Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dreamstryder 09-17-07, 10:20 PM	D&D (maybe all d20) mechanics measure a character's capabilities; not so much their personal identity. Not having to worry about how the rules constrain your vision of the character's back story and personality is good, but sometimes people need a boosting spark. I going to have each player draw lots when creating a character: 2 to start, more if they need it later. Each has a story trait on it. You use these as a springboard to make up who your PC is (you already know what they can do, after all), but you can think up other traits to add and deviate from the ones you drew. So here they are. Feel free to add your own or PEACH. Childhood Friendship Recurring Dreams Phobia Romance Closet Skeleton Bone to Pick Wanted Personal Code Fateful Promise Banished/ Outcast Amnesia Discrimination Old Memories Distinguishing Mark or Manner Habits Pursuit or Obsession Chance Encounter Tradition/ Custom Heirloom Promised Fate Heir Rival Guardian or Ward I tried not to make them not concrete but suggestive ("Recurring Dreams" could be prophetic, reliving of painful memories, or a Jekyll & Hyde alternate identity; similarly, "Promised Fate" could be good or ill.)
Uberwoot 09-18-07, 03:51 AM	Personally, I think a system like this (as also presented in other books, such as PHB2) can be useful for gamers who, for one reason or another, don't develop characters so much as stat blocks. However, it can also be counterproductive. Some players might draw two traits that just don't click, and have an extremely hard time developing a story with that rigid framework. I would consider something like this as a last resort. Allowing players to at least attempt to create their own backstory, and then employing this system to ensure that the less imaginative (or more munchkin-y) players have a story, might work best. Personally, I'd use it only for an exercise of imagination. Randomly grabbing a race and class and two story traits, then generating a story to match could be a nice challenge. /woot
Fithero 09-18-07, 04:24 AM	I love this sort of idea, i pick two traits randomly and build the character from there (traits first, then mechanics). For example, i just randomly chose 4 and 9 then, which gives me 'romance' and 'fateful promise'. Thats a pretty sweet and easy combination, but a pair along the lines of 'amnesia' and 'banished or outcasted' might be a little more hard, but also alot more interesting!
Dreamstryder 09-24-07, 05:08 PM	Yes, basically it's an aid for anyone who can't think of any different character than his last 16, or for one who doesn't have any ideas. Some people want to play as themselves in a fantasy world, some people haven't thought of anything beyond that, and some people want to put on a play. This helps put on a play for the unintroduced and those trying.
Karish 09-26-07, 02:24 PM	I like this ea a lot. I think a really cool thing for you (or anyone interested) to do would be make a d% table like they do for NPC traits, but make 100 backstory traits or roleplaying traits that can be used by players. From the original list posted, I got Wanted and Distinguishing Mark or Manner. I think I shall use these next time I make a char.