5 Tips for Your Dungeons & Dragons Character’s Backstory

One of my favorite parts of Dungeons & Dragons is coming up with the backstory of my character. Why would someone choose a life of danger and adventure in the world? 

There’s a running joke that every character in a tabletop game has a tragic backstory and dead parents, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Looking to make your own character? Here are a few tips to help your creation shine and really make the most of the game.

1. Connect to the game

Your character should have a connection to the plot of the game, to the reason of the game. For example, if you’re joining a campaign set in Avernus your character should have at least an interest in demons, devils, and all things hellish. If you create an accountant character with no desire to be a part of the world you’re playing in . . . well, you’re giving yourself and the game master a hard time. 

2. A drive to adventure

Your character should want to adventure and go out and see the world. Whether that’s because they are looking to find all the songs in the world or to avenge a great loss, you should want to be an active participant in the world of heroism. 

The reason for that running joke about tragic backstories does have some truth to it. Why would someone with a happy life risk everything exploring dangerous ruins? Something drives your character to risk life and limb on adventure. Make sure they have a reason to be out exploring the world.

3.  Skill set to shine

Your character should have some unique ability to offer. Maybe it’s a stat focus (strength, charisma, etc.), a skill, or some background feature, but your character should have something they want to use. Your rogue can love to pick locks or juggle — be creative, and think of unusual ways they could use their niche to solve problems.

4.  Motivated towards goals

There’s something your character wants either immediately or in the far future. Maybe that’s to kill all dragons so there is peace in the world, or maybe it’s to become king. Whatever the goal is, it motivates your character to keep going. It also gives you fun role-playing opportunities throughout the game and something for your game master to bring into play later on. 

5. Plays well with others

Your character should be willing to cooperate with a team. The loner who refuses to associate with anyone gets old fast in a game made to be about cooperation. Your character can be awkward and hesitant, but please don’t make someone who will be openly hostile, aggressive, or unwilling to cooperate with a team. Remember, it’s a game for everyone to enjoy together. 

Notice how none of my tips focused on class features or how to distribute your stat points? That’s because, to me and my games, the character’s personality and goals go further toward building a meaningful game for you and your friends than more mechanical features.

What tips do you have for creating your DnD characters?

5 Tips for Starting a Dungeons and Dragons game

If you’re looking to start a campaign of your own, I have some tips to help get your game off on the right foot.

1. Have a session zero.

Session zero is where everyone sits together and goes over ground rules, ideas, and expectations. This is where you and your players can discuss the type of game everyone wants to run. If you’re wanting to run a dark, graphic horror game and your players are looking for a fun, light-hearted adventure, this is where you can find that out before everyone ends up miserable in a game with mismatched ideas.

This is also where you can go over safety tools to use in your game. Making sure everyone is comfortable with the events of the game (like level of gore, torture, romance, etc.) can head off a lot of problems and potential out-of-character conflict.

2. Let the players help build the world.

Letting your players have stakes in creating the world will make it all the more real to them. Allow them to describe the town their character grew up in, what the cleric’s temple was like, or how the wizard first discovered magic.

Having your players build a small part of the world your campaign takes place in helps them feel ownership of the world and story too. Let them make a mark from the start.

3. Connect the players to one another.

Give the players a connection to each other from the start. The cliché is a bunch of people meeting in a bar, but in my experience, it’s monumentally helpful if some of the characters already know each other. Building those relationships is something you can also do in session zero.

Perhaps all your players know one bar owner who has called them all together for a favor. Or maybe the fighter and the paladin once fought together against a demon army. By creating that connection, you make the team even stronger and more cohesive.

4. Something big at the start.

There are two options for this: let the players win big or lose very badly. Plan something that will unify the group.

When I say, grant the players a victory early on as a team, I don’t mean letting them run over an enemy without any resistance. Give them a real, meaningful victory right at the start. This opens the campaign on a high note and is especially useful for engaging new players.

Alternatively, if the players are all captured together or barely survive a dragon attack, they will unite to keep one another alive and get revenge. A shared goal is instantly unifying and builds anticipation for future sessions.

5. Listen to the players.

While you are setting up the campaign, ask your players what they’re hoping to get out of the game. Maybe they want to explore their character’s tragic backstory; maybe they have always wanted to fight a mimic; maybe they want to explore particular themes. Not only does this keep your players invested in the campaign for the long haul, but it also gives you some free ideas to build into the story you’re creating. At the end of the day, your job is to keep things fun for everyone!

Arcana Depot is LIVE

Arcana Depot is out into the world and I am so excited to share this awesome resource with you all!

Get over 10 magical shops with NPCs, items and prices laid out for you and ready to add into your game!

You can grab your copy now on DMsGuild

FaireArcana_Shops_7.29.20.png

Tools for Social Media

Social media can be a truly draining experience at the best of times. So I’ve been working on adjusting the amount of time I spend on social media and how I am using it. I wanted to share the tools and techniques that have worked for me.

  1. Delete the apps from your phone.

I’ve removed twitter and facebook from my phone. I can still use my broswer to log in but its not as convenient so I’m less likely to do it. For me, I’ve kept facebook messenger and instagram because those are still useful for me, but do what works best for you.

2. Block social media

I open a new tab and automatically start typing twitter or facebook into the url box, even if that wasn’t what I wanted to do! Habits move me on auto-pilot and suddenly it’s been an hour and I’m doom scrolling twitter still. What I’ve finally found is that I need external help to block the sties.

I’ve come at this with three main apps I’m using:

  • Forest App- On my phone, this wonderful app keeps me from just scrolling through instagram. It allows you to plant a beautiful plant and watch it grow. The trick is that if you navigate away from that app, the plant dies. You can set it from anywhere between 10 minutes to two hours. I set it to two hours when I get into bed and it stops me from getting on my phone when I’m trying to go to bed.

  • SelfControl- This mac only software is amazing and terrifying. It’s the big dog and the most effective. SelfControl will block the websites you specify for a range of time. It locks it down. You can restart your computer, delete the app, etc. and the lockdown remains until the time is up. It’s incredibly effective and free.

  • Work Mode- A chrome extension, Work Mode is perfect when I am on my chromebook. Blocking all major social media sites with a simple click, the extension is effective and unobtrusive. The only issue is that it is also sometimes too easy to unblock the sites with just a click as well.

I’m using these digital helpers and techniques to help limit my time on social media and keep it from destroying my mood and my productivity.

Hoping in the Dark

Right now it seems hard to be optimistic about the future. I've struggled to be positive or even excited about what the rest of the year holds. There has been a lot of pain, chaos, loss and struggle already this year. 

What I keep remembering is that is okay and healthy to not be positive all the time. That way leads to toxic positivity and that's no good for anyone because it ignores pain and hard truths in front of us. Pain can often tell us when something is wrong and that is a vital voice to listen to. 

I have no idea what the future holds or where we go from here. What I hold onto is that I know of so many amazing people fighting for changes, so many healthcare workers making a difference and saving lives and so many artists spreading creativity around the world. The actions of every day people give me hope because it helps me feel less alone in the tumbling of a world that feels strange and scary. 

I'm holding on to the people I love and creating the things I love as my dock in the dark waters of 2020. Take my hand and we can hang on together.

This is my latest pep talk from my Newsletter which I have finally sent out! If you're not part of the newsletter, you can sign up here.  

Camp NaNoWriMo!

July is just around the corner and that means that Camp NaNoWriMo will be kicking off soon!

What is Camp NaNoWriMo? Inspired by NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) held every November, this camp offers the chance to try to complete a word-related goal throughout the summer. The goals are more flexible for you to set yourself (rather than the standard 50,000 for NaNoWriMo) and are open to all sorts of projects.

Because of the flexibility and customizable nature of the camp it can be a great launching point! I’m hoping to use the month of July to get started on some new projects!

Here’s one of my favorite YouTube channels, Heart Breathings, talking about Camp NaNoWriMo for her.

If you sign up, let me on so we can cheer each other on!