to the DM and figure out the lore of their world, or if they’re running a pre-made adventure, the lore of the adventure/campaign. Then you’ll have an easy story built right in.
Who Do You Know?
One of the easiest ways to get your character involved in the campaign/adventure is to figure out who your character knows. This can be another player character and is often great to figure out during a Session Zero, where you figure out how your characters all came together. But it could just as easily be an NPC that multiple characters know.
Some DMs may draw on the Group Patron rules in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything or Eberron. Or maybe they play with the organization/guild rules from Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica. Either way, there’s bound to be someone in the world that your character knows. Again, talk to the DM and figure out who they could be!
What Was Growing Up Like?
This is the meat and potatoes of your backstory. While you might fill pages full of stories about how your character was an exiled prince. All you really have to do is take a sentence or two to figure out something that fits the background you picked. A character who has the Noble background might have a sentence like “My character grew up in a city, living a life of luxury and spoiled excess.” Or an Outlander might have a sentence like “My character grew up in the wilds, and distrusts the chaos of a busy city.”
Instant personality and character arc starting point right there. And really, you don’t need much. Just a jumping-off point.
What Were You Doing Right Before the First Session Begins?
Again, this is a great question to answer in something like a Session Zero. But figuring out what your character was doing in the moments before they were “on screen” can be the finishing touch that launches you into playing your next character.
Were you meeting up at the inn to catch up with old friends? Carrying an important message to someone? Trying to enjoy a relaxing evening before your twenty-first birthday? It’s hard to go wrong answering this one. Again, don’t think big, or in terms of long-term goals, but just: what were they doing before the establishing shot of the campaign.
Now all that’s left is to write that backstory!
