I was thinking what it would be like to play a character that has a family. I was wondering has anyone else played a character that has family/girlfriend/whatever before? How did it turn out? What are the possible situations that someone with a family would turn to crime (ie Shadowrunning) to support their family?
Of the top of my head I can think of the following scenarios:
* You come from a poor orc family. Your father was a crook, your siblings are all crooks, so you don't know any better, but at least you have enough drive to do more then just petty crime. Maybe one day you can get out of the barrens and into someplace classy.
* Your ex-military and know nothing but war. You tried your hand at security work for different corps but a string of firings for excessive valence has left you unemployed. Your wife expects you to put food on the table and all doors are closed to someone of your skills... except one.
Full Version: Character Backstories
I come up with a concept, build the character, then write the backstory. I guess you could call it saying why he has the stats he does, except that I have the concept before the build. I also always include family info, though they often end up dead (STUPID GM!).
All of my characters I have played (across all RPGs, not just SR) have family, sig other (girlfriends or FBs normally, rarely a wife though it has actually happen in game a couple of times). Having a girlfriend leads to interesting role playing and provides good plot hooks, as long as the GM doesn't over do it. If every girlfriend you get dies, then your going to start looking for girls you don't like to date. Even if the GM never does anything nasty to your girlfriend (which they really shouldn't if you don't have the Dependent quality, well maybe once), they can provide lots of interesting role playing.
In a project twilight game (think WW version of Delta Green, which is CoC with federal agents), my character started dating a girl named Gina De'giovanni after our second adventure. After around our 20th, they got married. Around our 25th, he found out about the clan of vampires named the Giovanni (our game rarely touched other WW properties though, so we had little experience with Vamps). Talk about a mind *BEEP*! After I told the wife about it, she put 2 & 2 together and freaked out as well. Lets just say our house had a massive security upgrade.
I still got my "Chart'o'Evil" from that game. Ahhh, good times.
All of my characters I have played (across all RPGs, not just SR) have family, sig other (girlfriends or FBs normally, rarely a wife though it has actually happen in game a couple of times). Having a girlfriend leads to interesting role playing and provides good plot hooks, as long as the GM doesn't over do it. If every girlfriend you get dies, then your going to start looking for girls you don't like to date. Even if the GM never does anything nasty to your girlfriend (which they really shouldn't if you don't have the Dependent quality, well maybe once), they can provide lots of interesting role playing.
In a project twilight game (think WW version of Delta Green, which is CoC with federal agents), my character started dating a girl named Gina De'giovanni after our second adventure. After around our 20th, they got married. Around our 25th, he found out about the clan of vampires named the Giovanni (our game rarely touched other WW properties though, so we had little experience with Vamps). Talk about a mind *BEEP*! After I told the wife about it, she put 2 & 2 together and freaked out as well. Lets just say our house had a massive security upgrade.
I still got my "Chart'o'Evil" from that game. Ahhh, good times.
I vote: ''Other''. I come up with a concept with some basic story points, start doing the stats and skills on that, and then flesh out the rest of the background later. I've been following this basic format in my character folders(for the background/personality points)
Appearance and Personality(3-4 paragraphs)
Role(this is never more than usually)
Quotes(a selection)
Background/History(2-4 paragraphs depending)
Contacts(quick description of them. Usually a few sentences each. I like to describe who my character knows.)
Stats/etc are on another few pages(my character sheets tend to be long.) On the actual stat-sheet, I usually put a quick list of likes/dislikes. Picked this up from my table.
Here's the format I've been using: http://www.valtio.org/~fenris/blog/?p=30 (an example on my gaming blog.)
They're kind of long, but not book-length. I try to keep it to a few paragraphs for each section; some characters end up longer, others end up shorter. Not sure why.
Appearance and Personality(3-4 paragraphs)
Role(this is never more than usually)
Quotes(a selection)
Background/History(2-4 paragraphs depending)
Contacts(quick description of them. Usually a few sentences each. I like to describe who my character knows.)
Stats/etc are on another few pages(my character sheets tend to be long.) On the actual stat-sheet, I usually put a quick list of likes/dislikes. Picked this up from my table.
Here's the format I've been using: http://www.valtio.org/~fenris/blog/?p=30 (an example on my gaming blog.)
They're kind of long, but not book-length. I try to keep it to a few paragraphs for each section; some characters end up longer, others end up shorter. Not sure why.
I am with the others. I come up with a vague idea (like, washout of the Tir's Ghost program), then make the character as I tweak the background and understand the character more. I decide that he speaks Japanese, so his backstory goes to him being able to read corp data and analyse what he needs to steal from the Japanese corps. I want him to be kicked out of the Tir, so I give him SINner (criminal). My character has bad close combat skills, so that becomes the reason he was washed out. By the time I am done I have a character with a decent enough backstory, and he's pretty cool to boot.
I used to write long backstories on characters. Sometimes tens of pages. For one character who I got to play for a whole of three months I wrote about 60-90 pages in all.
Nowadays, I don't write much or then I use a similar types of characters. Reyella my D&D rogue uses the same template.
Nowadays, I don't write much or then I use a similar types of characters. Reyella my D&D rogue uses the same template.
Character creation and backstory tend to go hand in hand. I usually start with a general concept, and then add to the backstory as I build the character. A lot of times the original idea won't truly fit into the game system, so I end up tweaking things 'til I get what I want. I don't tend to write most of it out though. The backstory usually stays in my head as I haven't had many GM's that play off of backstories.
I suck at backstories.
one, two, three and six.
yeah, i suck at things like backstory and finding names/history for connections too <.< . .
i usually have an idea for a character concept:"i wanna play someone who has a laser-gun built into his hand" "i wanna play a guy who has rebuilt the sonic screech weapon from cyberware into his body" or "i wanna play darkwing duck" or "i wanna play darktwink truck" . . then i build, then i look at, then maybe i get to playtest . . if the character is fun to play for me, i will try and play him more often. if he is not, i will retire him after the first run usually . . if i do not retire him early, i try and make up story as i go . . i get the best ideas while playing, but of course i can not just add them in just like that . . so i try and memorize these ideas, and when i find time and quiet for it i try to consolidate these ideas into one story . .
though there have been notable exceptions from this rule too. sometimes i just have this story stuck in the back of my head that wants out . .
"i am batman, this is my story" and then i write and write and write for several pages . . in the end, i read it over, shake my head at it and go "fuck that shit, badly written, waayy too clichee for my tastes . . i'll add it to the heap of unifinished business" and maybe add some ideas/stats for a character that is supposed to go with this story.
yeah, i suck at things like backstory and finding names/history for connections too <.< . .
i usually have an idea for a character concept:"i wanna play someone who has a laser-gun built into his hand" "i wanna play a guy who has rebuilt the sonic screech weapon from cyberware into his body" or "i wanna play darkwing duck" or "i wanna play darktwink truck" . . then i build, then i look at, then maybe i get to playtest . . if the character is fun to play for me, i will try and play him more often. if he is not, i will retire him after the first run usually . . if i do not retire him early, i try and make up story as i go . . i get the best ideas while playing, but of course i can not just add them in just like that . . so i try and memorize these ideas, and when i find time and quiet for it i try to consolidate these ideas into one story . .
though there have been notable exceptions from this rule too. sometimes i just have this story stuck in the back of my head that wants out . .
"i am batman, this is my story" and then i write and write and write for several pages . . in the end, i read it over, shake my head at it and go "fuck that shit, badly written, waayy too clichee for my tastes . . i'll add it to the heap of unifinished business" and maybe add some ideas/stats for a character that is supposed to go with this story.
I usually do concept, then stats, then flesh out the backstory, making a few changes as needed. I can write "general" format characters, but prefer structured formats like Bull's 50+ questions.
I think it's good to start with an idea, then see if the nuts and bolts of the game can make it work. It can be frustrating to come up with a great story for a character, only to realize that it either won't work within the rules, or won't fit in the game.
I find that when the stats and background bounce off of each other more, I get a character where all of the stats have an underlying explanation. The character is also more functional, and fits more smoothly into the game world and the game mechanics.
Also, I consider a character with a good background still a work in progress - once you start play, the character can often go in dramatically different directions than you envisioned, so don't set all of your character's traits in stone.
I think it's good to start with an idea, then see if the nuts and bolts of the game can make it work. It can be frustrating to come up with a great story for a character, only to realize that it either won't work within the rules, or won't fit in the game.
I find that when the stats and background bounce off of each other more, I get a character where all of the stats have an underlying explanation. The character is also more functional, and fits more smoothly into the game world and the game mechanics.
Also, I consider a character with a good background still a work in progress - once you start play, the character can often go in dramatically different directions than you envisioned, so don't set all of your character's traits in stone.
just started a group that has never played SR before. They are all young kids(two of them the fruit 'o me loins) so I tried something different.. I gave them a copy of the 20 questions and a couple of sheet of paper and said"use this to tell me what you want your character to be like...you don't need exact details, just a bit about them." after they finished we built their characters based on who they wanted to be. Ended up with an Elven rigger/Hacker. a human gunbunny with a carp load of edge, A troll adept who focuses on throwing big heavy things , and an elven shaman/face.
I think they did well and two of them have gone on to really flesh out their backgrouds. we play thier first game on sunday. I am going to drop them right into a combat...trial by firefight as it may be...
I think they did well and two of them have gone on to really flesh out their backgrouds. we play thier first game on sunday. I am going to drop them right into a combat...trial by firefight as it may be...
I always have a general character concept I'm going for to begin with, and I try to do something a little more interesting and with a little more backstory than your generic "runner worked his way up from the barrens" deal. Past that, I try to work up the stats to match that concept, but frankly I always try to do the best I can at character creation. I suppose you could call it min-maxing, but I have more fun playing the game if my character is good at what he does.
QUOTE (Glyph @ Mar 9 2009, 10:29 PM) 
I usually do concept, then stats, then flesh out the backstory, making a few changes as needed. I can write "general" format characters, but prefer structured formats like Bull's 50+ questions.
That's about what I do, now what's this 50 questions thing?
Originally on Bull's site, here's a copy:
[ Spoiler ]
Great, thanks.
For SR I'll usually have a general concept along with a back story in mind. I'll usually finish the actual build with a few things in mind and come up with a full description and back story. Over the past couple years I've kinda developed a format that starts with appearance followed by history.
With the characters appearance I'll have a basic physical description that includes stuff like approximate height, build, skin tone, facial features and so on. After that will be notes for things less obvious like scars or marks usually under clothing. Some typical habits or gestures that are typical of the character like posture (or lack of), nervous twitch, distinctive smell or so on. I'll usually leave out stuff like clothes or gear since I assume the runner doesn't wear the same thing every day.
With the back story I've been leading toward writing it as if it's the characters own words. I found that doing it like the characters own reflections allows me to not only provide the characters history but also the characters world view and demeanor. This usually means that I can save a few pages of inane bullet point descriptions on various things relating to my character and is a better read for a GM. I wish my players would do this instead of the usual back story geared at justifying the PCs bad-assness or those Q&A descriptions which usually include a lot of nothing.
With the characters appearance I'll have a basic physical description that includes stuff like approximate height, build, skin tone, facial features and so on. After that will be notes for things less obvious like scars or marks usually under clothing. Some typical habits or gestures that are typical of the character like posture (or lack of), nervous twitch, distinctive smell or so on. I'll usually leave out stuff like clothes or gear since I assume the runner doesn't wear the same thing every day.
With the back story I've been leading toward writing it as if it's the characters own words. I found that doing it like the characters own reflections allows me to not only provide the characters history but also the characters world view and demeanor. This usually means that I can save a few pages of inane bullet point descriptions on various things relating to my character and is a better read for a GM. I wish my players would do this instead of the usual back story geared at justifying the PCs bad-assness or those Q&A descriptions which usually include a lot of nothing.
I only usually do about a paragraph, but its really like a flashcard to remember the important points cos i keep most of it up in the grey squishy bit.
QUOTE (Bai Shen @ Mar 9 2009, 04:56 PM)
Character creation and backstory tend to go hand in hand. I usually start with a general concept, and then add to the backstory as I build the character. A lot of times the original idea won't truly fit into the game system, so I end up tweaking things 'til I get what I want. I don't tend to write most of it out though. The backstory usually stays in my head as I haven't had many GM's that play off of backstories.
This is pretty well spot on for me.
QUOTE (RedeemerofOgar @ Mar 10 2009, 10:41 AM)
This is pretty well spot on for me.
Me two.
It's something of a joke in my group that even when making PCs I tend to make NPCs. I spend a lot of points on skills to support my background stories and "voila!", NPC. Probably why I'm the gamemaster most of the time.
Back in the day when I was an elitest prick (more so than now at least) we use to have a semi-mandatory 100+ questionaire to help people flesh out their backgrounds. We tried to inflict our "role"playing on our other group members who came from a more hack-n-slash background. Sad really. But damn, that was one sweet questionaire. We took questions from all over including Harlequinn's Back, every RPG that had a "fleshing out your character" section (DC Heroes, GURPS, etc) and some good ol brainstorming. But once again, it's a real swell way to make NPCs instead of PCs.
Back in the day when I was an elitest prick (more so than now at least) we use to have a semi-mandatory 100+ questionaire to help people flesh out their backgrounds. We tried to inflict our "role"playing on our other group members who came from a more hack-n-slash background. Sad really. But damn, that was one sweet questionaire. We took questions from all over including Harlequinn's Back, every RPG that had a "fleshing out your character" section (DC Heroes, GURPS, etc) and some good ol brainstorming. But once again, it's a real swell way to make NPCs instead of PCs.
QUOTE (Ayeohx @ Mar 10 2009, 10:34 AM)
It's something of a joke in my group that even when making PCs I tend to make NPCs. I spend a lot of points on skills to support my background stories and "voila!", NPC. Probably why I'm the gamemaster most of the time.
Back in the day when I was an elitest prick (more so than now at least) we use to have a semi-mandatory 100+ questionaire to help people flesh out their backgrounds. We tried to inflict our "role"playing on our other group members who came from a more hack-n-slash background. Sad really. But damn, that was one sweet questionaire. We took questions from all over including Harlequinn's Back, every RPG that had a "fleshing out your character" section (DC Heroes, GURPS, etc) and some good ol brainstorming. But once again, it's a real swell way to make NPCs instead of PCs.
Back in the day when I was an elitest prick (more so than now at least) we use to have a semi-mandatory 100+ questionaire to help people flesh out their backgrounds. We tried to inflict our "role"playing on our other group members who came from a more hack-n-slash background. Sad really. But damn, that was one sweet questionaire. We took questions from all over including Harlequinn's Back, every RPG that had a "fleshing out your character" section (DC Heroes, GURPS, etc) and some good ol brainstorming. But once again, it's a real swell way to make NPCs instead of PCs.
Yeah, a well developed character is good and all, but it doesn't mean much if the character is no fun to play.
QUOTE (the_real_elwood @ Mar 10 2009, 01:52 PM)
Yeah, a well developed character is good and all, but it doesn't mean much if the character is no fun to play.
Indeed, but a well developed character is part of the fun for me. And it depends on the group too. If everyone is of the same mindset then its fun. If you've got any min-maxers in the group it doesn't work so well. It depends on who you are playing with I guess.
Though there is nothing saying a min-maxer can't make a well-thought out, compelling, and fun character as well that fits just fine with the rest of the team. They're just optimized for what they do.
Personally, whenever i'm making a character i actually want to play i just start out with a kind of general idea of what it is he does best, and then figure out why it is he has those skills, and why they aren't being used in a legitimate line of work.
However i also like just playing around with chargen and seeing what silliness or monsters i can create...where background or reasons come second....why the hell is that fox shapeshifter phys-adept who goes on fire a shadowrunner?!? Dunno, but its funny
...and that fox adept actually ended up being played by a friend of mine....and so far we've figured out she does shadowrunning cause its fun to set things on fire...is not afraid of shifting into her human form naked while in the middle of an ork nightclub...and doesnt really value money as so far she has yet to spend any
in 5 games... 
However i also like just playing around with chargen and seeing what silliness or monsters i can create...where background or reasons come second....why the hell is that fox shapeshifter phys-adept who goes on fire a shadowrunner?!? Dunno, but its funny
...and that fox adept actually ended up being played by a friend of mine....and so far we've figured out she does shadowrunning cause its fun to set things on fire...is not afraid of shifting into her human form naked while in the middle of an ork nightclub...and doesnt really value money as so far she has yet to spend any
in 5 games...
I start out with a basic concept, then get to work on the stats. Doing this I tweak the concept until both things fit but to be honest i normally start to really flash out my character during play once i get a feel for him/her. That's why i hate such things as those 50 questions to be answered before starting the game.
QUOTE (Bai Shen @ Mar 9 2009, 04:56 PM)
Character creation and backstory tend to go hand in hand. I usually start with a general concept, and then add to the backstory as I build the character. A lot of times the original idea won't truly fit into the game system, so I end up tweaking things 'til I get what I want. I don't tend to write most of it out though. The backstory usually stays in my head as I haven't had many GM's that play off of backstories.
Pretty much par for course for me too.
Got into a SR4 game recently. Yay!!
My character is loosely based around Altair (Assassin's Creed), the guy from Wanted, and Agent 47 from Hitman. He's an assassin by trade. Travels a lot. Has a Day Job (programmer which works well in the wireless world btw). Decent with a gun. Has magical tricks up his sleeves. Even has a little bit of Bioware (sleep regulator & trauma damper). His negative traits are represented against the backdrop of his history & training.
Stat-wise, he's a mystic adept. Based on attribute allocations, he can overcast up to Force 6 and with the right spell (Stunbolt for example), buy 3 successes and eat the last point of Drain (Trauma Damper). If I normal cast my spells, I don't have to bother rolling for Drain. Between 3 bought successes + 1 Stun eaten by the Trauma Damper, I'm an Energizer Magic Battery. I do need to learn a few new spells and get a couple more points of adept powers but that is slated for future growth.
That same Magic split 5 (3/2) also let's him summon up some decent spirits without biting it in the Drain dept too.
Compared to the team he's hooked up with, he's not overpowered. In many areas, he's the 2nd string player. Which is fine with me as I need to get back in the groove but I also have some ideas and plans for improvement that *will* make him stand out on his own.
All in all, the concept (assassin) came first. That was followed by the inspiration sources. Then came the statting out basd on concept & inspiration. Then came the haggling to get back down to 400 BPs.
Fun character. Not overpowered. Versatile and has several skills (particularly Knowledge) that are unintentionally quite useful.
I can write absolutely ridiculous amounts of backstory for any given character. In fact, that's how most of my characters have started -- story first, hammer out stats later -- in particular the characters of mine that I've really enjoyed playing. There's been a few times someone has said "Hey, we need a Street Sammie for tonight's game" and I'll just fling something together, act like a respectable gun bunny, and round out the group. The characters I care about, though, the one that people enjoyed playing with and that I looked forward to playing more, the ones I wrote short fic to flesh out the in-between-jobs lives of, etc, etc...were all characters where the fiction came first, stats came second.
I read too much spy fiction, no not the James Bond Shaken-Not-Stirred spy, but the Day of the Jackal/Body of Lies elaborate cover identities deep cover spy stories. So the way I do it suits my character generation style - I build the stats first and then ask myself,"Who in the 6th World would believably have stats like these?" "Would this work as a cover ID?" "Is this a believable legend?" "If I am running counter intel, would this check out?"
I start with a rough cover, then polish it, shine it till it glows and then kick dirt over it. Why dirty the cover? Make make some part of it fit less smoothly? Ask yourself if you wrote out every aspect of your real life, could you explain why certain things or some part of your life turn out the way it did? No? I thought so.
(It would not surprise anyone then, that another of my favorite RPGs is Spycraft, would it?)
I start with a rough cover, then polish it, shine it till it glows and then kick dirt over it. Why dirty the cover? Make make some part of it fit less smoothly? Ask yourself if you wrote out every aspect of your real life, could you explain why certain things or some part of your life turn out the way it did? No? I thought so.
(It would not surprise anyone then, that another of my favorite RPGs is Spycraft, would it?)
Sorry for taking this of topic but i must comment
1.You can't buy successes when resisting damage
2.Even if your GM lets you buy successes, for some bizarre reason, you would still take 1 point of stun damage per spell, as trauma damper only turns the last point of damage into stun(overcast drain is physical)
QUOTE (darthmord @ Mar 12 2009, 07:36 AM)
Stat-wise, he's a mystic adept. Based on attribute allocations, he can overcast up to Force 6 and with the right spell (Stunbolt for example), buy 3 successes and eat the last point of Drain (Trauma Damper). If I normal cast my spells, I don't have to bother rolling for Drain. Between 3 bought successes + 1 Stun eaten by the Trauma Damper, I'm an Energizer Magic Battery. I do need to learn a few new spells and get a couple more points of adept powers but that is slated for future growth.
1.You can't buy successes when resisting damage
2.Even if your GM lets you buy successes, for some bizarre reason, you would still take 1 point of stun damage per spell, as trauma damper only turns the last point of damage into stun(overcast drain is physical)
QUOTE (Mäx @ Mar 12 2009, 07:02 AM)
Sorry for taking this of topic but i must comment
1.You can't buy successes when resisting damage
2.Even if your GM lets you buy successes, for some bizarre reason, you would still take 1 point of stun damage per spell, as trauma damper only turns the last point of damage into stun(overcast drain is physical)
1.You can't buy successes when resisting damage
2.Even if your GM lets you buy successes, for some bizarre reason, you would still take 1 point of stun damage per spell, as trauma damper only turns the last point of damage into stun(overcast drain is physical)
GM lets us buy successes against Drain. His house rules basically reduce dice rolling and focus more on the story.
True, I take that 1 point of Stun from Overcasting. All in all, Stun damage heals a heck of a lot faster than Physical. Likewise, if I limit my Overcasting slightly, I take no damage. Not to mention I stand a higher chance of waking up after filling my Stun track as compared to filling my Physical track.
I'm okay with taking 1 point of Stun for an overcast spell.
QUOTE (darthmord @ Mar 12 2009, 02:58 PM)
GM lets us buy successes against Drain. His house rules basically reduce dice rolling and focus more on the story.
Well it's your game, but i just feel that being able to buy successes takes away all the danger from spellcasting and makes mages even more powerful.
QUOTE (darthmord @ Mar 12 2009, 02:58 PM)
True, I take that 1 point of Stun from Overcasting. All in all, Stun damage heals a heck of a lot faster than Physical. Likewise, if I limit my Overcasting slightly, I take no damage. Not to mention I stand a higher chance of waking up after filling my Stun track as compared to filling my Physical track.
I'm okay with taking 1 point of Stun for an overcast spell.
I'm okay with taking 1 point of Stun for an overcast spell.
I just mentioned it, since it seemed that you tought that you wuoldn't take any damage.
QUOTE (toturi @ Mar 12 2009, 03:56 AM)
(It would not surprise anyone then, that another of my favorite RPGs is Spycraft, would it?)
Actually, yeah, it kind of shocks me.
I wanted really, really, badly to like Spycraft but it wasn't very "Spy-y" to me, and was a little too tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted, and generally goofy for me to really get into. I'm a fan of the more gritty, serious, mundane (for lack of a better word) sort of spy/espionage novels and such, too, and I just really never got that vibe from the Spycraft sourcebooks I've seen.
I usually end up with about a half-page history, that I've worked on concurrently with statting the character. I use it to explain why I have some skills and to help me choose others. It also helps define some character traits.
When I build a character, I start with the concept, which includes roles/functions as well as background and quirks, and then do the stats, often going back and forth until backgrounds and stats mesh, then finish the sheet using a general template. Generally I prefer a not too detailed background, fleshing out my characters during play, though in some cases I might add short stories about my character's past.
Examples of my character writeups can be found here.
Examples of my character writeups can be found here.
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