Help me put some meat on my character's backstory. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help me put some meat on my character's backstory. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JohnnyJumpUp
09-11-07, 10:22 PM Ok, I've got a skeleton of a backstory for my druid 2 set up, but I'm not sure how to really put flesh on it and really write out the backstory. I thought I saw a questionnaire about characters designed to help with this awhile back if anyone has it. Otherwise just some advice about starting would be really helpful. Here's the bulleted list I put together as a start.

• Grew up in small self-sustaining farming village.
• Parents were kind and loving, if boring for a young child.
• Spent much of time out in local wilderness
• Snuck up upon a rather old and hard of hearing druid
• Became friends & eventually introduced to more druids
• Back home, displayed a above natural ability with crops.
• Attracted attention of local druids.
• Left home at age 12.
• 10 years of training with druids.
• During training visited elven city. That, and his memories of home created his views towards the ideal unity of civilization and nature.
• After becoming full fledged druid, and striking out on his own, he received a message from home.
• A goblin raiding party had settled near his home, and were making pests of themselves to his home village.
• Returned to his home and led the villagers and local fauna is killing or driving off the raiders.
• Broke the raiding party, but party leader escaped.
• Currently lives at the boundary of a small, but very urbanized village, trying to convince them to adopt more nature friendly ways into their city.

Ideals-wise, I want to try him as more of the "make sentient and environment concerns one" type of druid (think modern mild environmentalists) instead of a "let the trees take back the earth). Personality-wise, I'm open.
GleeMaster
09-11-07, 11:58 PM Turn each bullet into 3 sentences.

Try that, and if you're still stuck, post your story here (You have a few paragraphs there)
Harrow Blade
09-12-07, 12:29 AM There is one such questionaire in my sig.

If I would suggest anything it is steer clear of boring backgrounds as they do not fuel your roleplaying experience. Take what you have and give it a twist.
If you grew up on a farm with loving parents then perhaps they were not your biological parents, but rather agents of an evil god set there to keep an eye on you as you potentially had the power to change the structure of the pantheon according to a now dead seer.

Perhaps they stole you from a noble family in order get a ransom but fell in love with youo and dissappeared into another country.

Stay away from the done amillion time back grounds and look for something new.
Woodforsheep
09-12-07, 02:48 PM You got the meat, you just need the trimmings.

Some twists, some spice, as it were. Harrow above offered some suggestions. I would do the same:

Perhaps your adventures in the wilderness as a child were cruel to the animals there. You trapped them and tortured them... threw rocks at birds... liked starting fires... etc. The old druid you befriended eventually showed you the error of your ways and your dedication to the druidic cause is to atone for your childhood misdeeds.

Perhaps one or both of your parents were killed/maimed by this Goblin leader and apart from your environmental concerns you are determined to track the leader down and see he sprouts a tree from his chest. (This gets you adventuring and not sedentary... DMs love hooks like this. You may never find the Goblin, but your search keeps you moving.)

Perhaps you had a love interest during your training who: shunned you/met a horrible fate/you had to leave behind because your duty comes first. Perhaps this love had a particular extremely rare flower that was her trademark and you are: constantly searching for more of these flowers/have the seeds and plant them wherever you go or vanquish evil/always have the scent of this flower on you.

These are just some basic things, but it's always been my experience that advice like this leads people to think of their own ideas to play out, so I hope I helped.
meto30
09-12-07, 03:56 PM I think adding stories on the Druid Circle would help out. Druids are mostly unsure about mingling with civilization or so I've heard, and so maybe some elders are uncomfortable with the character's efforts to harmonize cities/towns with nature.

Maybe this makes druids look bad... sorry if my opinion was not helpful

It's just that I grew up in a society where political factions and conspiracies are natural and fundamental in all aspects of life, and this idea just pops up.
Terjon of the Blue Rose
09-13-07, 02:16 AM There have certainly been some good suggestions thus far. But spice isn't always what is called for in a recipe so I have written one to match what you already have.

I was born into a small town. A simple place where I learned the names of everyone before I could travel through town on my own and where the birth of a single child was a momentous event. My parents were farmers who lived at the edges of town and traveled inwards each night to spend time with their friends. So many people are born into the same life it seems strange to think that I would grow so differently from my friends.

In my youth I would travel the woods with my friends. We would set traps for rabbits as we had been taught by our fathers. Later we learned to take out bow and drive off predators like wolves and foxes.

It was on such a trip, seeking out a fox who had been in too many hen-houses that I stumbled on Oldroot. Oldroot was a druid who, if he had any other name, was too old to remember it. He didn't hear me moving through the woods but he saw my arrow strike the fox I had been stalking. He went to the fox after it fell and finished it and then he turned to me. I was afraid, as I had heard of druids in stories and they oft grew wrathful at thouse who killed animals or cut trees.

Instead he said to me "The foxes have grown plentiful this year. There is not enough food for them and the men of the village nearby. Tell me, child, what will you do with this fox now that you have eliminated him as competition for your dinner?"

All those years ago Oldroot accompanied me home. He taught me and the other village boys to spurn waste and to kill only the prey we needed to eat. He taught us that our land belonged not just to us but to the creatures of the forest and that by sharing and allowing some space to grow freely we too would grow stronger.

Now most of those boys and their fathers have forgotten those lessons. I have not though. I took them all to heart and left my home to travel with Oldroot among the druid circles. I learned of the circle of life and now I have returned home. The lessons may have been forgotten but their influence is still seen. There are still wild plants in my small town, now a small city. There are still deer roaming within a few scant miles of town, only being hunted by a few who either cannot feed themselves otherwise or by those whose life is the hunt. As I return I see the strength left behind by Oldroot.

There is a threat to men now just as when Oldroot came. He came when the foxes grew too many. The foxes would not listen to his wisdom and so they plundered the land of all the prey and they starved, forcing them into men's territory. Now it is the same with goblins instead of foxes. I have gone to the goblins. I have tried to teach them of balance and waste as Oldroot once taught the men of my home. They drove me away and I had not the strength to make them listen. So instead I turn to men. Men are the natural predator which keeps goblin in check. I will teach them once again the strength of balance and aid them in slowing the goblins. I will teach them not to destroy the goblins as well, for even goblins have a place in the world. I will show the men that if the goblins are destroyed then their prey shall feed the orcs to the north, who will grow stronger and create a new cycle of death and war for the men of my home.

Man is a strange beast for he can learn wisdom. Yet all too often he refuses to. I hope to restore a balance to the region. Perhaps with luck I, like Oldroot, can find one who will teach the next generation. Perhaps I can even stop the men from growing too many and becoming their own enemy like the foxes of old and the goblins of today.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JohnnyJumpUp 09-11-07, 10:22 PM	Ok, I've got a skeleton of a backstory for my druid 2 set up, but I'm not sure how to really put flesh on it and really write out the backstory. I thought I saw a questionnaire about characters designed to help with this awhile back if anyone has it. Otherwise just some advice about starting would be really helpful. Here's the bulleted list I put together as a start. • Grew up in small self-sustaining farming village. • Parents were kind and loving, if boring for a young child. • Spent much of time out in local wilderness • Snuck up upon a rather old and hard of hearing druid • Became friends & eventually introduced to more druids • Back home, displayed a above natural ability with crops. • Attracted attention of local druids. • Left home at age 12. • 10 years of training with druids. • During training visited elven city. That, and his memories of home created his views towards the ideal unity of civilization and nature. • After becoming full fledged druid, and striking out on his own, he received a message from home. • A goblin raiding party had settled near his home, and were making pests of themselves to his home village. • Returned to his home and led the villagers and local fauna is killing or driving off the raiders. • Broke the raiding party, but party leader escaped. • Currently lives at the boundary of a small, but very urbanized village, trying to convince them to adopt more nature friendly ways into their city. Ideals-wise, I want to try him as more of the "make sentient and environment concerns one" type of druid (think modern mild environmentalists) instead of a "let the trees take back the earth). Personality-wise, I'm open.
GleeMaster 09-11-07, 11:58 PM	Turn each bullet into 3 sentences. Try that, and if you're still stuck, post your story here (You have a few paragraphs there)
Harrow Blade 09-12-07, 12:29 AM	There is one such questionaire in my sig. If I would suggest anything it is steer clear of boring backgrounds as they do not fuel your roleplaying experience. Take what you have and give it a twist. If you grew up on a farm with loving parents then perhaps they were not your biological parents, but rather agents of an evil god set there to keep an eye on you as you potentially had the power to change the structure of the pantheon according to a now dead seer. Perhaps they stole you from a noble family in order get a ransom but fell in love with youo and dissappeared into another country. Stay away from the done amillion time back grounds and look for something new.
Woodforsheep 09-12-07, 02:48 PM	You got the meat, you just need the trimmings. Some twists, some spice, as it were. Harrow above offered some suggestions. I would do the same: Perhaps your adventures in the wilderness as a child were cruel to the animals there. You trapped them and tortured them... threw rocks at birds... liked starting fires... etc. The old druid you befriended eventually showed you the error of your ways and your dedication to the druidic cause is to atone for your childhood misdeeds. Perhaps one or both of your parents were killed/maimed by this Goblin leader and apart from your environmental concerns you are determined to track the leader down and see he sprouts a tree from his chest. (This gets you adventuring and not sedentary... DMs love hooks like this. You may never find the Goblin, but your search keeps you moving.) Perhaps you had a love interest during your training who: shunned you/met a horrible fate/you had to leave behind because your duty comes first. Perhaps this love had a particular extremely rare flower that was her trademark and you are: constantly searching for more of these flowers/have the seeds and plant them wherever you go or vanquish evil/always have the scent of this flower on you. These are just some basic things, but it's always been my experience that advice like this leads people to think of their own ideas to play out, so I hope I helped.
meto30 09-12-07, 03:56 PM	I think adding stories on the Druid Circle would help out. Druids are mostly unsure about mingling with civilization or so I've heard, and so maybe some elders are uncomfortable with the character's efforts to harmonize cities/towns with nature. Maybe this makes druids look bad... sorry if my opinion was not helpful It's just that I grew up in a society where political factions and conspiracies are natural and fundamental in all aspects of life, and this idea just pops up.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 09-13-07, 02:16 AM	There have certainly been some good suggestions thus far. But spice isn't always what is called for in a recipe so I have written one to match what you already have. I was born into a small town. A simple place where I learned the names of everyone before I could travel through town on my own and where the birth of a single child was a momentous event. My parents were farmers who lived at the edges of town and traveled inwards each night to spend time with their friends. So many people are born into the same life it seems strange to think that I would grow so differently from my friends. In my youth I would travel the woods with my friends. We would set traps for rabbits as we had been taught by our fathers. Later we learned to take out bow and drive off predators like wolves and foxes. It was on such a trip, seeking out a fox who had been in too many hen-houses that I stumbled on Oldroot. Oldroot was a druid who, if he had any other name, was too old to remember it. He didn't hear me moving through the woods but he saw my arrow strike the fox I had been stalking. He went to the fox after it fell and finished it and then he turned to me. I was afraid, as I had heard of druids in stories and they oft grew wrathful at thouse who killed animals or cut trees. Instead he said to me "The foxes have grown plentiful this year. There is not enough food for them and the men of the village nearby. Tell me, child, what will you do with this fox now that you have eliminated him as competition for your dinner?" All those years ago Oldroot accompanied me home. He taught me and the other village boys to spurn waste and to kill only the prey we needed to eat. He taught us that our land belonged not just to us but to the creatures of the forest and that by sharing and allowing some space to grow freely we too would grow stronger. Now most of those boys and their fathers have forgotten those lessons. I have not though. I took them all to heart and left my home to travel with Oldroot among the druid circles. I learned of the circle of life and now I have returned home. The lessons may have been forgotten but their influence is still seen. There are still wild plants in my small town, now a small city. There are still deer roaming within a few scant miles of town, only being hunted by a few who either cannot feed themselves otherwise or by those whose life is the hunt. As I return I see the strength left behind by Oldroot. There is a threat to men now just as when Oldroot came. He came when the foxes grew too many. The foxes would not listen to his wisdom and so they plundered the land of all the prey and they starved, forcing them into men's territory. Now it is the same with goblins instead of foxes. I have gone to the goblins. I have tried to teach them of balance and waste as Oldroot once taught the men of my home. They drove me away and I had not the strength to make them listen. So instead I turn to men. Men are the natural predator which keeps goblin in check. I will teach them once again the strength of balance and aid them in slowing the goblins. I will teach them not to destroy the goblins as well, for even goblins have a place in the world. I will show the men that if the goblins are destroyed then their prey shall feed the orcs to the north, who will grow stronger and create a new cycle of death and war for the men of my home. Man is a strange beast for he can learn wisdom. Yet all too often he refuses to. I hope to restore a balance to the region. Perhaps with luck I, like Oldroot, can find one who will teach the next generation. Perhaps I can even stop the men from growing too many and becoming their own enemy like the foxes of old and the goblins of today.