Are PC Backstories a Waste of Time in DnD?

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Thumbnail Artist credit: Larry Elmore
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[kevoreilly]

Backstories ground the character in the world. Players build a simple backstory around their class, their alignment ( which is three character traits) and this back ground … two paragraphs what happened in the past … and an event that put them on the adventure’s path, and the goal they are aiming for, then a paragraph that happened in recent years that brings them to where they are today …

Goals, contacts, bonds, flaws all are contextualized

[gregdaley]

In the current OSE Adv campaign we're in, there was barely a hint of a back story: My character Mouse is on the run after her Master was arrested. We rolled for a secondary skill: Lapidary. Through the (sandbox) game, her history has emerged, personality, and motivations by interacting with the NPCs, peers, and the world. We now know much more about her character in a naturalistic way that meshes well with the campaign.

[bruced]

40+ years as a GM.
I've never used anything from a characters back story.
having a character concept is essential. it's the idea that let's the player determine how they want to interact.
I am not opposed to players creating a back story. however, I am up-front in stating that I won't be reading it or using anything from it. but I absolutely encourage creative writing!

[hallavast]

Randomly generated (and then edited) backstories can be fun. Gives the less literary players some easy prompts and challenges the wordier players with some limitations to build on. They'll get stale after a while, so there will always be room to write more random backstory fragments.

[Joshuazx]

House rule: if you can't make a character backstory in 20 words or less, you get a pregen.

[Candyapplebone]

Great advice, dude. I don’t know why I had never considered making a handout to sell my players on my game. The players I have are down to play anything even if I don’t sell them, but by doing this, I can get them to actually come up with characters that are tied to the world. And, I really love your sandbox content. I’m pretty sure that’s the reason why I subscribed.

[blahlbinoa]

When I started my campaign recently I used a character background questionnaire from WFRP 4e that asked ten questions. Each player was asked these questions and gave me answers and I helped flesh out some ideas. Taking those, I've been using it to develop background story arcs. My one character is an Eldritch Knight, but started as just being a guard for a wizard that kinda showed her how magic worked. So what I did was had it so she had to be properly trained to cast spells properly (she could still cast spells, but had to make checks, she was asked if this was ok and she agreed to it) but now she is looking for an Eldritch Knight mentor to finish her training. All of that was pulled by a sentence and is now being expanded upon as the campaign goes.

[Old_Wizard_Minis]

Running Shadowdark I use a supplement called Life Paths. Characters get the options to roll on it if they make it out of the gauntlet. It adds a reward, introduces randomness, keeps it organic and still allows creativity with constraints. Obviously its not for everyone but my group loves it. Once they came around to the idea they are the audience and not their characters. They can't wait to find out the back story of the character.

[syvajarvi]

I’m a sandbox DM. I like a backstory but the lower the level the less fantastic I want it. I give factions and some options to help them tie their characters to the world. Part of this is where they are from and why they are out and about adventuring. If it is a mid or high level campaign I like to have a little more detail as to things the character may have done….. I help them with this as well.

If a player wants to have played a part in a recent lore event I’m good with it if it makes sense. I had a player take the folk hero background for a lvl 5 campaign, we worked together to develop the story but kept it to two paragraphs as to what the player remembered of the event which wasn’t how the people saw it and he was running from the fame from being at the right place at the wrong time while doing something monumentally foolish….. the story was so hilarious to us I gave him the luck feat for free.

As a player I usually play a ranger who is an explorer/archeologist, caravan guide, or a scout for a traveling circus. It makes it easier for the DM to drop me into the campaign without to much stress and I usually have a language or two that is not very common like primordial, draconian, or abyssal. My backstories are usually short and uncomplicated with a little more detail depending on the level of the character……. One paragraph for every 5 levels of the character.

Only once did I write a complicated one at the request of the DM. He was running a campaign for us that was the staring point for a two year long adventure that was intended to be the starting point to build an new world and we were helping him to develop certain areas of the world and it’s lore.

[willkupronis]

My go to has always been for my players to have an important person, place, and event from their backstory. It helps define characters a lot by what the players think was important in their characters past.

[FredrickTesla]

The fuck is the point of playing DnD if it's not to experience a story through the eyes of a character you designed? If you don't have a back story, you don't have a character, you have a placeholder.

[barge]

I am on the side of loving backstories as a DM. I use a lot of my character's backstories to inform my campaign and setting.

I used some of the questions from James D'Amato's Ultimate RPG Character Creation Guide to get pretty specific information about the character's past. Things like past relationships, mentors, hometowns etc. Quick details that I can build around.

I then boil that down and run a level 0 one on one session with the player to have them play through their backstory. I think this gives a great place for some cooperative worldbuilding (We understand that they WILL survive this session, but everything else is fair game) and because they played through their backstory, the players are a little more attached to it.

[Ciberbuster]

A lot can be done with a brief backstory. Just the sauce: character concept + why is adventuring + some potential NPC the DM may use. Example: A scammer "magician", tired of running from law wants to get rich adventuring, had a mentor who was betrayed in a past scam. That's it, that's all the backstory.

[EriktheRed]

One of my beefs with the warlock class since 3.0 is that the crucial, dramatic moment of the Faustian pact is usually in the past. We don't get to see it at table. I really like about 5e that the paladin takes their Oath a while into their career (though I don't get why they should get magical powers before that, but that's a different can of worms.)

[aidendon]

A great video again! Thanks.

I have only GMed story based games. At the start of the game, I have asked players to relate their characters to a major NPC or faction, how they find themselves in the party, and provide a character goal. We are talking one short paragraph of between 5-7 sentences.

[anon_laughing_man]

Another great video!

I approach backstory in exactly the same manner as you do. A few paragraphs at most, but nothing overly complicated or drawn out. Where are the PCs from? Why did they become the classes they are? Why are they an adventurers? How did thry train and whobtrained them? What are their motivations?

Maybe a couple simple hooks built into their past that give me materials to add to the ongoing sandbox campaign. That is about it. Anymore and it gets top heavy. I agree 100% with the "less is more" philosophy of character histories.

[Lemurion]

I think most characters need a backstory, but just a short one. The focus should be on who this character is, not what they've done. Personally, I like to give a character a couple of outsize traits at the start (fighter won't use swords/likes sailing but hates riding) and develop the rest through play.

[DibstheMonkey]

Most of my characters that i've actually made an extensive backstory for have always died before the backstory is ever implemented. My longest lived characters are joke characters that the party in characters hate because they're just goofy little guys with some questionable morals. But my current character does have a detailed backstory because we all as a group decided to be from the same village and three of the 5 characters are related. We even collaboratively created the religion we all follow, its been fun so far.

[AGrumpyPanda]

It's very interesting to me that we're both sandbox style GMs but have opposite views of backstory. I don't ask for extensive backstories from my players, but what I do want is a backstory that explains why the PC is who they are now, and justifies their goals going forward. The backstory is an anchor that helps me tie the game together from minute one, and gives the players something to go back to when they're not sure what their character would want to do next.

[MemphiStig]

I never much bothered with big backstories, but in AD&D I once wrote an elaborate backstory to explain how a human thief ended up dual-classing into a paladin. Never played the character, but it was a fun exercise if nothing else. Generally, tho, less is indeed more. If you can't explain your character in a short sentence, you're working too hard. I haven't played in narrative-heavy long-term games tho. ymmv