100 Good Character Backgrounds! [Archive] - Wizards Community

100 Good Character Backgrounds! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Kexizzoc
07-31-03, 01:21 PM A while back there was a post on this board, in which the greatest minds of 16 generations (okay, not quite that, but at least 2) pondered why board-dwellers prefered the Character Optimization board over the Character Development board. Anyway, one of the best ideas I saw was to start making some threads that would help everyone, like "100 Reasons Why My Drow Lives on the Surface".

Well, here's one: We'll put our heads together and make some really good character backgrounds. Not really in-depth stories, just a short paragraph on a possible history. The backgrounds can assume the player is a particular race or class ("if the player is elven..."), just not too crazy ("if the player is a half-demon undead orc..."). In general, we're trying to avoid:
a) orcs destroying your village
b) orphan raised by a benevolent priest/monk
c) amnesia
Of course, any of these could work out as part of a story; we're trying to expand our ideas, not limit them.

Here's a couple of my own to get us started:

1) The character's hamlet was visited by an old man in a cloak who kept muttering to himself. That night, the man went mad, attacking everyone in the tavern with magic; anyone who was not tortured to death was twisted into horribly misshapen monsters. By the time the militia was able to slay the crazed magician, many lay dead, including the characters parents/adoptive parents/mentor. The only clue as to 'what', 'who' and 'why', was the symbol of a sickle moon with a skull inside of it; burned onto the walls of the houses that were attacked, and some of the corpse's bodies. Character heads off to look for signs of what this symbol means.

2) If the character is a wizard (would work for any magic-using class, really), and he has a master/mentor, one day his master's tower (or whatever) is attacked by mysterious cloaked figures. He seems to have been expecting them sooner or later, and gives his apprentice (the character) a large red crystal that glows with power. Showing him a secret passage out of the tower, he tells him to take the crystal and head for the city to the north, "and whatever you do, don't let them get the crystal". Character hides in the passage, rushes back when he heards a battle. Master dies, taking three of the black cloaked figures down with him, character high-tails it outta there and just makes it to the city. Whoever the figures were, they weren't human, they wanted the crystal, and they don't know the character has it... but that might just be a matter of time.
Kexizzoc
08-04-03, 10:01 PM Aww, come on... I know you guys have a few good ones!
JusticeZero
08-04-03, 11:18 PM An adventuring party discovered her standing outside the ruins of the farmgirl's former home, eyes blank, holding a dagger and a torch which had since burned out, motionless and unresponsive and glowing with Enchantment spells. After breaking the spell, she despaired, remembering nothing of that fateful night beyond a memory of hearing a chanted phrase and an unrecognized figure stepping out of the gloom, gesturing toward her and holding a pinch of material components in the other hand. She retired to the city to repent for whatever she might have done while enspelled, and to study the mystical arts in order to discover and counter who and what was responsible.

No, really, whoever mutilated this corpse was a hobbyist at most. Sloppy work, really. I could have kept the victim alive for several minutes loonger than this fool did, and it's hardly a skill I work at. Callous? Jaded? Cold-hearted? Maybe a little. I've seen worse back in Vengroth. The dark family of Vengroth? Yes, I know them. You say the sorceress mixes potions from the blood of infants, that the warlord dines nightly in the company of dissidents being tortured slowly to death, that the unnatural appetites of the youngest have earned her scars and a demonic suitor? Yes, yes, i've heard them all before. They're all true. Yes, i'm QUITE confident I know what i'm talking about, they're my parents. No, don't be afraid. I'm off to devote myself to the forces of Light and Good. The ways of my family can only end in death and madness, i'll have no part in it.

Okay, it's like this. You remember the wizard Xuirin? Yeah, I know he's dead, believe me! I was there! You remember that mouse that would sit on his shoulder when he was at Council meetings?
Hi!! Yeah. That's me. Uhm.. Yeah, sure, I suppose I do look different in a dress and five feet tall and all, yeah.. Ummm! Well.. Yeah, I suppose I can help you figure out some of that stuff? Hey! I remember when he was writing this! I was eating some cheese at the time, but.. Oh! Right! Umm... Hey, let me get my spellbook, okay?
rhane
08-07-03, 03:05 PM A character I played once:

Roqueforte is a goblin…but not just any goblin. He’s the product of a mad wizard’s vile experiments. In the hidden vale of Hollowdown, a wizard, named Bau-Linn had a secret tower. Bau-Linn was fond of fiendish experiments on unsuspecting travellers and on the humanoid tribes that inhabited the area around Hollowdown. The wizard commonly tried his hand at magically mixing different races, trying to form a “better” version. In most cases, the experiment was a dismal failure, creating freakish and tormented creatures that were quickly slain by their creator. Roqueforte was one of the few that survived.

Roqueforte was your standard goblin…just trying to survive in a world where everyone was bigger and meaner than him. He stole what he could, and jealously guarded what he took. One day, he was foraging near his home, when he was captured by Bau-Linn’s minions. At around the same time, Bau-Linn had also captured an elf. The wizard wondered what would happen if he were able to combine an elf with a goblin. The idea of combining the goblin’s ferocity and propensity to breed with the elf’s long life span and intelligence intrigued Bau-Linn, and he set about the experiment.

The experiment didn’t go as planned. The elf, in particular was horribly maimed, and turned into a slavering monster. Bau-Linn killed it without a thought. The goblin, however, survived, and seemed to have some elven traits. Indeed, a new consciousness had forced itself on Roqueforte. Gone was the animalistic survivor. Now he had a rational, thinking intelligence…too much intelligence for the wizard’s taste. Also, the goblin’s body had been severely damaged. The thing was weak and frail, and of little use as a soldier, particularly since it seemed to have a mind of its own. Bau-Linn dubbed the experiment a failure, and locked Roqueforte up for further study. However, the wizard was prone to go from one idea to another, and a different experiment caught his fancy. He quickly forgot about Roqueforte, and the goblin languished in the wizard’s dungeon.

Unknown to Bau-Linn, the experiment had also infused Roqueforte with a new power. During his imprisonment, the goblin learned to harness and use this power. He found that he had a command over illusion and other magics. He used this power to escape from the wizard’s tower. Bau-Linn didn’t really care…in fact, he didn’t know anything about it. His minions feared that he would be angry if they told him of the escape, so they never told him. In any case, Bau-Linn had forgotten about the goblin completely. A short time later, one of his experiments went horribly awry, and one of the hideous monsters he created made a meal out of the wizard, and everyone else in the tower.
rhane
08-07-03, 03:12 PM Other characters I played:

(DND) A human cleric of Kord who would insult his god as often as praying to him.

(Rolemaster) A half-troll. Smart and strong, but shy and timid.

(Shadowrun) A female, japanese streetsam assassin. Her wired reflexes caused her to go insane. She dressed as a schoolgirl, but was a homicidal maniac.

(systemless) A street punk enforcer who wants to be an artist - but can't seem to get away from his gangster life.

(DND) Halfling cleric of Tymora. Always trusted his luck even in the most dangerous situation (killed by a flamestrike from his own party - had 3 chances to save and missed all 3).
Domni Dalrose
08-07-03, 03:24 PM A character of mine that recently died, Coronis Adara Solana Cleric 5/Paladin of Lathander 1. Names and locations could be changed, of course :)

FAMILY:
Mother- Adara Shalee: deceased Paladin of Lathander
Father- Tra’vont Solana: Farmer/Nobility
Siblings:
Brother-Cordt Treye age 22, tends to the family’s holdings with her father.
Brother-Tremby Loagan age 20, cleric of Lathander

Cas’s mother used to love to tell the story of how she first had tidings of her first pregnancy:
Adara, Cas’s mother, was in the first real battle of her short life and things, even to her inexperienced eyes, were’nt going very well. Her fellows lay all about her wounded or dying, but in the forefront she could see her own father fighting valiantly on. He had been a marvel to behold with his tall form clad all in armor made golden by the dying sunlight. Though she knew the end was upon them, she couldn’t help but feel pride at being among those there to see the last moments her father, their leader, standing tall as he tried to push the hoards back from where they came.

Sunddenly, she saw a sillouetted form of a creature that filled her with dread and fear. The creature reached at least 12feet tall, and flames seemed to surround it’s very form! It’s fangs dripped with a glowing, vile green liquid and it’s evil countance was intent upon her father. Adara screamed in warning as the creature advanced. She saw him glance towards the menace, face stern and sweating, but continued murmering in what could only be a spell graced by his diety, Lathander. A white numbus surrounded his form, then suddenly an ear-shattering thunderclap shook the small hillside. When Adara again looked up, she saw a tall, silver-skinned human with golden wings floating..no flying.. above her father who seemed to be kneeling in reverance. Adara sank to her knees in shock and relief. The evil creature screamed and lashed out at her father. Even from the distance, she knew it to be a fatal wound.

The beautiful winged creature seemed to speak in her mind, ”Commit the child in your womb to His grace’s service.” as it sprung into action! Moments later, she lay crying by her fathers side. The winged creature stood above her, his hand upon her shoulder in comfort. Her father’s eyes, which had always been a beautiful gold, now held a silvery sheen. He looked into Adara’s own eyes, which were a deep brown with tiny golden flecks, and smiled, ”Blessed are the women who carry the seeds of renewal.” With those words, the light of life left his face.

Adara herself fell in battle several years later, though not to the wound sustained, but the poison that was upon the blade. She was a faithful servant of Lathander til her dying day, and though battled many times in his honor, she was often heard to say that battles and war were a walk in the countryside when compared to rearing children.

The family lives just outside of Beregost. The town is fairly large with 2,915 at last count. The town is run by the high priest of it’s major temple, Lathander.

Travont, Coronis’s father, is counted among the town’s nobility. His lands, though not as vast as some, are counted among the finest as he continues to investigate ways to make the land itself richer and more plentiful. Often, he can be found in the garden shed mixing up various types of fertilizer and food for the fields and his personal greenhouse.

Cordt can often be found with the field hands or in the local tavern talking with other farmers. Thought not what many would call sociable, Cordt values his family and the land that sustains them.

Tremby is often found abroad as he seeks to spread the word of Lathander among the people’s of the land. He can be found in war torn villages helping to restore culture and faith.

Sorry..was more in depth than asked for :bigeyes:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kexizzoc 07-31-03, 01:21 PM	A while back there was a post on this board, in which the greatest minds of 16 generations (okay, not quite that, but at least 2) pondered why board-dwellers prefered the Character Optimization board over the Character Development board. Anyway, one of the best ideas I saw was to start making some threads that would help everyone, like "100 Reasons Why My Drow Lives on the Surface". Well, here's one: We'll put our heads together and make some really good character backgrounds. Not really in-depth stories, just a short paragraph on a possible history. The backgrounds can assume the player is a particular race or class ("if the player is elven..."), just not too crazy ("if the player is a half-demon undead orc..."). In general, we're trying to avoid: a) orcs destroying your village b) orphan raised by a benevolent priest/monk c) amnesia Of course, any of these could work out as part of a story; we're trying to expand our ideas, not limit them. Here's a couple of my own to get us started: 1) The character's hamlet was visited by an old man in a cloak who kept muttering to himself. That night, the man went mad, attacking everyone in the tavern with magic; anyone who was not tortured to death was twisted into horribly misshapen monsters. By the time the militia was able to slay the crazed magician, many lay dead, including the characters parents/adoptive parents/mentor. The only clue as to 'what', 'who' and 'why', was the symbol of a sickle moon with a skull inside of it; burned onto the walls of the houses that were attacked, and some of the corpse's bodies. Character heads off to look for signs of what this symbol means. 2) If the character is a wizard (would work for any magic-using class, really), and he has a master/mentor, one day his master's tower (or whatever) is attacked by mysterious cloaked figures. He seems to have been expecting them sooner or later, and gives his apprentice (the character) a large red crystal that glows with power. Showing him a secret passage out of the tower, he tells him to take the crystal and head for the city to the north, "and whatever you do, don't let them get the crystal". Character hides in the passage, rushes back when he heards a battle. Master dies, taking three of the black cloaked figures down with him, character high-tails it outta there and just makes it to the city. Whoever the figures were, they weren't human, they wanted the crystal, and they don't know the character has it... but that might just be a matter of time.
Kexizzoc 08-04-03, 10:01 PM	Aww, come on... I know you guys have a few good ones!
JusticeZero 08-04-03, 11:18 PM	An adventuring party discovered her standing outside the ruins of the farmgirl's former home, eyes blank, holding a dagger and a torch which had since burned out, motionless and unresponsive and glowing with Enchantment spells. After breaking the spell, she despaired, remembering nothing of that fateful night beyond a memory of hearing a chanted phrase and an unrecognized figure stepping out of the gloom, gesturing toward her and holding a pinch of material components in the other hand. She retired to the city to repent for whatever she might have done while enspelled, and to study the mystical arts in order to discover and counter who and what was responsible. No, really, whoever mutilated this corpse was a hobbyist at most. Sloppy work, really. I could have kept the victim alive for several minutes loonger than this fool did, and it's hardly a skill I work at. Callous? Jaded? Cold-hearted? Maybe a little. I've seen worse back in Vengroth. The dark family of Vengroth? Yes, I know them. You say the sorceress mixes potions from the blood of infants, that the warlord dines nightly in the company of dissidents being tortured slowly to death, that the unnatural appetites of the youngest have earned her scars and a demonic suitor? Yes, yes, i've heard them all before. They're all true. Yes, i'm QUITE confident I know what i'm talking about, they're my parents. No, don't be afraid. I'm off to devote myself to the forces of Light and Good. The ways of my family can only end in death and madness, i'll have no part in it. Okay, it's like this. You remember the wizard Xuirin? Yeah, I know he's dead, believe me! I was there! You remember that mouse that would sit on his shoulder when he was at Council meetings? Hi!! Yeah. That's me. Uhm.. Yeah, sure, I suppose I do look different in a dress and five feet tall and all, yeah.. Ummm! Well.. Yeah, I suppose I can help you figure out some of that stuff? Hey! I remember when he was writing this! I was eating some cheese at the time, but.. Oh! Right! Umm... Hey, let me get my spellbook, okay?
rhane 08-07-03, 03:05 PM	A character I played once: Roqueforte is a goblin…but not just any goblin. He’s the product of a mad wizard’s vile experiments. In the hidden vale of Hollowdown, a wizard, named Bau-Linn had a secret tower. Bau-Linn was fond of fiendish experiments on unsuspecting travellers and on the humanoid tribes that inhabited the area around Hollowdown. The wizard commonly tried his hand at magically mixing different races, trying to form a “better” version. In most cases, the experiment was a dismal failure, creating freakish and tormented creatures that were quickly slain by their creator. Roqueforte was one of the few that survived. Roqueforte was your standard goblin…just trying to survive in a world where everyone was bigger and meaner than him. He stole what he could, and jealously guarded what he took. One day, he was foraging near his home, when he was captured by Bau-Linn’s minions. At around the same time, Bau-Linn had also captured an elf. The wizard wondered what would happen if he were able to combine an elf with a goblin. The idea of combining the goblin’s ferocity and propensity to breed with the elf’s long life span and intelligence intrigued Bau-Linn, and he set about the experiment. The experiment didn’t go as planned. The elf, in particular was horribly maimed, and turned into a slavering monster. Bau-Linn killed it without a thought. The goblin, however, survived, and seemed to have some elven traits. Indeed, a new consciousness had forced itself on Roqueforte. Gone was the animalistic survivor. Now he had a rational, thinking intelligence…too much intelligence for the wizard’s taste. Also, the goblin’s body had been severely damaged. The thing was weak and frail, and of little use as a soldier, particularly since it seemed to have a mind of its own. Bau-Linn dubbed the experiment a failure, and locked Roqueforte up for further study. However, the wizard was prone to go from one idea to another, and a different experiment caught his fancy. He quickly forgot about Roqueforte, and the goblin languished in the wizard’s dungeon. Unknown to Bau-Linn, the experiment had also infused Roqueforte with a new power. During his imprisonment, the goblin learned to harness and use this power. He found that he had a command over illusion and other magics. He used this power to escape from the wizard’s tower. Bau-Linn didn’t really care…in fact, he didn’t know anything about it. His minions feared that he would be angry if they told him of the escape, so they never told him. In any case, Bau-Linn had forgotten about the goblin completely. A short time later, one of his experiments went horribly awry, and one of the hideous monsters he created made a meal out of the wizard, and everyone else in the tower.
rhane 08-07-03, 03:12 PM	Other characters I played: (DND) A human cleric of Kord who would insult his god as often as praying to him. (Rolemaster) A half-troll. Smart and strong, but shy and timid. (Shadowrun) A female, japanese streetsam assassin. Her wired reflexes caused her to go insane. She dressed as a schoolgirl, but was a homicidal maniac. (systemless) A street punk enforcer who wants to be an artist - but can't seem to get away from his gangster life. (DND) Halfling cleric of Tymora. Always trusted his luck even in the most dangerous situation (killed by a flamestrike from his own party - had 3 chances to save and missed all 3).
Domni Dalrose 08-07-03, 03:24 PM	A character of mine that recently died, Coronis Adara Solana Cleric 5/Paladin of Lathander 1. Names and locations could be changed, of course :) FAMILY: Mother- Adara Shalee: deceased Paladin of Lathander Father- Tra’vont Solana: Farmer/Nobility Siblings: Brother-Cordt Treye age 22, tends to the family’s holdings with her father. Brother-Tremby Loagan age 20, cleric of Lathander Cas’s mother used to love to tell the story of how she first had tidings of her first pregnancy: Adara, Cas’s mother, was in the first real battle of her short life and things, even to her inexperienced eyes, were’nt going very well. Her fellows lay all about her wounded or dying, but in the forefront she could see her own father fighting valiantly on. He had been a marvel to behold with his tall form clad all in armor made golden by the dying sunlight. Though she knew the end was upon them, she couldn’t help but feel pride at being among those there to see the last moments her father, their leader, standing tall as he tried to push the hoards back from where they came. Sunddenly, she saw a sillouetted form of a creature that filled her with dread and fear. The creature reached at least 12feet tall, and flames seemed to surround it’s very form! It’s fangs dripped with a glowing, vile green liquid and it’s evil countance was intent upon her father. Adara screamed in warning as the creature advanced. She saw him glance towards the menace, face stern and sweating, but continued murmering in what could only be a spell graced by his diety, Lathander. A white numbus surrounded his form, then suddenly an ear-shattering thunderclap shook the small hillside. When Adara again looked up, she saw a tall, silver-skinned human with golden wings floating..no flying.. above her father who seemed to be kneeling in reverance. Adara sank to her knees in shock and relief. The evil creature screamed and lashed out at her father. Even from the distance, she knew it to be a fatal wound. The beautiful winged creature seemed to speak in her mind, ”Commit the child in your womb to His grace’s service.” as it sprung into action! Moments later, she lay crying by her fathers side. The winged creature stood above her, his hand upon her shoulder in comfort. Her father’s eyes, which had always been a beautiful gold, now held a silvery sheen. He looked into Adara’s own eyes, which were a deep brown with tiny golden flecks, and smiled, ”Blessed are the women who carry the seeds of renewal.” With those words, the light of life left his face. Adara herself fell in battle several years later, though not to the wound sustained, but the poison that was upon the blade. She was a faithful servant of Lathander til her dying day, and though battled many times in his honor, she was often heard to say that battles and war were a walk in the countryside when compared to rearing children. The family lives just outside of Beregost. The town is fairly large with 2,915 at last count. The town is run by the high priest of it’s major temple, Lathander. Travont, Coronis’s father, is counted among the town’s nobility. His lands, though not as vast as some, are counted among the finest as he continues to investigate ways to make the land itself richer and more plentiful. Often, he can be found in the garden shed mixing up various types of fertilizer and food for the fields and his personal greenhouse. Cordt can often be found with the field hands or in the local tavern talking with other farmers. Thought not what many would call sociable, Cordt values his family and the land that sustains them. Tremby is often found abroad as he seeks to spread the word of Lathander among the people’s of the land. He can be found in war torn villages helping to restore culture and faith. Sorry..was more in depth than asked for :bigeyes: