The Pink Dice Chronicles

Today I've been thinking about the common elements that get used and reused in character backgrounds.  After playing roleplaying games, I've seen the following things way too many times: Character is orphaned or one parent is dead. Character doesn't know anything about one or both parents. Character was witness to or involved in a traumatic event, possible related to number 1. Character has a natural ability that resulted in her leaving home. Character is a loner, has poor social skills, is ugly, or has some other reason that they aren't good with people. Character has no family. Character has an enemy who is evil, or is trying to track down an evil enemy. Character was falsely accused, got in trouble with the authorities, and had to leave / escape. Character is all-powerful (all stats above average) or is average in all things and exceptional in one thing. Character is seeking out an amazing destiny that they believe is theirs or that was taken from them. ...

I read some views lately on character histories and thought it would be good to toss my own two cents out there. Character histories are a contract between the GM and the player.  A character history gives a player upfront to say this is what my character is like, this is the world around him, and these are the characters in that world.  It defines a line between the immutable truth to the player and the world that the GM controls. As a contract, it can be negotiated.   A character history isn't really done until the player and the GM both agree to it.  From a GM perspective, this is a huge opportunity to fill in the world's backstory and give the players options for where they might be from and world-linking details that fill in the gaps in their creation, tying their character to the world. As a creation linked to the character, it should be written from the perspective of the character.   The player doesn't ever get the luxury of an omniscie...

I have always been intrigued by the role that myth and legends and storytelling play in building a world.  Maybe it comes from my fascination with Tolkien's Silmarillion or the greek myths I studied as a child, or perhaps it comes from years of pouring over anecdotes of famous historical figures, scientists, and mathematicians.  For me, to know history is really to know the personalities involved and how their unique perspectives on things interacted to make big things happen. In an RPG setting (Faerun, being my favorite currently), stories, legends, and background stories seem like an important element that gets overlooked too often.  Backgrounds woven together out of people and places and things help ground the maps of endless names and give the deities of character a form and flavor beyond things written on a character sheet.  The greatest asset of Faerun, which to a GM is also a curse, is the abundance of material that has already been written regarding the his...

Some mods we have adopted to date: Karma points are awarded for "good play" especially good problem-solving and good in-character roleplay.  Karma points are good for 1 reroll at any time.  And often I throw snacks to players that earn Karma points -- "Oooh, a karma point and a twinkie." Background points provide a structure for controlling the character backgrounds so they are "realistic".  After all, every player can't be a prince or a king or rich or famous: Background points can buy advantages. Disadvantages can be taken to get more background points. Some advantages or disadvantages have qualifiers: Example: Can be one-eyed but charisma has to be less than 14. I emphasize the fact that disadvantages will be used against players during gameplay. Specialized unique weapons give the players something cool to find along the way: Each weapon has a cool ability. Dagger that transports you to a location, makes you invisible until you ...