Welcome back kids. Today we’re going to talk about the magical realm of character backgrounds; what you should expect from your players, what you should provide to them, and how to use what you’re given. My hope is that, by the end of this article, less experienced DMs are somewhat better prepared to handle both the overachiever and the 2D character.

            Allow me to preface by saying that you should heavily encourage or downright require your players to develop at least a minimal background. A PC led some kind of life before reaching the moment he enters the campaign at level 1 (or whatever level you’re starting at), and it’s this pre-game life that has led the PC to the point he or she is at currently.

     This is often extraordinary and thereby rife with meaty hooks you can latch onto and develop. These hooks are often of a very personal nature to the character, and many times are much more rewarding and fulfilling for the player than other adventure or campaign hooks. The primary downfall of using such personal hooks is that the story will be revolving around a single character for a time, causing the other players to become somewhat less interested. The best ways I have found to combat this are a) get the others involved in some way… make that hook mean something to more than just the PC it comes from, and b) spread the love by doing the same for all PCs equally.

        Now, back to the topic at hand. I recommend requiring a background from your players, and when doing so you must set the expectations for what you want ahead of time. You’ll want to make up a small list of guidelines so that players know what you’ll be looking for. This can include anything you, as the DM, want to know about a PC’s history; from birth date, current state of family members, major life events, hopes and dreams, development of character flaws or traits, rivals, or just about anything else you can imagine are good things to expect in a background.

           I require my players to give at least motivation for adventuring and for class choice, motivation for unusual skill or feat selection, at least 1 hope, 1 fear, 1 long-term character goal, and 1 flaw (even as heroes, the PCs aren’t perfect). I encourage as much fluff as the player wants to provide, but the above is all I require. And I encourage you to limit what you require of players to a minimum, while encouraging as much as you want. After all, no player wants to feel like he’s back in English 101 with a midterm paper due. At the same time, I’d highly recommend limiting the total word count to somewhere reasonable (usually 2000 words or less for myself… that keeps things at 5 pages and under, but I’m a reader so your comfort zone may be in a different place).

            Now that you’ve lain down the law background-wise, you should be prepared to step up and provide for anything the player needs. Common things players need are specifics regarding dates, locations, gods, and minutiae. Some may also want to run certain events or issues past you to make sure you allow them. This is true especially for players creating more extravagant backgrounds. Treat these types of questions like any other ruling you must make: be fair and consistent. If playing an a homebrew world, I recommend giving your players access to common world data beforehand, so that they can help themselves to whatever information they need when writing their background.

            At this point your players have given you their homew… I mean character backgrounds and you’ve read over them. What do you do with all this? Firstly, break out your campaign notebook. If you don’t have one, get one. Just a simple little spiral-bound notebook is all it takes, but it’s a necessary DM tool that you’ll find yourself using more often than you originally intended. Now, give each character a page, and jot down adventure hooks and ideas, important names and dates, and character goals and flaws. All of this will help you gain a more complete engagement in your campaign from the players if they can tell that the work they put into their character didn’t go to waste while at the same time encouraging the players that put less work into their own background to do better next time (when they notice the other PCs get more air time).

            Once you’ve got the crunchy bits out of the backgrounds, reread each again with an eye for quality (and for trite drivel). This is a critical step, as it provides the immediate return for the players’ investments. I recommend offering rewards for very well written and thought-out backgrounds. This can be anything you wish, and should be tailored specifically to the background in question. I commonly award a small XP boost (for backgrounds wherein the PC already fought off some bandits or orcs or whatnot), a feat or skill bonus (if the PC showed particular aptitude toward something in their past), or gold/equipment (if it makes sense to do so). Keep things low-key… 50 or 75 XP, non-combat feats, a +2 competence skill bonus, or perhaps a masterwork item or an extra 100gp. Remember that quality does not always equal quantity, and in case you have any novelists in your group you will want to set yourself a limit of how much you are willing to give. However, combining this immediate positive reinforcement with long-term followup via air time in the game will show players how much you appreciate their involvement in your game and the effort they put into making their characters feel more like real people and not numbers on paper.

            So there you have it. I hope I was able to provide some insight into this often under-appreciated phenomenon, and some guidance for those seeking to utilize it in their games. Characters with backgrounds are more enjoyable for the player as well as the DM, and are a giant step toward starting your campaign off on the right foot! Until next week DMs of the world, remember to keep ‘em guessing!

 

- Liambic