I can't have a character without a backstory.

The act of creating a character generates a backstory. It's all part of the same process.

I probably won't write it down and I sure as shit wouldn't expect anyone else to have any interest in it or to read it if I did write it down but there is Always a backstory.

Like I said in another post D&D needs a psuedo lifepath model for generating higher level PCs in a more systemic way whilst providing for unique and interesting backstory generation.
So you could generate a 3rd level PC and you woudl get 2 or 3 years of adventuring some idea of the foes they have faced, the dangers encountered, enemies made, friends lost as well as giving a balance of wealth, treasure magic or whatever.

Quote from: dragoner;700497Interesting.



I was thinking the actions of the older group would be more of an influence, but one would still probably have to drop clues, both adventures would play into each other in an open way. Random encounter tables would be especially fun here, so you could watch the game unfold on the roll of a die as well.

White Wolf, especially the Blue Books and MtAw is perfect for that no heavy lifting required.

Quote from: jibbajibba;700501I can't have a character without a backstory.

The act of creating a character generates a backstory. It's all part of the same process.

I probably won't write it down and I sure as shit wouldn't expect anyone else to have any interest in it or to read it if I did write it down but there is Always a backstory.

Like I said in another post D&D needs a psuedo lifepath model for generating higher level PCs in a more systemic way whilst providing for unique and interesting backstory generation.
So you could generate a 3rd level PC and you woudl get 2 or 3 years of adventuring some idea of the foes they have faced, the dangers encountered, enemies made, friends lost as well as giving a balance of wealth, treasure magic or whatever.

Jibba I love lifepaths like Traveller or Swords and Sorcery but it's more work generating a character.....maybe a balance is possible?

First and foremost Dnd must be newbie friendly.

Quote from: Marleycat;700502White Wolf, especially the Blue Books and MtAw is perfect for that no heavy lifting required.

Cool, I will have to check them out.

Quote from: Marleycat;700504First and foremost Dnd must be newbie friendly.

Not so much newby friendly as adaptable to a desired level of lethality at the start. IE: You might want a Dark Sun or Tekumel sort of instant lethality style, or you might want a more courtly drama and intrigue style play with little initial physical threat untill things heat up.

Interesting note as I read through the D&DNext playtest pack. Mages now use a d6 for HP. MUs/Wizards are called Mages now...

Did 3 or 4e have that? I dont recall it. But been a while and my friends 3e books are not availible till morning.

Quote from: Omega;700513Mages now use a d6 for HP.

If fire balls and lightning bolts are still d6 per level, that makes them more "save or die" than "just die."

Quote from: Omega;700513Not so much newby friendly as adaptable to a desired level of lethality at the start. IE: You might want a Dark Sun or Tekumel sort of instant lethality style, or you might want a more courtly drama and intrigue style play with little initial physical threat untill things heat up.

Interesting note as I read through the D&DNext playtest pack. Mages now use a d6 for HP. MUs/Wizards are called Mages now...

Did 3 or 4e have that? I dont recall it. But been a while and my friends 3e books are not availible till morning.

Pretty sure 4e Wizards were d6. Can't confirm it though I traded my 4e books away 2-3 years ago. Question do you gain hit dice every level like 3;4e or is it capped like 1/2e?

Quote from: dragoner;700508Cool, I will have to check them out.

Focus on the blue books since it's the baseline and download the rule update for the blueline.

Mage is an acquired taste okay?

Quote from: Marleycat;700504Jibba I love lifepaths like Traveller or Swords and Sorcery but it's more work generating a character.....maybe a balance is possible?

First and foremost Dnd must be newbie friendly.

This woudl only be for higher level PCs so not really the newbie game.

I would just have it year by year roll range of XP gained, roll on a complications table, roll on an injury (or even die) table, etc etc

Quote from: Phillip;700460I reckon Gary Gygax was in a better position to decide the official denotation of D&D, and in that case he in fact did. The tournament game form is essentially a subset of the full-scale form, and much the same could be said of other variations that have become normative while that fell into obscurity.

...whut?:huhsign:

Quote from: Planet Algol;700405I have absolutely no problem playing a PC with personality regardless of their level or expectations of mortality.

When they die, I roll up another set of stats, look at them, and a distinct PC emerges.

I don't waste others, or my own, time with their biography. That is improvised via in-game banter.

To claim that old school mortality precludes personality/backstory until level x is a binary, and false, argument.

I don't think anyone can prove how tough they are by rolling dice for their imaginary hobbit's attack rolls.

Bazinga!   Home Run.

 I roll the stats and choose fighter. What kind of fighting man will this be? Perhaps he is a former lumberjack who got drafted into serving his lord? Now a veteran fighter with a big axe, he has a taste for wild adventure but he is still an easy going country boy at heart.

DONE.  Lets play.

Quote from: Exploderwizard;700573Bazinga!   Home Run.

 I roll the stats and choose fighter. What kind of fighting man will this be? Perhaps he is a former lumberjack who got drafted into serving his lord? Now a veteran fighter with a big axe, he has a taste for wild adventure but he is still an easy going country boy at heart.

DONE.  Lets play.

I tend to make very short biographies.

For example, my current pathfinder wizard character, now level 13. started of f with a bio like this:

Stavros was born to a poor farming family, and at the age of 10, being a large boy escaped a life of farming by becoming an apprentice blacksmith.
He loved working metal, and excelled at metal smithing. at the age of 15 he was discovered to have a natural talent for magic by a wizard, and he was sent to a town where a few wizards had sent up an informal school for wizardry. His first love remains metalworking, and he considers himself a warrior as much as a wizard. He crafted himself a great sword as a magic focus, scorning the wooden staves of his peers.  



I like to have a short bio and then let he game play develop naturally.

Quote from: dragoner;700448I usually do a paragraph as well. As a GM I like to be able to connect the character with the adventure, it gives more depth to the game.

Depends on the length of the paragraph, doesn't it?

Quote from: Exploderwizard;700573Bazinga!   Home Run.

I roll the stats and choose fighter. What kind of fighting man will this be? Perhaps he is a former lumberjack who got drafted into serving his lord? Now a veteran fighter with a big axe, he has a taste for wild adventure but he is still an easy going country boy at heart.

DONE.  Lets play.

Exactly. Two sentences of description for our new PC.

When I do create a background for a PC/NPC I sometimes write it as a few bullet points:

• Hates ogres -they killed his family


• Wants to gather wealth/followers and set up his own stronghold.


• Fond of strong drink.

Anything much more elaborate and you're setting yourself up for a fall.

Quote from: jibbajibba;700501I can't have a character without a backstory.

The act of creating a character generates a backstory. It's all part of the same process.

I probably won't write it down and I sure as shit wouldn't expect anyone else to have any interest in it or to read it if I did write it down but there is Always a backstory.

Like I said in another post D&D needs a psuedo lifepath model for generating higher level PCs in a more systemic way whilst providing for unique and interesting backstory generation.
So you could generate a 3rd level PC and you woudl get 2 or 3 years of adventuring some idea of the foes they have faced, the dangers encountered, enemies made, friends lost as well as giving a balance of wealth, treasure magic or whatever.

Add one sentence/bullet point per level. Done.

Quote from: Benoist;700489I don't need more than five minutes to come up with a background, personality and be ready to roll. It usually is done at the same time as rolling the dice and choosing race, class, equipment and the like.

Likewise, I come up with backgrounds and personalities for NPCs on the spot all the time.

I think the idea that you can't have a BG and/or personality until level X is bullshit.

Plain, total bullshit.

The actual issue is way more likely to be that some people want their one character with that one particular faux-Baudelaire background story to be a special snowflake in the campaign and can't take it if the character dies in the first few game sessions, whereas other people just play for the sake of determining which of these personalities will actually make it, and how far, with many other people besides being able to enjoy -GASP- BOTH approaches depending on the game and session they are playing at the time. Weird! I know. . .

Now that you mention it, there's a symbiotic relationship between the special snowflake PC (complete with elaborate background) and the preference for railroading, since the latter is the only sure way to accommodate the former.

It's hard to engage in a circlejerk about Olric of Emo, the long lost son of Lord Slappy, whose favorite color is orange, cries at weddings and barn-raisings, hates gnomes because he was fondled by one, seeks to avenge Lord Slappy's death at the hands of a dragon (who is really a god in disguise), and so on and so forth for a full page...

Who, in his first encounter, is beaten to death by a goblin.

The DM could tell the player it's a waste of time to write more than a few lines of background for a PC who stands a good chance of getting killed. Or he could take the easy way out, ignore the 20 rolled by the goblin and declare that Olric of Emo didn't get killed after all, because of story and all.

Quote from: Elfdart;700597The DM could tell the player it's a waste of time to write more than a few lines of background for a PC who stands a good chance of getting killed. Or he could take the easy way out, ignore the 20 rolled by the goblin and declare that Olric of Emo didn't get killed after all, because of story and all.

Just tell the player Olric of Emo is actually in a George R.R. Martin story.

Quote from: Philotomy Jurament;700628Just tell the player Olric of Emo is actually in a George R.R. Martin story.

George's a Viking Hat Storyteller.