This week's Game WISH, a bit late, but done.
How do you like to build character backgrounds? Do you think they are important or not? Do you prefer to write an elaborate background, or fill in later? Do you find character quizzes like the one in the ADRPG or related exercises like the round of questions in Everway character development to be useful?I used to build elaborate backgrounds for my characters. As the years progressed, I realized that I just didn't have time for it, especially when often, a lot of the background I had created would be ignored by the GM or used in (what I considered) an inappropriate way.
I think the last time I created a very detailed background for a character was for an online Amber game. I had done up this background with another player, to the point of having conference (aka chat) sessions doing background development, and tarot readings, and all manner of detailed background stories. Maeve was one frelled-up character.
And in the first session of the game, the GM took us to an alternate Amber, and tried to have my character blamed for the death of an NPC there.
Yes, in the real world, she had killed this NPC. But in this alternate world, she didn't, and it had no impact on the character or the game, really. It was an alternate universe and the details were entirely different. The GM expected it to have a great impact on Maeve, and she just shrugged it off.
Now, if she had done that in the real world, THEN I'd have been all over that.
I know, it's just one game, but I think it very nearly ended me on doing lots of details for a game where I don't know to where it's headed.
I think at least something of a background is important, though a lot depends on the game that is being played. Amber games pretty much require a detailed background, because of the variety of shadow from where the character could be, and their interactions with the elders.
For Lou's new D&D game, I have a basic background (Sophia Pilar Highbridge is the daughter of a local tavern owner, and he wanted her to be able to handle herself and any possibly rowdy patrons, so she learned unarmed fighting from the local monk), and will probably write more. But I'm not compelled to do so anymore.
I also tend to have a lot of my character background in my head. It's all there, and I usually tell the GM what it is, but it is often never written down. This is bad, I know. I do the same thing for my NPCs, but there it's okay because it's all for me and what I choose to reveal.
I also like playing the character for a session or two, like Ginger does, and seeing how what I had envisioned plays out. Often the character changes, sometimes subtly, sometimes not-so-subtly. Just like no plot survives contact with the players, hardly any character survives contact with the plot/other characters.
I do like character quizzes, ala the ones from the Amber books. In fact, I asked my players in WEF some questions, and then asked them much later to reply to them again, to see if there was a difference. I've also asked my players in ATF some questions, and while it was voluntary, I did get answers from some of them. I was going to code them into character pages, but never got around to it beyond the first character, who is no longer one of the PCs. Many of these were stolen from Sarah's To Reign in Hell quiz.
I do think it's a good idea, if you're going to pose quizzes to your players, to not require (if you do) them to submit them until after they've played the character a few times. Get them into the feel of the character, and their reactions. Or if you do require it up front, then allow the player to change their answers if need be.
Now I just have to work on a page for ATD of my own. Pardon the sparseness of the pages, it's Lou's first attempts at HTML.