Character Background Questions, Adding Background sheet to SR4CG_Upgraded Options

[DamienKnight]

I am working on a character background sheet for the SR4CG_Upgraded spreadsheet. I am trying to think of an effective list of character questions. The goal is not to have a complete list of questions, but a concise list that hits the important areas.

The follow questions are not my own. Cannot remember where I got them from (probably a Shadowrun fan site somewhere, or maybe this forum). Help me revise the list!

Basic Questions:
What kind of clothes/appearance does the character like to maintain?

Where/when was the character born?

Is the character still in contact with any family?

Where did the character pick up the skills he has? Any formal education?

Has the character ever done anything else for a living?

Why does the character run the shadows (Money, thrills, power?)

Does the character have any goals?

Are there certain things the character will not do?

How did the character meet his contacts?

Does the character have a SIN? Does he use it? Who might know his true identity?

Does the character have loyalty for any certain group? (A country, a company, their favorite band or Urban Brawl team, etc)

Does your character have any religious beliefs/faith?

What is your characters most valued possession?

Does the character have a good luck charm? Any superstitious beliefs? yes. any weapon he has killed with.

Has your character ever been in love?

Deep questions.

1. Who was the first person close to the character that they lost? What were the circumstances?
(Give names and timeframe)

2. Has the character ever killed someone? If so why?

3. If the character has ever killed someone, how did they feel?

4. What would make the character betray or abandon his or her team?

5. Is there anything the character would give his or her life for (include possibles)?

6. Does the character believe that the world is getting better or worse?

7. If the character stole something, how would he or she justify that as acceptable?

8. If the character cheated on a partner, how would he or she justify that as acceptable?

[Mr. Mage]

Holy crap! Some of those get pretty in depth on your character...

"3. If the character has ever killed someone, how did they feel?"
And remember now, this is for posterity, so be honest....

A couple of questions I tend to ask of any players in my games, be they SR or DnD or anything else are:

What does your character look like?
This includes anything from Facial features to what clothing you where to even how you stand and walk...
How does your character act around people?
Mostly so I can get a general idea of how the character might react to an NPC, basic attitude, etc. I usually don't ask this right away, and prefer to let them act out how their character acts, which usually gives me a good idea of their basic personality...but for people who aren't great at RPing...this is a great thing to ask them, helps out a lot...
Think of three basic adjectives to describe your character (not a question, I know, so what...)
Could be personality like "happy" or "moody" or possibly a physical quirk like "Scarred" or "Rugged"... just describe the character in a few words...

Not much else.... sometimes I ask for a background story, but I'm not too strict on what needs to be in it... some characters will say something as short as "I grew up on the mean streets of Seattle, fending for noone but myself" and that will be all they have...while some will write a small Novella to describe each individual year of their characters life...which can get kind of annoying...ugh...

[Bull]

Here's a list that I did up ages ago (with some help from the ShadowRN mailing list):


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50+ Questions
A resource for filling in the gaps in a players background. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif)

OK chummers, this here's the Guide to Shadowrun Character Background Creation. This will help you make your characters as detailed as possible. Answer all the questions completely and in as much detail as possible. You will be graded, and you will get karma for this, dependent upon your grade. The better you did, and the more detail you gave, the better off you'll be and the more Karma you'll get. Remember, get personal. This is a real person that you are creating, not just numbers on paper.

Well, enough of that, here's the Q&A:

1. What is your characters Sex?
2. What is your characters physical size?
3. What is the color of the characters Hair, eyes, and skin?
4. What is the character's general appearance (i.e., How does he dress, etc.)?
5. Where was the character born (City, State, Hospital Name)?
6. What is the characters date of birth?
7. What was the character's family life like?
8. Has the character begun his own family?
9. Where or how was the character educated?
10. Has the character ever done anything else for a living?
11. What are the characters political and religious beliefs?
12. Describe the characters Moral code. Include how mercenary he is, whether or not he'll kill innocents, etc.
13. What are the character have any goals?
14. Why does the character run the shadows? (Why does he run the shadows still, rather than getting a "real" job?)
15. What kind of personality does your character have? This should not necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important for actually playing the character, but it may colour or add mood to the history.
16. What special qualities does the character possess? This does not refer to skills, but rather at other things, such as How he gets along with people, does he plan ahead, etc.
17. Are their certain things the character can't or won't do? Why?
18. What things, people, or ideas does the character hate?
19. What things people, or ideas does the character love?
20. What is the character's name? Give both full birth name, as well as nicknames, street names, etc.
21. Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a shadowrunner (very important).
22. Decide why your character left his or her old job, if he had one (also important).
23. Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner. (This very often will tie in with #22. This is not the same as #14, but rather why he started running the shadows originally. What led him to it?)
24. How did your character come to know his or her contacts? Contacts are an important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.
25. Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or is the character one of the SINless masses? This may be affected by the characters previous employment.
26. Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead a Batman-like double existence?
27. Which person(s) or group(s) do you love the most?
28. Which person(s) or group(s) do you hate the most?
29. Which person(s) or group(s) do you respect the most?
30. Which person(s) or group(s) do you fear the most?
31. What is your favorite color?
32. What is your favorite food and/or drink?
33. What place would you most like to visit?
34. Which person(s) or group(s) are you most loyal to?
35. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the most enjoyment? (Warning: Answering Sex for this question can and will result in penalties to your character!)
36. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the least enjoyment?
37. What annoys you the most?
38. What (if any) is your favorite form of art?
39. What is your greatest goal?
40. What do you think is your characters best quality?
41. What do you think is your characters worst quality?
42. What is the most important thing you have ever done?
43. Which religion (if any) do you follow?
44. What is your most treasured possession (and why)?
45. What are your three most common dreams?
46. What is the Characters current relationship with his family?
47. If the characters family is still alive, what do they do, and where do they live?
48. Where did the character learn his Skills?
49. Does the character have a good luck charm? What is it, and why?
50. What type of music does the character like?
51. List any past serious relationships that your character has had, and give a brief overview of the relationship.
52. Where does your character live? Why does he live there?
53. Remember, your Gamemaster like detail, so if you can think of any other little details, quirks, or whatever that you think might please the almighty GM, then add them in as well. Oh, and your GM won't use any of these details against you at a later date. trust me... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif)

[DamienKnight]

Here's a list that I did up ages ago (with some help from the ShadowRN mailing list):


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50+ Questions

If you had to narrow this down to 20 questions, which would you choose?

I have found that many players are daunted by a list of 50 questions. Less questions tends to get a better response.


For my games, I generally award karma for character background developement:

1 karma for answering questions, 2 if answers in depth

1 karma for providing a character portrait, 2 if detailed, or multiple outfit pictures provided

1-3 karma for writing a background story. It is maxed out at 3 karma, so writing many many pages will be only for your own benefit.

Lately I have been allowing characters to write of details of any paticularly interesting thing their characters do in their downtime, and reward one or two bonus karma if it is well done. This has inspired alot of meditation on their characters outside of the game, which really adds alot of depth in game.

[Mr. Mage]

If you had to narrow this down to 20 questions, which would you choose?

I have found that many players are daunted by a list of 50 questions. Less questions tends to get a better response.


For my games, I generally award karma for character background developement:

1 karma for answering questions, 2 if answers in depth

1 karma for providing a character portrait, 2 if detailed, or multiple outfit pictures provided

1-3 karma for writing a background story. It is maxed out at 3 karma, so writing many many pages will be only for your own benefit.

Lately I have been allowing characters to write of details of any paticularly interesting thing their characters do in their downtime, and reward one or two bonus karma if it is well done. This has inspired alot of meditation on their characters outside of the game, which really adds alot of depth in game.

I prefer to award karma in game, provided they roleplay...
I also tend to penalize people if they don't roleplay their Negative Qualities...
"You have the Addiction Quality (Alcohol) yet you are always sober? Hmmmmm...."
Obviously, in the case above, they would start taking dice pool penalties before I make them buy it off, but penalties will be had!

Also, about character portraits: Hand drawn or otherwise self-created? What if someone is a horrible artist and can really only draw stick figures? Though I suppose if they find someone else to draw it for them then there's really no way of telling....

[DamienKnight]

I prefer to award karma in game, provided they roleplay...

Also, about character portraits: Hand drawn or otherwise self-created? What if someone is a horrible artist and can really only draw stick figures? Though I suppose if they find someone else to draw it for them then there's really no way of telling....

Time spent thinking about a character's past pays off in spades in story developement, so I reward players with karma. In the end it amounts to less than they could make off a good run (especially with the way 4th dishes out copious amounts of karma...)

They could get someone else to draw it, or I would also award 2 if they used photoshop to customize a picture for their character.