This was the first article that was written by Ryan for the Dark Whispers Magazine. Thanks again for all the hard work that was put in.
Background Development 101
Some players have difficulty finding
significant ways to relate the dots they’ve placed on a character sheet to the
character concept they have created. In
this article, I will attempt to pin down a method of approaching a character
sheet from the top down, using the information on your sheet to fuel ideas
about the person behind the numbers. As
a case study, I will evaluate the character sheet of a non-supernatural
character. I’m going to call him “Ben.”
Concept
At the top of your character sheet, along
with the core pieces of information such as the character name, your name, the
chronicle, and so on, you are provided with space to give a short description
of your character in the form of a concept.
This piece of information forms the core of your character. It works as a sort of archetype, the mold
from which your character will be cast.
Ben’s player has thought about the sort of
character he would like to play, and thus far he keeps coming back to “scruffy
drifter.” So, not knowing more about his
character, he pencils this into the Concept area at the top of his sheet. He also writes this a spare piece of paper he
is using to develop his background.
The concept you write down is not set in
stone. Remember that you can always
revise that concept, or even violate it with your skill selection to a certain
degree. Differ too much and the concept
doesn’t really fit any more, so you need to be careful, but a two word
description of your character doesn’t paint enough of a picture to say what is
and what isn’t valid to put down on the sheet.
Virtue and Vice
Using the concept as a springboard, decide
how your character tends to pursue his or her virtue and vice. A short paragraph each tends to be the most
rewarding amount of information. You
don’t want to overburden yourself with background at this stage.
Ben’s player looks at his chosen virtue:
Charity. He writes “Ben has been roaming
the highways and byways of the US for a few years now, and he’s come to believe
that it’s best to share a little with the needy, because you never know when
you’re going to find yourself out in the cold in need of a little help
yourself.”
Ben’s player then moves on to his vice:
Sloth. He writes “Life on the road is
hard, and sometimes it can be easier to give up than get what you want. Ben has problems keeping himself motivated to
move on with his goals. He also finds it
easier to pick a new goal than to complete a difficult one.”
Sometimes the presentation of a virtue or
vice in a character’s personality is not standard. Consider a character in whom Wrath manifests
as a desire to spread nasty gossip about people who slight her, or a character
that has Prudence, but takes it to the extreme of a crippling fear of taking
risks (this concept may work better for an NPC than a PC, unless your game
allows much more room for social interaction than combat and danger).
Attributes
In allocating your attribute dots, you’ve
probably decided to model them in a way that directly supports the concept of
your character; your martial artist has primary physical attributes and a three
in Strength and Stamina; your computer scientist has a four intelligence and a
one composure; your flippant debutante has four dots in Presence, three in
Manipulation, but only one in Composure.
At this point, you can take a moment to
explain just how the character’s background molded their attributes. The debutante’s high Presence might be the
result of being the captain of her speech and debate team as well as a member
of the model UN. Her manipulation could
come from snaring daddy into getting her way.
Simply choose those defining attributes that are remarkable—either good
or bad—and use them to help define who your character grew up to be.
Ben’s player gave him the scores you see to
the <SIDE>. He explains “Ben never
finished high school, and he isn’t too bright.
But he’s been wandering for a long while, and he learned to be
tough. He never gives in to the
elements, and he’s really good at keeping his cool. Being a drifter, he’s also spent a lot of
time learning to convince people to part with things that he needs more than
they do.” As you can see, this tidily
explains all of Ben’s attributes that aren’t just 2 dots.
Skills
Skills are the largest portion of a
character’s background. They really tell
you what he or she is good at, and all you need to do is decide why the
character has the dot arrangement he or she does. Many one dot skills can stand without
explanation, especially when they have a clear tie-in to the character’s
concept. But for most skills of two dots
or more, it’s a good idea to explain why the character has that skill, how he
or she acquired it, and how he or she uses it most often.
After giving this section a lot of thought,
Ben’s player writes “Working sporadically, Ben tends to get odd jobs fixing
things like cars and other machinery.
However, he never works too hard; just hard enough to get by.
“In his travels, Ben has had to fight off
various vagrants and drug addicts. He’s
learned to fist fight and to fight with improvised weapons such as pipes and
loose bricks. As often as possible, he
just avoids the parts of town where he might ruffle feathers, so he listens to
the word on the street and thinks hard about how not to be there. He also knows when someone is about to get
the drop on him.
“Inevitably, Ben has been in trouble with
the law, and he can’t help but cause problems sometimes, even when he’s just
trying to help someone. He blends in
with the crowd easily, and knows how to keep his head down and stay out of
sight. When necessary, he has broken
into abandoned houses and once in a while he has stolen a car or two, but he
still thinks of himself as a pretty good guy who just lives a hard life.
Notice that this fails to cover Ben’s skill
in Animal Ken and specialty in dogs.
This will be covered in a moment.
Merits
The final relevant segment of the character
sheet to our purposes are the Merits.
Merits are naturally a catch-all, so they deserve special explanation. Merits can often be thought of as the result
of a character’s past experience. A high
school track runner might gain Fleet of Foot and use it again later in
life. A local musician might gain Barfly
from playing a lot of shows in town and meeting all the staff.
This definition doesn’t always fit, and
occasionally, a Merit just defies description—such as Unseen Sense. That’s okay.
Not everything needs to have a greater explanation.
Ben’s player comes to the Merits section,
and he knows exactly how to start it.
“Ben’s best friend is his dog Howler.
Ben found Howler a few years back as a puppy and couldn’t bear to see
the little guy suffer. So he kept him,
and the dog has been his constant companion ever since. Keeping himself and his dog fed is a
challenge, but Ben manages.
“Ben’s diet has often been poor. He’s had to grit his teeth and suck down
garbage from restaurant dumpsters to survive.
But the upshot is that Ben can choke down almost anything with no ill
effects. He’s got a cast iron stomach.”
Note that Ben’s player has chosen not to
explain his Fleet of Foot Merit, and Danger Sense has already been mentioned
briefly amongst his skills. This
cross-pollination of descriptions makes
more sense than trying to keep everything totally distinct. After all, a person’s life is rarely that
easy to pigeon-hole.
Equipment
Chances are if you’ve put a piece of
equipment on your character sheet, it is of some significance to your
character. Where did he get that gun or
that sword? Why does she have a toolbox
in her truck?
Describing equipment your character keeps
can also help you fill in detail about who he or she is and what is important
in his or her life. Anything that gives
an equipment bonus is probably worthy of some mention here. And don’t be afraid of being verbose. At times, even if your Storyteller and the
other players can’t remember everything you’ve said about your character, you
can refer to your background information to help you stay in character and
decide how to react to things.
Flavor
In addition to giving general background,
it can be fun to sprinkle anecdotes from your character’s point of view into
your explanation of the background. A
one paragraph story about how your character came to own a specific item, or
her own words when complaining about how hard it was to write her research
thesis. Anything goes in creating
character background. A
graphically-minded player might even create a set of vignette images showing
the character’s life in stages, with a sketch of each significant event.
All in all, it is just important to
remember that the dots you assign to your character are a skeleton, and the
flesh you give him comes from the background you create. You can even start to discover that your
character has interests that differ from your own, just by pondering what led
to certain skills or merits.
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