Character Backstory Creation

## Social Circles

Write down two Social Circles that your character was involved in. A list is available for reference, but custom Social Circles are allowed.

* **Academic** - Study, Teaching, etc

* **Arts & Crafts** - Artwork, Hand Crafts, etc.

* **Business** - Management, Trader, etc

* **Crime** - Petty, Theft, Violent, etc.

* **Discrimination** - Endured Racism or Bigotry, etc.

* **Drinking** - Hard, Social, etc.

* **Drugs** - Light, Illicit, etc.

* **Exploration** - Investigation, Travel, etc.

* **Fashion** - Rebellious, Trendy, etc.

* **Games** - Outdoor, Strategy, etc.

* **Medical** - Clerical Work, Therapy, etc.

* **Mercenary** - Adventuring, Local Guard, etc.

* **Military** - Enlisted, Officer, etc.

* **Music** - Instrument, Singing, etc.

* **Occult** - Astrology, Dream Interpretation, Tarot Reading, etc.

* **Performance** - Acting, Comedian, Dancing, etc.

* **Political** - Local Politics, Guild Unions, etc.

* **Religious** - Casual, Cult, Devout, etc.

* **Social Work** - Local Assistance, Volunteering, etc.

* **Sports** - Field Sports, Track Sports, etc.

* **Wealthy** - High Society, Posh Culture, etc.

## Connections

Connections represent individuals or groups that were particularly relevant to your character at some point in their life. Connections can be brief, often containing only the most relevant, distinguishing features needed. These can be fleshed out in more detail later if they become relevant.

### Connections, Individuals

Connections for individuals should include at least the following tags:

* Name
* Defining Characteristic or Trait
* Social Relevance (occupation, primary social circle, etc)
* Nature of Relationship (e.g. fought in wars together, educated me, etc)

Examples:

* Geoff (Grandfather): Craftsman, devout follower of Marus, trusts my opinion.
* Mia (Friend): Elf, Goth, amateur chemist, sold drugs together.
* Jurnam (Ex-Companion) - Ex-military teammate, stubborn, very aggressive in battle.
* Edmund (Contact): Works for the mayor, corrupt, sold important documents to me.

Roll on the following table two to five times (your discretion). Fill out each Connection, fulfilling at least the minimalist tag requirement. You may optionally include more details, but keep in mind that Connections may or may not ever appear in a campaign.

### Connections, Groups

Group Connections include any group or collective of people that has a meaningful association with your character. This can include an entire family, a neighborhood or district, a club of hobbyists, a Dryad colony, a local business, a secret organization, etc.

Group Connections should include at least the following tags:

* Group Identifier
* Defining Characteristic or Trait
* Nature of Relationship

Examples:

* Classmates from Hometown: took classes together at church, heavily disciplined together.
* Tailor Business: run by a single family, spent many years as an apprentice.

Roll on the following table one to three times (your discretion). Fill out each Connection, fulfilling at least the minimalist tag requirement. You may optionally include more details, but keep in mind that Connections may or may not ever appear in a campaign.

## Life-Shaping Events

Roll five times on the table below (1d10), and follow up with each appropriate sub-roll. These indicate significant events will be added to your history.

 3, 4, 5
 6, 7, 8

### Major Setback Table (1d6)

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6

### Setback Table

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6

## Dream Goals

Dream Goals are things your character will pursue if they feel they have the power to. If a Dream Goal is achieved during the campaign, the entire party gains experience. The GM decides the amount, but the reward is higher for greater achievements.

When a Dream Goal is completed, the character can either switch to a new Dream Goal or up the stakes (take the same Dream Goal, but with higher difficulty and reward). Dream Goals can also change during the course of roleplay if it is appropriate for the character arc.

Select a Dream Goal for your character. You can choose one from the list, or create a custom Dream Goal with GM approval.

* **Business**: Achieve notable success in business: make a deal with an influential lord, establish a second or third business location, manage a large contingent of employees, etc.

* **Discovery**: Make a rare or difficult discovery through exploration and research: uncover a secret tomb or hidden faction, find answers to long-lost mystery, prove that a myth is real, etc.

* **Enact Justice**: Seek justice, either personally motivated or just a desire to right injustices.

* **Faith**: Prove your faith in a significant way: get recognized by a religious order, start a successful cult, meet the god you worship, etc.

* **Fame Acquisition**: Leave a legacy that others will remember: write a drinking song that starts spreading through the land, become a famed performer, chronicle a great story, etc.

* **Gain Connections**: Acquire a new and important group of friends, contacts, or allies.

* **Heroism**: Prove to yourself or others that you're a genuine hero or all-around badass in some form: become an arena champion, slay a legendary creature, etc.

* **Iconic**: Get people to stand behind your ideas and passions, become a symbol within a given social circle, etc.

* **Influence**: Attain political influence: become the mayor of a city, lobby against an opposing guild, etc.

* **Leadership**: Command a military unit, a criminal guild, become the mayor of a village, lead your own social circle or faction, etc.

* **Memorable Event**: Get the party involved in something particularly memorable: sing in a major festival, invitation to a royal court, battle with a legendary monster, discover an ancient tomb, etc.

* **Reputation**: Increase your reputation with an important social circle: gain a high-ranking adventurer's rank, earn the rank of priest of your faith, etc.

* **Status**: Raise your status: raise through the ranks of the military, have your services be recognized by the nobility, be knighted, etc.

* **Wealth**: Acquire money, treasure, property, or specific types of assets that you seek.

## Session Zero

The next step of backstory creation will take place during "Session Zero." You and the GM will coordinate some finishing touches for the PC, and establish their history within the setting. You'll be able to ask the GM details about any specifics to flesh out any nuances of your backstory, and these choices can impact the campaign moving forward.

### Preparing Your Timeline

The primary goal of Session Zero is to create your character's timeline; the synopsis of your history, designed by connecting the dots between all of the details acquired for your backstory. You will work with the GM to integrate your timeline correctly into the world setting, as well as with the timelines of other PCs.

The timeline doesn't need to be complex; just a series of headings that describe the major 'periods' and bullet points that summarize major events, experiences, social circles, decisions, and other relevant details. A 'period' describes a time in your life of similar or encapsulated activity or when something of great significance happened - it could cover many years (such as following a single occupation at your childhood hometown) or a short time frame. Periods should include approximate dates and locations.

### Determine Hometowns

Determine all of the relevant places where your character grew up and resided. Most NPCs remain in their original hometown for much of their lives, but PCs are more likely to deviate from the norm. Depending on your backstory, your PC may have multiple locations they've resided or traveled.

### Add Location Tags to Connections

Each Connection you have needs to also have a location associated with it. The location may be a city on the map, an unmarked village that is described by an approximate location (e.g. "A village along the eastern Aldes River."), or something else that will suitably describe a residence.

These location tags are particularly useful to help you identify any Connections you want to meet up with while traveling. Traveling in medieval settings is easiest if you have an established friend or contact you can reside with.

### History with PCs

Choose a PC that your character has a history with. Coordinate with them (and the GM) to determine how their paths intertwined. Their shared history can be long or brief, but they must have spent at least a few months together and know each other well. You should make adjustments to your timeline as needed.

Note: it may be easier to integrate your timeline with certain PCs more than others. If circumstances demand it, the GM may allow your character to be a stranger when you arrive in the party.

* **Friends**: You became strong friends, either growing up or later in life when your paths crossed.

* **Mentor & Student** - You were the mentor (or student) of the other PC for a particular skill.

* **Social Circle** - You were each part of the same Social Circle: a religious organization, a political movement, etc.

* **Related** - You are related and have a history together. This could be immediate family, an extended relative, an in-law relationship, an adoption, etc.

* **Shared Experience** - You had a major life experience together: both participated in the same war or a monster battle, survived a local plague together, both were enslaved by the same person, escaped a burning building together, etc.

* **Employment** - You know each other through some form of employment: you were co-workers, one was the boss of another, etc.

### Party Integration

You and the other party members have reasons to know each other, but also need a reason for rejoining and staying together. This can be facilitated in many ways, which you can work on with the GM, but it is likely that the GM will use a Party Omen to produce a strong, in-setting reason to join the party.

For a Party Omen, your PC receives a powerful vision during the Day of Omens. This vision insists that you must meet with the other party members, and that if you don't achieve this you can expect a terrible fate to befall you. At first, you may try to dismiss the omen, but it will return and increase in the severity of its effect. If you'd lost touch with the other party members, you may have spent months or over a year of constant struggle to interpret a series of vague guidance that was leading you to each other. This period in your life may have been an eventful one that lead to a lot of personal adventuring, or the first levels of significant advancement. Eventually, you meet up with the party and the campaign begins.