Does TTRPG Character Background Matter?

I have a feeling we may be hearing a lot more about this in the coming months.

We’re not talking about anything related to rules. Some fantasy RolePlaying Games have codified rules with various bonuses attached to backgrounds now. I prefer games where it’s something the players want to do as opposed to it being rigidly forced in order to get certain bonuses.

There was a time, not long ago, when if someone told me, “Players have to make a background for their character, or they don’t get any bonuses. It’s built into the game now,” I would have been excited for it. I’ve been looking for incentive to get players to actually give me a backstory for their characters for years. I usually award experience or some small piece of loot for giving me something, maybe a better reward if I can actually use it.

Nowadays I just want my players to give me something. A lot of GM resources are even beginning to encourage building a background with the group during Session Zero. This is great as long as I’ve got something to work with as a GM. Why are they adventuring? How did they meet? Who do they know around where they grew up? I just need a few basic questions filled in.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

What about games such as Dragonbane that don’t use experience or levels?

Games such as Shadowdark and Dragonbane have simple rules and slightly higher character mortality than some Old School games have. Making a super deep, extra complicated family tree and backstory probably isn’t the best idea. Short and functional rules the day, at least early on. Players can always add little tidbits later as desired.

I recommend anywhere from a paragraph to a page and a half typed for more basic character backgrounds. I’m cool with handwritten notes as long as I can read them. It might sound like English homework to some, but I really just want something to go off of when we’re back in town between adventures, or maybe as tie-ins. Sometimes backstories make for good plot hooks. I often tell my players if writing isn’t their strong suit to come talk to me. It turns out there are all kinds of cool random charts out there to help build a character background.

Characters don’t exist in a vacuum.

The world was turning before the characters were born in most games. Most characters have some sort of parentage, even if they’re orphans. Given the medieval nature of most fantasy games, large families would be a strong likelihood. Families in the real world Middle Ages had multiple children because of medical care and a lack of adequate contraception. Not to mention rampant disease, accidents, and infections in the real, non-magical world.

With magic available and the generally assumed better health care of medieval fantasy peasants, smaller families would be possible. Although the presence of evil wizards and all manner of monsters might take just as much toll on family longevity. I guess the mortality rate would vary from one campaign setting to another. The magic available to raise the dead might factor into child bearing and family size as well. Why have more children if no one stays dead?

Families aside, the characters had to grow up surrounded by animals, friends, neighbors, rivals, possibly monsters, criminals, and other environmental factors. Regardless of what climate they’re raised in, the characters were exposed to some kind of culture growing up. The characters had to learn to eat, dress, when to sleep, work, cohabitate with others, fight, frolic, etc.

Not all Player Characters are edgy, traumatized, loner orphans raised by the Thieves Guild.

It’s perfectly okay for a player to say they had a relatively normal childhood on a farm with three loving siblings and nothing freaky ever happened. Both parents, all grandparents, and siblings are all alive and well living under the same roof in good health and good spirits. What’s the first question I’m going to ask as a GM? It’s going to be, “Why is your character adventuring?”

Let’s face it, if any of us in the modern real world could work from home, be perfectly content, and still have every want or need provided-for, we’d never go anywhere. I’m pretty sure families like that do exist in the real world, especially in old communities where everything is within a block or two walk. Nobody’s perfect, but it is possible to achieve happiness and equilibrium with one’s environment.

Adventurers need some kind of motivation, though. Farming and selling surplus vegetables at the local market does not make for an exciting game. How do they know the group? Why pick up a sword or spell book and go off in search of adventure? Unless you’re playing Bakers & Baristas or some other cozy game, the character has to have some reason to go out and chase loot. It just doesn’t have to be tragedy and chaos.

There are tons of reasons a character might decide to hit the open road in search of adventure and fortune. Maybe an older NPC regaled them with tales of fighting monsters and hauling mountains of treasure. Perhaps idle curiosity has gotten the best of the character, and they want to go see the world for themselves. Perhaps they strayed too far from home one day and got lost in the woods. It doesn’t have to be something awful to be compelling.

How to make a veteran GM cringe instantly.

All of us old timers have had at least one player hand us a character who was royalty, lived a full life and then some, conquered kingdoms, slain dragons, and married a prince all before starting as a PC. Oh, don’t forget the magic armor, magic weapon, and massive spell book they inherited. The character is also heir to the throne but doesn’t know it yet.

Yeah. Character backstories that set off fireworks and red flags to the GM are likely to be scrapped and rewritten. Most GMs, especially veterans, aren’t going to let that kind of thing fly. If there’s no reason the character would be just starting out with nothing special, it’s not a starting level character in my opinion. Yes, it’s okay to have a little twist built into the character such as a brush with nobility. No, it’s not okay to start out with Excalibur because the character’s watery girlfriend handed it to them out of the blue one day while they were fishing.

Don’t be that player, okay? Try to keep it reasonable. Try to keep it somewhat realistic. Work with the GM and the group to come up with something reasonable. No one is expecting a saga of awesomeness for the ages. Most GMs are pretty happy if the player put a little thought into a character backstory without going completely overboard. Please keep it simple, especially in games such as Dragonbane that have simple mechanics and character archetypes. Your GM and I thank you in advance.