• Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Can’t have conflicting backstories if you don’t write a backstory. My latest character was Gruk the Orc. His backstory was one word, smash.

    • GolGolarion@pathfinder.social
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      2 years ago

      unironically, this has become my favorite approach to character background over the years. Build out what the character can do, first, maybe pick a theme too. But create the character you want to play when you’re at the table. The first few encounters are a great forge to make a character from, and then you can extrapolate and improvise from there when necessary.

      • BenVimes@lemmy.ca
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        2 years ago

        Honestly, I think it depends on the context.

        When I played AL I put in the minimum effort. Playing with a random group every week means no one is really going to appreciate it.

        On the other hand, my current group is my close friends. Not only did we have to up write a fairly comprehensive backstories, but we also create a bunch of NPCs specifically bonded to our characters that the DM weaves into the plot. It’s really fun and engaging.

    • Lianodel@ttrpg.network
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      2 years ago

      That’s what I prefer to do. Maybe just a general reason for going adventuring with the party, but otherwise discover and develop characters in play!

      By all means people can write backstories if they want. I just sometimes see it being treated as mandatory and a sign of taking the game seriously, when really it’s just a matter of style and taste.

  • Royal_Bitch_Pudding@ttrpg.network
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    2 years ago

    That’s Yamcha in the hole.

    Honestly if you used Yamcha on the 2 Goku panels it would’ve worked better, on account of Yamcha looking awesome as hell at first.

  • ProtonEvoker@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    So basically the characters from Baldur’s Gate 3. We’ve got an archmage, a local hero, and a barbarian that has spent the last decade fighting in the Blood War, and all of them join at level 1. Though at least Gale and Karlach have decent excuses for the power drop.

    • BenVimes@lemmy.ca
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      2 years ago

      Yeah I noticed that too. In an early conversation with Wyll he talks about how he slew a minotaur, which seems improbable for a level 1 or 2 character.

      Now maybe he’s lying. I haven’t gotten far enough into the game to find out of he’s actually a complete fraud or not. But as of right now it causes a bit of narrative dissonance.

  • Ahdok@ttrpg.network
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    2 years ago

    Sometimes I like making a character who used to be very powerful, but retired, or list their strength for another reason, you can give the DM a lot of hooks that way.

    One time I made a bard who was famous in stories across the land for their heroic endeavours, but they were all made up.