An obligation or loyalty your character has.These knives include but are not limited to: They’re called “knives” because the players lovingly forge them and present them to the DM so that the DM can use them to stab the player over and over again.”Īn effective character backstory will have some knives (jimbaby suggests around 7) so that DM’s can raise the stakes for their players. Anything that can make a conflict personal, like a threatened loved one or the appearance of a sudden enemy. “Knives are essentially anything that the DM can use to raise the stakes of a situation for your character. In their post about the Knife Theory they say: You also need to make sure the backstory you are giving your DM is easy to use when weaving a story around your party members.Ī redditor named jimbaby introduced the idea of an effective character backstory having “knives”. A rule of thumb is to always get your DM involved before setting anything about your character in stone. If you were to write a novel on your character’s history, you could run a serious chance of not meshing well with the DM’s story. What does an Effective Character Backstory Look Like? While fleshed out character backstories are imperative, you need to make sure the story of your character is presented to your DM in a digestible, easy to use format or you run the risk of it not getting incorporated. So what are you waiting for? Sit down with a pen and paper and outline your character’s entire past right down to what they had for breakfast the morning before their mom’s birthday 6 years ago! This in turn will help your DM create more interesting plot hooks and encounters which will create a cycle of awesomeness for your DnD Campaign. Whether you are laughing at the hero making a bad decision, crying that a character you loved has died, or angry at the villain of the story, these emotions have brought you closer to the story and have caused you to become invested.Ĭreating a character backstory allows you to feel your character’s emotions and become invested in their story. If you think back to any form of fiction or non-fiction you’ve truly loved, you will find that it is because the creators of that piece have made you feel emotions. Knowing how your character will react to certain situations is crucial for building a character that is more deep than “go here, kill that”. Why is a Character Backstory Important?Ĭharacter backstories are so important because they give a player a baseline for their actions. It is the events that have transpired in their past that have shaped everything about them, all the way down to their appearance. In my opinion, a character’s backstory will dictate their bonds, ideals, flaws, and personality traits. I also disagree with the approach of splitting a character’s traits, bonds, flaws and appearance away from their backstory.
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I personally don’t like the way WotC has approached the character backstory on their official sheets. Seems simple enough, right? Well, actually it is, but I think we can do a lot better. The official WotC Character Sheet has a couple of different sections that delve into a character’s motivation. A backstory tells the tale of your hero as they grew up and became the adventurer they are today. Having established character backstories is a crucial part for any DnD campaign, whether it’s one of the published D&D Adventures or a homebrewed campaign.ĭownload Character Backstory Template What is a Character Backstory?Įvery DnD character has a story, even before the campaign starts.
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