Hmm.... your ambitious character, *Icarus* , is never able to be played, and all the effort wasted... Similar to the story of Icarus.
@ethanwhite22105 жыл бұрын
Flew too close to the sun on wings of scrawled backstory notes.
@patchoulimaru63695 жыл бұрын
Maybe this is why kid icarus won't get another game
@icarusfalls87235 жыл бұрын
Icarus you say, seems like I'm cursed too sometimes so it works XD
@brandondennis51665 жыл бұрын
@@patchoulimaru6369 Nah, it's 'cause he never learned to read.
@Vitamin_Gun4 жыл бұрын
Appledirt Careful, Icarus.
@ethsy775 жыл бұрын
6 days of D&D a week your living the dream buddy
@ethsy775 жыл бұрын
some reason all I can think of for a character trait is that they are alcoholics or have a gambling addiction or both
@ethsy775 жыл бұрын
somehow I made 2000 platinum
@cameronscott93995 жыл бұрын
@Maximilian L it's multiple different campaigns and different dms
@DevilfishFace5 жыл бұрын
I can't even find 1
@darienb11275 жыл бұрын
I can only do two games at a time before it becomes too much. Too much to remember and switch between
@shanerooney72885 жыл бұрын
1) Start with an idea of what you want your character to be 2) Choose different Class/Race/Spells etc to fit your goal. 3) Realize your character is nothing like what you were aiming for. 4) Somehow this new character is the best thing you have ever created (until your next character, of course)
@happymilk74334 жыл бұрын
5. Repeat until you give up on your dreams
@theraven58504 жыл бұрын
Just come up with something vague and build off it as you get integrated into the campaign. Your character's backstory when you initially join should be 3 sentences. As the campaign progresses you can build off the idea. Doing more than that is kind of antisocial and unnecessary.
@kkTeaz4 жыл бұрын
@@theraven5850 dumb, weird, clumsy
@rotaderp883 жыл бұрын
@@kkTeaz congrats you’re character had a brain tumor!
@Cloud_Seeker3 жыл бұрын
My best character was made as a throw away character, but suited exactly into what the party needed. Everything about him made perfect sense into what he used to be so he became much better because he achieved exactly what I aimed for. Someone that can do hit and run attacks and just run away from danger and snipe from far away.
@AndrewChumKaser5 жыл бұрын
My most recent character is a bard. But instead of your average "smooth talking, lute playing, lady slaying" bard, she's a friendly but ditzy band geek who's actually the tanky frontline and main healer of the party. She even refers to her party members as their instruments instead of their names, (it's an all bard party) in the same way a marching band would.
@droopsmoop5 жыл бұрын
TRUMPET JUST STAB THE DRAGON ALREADY
@bainbonic5 жыл бұрын
Okay that's actually a really cool character.
@leirawhitehart12365 жыл бұрын
Wow, that sounds really fun! I'm going to play a bard too, and after watching this video, I hope to make her backstory more palatable. I've never played d&d before, so I'm trying to get as prepared as I can before the day comes when I get to play for the very first time! I hope the game is fun, the people are nice, and that we overall have a great time!
@aisekrem32165 жыл бұрын
Leira Whitehart I HOPE THE SESSION WENT WELL
@datalysjr33394 жыл бұрын
Reads character: oh nice Sees all bard party: *oh no*
@teejaykaye5 жыл бұрын
Step 1: scour Pinterest for an Aesthetic™ Step 2: pour your heart and soul into a backstory Step 3: Panic at the onset of the first game, forget your character voice, and completely change the character to fit the new voice and the way you're now playing them while keeping only the vaguest sense of the original Aesthetic™ Step 4: profit
@niklas98483 жыл бұрын
Ohhhh yes xD
@isaiahswartz9915 жыл бұрын
Damn you must be a powerful warlock with these patrons
@InquisitorThomas5 жыл бұрын
Gareth I wish my Great Old One would pay for my Chinese Take out.
@stellarkat46574 жыл бұрын
One of the best comments I've ever seen.
@nedflandersmustache3 жыл бұрын
The god of mimics he mentioned would probably make him dip into cleric
@Fishcrab3 жыл бұрын
Divvy is the patron. He dispenses his wisdom, in exchange for our time, money, Chinese takeout and our firstborn children
@greatstoryteller94595 жыл бұрын
When the palidan breaks there oath Cleric:"YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!" Oath breaker palidan: *COMMAND: SLEEP*
@Max31105 жыл бұрын
I wanted to say you wrote paladin wrong... till i got it... I like ur comment
@KingHenryIX5 жыл бұрын
Their*
@mr.perish67992 жыл бұрын
@@Max3110 whats the joke?
@Max31102 жыл бұрын
@@mr.perish6799 yoo that’s like two years ago and honestly I don’t remember but my guess would be palidan ≈ padawan
@mr.perish67992 жыл бұрын
@@Max3110 thank you for the quick reply
@shandaniel29995 жыл бұрын
DM:Why are you a Druid? Player:My parents died DM:Yea I know but- Player:ITS SSOOO SAD DM: It doesn’t fit your happy go lucky- Player: I thought that you only need dead parents to explain behavior!
@dogdogdraws23525 жыл бұрын
Technically. If you think about it... that happening is the META of quickly making up a backstory x3 Since it can be bent and morphed to fit so many different scenarios
@Mikey-zj8bn5 жыл бұрын
Wait I'm told I'm happy go lucky and my rents are dead...
@isaacschmitt48035 жыл бұрын
Ugh, my room mate's girlfriends is playing an edgelord druid in his Strahd campaign. Literally none of her actions mesh with the character she has written.
@itzplant31965 жыл бұрын
(Disclaimer :Not to nit pick I just love ideas n shit) I mean maybe the character is trying to be go-lucky because they died and is trying to run from the grief and at some point breaks that down and finally deals with it head on.
@shandaniel29995 жыл бұрын
Itz Plant that character has been done a lot. Some examples of this done really well are half the characters from the anime seven deadly sins (mostly in the second season) as well as a certain character from Undertale that I refuse to spoil. Just some examples if you want to make a character like that.
@pedrodarosamello645 жыл бұрын
The backstory of my current character, a fighter, is that he got bored of being a guard and left, that's it
@HexManiac-nf1yg5 жыл бұрын
Hope they don't get shot in their knee and are forced back into being a gaurd
@LePoetKing4 жыл бұрын
@@HexManiac-nf1yglol i laughed so hard at this
@garrondumont78914 жыл бұрын
Did you steal my brain? I recently thought of a variant human cavalier with polearm master I want to play. He was a member of the city watch and one day he leaves. No reason in particular, he just fancied going on an adventure.
@piotrdaniel38293 жыл бұрын
Same
@novacro40655 жыл бұрын
Last time i was this early, I was a rogue swashbuckler with +10 to initiative
@icarusfalls87235 жыл бұрын
+10? Weak XD +12 gloomstaker ranger, level 8 atm
@AbelDuviant5 жыл бұрын
Lmao, I've an Eldritch knight with +9 to initiative Edit: level 8
@coolbricks635 жыл бұрын
Same cheif same
@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar4 жыл бұрын
And alert
@GLAIVEDEVIL3 жыл бұрын
Bard/rouge with +18
@dylancarroll46235 жыл бұрын
I think the reason why your character is cursed, maybe down to the name Icarus. Yeah with a name like that, it sounds like it was doomed to fail from the start but maybe one day your one armed wizard will get his spot light.
@CitanulsPumpkin5 жыл бұрын
A good litmus test for how much a DM will mine your character's back story for stuff that comes up in a campaign is to look at how they view the mechanics and flavor behind character backgrounds. If your DM just says, "Okay, you have two skills one tool and a ribbon ability that makes us not have to talk about where you guys find food, how much you pay for boat rides and hotel rooms, or how often NPCs think you bathe." then don't expect them to read the mini novel that explains why your character parts his hair to the left instead of the right. If when the DM asks about backgrounds they have you explain the order, gang, mercenary company, monastery, college, or other organization your Background is tied to in their world, asks for notable NPCs that you character knows from their past, and then pulls out the Guild Master's Guide to Ravnica and has you pick 5 or 6 extra flaws, bonds, traits, and contacts. Then you know that the amount of back story and character motivation you put in will impact how much the DM will favor your character's epic, novel length, origin story.
@teejaykaye5 жыл бұрын
...I mean that's roughly accurate but I feel like a DM handwaving minute game mechanics isn't necessarily a sign they won't care about backstory. My own personal DMing style involves me handwaving what the party pays for inns, food, and transport because I don't care about bogging the game down with that, because I prefer focusing on exploring the character backstories and the combat and the plot.
@CitanulsPumpkin5 жыл бұрын
@@teejaykaye I'm not just talking about hand waving. I'm talking about how the DM perceives that one subset of the rules. If the DM just looks at the base mechanics of that rules set and no deeper then yes, it's a cheap way to hand wave minor details. That DM probably won't get invested in a magnum opus on a character's backstory. If the DM looks at the flavor, context, subtext, and expandable options of that rules set as the starting point of a conversation then that DM will most likely be open to "exploring the character backstories."
@S-Flo5 жыл бұрын
When I'm lucky enough to not be DM'ing, I like making short, vague little backstories that connect me to the setting somehow and give my DM ammunition to get the party in trouble down the line. Current character is a con-man wizard who flunked out of mage college, lied to his parents about it, and recently caused a small peasant uprising through a convoluted insurance fraud scheme.
@gingermcgingin41062 жыл бұрын
2 years later, how'd things work out for con-wiz?
@S-Flo2 жыл бұрын
@@gingermcgingin4106 campaign fizzled out. Waiting to use the idea again.
@alexblanco74942 жыл бұрын
@@S-Flo makes sense
@isaachess59105 жыл бұрын
" 'Cause reading is for nerds" realizes he's a DM in a D&D group
@feeshofyeet50114 жыл бұрын
That plays six times a week
@smangle73285 жыл бұрын
Whenever I make a character, I don't some much focus on their backstory, but rather focus on what aspect of myself is this character going to represent, and then go from there. I think having this philosophy is a very simple way to make a character feel more genuine and realistic. Rift: The Warforged Wizard. Is my creativity and problem solving Umet: The Lizardfolk Gunslinger. Is me back in elementary school, making weird noises and chasing other kids around the playground pretending I'm some kind of monster. Giovanni: The Earth Gensai Druid: Is the part of me, that doesn't really like me. Closed off and self-doubting but opens up and becomes more confidant through the help of the party. And my biggest challenge yet is going to be Swift-slash: The Tabaxi Kensai Monk. Who is going to represent my femininity, despite being a male myself. I use these concepts as a foundation and then let them grow naturally. And I love each and everyone of my characters. Thanks for reading, I hope you at least found this interesting and feel free to steal it for yourself.
@martingammill-beck58465 жыл бұрын
I have been trying to subscribe to this philosophy since my first character and it seems to work, at least on an emotional level.
@CelestialKitsune9754 жыл бұрын
Hey! I also do that! (The comment, not the reply)
@seansteele65325 жыл бұрын
My favorite character is named Jeffery, he's a human fighter from a family of paladins who has his whole life tried and failed to be a paladin despite studying religion keeping to a lawful good moral and ethical code he was just never the gods cup of tea. (Because Charisma is his dump stat) and has to deal with specifically not being the chosen one in a family of divinely ordained chosen ones doing his best. I did everything to express this mechanically instead of the more knightly sword and shield he wields a halberd and he is a battlemaster fighter who uses a lot of the tricky positioning things. He also through his background is trained in medicine and religion which shows how hard he tried to do these things but was just never found worthy. Meanwhile most of his family gets their first level of paladin when they turn about ten and a holy beam of light comes down and the gods angels specifically tell them they're special and good. His adventuring career began when his family assembled to defend a castle and it's lords and princess from a band of invading orcs and he arrived late grabbed a dead guards halberd and started protecting the actual townsfolk instead since he was outside in the field realizing that his smaller scale approach might just do some good while his family was dealing with fate and destiny and all that. He also cannot be knighted because knighthood in his family is only granted once they actively display paladin powers, specifically when they can Lay on Hands.
@Smashface_McBourbondick5 жыл бұрын
I doubt you care too much but shields aren't actually very knightly, in most periods the majority of people from all social classes would use shields, and during the late middle ages most nobles actually stopped using shields because the armour did a good enough job on its own.
@Ourodracos4 жыл бұрын
Sean Steele Dude, that’s awesome! I’ll bet that was a fun character to roleplay as.
@LupineShadowOmega4 жыл бұрын
Interesting, I've had a similar character, but mine was Storm Sorcerers. Ragal is the second son of an ancient bloodline of Storm Sorcerers, they live atop this massive mountain and connect to a snare in the weave which is probably the reason for their family's power in the first place. They're venerated as wisemen and spellcasters of unimaginable power. Except Ragal, who never manifested any sorcerous might and frankly put was a bit of a disappointment to his father. So instead of just being looked down on by his family, and waiting around for a power that might never come...he decided to worship Aerdrie Faenya and be a Tempest Cleric. He now travels around with a band of adventurers as a way of understanding the deeper mysteries of the maelstrom (plus his goddess dictates a wanderer's lifestyle), to gain more of the personal power that he always craved, but also to understand the power that his family has always wielded.
@aidanmckuen12524 жыл бұрын
I didnt read just because it's a human fighter
@seansteele65324 жыл бұрын
@@aidanmckuen1252 Fair
@LunarTales5 жыл бұрын
The goblin example is exactly what I did with my Kobold, just an evil little lizardboi who will constantly get panicked, constantly get paranoid, but will always swagger up if he thinks he can get away with something. Also just constantly enabling teammates to do stuff rather than doing anything directly himself.
@HV2HJ5 жыл бұрын
Can we acknowledge the photo of old man Henderson?
@garvinanders23555 жыл бұрын
Where are his Wee Men!?!
@kalenotoole5 жыл бұрын
"Is Henderson your first or last name?" "I have no fuckin clue"
@malal47515 жыл бұрын
Old man Henderson is the frickn fracking best example of a long backstory and a really hood one
@microhomebrew4 жыл бұрын
Make long elaborate backstories is literally the best part of DND. I've been doing it for years and years, and I highly encourage my players to do it for the sessions I run. Literally my favourite thing ever.
@Cloud_Seeker4 жыл бұрын
There is a thing called to much backstory as well. You don't for example need to describe every single year of the 17 years the Rogue have been alive.
@ddisaster626 Жыл бұрын
@@Cloud_Seeker People say this whenever the topic of long backstories come up and, in my experience, none of us who enjoy in depth backstories ever say noting down every single thing in their entire life is a requirement from the start.
@bradenwelenc77645 жыл бұрын
Your point about Goblins is totally valid. In our Curse of Strahd game im playing a Goblin Warlock. His name is Nub Nub the great and powerful, he loves shiny things and Booyahg. And to be honest its probably the most fun ive had role playing in a while since his the party psychopath who constantly makes fun of "normal" people.
@cameronbegley96305 жыл бұрын
DONT MAKE AN EDGY LONER PLZ AND THX OK BYE
@Leivve5 жыл бұрын
But he's SO CUUL! He's way cooler then the normal edgelords people play. I swearz!
@Tiyev5 жыл бұрын
Or, failing that, make an edgy loner, but at the very least, give him a reason to tolerate, and preferably straight up agree to, working together with the rest of the party.
@bainbonic5 жыл бұрын
I once had an edgy style character who in reality, and in private or when with only his party members, was the biggest nerdish goofball and ditz you can possibly imagine, but as a mercenary he figured that if he built up a fearsome reputation then he could sell his services for more money than if he was known for being walking comedic relief, so he put on a big public show about being the biggest edgelord style character you can possibly imagine and went to extreme lengths to cultivate and protect this image.
@residentfacehead34655 жыл бұрын
You can make a dark and sad character but you have to put some effort into making it. One of my favorite characters was a warlock who had his youth stolen from him by his patron and is now forced to live as an old man, causing him to become nihilistic and depressed.
@Icipher3534 жыл бұрын
What about an edgy loner who has avoidant personality disorder but who desperately craves human connection and constantly struggles with his fear of caring about his comrades in case they die or reject him, so he always keeps them at arms length with his aloof demeanour despite secretly caring about them a great deal?
@greenstat1c5 жыл бұрын
I remember my first character backstory I was proud of. It was a Hexblade Warlock. Basically, he was an heir to be of a noble house among a kingdom built upon them. (lorebuilding within the world) Once whilst on his way from a lesson in the arts of conversation (why I gave him Persuasion proficiency) the carriage driver turned out to be a kidnapper within the local gang. They tortured him for days on end, sending visions of the acts into the minds of his parents until they gave in and gave them pretty much everything they had, and were taken to an unknown location that nobody knows, left for dead. The kid was released, and grew up dishonored and helpless. He kept going, but eventually was almost dead from starvation. And that's when he came across a Hexblade altar, almost out of nowhere. The DM took a liberty with Hexblade, and I got a Swordstaff, Togrox. Basically it was about how he survived the Lorain event that caused the apocalypse of the main story, and started a rather fun side story that the party had with another noble house having completely absorbed his, and his quest for vengeance against the people who ruined his life.
@micahmayer94873 жыл бұрын
My personal biggest piece of advice for character building if you want your character to be strong in roleplay: Motivation, Motivation, Motivation. In my time on both sides of the screen, I have noticed that the strongest roleplay comes from characters with clear wants and goals. Take for example these two characters I made. Tallie was a rogue whose motivations were to "protect the people I love." She had lost a couple of people within a short span of time and had decided she never wanted to go through that again if she could help it. So she did everything in her power to keep that from happening. Which happened to be starting a revolution and taking down a corrupt government, because they were a threat to her found family. Your motivations don't have to be big. They can be small and personal, and they can fuel massive actions. In contrast, take Vaadi. A warlock whose motivation was.... nothing. she didn't care about anything and basically only went where her patron pointed her. which might have been a fun concept if the patron had had motivations, and she could have acquired her own motivations via working with the party and gaining connections to the world and to characters, but her patron was just a neutrally aligned merrow who really only wanted wealth for herself. Vaadi was by far one of my weakest characters, because I didn't really have anything for her to go off of......
@giraffedragon61105 жыл бұрын
I have a fallen Aasimar warlock of Nehkbet (forgotten goddess of vultures, disease, and protection) written up who writes himself off as a human follower of the Raven Queen whenever anyone asks him about his divine-esque powers and semi necrotic appearance. He is actively trying to run from his past but his Aasimar heritage constantly fights him to “do the right thing”. And as a little bullet point of quirkinesses, he’s attracted to those of a good hearted nature, like cinnamon roll.
@itzplant31965 жыл бұрын
*Sweet Rolls intensifies*
@giraffedragon61105 жыл бұрын
Itz Plant in fact his exact type would be a sweet roll tiefling girl. His exact words would be “she is too precious for this world to ruin”
@LupineShadowOmega5 жыл бұрын
@@giraffedragon6110 which is why he catches the eye of the Half-Orc Barbarian woman who's crass and domineering.
@giraffedragon61105 жыл бұрын
LupineShadowOmega now I’m imagining her going into her rage, turns to him and starts chanting *ara ara*
@adambartholomew65752 жыл бұрын
Davvy: "What's a Yuan-ti again?" Me, who is watching him play a Yuan-ti in Belkinus Necro Hunt: "You clever boy you! Well done"
@drakevegas70733 жыл бұрын
I remember DMing for the first time, I had three players give me their backstories, to three levels of detail. Literally perfect for an example. The first player sent me a four-page google doc of the narrative of how his story starts; how a ruthless false king invaded the castle, met the true king in the throne room announced that the king had stolen the throne from his family, then killed the royal family in a horrifying bloodbath. The king's final words were to a loyal servant, telling him to go protect his son. The servant nodded, and ran down the stony corridors of the castle, then barged into the prince's room. They had no time, and they needed to flee. He took the boy bla bla bla and now he wants his throne back. The second player picked a few things from the world doc I sent them, and made their character from a place, gave her a character-defining event and a goal, then I rolled with it. The third had a single character quirk, an accent, and didn't belong anywhere. I have no problem with any of these, and I'm actually super happy that they didn't write a character that contradicts the basic worldbuilding that I'd done. But the first one is *mostly* things I can't do anything with; unless the last thing the king had said was something that stuck with that character for their entire life and influenced how they acted, I do not need to know what words were exchanged in the throne room that night.
@stormyperson445 жыл бұрын
I love how you put Old Man Henderson in this. He's a perfect example of how a backstory can be over-the-top ridiculous and still work, and how the same goes for the James-Bond type spy made to help Henderson de-rail the campaign and how he worked even though he had a pretty simple backstory. I was about to say how he had a simple backstory, but then I remembered that the whole reason he was so ridiculous was that he had a 300-page backstory.
@calebkopp76365 жыл бұрын
Also: I'm playing a Goblin dexterity based Barbarian. For funsies.
@Axitros5 жыл бұрын
I find that the best backstories are the open ended ones. Backstories that give you a clear motovation to adventure but not so complex that you start impossing major narrative implications on the world from the onset. It's not necessarily any better or worse than backstories that are vague or backstories that really root you deep into a world, but they are definitley the easiest to integrate from my personal experience.
@thesovietowl71455 жыл бұрын
No, they are a fallen Aasimar assassin who murdered their family
@shanerooney72885 жыл бұрын
Backstory: ~ Edgelord. See, it is easier to read in dot-point form.
@isamuddin15 жыл бұрын
Almost get raped by pixie at young age....
@itzplant31965 жыл бұрын
Or to make extra edge "they didn't realize theyre an aasimar until one day the got so angry that they pulsed with dark energy killing everything in a 125 meters in diameter and they're og parents died in an unjust trial of the murder of a noble man." Fuck I feel some of that edge
@itzplant31965 жыл бұрын
@@isamuddin1 ....weird fetish there...
@isamuddin15 жыл бұрын
@@itzplant3196 its not fetish it's a backstory, reason why characters hate pixie....
@fancyb.p.61225 жыл бұрын
This has been what I have been waiting for! With all my dumb ideas like the fighter that had a village that was saved by a dragon, (I mainly made this guy because my friend was playing a character that got cursed into being a dragon born.) and the blood hunter who is a were crab who learns to use his crab claws with spaghetti. (He’s not very dexterity centered) I don’t know I like the crab spaghetti.
@WhiteManOnCampus5 жыл бұрын
His palms are sweaty Knees weak, claws are heavy There's blood on his armor already Crab spaghetti
@Missiletainn5 жыл бұрын
Most of my character backstorys focus on family, doing things for them, in spite of them, to avoid them, to find them, or to find out about them.
@frostryder12855 жыл бұрын
I have a character and a remake of them, they both have family issues but handle them in different ways
@cpudraner5 жыл бұрын
Random generation is my thing, and then I play it as I go. I had a melee kenku illusion wizard
@jaelhoward46214 жыл бұрын
I really needed this! My party has a rule: No physical description, backstory, or unique voice till level three. That way, everyone has time to sculpt their character, and doesn't waste effort if they die really early on.
@Sparkle5fanboy5 жыл бұрын
Bullet points. That is actually very helpful, thank you.
@divinkitty94525 жыл бұрын
• has been playing for 16 yeas • still writes a novel for my character. Mind you, I adore writing. But yeah generally I don't write... too much about them? (Relatively speaking when you really like writing) and will go more in depth with their backstory when I get more used to the character. And there's of course still the "make shit up" button because I'm not gonna write down literally every second of their life. That's just boring. But I'll often name friends they had at various points in their life, what their friends are like, what the character was like at those ages and how they felt towards those friends, and then from there think of a few stories to go with the groups. Same with parents and siblings, changing them up with each jump in the character's life. Makes improving a childhood memory a heck of a lot easier.
@HowtoRPG5 жыл бұрын
I Agree that keeping it simple for a Background is good advice.
@drezlvgv79775 жыл бұрын
in my first campaign as a dm one of my friends literally crate a charecter in 2 mins it was a triton barbarian with no special past and his goal was building a harem eating a dragon and conquering the oceans in that order he was one hell of a roleplayer(it was his first dnd game)
@erasmus47435 жыл бұрын
Was at the same time super impressed by the idea of a Half-Drow Wild Magic Sorcerer and very disappointed by a Dwarf Cleric with Wisdom as a dump stat. Lol. Great video as always! I tend to be too much of a story teller. I like your advice about focusing on clear bullet points with immediate ramifications.
@Tiyev5 жыл бұрын
It was technically a Dwarf Paladin.
@erasmus47435 жыл бұрын
@@Tiyev Oh, really? My mistake. I must have heard it wrong.
@StateBlaze19893 жыл бұрын
I made a psychic tiefling fighter for what was going to be my first character for my first ever game of d&d. Had her personality all set, family, starting inventory, even some of her stats. Had gotten this group together of fellow newbies in a discord server and we were basically waiting on the DM to finishing writing their homebrew story so we could start. Even settled on a day that we would all set aside from work or other business in order to play. Then, out of nowhere, my boss quits, and I'm the only one left at my job even capable of running the store. Suddenly my fridays, the only day I had off because I specifically asked for it due to the game, were now gone. Had to drop out of the group because I didn't know when or if I would ever have that day free again. So now I have this character I put a lot of attention and time into just collecting dust with no idea when she will ever be used. Worst part is I think I was the one most excited for the campaign. Or at least the most active in questions and generally keeping talk of the game going. Outside of maybe one other player, no one spoke up at all about the game after we initially talked about our characters with each other. The group chat channel would go days, sometimes weeks, in utter silence. Part of me is afraid to even go back and ask about the game because I assume that it either fell apart due to DM real life scheduling conflicts or the dm just cancelled it due to lack of overall interest...
@toonezon48365 жыл бұрын
How do you find/make the time to run SIX GAMES A WEEK!?! And play in so many games all at once?
@MrRourk5 жыл бұрын
I know what a slacker only 6? Taking a whole 24hrs off?
@flyinhigh76815 жыл бұрын
As you walk in to the tavern you see, among the normal dreary crowds, a colourful soul, perhaps the shortest dwarf you’ve ever seen, standing just over one foot tall, wearing a red conical hat brown clog shoes and a pair of blue suspenders. Were it not for the fact that he was eccentrically bouncing around talking you would have sworn that he was a garden gnome. Bond: eccentric. flaw: he weighs like 10 lbs and you can just throw him off the battle field. deepest secret: is secretly just an awakened garden gnome. Good classes: barbarian, bard, sorcerer, wizard. A mercenary type fellow, their sword is always in hand, glowing with much more lustre than the rest of his body, he’s dirty, unshaven, unkempt, and is apparently a ventriloquist talking without any bodily movement. He is a warlock, but his soul separated from his body, stuck in that lustrous sword that he has, but his body is decaying, eventually he will be just a sword, perhaps at that point he will be powerful enough to subsist as just the sword, but for now if his body dies completely he will cease to exist. Bond: his lack of a pen irrational brain keeps him from doing stupid things for the fun of it. Flaw: extremely selfish, focused on self preservation above all.
@KantankerouslyK5 жыл бұрын
When making characters, I've adopted the policy of basically making it an elevator pitch. If the premise and the background can't be summed up in 1 or 2 sentences and doesn't hook me, it's usually not worth it. The more detail I put into characters before I play them, the more it can feel wasted. Meanwhile, a character that I describe as "She's a wizard, but instead of magic spells, she makes magitech gadgets" & "She's a runaway noble", is still rocking in a campaign, even though she's retired to an NPC.
@MangoTalksTech2 жыл бұрын
your phone buzzing while you were sharing the advice tripped me up, loved your 2 cents (im a newbie to dnd)!
@roboticdreamer Жыл бұрын
Thank you for making this video. I know my character's personality (she is intelligent and is a bit of a perfectionist who can be a know-it-all), but I was stuck on her backstory. This made me realize that, instead of thinking of the backstory as something that has to be planned right away, I can focus on what I know about her, and let it see where that leads me.
@MajinScarlet5 жыл бұрын
my most recent character was a goblin bard who was a country singer named Kiwi Kentucky. loved roll playing him, made me enjoy silly concepts.
@douglasphillips58705 жыл бұрын
I love how at the end he shows a game that's heavily inuenced by character backstory.
@JustSaturn2 жыл бұрын
Started playing a Kobold Rouge in my first campaign the other day. I walked in with a basic idea of what his backstory was like, but not really how it would effect him or where he would eventually end up. This campaign was a one-shot, and it ended with my party “killing” my character (it’s a bit of a long story) HOWEVER, the session had to end before I could perform any death saves, and my Very Cool DM is allowing me to play the character in more campaigns if I want to. I’ve decided to incorporate the one-shot into his backstory and give him some insane trust issues on top of his previously established desire to belong somewhere. It might sound a bit cliché, but it’s a start! Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten to do anything else with him yet. Also, if my DM is reading this, that was an awesome one-shot! And thank you for being extremely cool and a very good DM!
@worthasandwich5 жыл бұрын
When I make a character I tend to just focus on a few things: personality, a tragic flaw, a general goal, where he or she came from, a few relationships they have, and if it is relevant why they are there specific class. You want to give your GM just enough to work with so he or she can create some interesting hooks. You are going to want to figure out who your character is in the game, If you show up with a fully formed character who has already completed their main story ark before the game has started then where do you have to go?
@The_Court_Poet5 жыл бұрын
During the shoutouts Noone: Davvy: DYSLEXIC EEMOO Me: It's EEMEW you fake aussie
@EilonwyG5 жыл бұрын
I had a couple of characters I used to refer to as "campaign killers", as they never got more than a couple of sessions with them. But I just kept plugging at it, refusing to let a good character die, tweaking their back stories to reflect the newest campaign, until at last they'd click. Keep at it, Davvy! Iccarus will find a campaign home! BTB, one of the best explanations of how to contemplate creating backstory. Gotta send this to my players...
@atomicash24755 жыл бұрын
1:55 I had a Paladin hexblade half-elf, that took me 4 failed games to play.
@ChronicNewb3 жыл бұрын
I'm currently playing a halfling fighter who was raised by humans. I've found him easy to roleplay because I focused more on his motivations rather than a concrete backstory: he's self-conscious about his size, and wants to be seen as just as strong and capable as his human siblings and neighbors. This gives me more to work with than knowing exactly who was in his family and what village he grew up in. I'm really enjoying it :)
@roobtube67074 жыл бұрын
I play a grung wizard who was once a Lich's frog familiar but was awakened and is searching for his former master.
@SCP-496684 жыл бұрын
Xanathar’s Guide for character generation is how i build them now. I love to roll them up!
@thefracturedbutwhole54755 жыл бұрын
I made my current character (a Shadar Kai Battle-Master crossbowman) thinking I'll be the "loose cannon" that solves all his problems with a crossbow bolt, but I quickly found myself being the voice of reason and the one trying to get the pyromaniac Wizard and (suspiciously) violent Cleric to "use their words", I hadn't come up with that in-depth of a backstory but I had an idea . . . That I abruptly flipped on its head because it fit in the game much better, otherwise we would of just been bland murder-hobos but now there is a dynamic, I like having deep characters but (for my games at least) being too rigid with a concept/idea can get in the way too much
@notyetdeleted63193 жыл бұрын
Here’s an idea for you: a part entirely composed of human fighters, all of which went to the same place to Learn how to fight, and all are at least 3rd cousins, up too brothers and sisters. (Fun times)
@4eyewiseguy5 жыл бұрын
6 GAMES A WEEK! YOU ABSOLUTE MADMAN
@mrkoskos15 жыл бұрын
I most often look to Matthew Colvilles idea about backstory. It shouldn't be this grand endeavour with you fighting of hordes or bosses, it should be just enough to get you to the start of the campaign. Your characters story is what you are setting out to play. The story you create with your party. I also tend to play normal humans. Since it is easeiest to identify with them, and that lets me think more about who they are as a person and what they should do, instead of how they slot into the world.
@sides22224 жыл бұрын
For my Genasi barbarian that I made instead of being a normal person and writing a normal backstory, I wrote a fuqing sea shanty about her. except her backstory was basically just that she accidentally killed her father and is seen as a criminal in her home town.
@TJ_Mc5 жыл бұрын
Good advice. For some, it's best to stick with what you know. I have a bard who is essentially 1992 campaigning Bill Clinton with a little Patrick Bateman and Heath Ledger's Joker thrown in. The backstory changes each time someone asks. I just fleshed him out a little to the beginning of the campaign, and the other players are pretty much doing my work for me now. It's so fun!
@admcleo5 жыл бұрын
While the two are definitely tied together, I find character motivation far more important to focus on than backstory. Mostly because past events can lead to very different character growth and behavior. Horribly slaughtered family can result in a seething need for revenge, a mad search for a way to bring them back, or a character learning to accept the loss and move on. So in general I focus on motivations I want characters to have and then think back to a cause and effect moment that could reasonably lead them to that state.
@quickdudley3 жыл бұрын
The only character I've played in an actual campaign ended up with completely different motivations than I'd initially planned: during session 2 he found out his hometown had been destroyed in his absence and he spent the rest of the campaign trying to find out who survived and where they ended up.
@marcus40465 жыл бұрын
I CAME HERE AT THE SPEED OF MY ATHELTICS SCORE
@manaphy09935 жыл бұрын
-5?
@marcus40465 жыл бұрын
@@manaphy0993 w-what? no its +8 +2 of my proficiency so a plus ten *rolls* alright its a 14 so thats a 24 my monk is mode zoom.
@ARenaissanceMedic5 жыл бұрын
I thought i was losing my mind until I realized the BZZZ was a phone going off in the recording and not mine right beside me.
@Tiyev5 жыл бұрын
Yeah, he probably put his phone on vibrate, because he's a happenin' chap, and he probably has to keep his phone in his lap, because as it happens his phone happens to always be ringing, so it's a waste of time for him to put it back in his pocket, because when you're as savvy a chap as Davvy Chappy, people always be calling you.
@hiba78325 жыл бұрын
Best character I ever made was a Changeling Arcane Trickster and Charlatan. Named Doc. Role-playing them was 100% improve and made their backstory along the way too. Had basically bullet points of: Unrepentant liar, loves stealing , great at murder & has shit eyesight. Then the DM asked for us to make up a dark secret for our characters to give him. Just texted him "Doc had a secret bastard with a nymph. They're still in contact but secretly." But the final session where we killed a corrupted God-machine. Doc became a good parent, adopted and raised an NPC child he rescued then retired adventuring to breed faerie dragons in their estate. It was a batshit crazy series of campaign from level 3 to 20.
@YourBoyNobody5304 жыл бұрын
The art of a truly good GM is to take what is present in the back story, and make something awesome with it
@YourBoyNobody5304 жыл бұрын
For example I was playing a samurai fighter based loosely on Mulan and like the original character she ran away from home so the GM took this and had her father send bounty hunters after her to make her marry some dude she hadn’t ever met so as a result her and the party came to her father and beat the ever loving shit out of him
@Golemon_of_Cat3 жыл бұрын
always fun to add something to your character. had a hermit druid, that after being tricked by a hag in a town, now always has detect magic and dispel magic prepared in a town, and will look for the "old lady of town" to either see if they are a hag or some herbseller
@emilyforsberg20555 жыл бұрын
THIS IS WHAT WE WHANTED! THANKS!
@RayPoreon5 жыл бұрын
I think another thing worth mentioning is that people find other people inherently interesting as long as you don't act like a block of wood. Just picking a randomised background can lead to a lot more interest than a custom made one, whether that's as simple as you belonging to a house, being a farmer or whether you're indebted to a dragon that chose not to eat you. All of these examples can be just as interesting and both are things the DM can work with(which is the most important part). My example of a character is an angry paladin that has been cursed by a rival trickster god, leaving them with a split personality. The dominant one thinks it's a wizard and dresses in such a way, but the true angry one sometimes pokes through. That's all I had as a character concept, originally I didn't even have the split personality in mind, and just had "a paladin that thinks they're a wizard".
@sheikah33034 жыл бұрын
My favorite backstory ive made was a drow warlock named Wynn. He was a slave to a very high ranking family, and eventually lost it, and was given powers by Cyphus, king of the undying. DOZENS of sessions later, Wynn realized he was basically a slave again, and defied cyphus, losing his magic. Long story short, after about 3 or 4 sessions without anything special, he enters a pact with an archfey, and i multiclass into paladin (this was before critical role btw) cyphus ended up being the BBEG, and i got the killing blow. Poetic justice baby.
@robinwang63995 жыл бұрын
As a new DM, I must admit that in-depth extravagant backstory is cool when your player tells it to you, but boy!!! Is it difficult to work with, since you have made a inflexible and specific structure instead of a blank sheet with guidelines for how to work with it.
@marcopohl48755 жыл бұрын
you should get involved in a DnD stream/show and THEN use icarus
@CelestialKitsune9754 жыл бұрын
But it’ll get cancelled
@intelligence14wisdom223 жыл бұрын
(softly) Don't.
@jonathanstern55375 жыл бұрын
A similar thing to your dwarf is what happened with my gnome. He started out as a gnome bard who was schooled in leather-working and wanted to retake his homeland. Eventually we found out that he hate being referred to as a child, the reason he wants his homeland back is so that he can garner respect, and that he hates most systems of authority.
@darkmoon25035 жыл бұрын
I think the Warlock has the most opportunity for creative backstory writing, since you can essentially write 2 backstories (PC and patron) and find an interesting way to make them link together.
@chakatBombshell5 жыл бұрын
My current character is a fighter who is a professional chef looking to kill monsters as exotic ingredients and also the best way to hype your restaurant is to save the town once or twice and serve perfectly cooked and seasoned hydra so it has just the right poison tingle without the lethality.
@lizanna63904 жыл бұрын
I like having a deep backstory because it helps me decide how my character reacts to situations.
@juandesantos6092 жыл бұрын
What I got from this was to keep it simple and easy to expand on later on during the campaign.
@belgarath63884 жыл бұрын
The best part of character creation is usually making a cool character background to give the GM a sense of the personality and motivation of the character. Like my unlucky alcoholic sailor monk with no regard for nobility a fuckitall attiude and a less than stellar relationship with soap, that and a mysterious stone he have a feeling he cant lose. My GM took one look at the story (around two pages), burst out laughting and started making notes for hooks. Too bad we have'nt continued the campaign in a while, i really enjoyed playing him.
@grobanlover2924 жыл бұрын
1. Think of a race/class you want to play 2. Think of the other one, that would be a cool match, especially if they dont have mechanical synergy 3. Why is a person of that race doing that job? 4. Use background as added support. (Example: my first character was a firbolg rouge who ran off to a library and has the scholar background. Also, she holds vengence against druids, because one group of nature protectors vs another was a really cool idea. Another was a Warforged Paladin of nature, because I wanted that dichotomy of technology/magic and nature.)
@echothenardier80534 жыл бұрын
I think I somehow simultaneously overdid and underdid my character. A necromancer was trying to resurrect their dead loved one, but shit happened, and now my character, a priestess of Pelor (who died in a magic resistant plague.....I made the character a year ago) is stuck walking around in the necromancer’s body trying to figure out how to get back into the astral plane without killing the random person who owns the body she unwillingly possessed. But that’s all the backstory I officially have for her at the moment and her personality is pretty much just mine slapped on, because I don’t know how to effectively get into someone else’s headspace and properly execute it.
@The13thDyreWolf5 жыл бұрын
And here I was with my human wizard, Samuel Adams, a 17 year old boy who grew up as an apple farmer and ran away from home at 14 because that wasn't the life for him. Eventually he ran into a sage that taught him the art of magic, now hes out looking for adventure and a good time
@chaicinnamon8989 Жыл бұрын
My characters usually have a very basic story, you can easily put them into bullet points, but my enjoyment of creative writing means I pretty much always have a properly written backstory but easily explainable to the rest of my party if we ever stop to rest by a campfire or anything like that and talk in character.
@theraven58504 жыл бұрын
If you're first joining a campaign, write 3 sentences for a backstory in point form bullets unless otherwise specified. You don't need a fully hashed out backstory in your first session because you don't fully understand the world you're being tossed into yet. As you develop a playstyle and identity from playing with the group you can then slowly hash out more details into why your character does things a certain way. It's a lot more fun to build the backstory as you go depending on how things unfold than it is to start with something rigid off the cuff. You just need a general idea to start and that's it.
@jakobtrangsrud82645 жыл бұрын
Literally just about to start a campaign and was thinking of fleshing out a backstory.
@ArtOfShannonLee5 жыл бұрын
The crit role cast at the end when you were talking about having fun made me happy.
@hollowknight46304 жыл бұрын
My favorite backstory is still my Kenku bard that has the goal of memorizing every song and he just screams songs to cast spells, very basic with ways to build even more motivation and just a concept I ran with. One of my favorite characters
@battery0515 жыл бұрын
Yo, where's the "Here's my fave PC's backstory in one sentence thread?". Lemme start then: Samurai blue fire lady possessed by an oni who begrudgingly uses its power to fuel her fury and manifest other Japanese demons as Stands to aid her in battle.
@alec59785 жыл бұрын
A 308 page story that when put in a nutshell, is that a cult stole his garden gnomes
@ivanrodeiro96615 жыл бұрын
Kobold monk goes on a quest to master the four elements with the objetive of coming back home and telling his draconic bloodline sorcerer brother that he isn't as cool as he thinks he is.
@Verbose_Mode5 жыл бұрын
Barbarian/warlock wood elf that doesn't know he's a barbarian or a warlock, thinks he's just a put-upon merchant with a temper problem.
@alexanderlicentia52655 жыл бұрын
Tiefling Barbarian who uses to be a mail man until they made him work too many holidays so he went postal.
@ashopal58115 жыл бұрын
Aasimar Sorclock who was forbidden to use his divine magic so he ran away and made a pact with a lich that lives in a library so he could use ALL magic
@yaboiguzma87334 жыл бұрын
I normally get into a call with the dm when making my character so it fits with the lore of the area and fits with the campaign. I find that it helps a lot when working on a backstory
@joshuaboysaw26505 жыл бұрын
I actually tried my hand at making a character who played the exact polar opposite of what I usually play (LG boys and girls who wield longswords and a charismatic smile), and I have had an unbelievable amount of fun in that campaign because of it. Her name is Vale Illkhira, and she is an overly narcissistic alchemist who strives to become a Goddess and take over the other divine pantheons. It was really funny for everyone to hear this Half Tiefling Half Human woman talk down or directly at the Queen of the kingdom we were hired to help, or even refer to her in a casual tone. At Level 1. She also insulted every party member and enemy with smart, sarcastic jabs. I only made up like 1 or 2 bullet points about her backstory. One, she was an outcast among the Tiefling community in her homeland because of her genealogy, and two, her parents died during her childhood. And I dropped a few hints during the adventure about her past, making the party enamored with Vale. Even though she insulted them. It was pure bliss. 10/10 would most likely not write complex backstories ever again.
@ThePlagueWarden5 жыл бұрын
So, my character for the Curse of Strahd game I'm in, and is a changeling Artificer (using the XP to level 3 homebrew of it). But... there's this one slight issue. He's wanted for the murder of one of the villagers of Vallaki. He found the corpse of his younger brother hanging from the branches of a tree behind his home shortly after seeing the man run away. So my changeling tracked him down, and killed him in vengeance. Strike one. Now, to keep out of any potential danger, he's taken on his brother's visage. All anyone else knows is that he is his brother, and the changeling himself has up and vanished. This worked for years, until one day, a man by the name of "Adam" hired him to undertake a job. The very first night, after failing to pry information from his would-be employer, the changeling decided to abandon the job. On his return home, he came across the corpse of a guard whose face had been mauled. Figuring it would be for the best to restore *some* dignity back to the man, the changeling ripped off a sleeve, and covered up the mangled part of the face. Strike two. A few days later, Izek found out about the dead guard, and recognized that the sleeve covering the face belonged to the changeling, and had him framed for the murder. However, the changeling escaped using a few methods such as: crashing through a window, causing a group of drunks to pick a fight with the guards, and running under/over them. Strike three. Under the guise of his brother, he can't return, and this is where the story picks up for him.
@Teneban5 жыл бұрын
My 3 goals with backstory are, from most to least important: 1) justify my character's presence in the campaign, and the fact that they decided to join an adventuring party. 2) give the DM ammunition in the form of NPCs, macguffins, and plot hooks. 3) justify my character's class and personality, which are often the things I start a character with. Anything that does not help one of those three goals, I remove. It would just be useless bloat. Example: Danan the rogue He's a former cook, husband to a former innkeep and dad to a very smart daughter (ammunition). The daughter wanted to study magic, but as a cook, he couldn't afford her tuition. He and his wife sold the inn, and took on dirty jobs instead. After all, being good with gossip makes his wife a wonderful spy, and being good with knives make him a wonderful assassin. (justifying his class) He knows how much work it took his daughter to be able to perform magic safely, so arcane magic is a known unknown to him - he doesn't want to touch it with a ten-foot-pole. (justifying his personality) After six months working for the bad guys, Danan saw them take children as slaves, and as a dad himself, it was the last straw. Danan stole a keelboat from his former employer, and fled. He started working as a bounty hunter instead, using his insider's knowledge to hunt down his former employers and slowly atone for his sins. He can't take on the entire organization alone, but has met a party of adventurers who would love nothing more than to help. (justifying his place in the campaign) That's the entire backstory.
@the4bestgame5 жыл бұрын
My favourite backstory for a char I wanna play is a role reversal of the chosen hero, this char grew up hearing about a prophesy of when the world was in ruin a hero would come to save the land, with some specific note of like "the hero will be born a farmers son" he knows it doesn't apply to him but with the Hero not showing up he just goes "fuck it, might as well" and pretends to be the hero to bring hope to the people, and hopefully the real hero will get off his arse and come find him for stealing his legacy.
@calebkopp76365 жыл бұрын
I'm loving this. Also I really love that you did a Star Wars campaign.
@Elanchana4 жыл бұрын
This is amazing advice and I'll definitely consider it for all my future characters. But I think there's one important thing you left out: how to justify the character going on adventures/missions with a party rather than having a more "normal" life. Sometimes the DM can cover that instead given enough information, but you can't exactly send a character on an adventure who doesn't want to go on an adventure.
@Cloud_Seeker4 жыл бұрын
I agree. That is one of the most important parts in making a character. A character without a goal or reason should not be in the story.
@erikw.s.52095 жыл бұрын
I recently switched from a Wood Elf Monk to a Kalashtar Druid in one of my campaigns, and I worked with my DM to actually make it impact the rest of the party and drive their development. My old character's sister was a party member as well, and now she's grieving the loss of her brother, and also out for revenge on his killer.
@pixbo91332 жыл бұрын
My character is called Asparagos the mightier one. And he is literally an asparagus, i even invented an own species for him, to the point where he had become more than just a joke character, but a serious person with a very nice back story. And I still use him to this day!
@jackbarman70635 жыл бұрын
I’ve actually found that the more I play D&D the more depth I add to my character and backstory and the more crazy but also plausible I make it to make the role playing more fun and character motivations more real.
@KenoattX5 жыл бұрын
This video was amazing! Also I did the whole forever long backstory that was journaled and kept on the character. That I perpetually put him in campaigns that got cancelled. 😁
@hiyouyesyou15933 жыл бұрын
My first character: a manipulative bard Edge Lord with deeply thought out backstory My second character: Made up everything the second my dm asked me my characters name-turned into a part favorite