The Backstory Anchor

When Vanilla is Great, Beige goes with everything and NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR BACKSTORY!

Arguably in the RPG player’s career, there are several phases that most people go through: from the edgy lone wolf, to the special “totally different elf but not elf demon that lives underground”, to the attempt at being evil, to the hazard to themselves, and finally the team Mum.

Backgrounds

Holding up your three pages or even 1 page of backstory and going “I’m only doing this because it is in my backstory” is not fun for everyone else, if you can’t own the characters decision it isn’t a decision. Also if you are unwilling to take the consequences of such actions, then consider why you are really doing it. If it is for laughs out of game, then be honest with yourself and your group, and leave the character shield down.

Backgrounds are a double sided coin. You can pull the “hey it is what the character would have done”, but your character is not in a vacuum. Other characters will react to such actions, and you have to be willing to take that in stride.

Backstory

One great lesson from the LARP scene is the idea that no one cares about your backstory. It may sound mean spirited, but it is a diamond in the rough.

For example: Your character does not understand money, so they won’t think anything of melting the gold down mid combat. However, the consequence of that is the party is going to think twice before giving you the treasure horde.

Generally, let the story you are part of in the campaign become the backstory; let the character evolve and grow do not be afraid to discover them as you go. Great stories are about journeys people evolving and manifesting change. Don’t be afraid to change with them.

Knowing what your character does not do or dislikes or does not believe is not the same as knowing what they are about. It is easy to disagree with something it is believing that is tricky. The believes of “this is wrong” is only useful for informing you about what the character’s thought processes are.

A backstory can be a great source of material for both players and organizers the point here is that the backstory is not the adventure. It informs why and springs you foreword to what your goals are what you search for it is not a voucher that the organiser has to stamp to get your attention or a dead parrot that needs petting.

Ultimately, if your backstory is not a springboard that is propelling you forward to engage and find new answers, then it is not a backstory.

“I’m just playing my character”

“Well your character is being annoying and stopping our fun.”

That is a fine line to treat, but ultimately disrupting others fun is not a question of character choice – it is a player choice to place what they think is funny or what they want over the rest of the group. This can manifest in trying to derail the organiser to see where the end of the map is. It could involve insisting everyone has to stop and explain the notion of money to their character because they have lived on their own in the forest and don’t understand table manners. If others have fun that is one thing, but is not the groups job or anyone’s job to “fix” your character. If you have no reason to stay with the group that is on you 9 times out of 10.

However, this is not necessarily the end of the road! Find a reason, or you can try a different approach with the group through another character. In other cases, it may also be a question of you are not in line with the kind of game that others want to play.

Lone Wolf

Another diamond in the rough, yet so easy to get wrong. Your character is an adventurer or an investigator, so they would have worked with other people before even a Level 1 character. Otherwise they will have not gotten out of the door in most places, so find a reason why your character is a lone wolf, but a lone wolf in the group.

Don’t be afraid to take a leaf out of Vampire: The Masquerades and have as many living connections from your backstory as dead ones. Why skip straight to the tragedy when your organizer can inflict it upon you during the game? Yes of course there is a family of small friendly dogs.

Arguably, of course.