Backstory Betterment: your Character is the coolest They’ve ever been

One of the easiest mistakes to make with a backstory is to make your character cooler in their past than they are now. If they have already killed demons and dragons, why are they now a level 1 wizard with 4 HP? Here are the steps to tone down the dissonance.

Level 1: You’ve slain dragons in the past

Honestly, even if you write a backstory where you were the old hero of the continent, I’m going to recognize that you took the time to write a backstory. Bravo there. Unfortunately, you don’t get to get any cooler, though. You entire character’s arc is going to be them trying to get back to the cool status they had int he backstory. You can try to justify why you are weaker now:

Level 2: You tripped and lost all your powerups

Maybe a with cursed you back to level 1. Maybe you have amnesia. Maybe you had an artifact that was stolen, and now you adventure to regain it. I call this a Metroid adventure. Super bounty hunter Samus Aran lands on a planet, strips on a rock and all her powerups fall out of her suit and down a rain gutter. Better go adventure to find them again!

That kind of backstory is fine, because it lands you at the proper power level. But it can cause problems sometimes if “your” quest doesn’t align with the campaign’s quest. It can be a little easier if your backstory leads you to a more generic quest, like:

Level 3: You’re going to slay a dragon

A personal goal of growth or revenge is a pretty great backstory. It can point you in a direction, without forcing your GM to build your specific quest. If your goal is to find and kill a dragon, or to get strong enough to kill a specific dragon that has terrorized your hometown, then you give your GM the ability to make any campaign they want, while still having opportunities to bring your backstory in.

Remember that your BAckstory is made to be used

If your backstory is just a fairy tale about your character that doesn’t lead up to the game you’re playing it doesn’t do anyone any good. Make sure the hooks you leave are easy to incorporate for your GM,a nd dont overstep the bounds of the game you play.