How to Write Plausible Backgrounds

...or "Your Background Doesn't Make You Cool"


Your background isn't as much of a definition of your character, but rather events that assist to explain why your character behaves in the manner in which they do. This writeup of your character will be viewed by few people besides yourself and your Storyteller chain (who largely gloss over it), so you don't need to be excessively elaborate.

Keep your background real first. Avoid being a major historic figure, or having interacted with them. There's only so many people that can claim to have been "the secret assassin of Hitler" or "the last true ninja" before plausibility is shattered and you get lumped into the same group as the kooky guy that thinks he is Napoleon.

Research the Time Period

There is nothing worse than having your character claim to have been involved in an event, only to have someone else correct you on what actually transpired. Stick with what you know, and if you have to be older than dirt, gloss over time periods you are unfamiliar with, or make those convenient times while you were in torpor.

Wikipedia, despite receiving some bad press from some academics due to the fact that anyone can edit a page, is actually a very valid resource useful for researching time periods and locations where your character was active. Also, at the bottom of every article is a bibliography and list of reference material, making Wikipedia your starting point for any research. Read up on these resources, and take a few notes, so that you can refresh yourself every few months so you don't look dumbfounded when another character asks you about such events.

Don't Bend Social Customs 

Social customs, especially those existing in rigid hierarchies or caste systems, aren't bent often without extreme repercussions.

Seriously, if your character is female, they have no real chance at becoming a samurai. Sure, there were a few onna-begeisha in Japan's history, however, they were the exception. By the same token, female mafia bosses also don't exist, as the mafia is a strictly fraternal organization.

Older isn't Better

If you cannot portray your character as a stodgy elder, and insist upon using modern euphemisms and slang, it is probably a better idea to make your character younger, such as having been embraced within the past few decades. There is very little benefit to making a character that is incredibly old, with rare exceptions (such as gaining a single semi-useless title in the Invictus).

It's been my experience that by keeping characters to have been born within the last century, not only do you get over the stigma of being a hapless neonate, but you don't have to considerably alter your own beliefs, viewpoints, and prejudices. In addition, the amount of research material on the last five decades is bountiful, with first hand accounts and televised history. Each decade within the last century has had a major theme, ripe for character immersion.

Concise

Keep your background short and to the point. No storyteller wants to read a novella about how epic your character was, and will likely ignore much of it, as they have several other characters to keep in mind. Expounding upon the greatness of your character also falls flat, if the only people whom are ever going to see it are your Storyteller and yourself.

Choose a few events that would be important to your character's current mindset, and expound upon them, while glossing over periods which were uneventful. Make it known that your character was involved in these signature events, so that other players have a frame of reference and a conversation topic when dealing with your character.

Don't Over-hype Yourself

It doesn't matter how epic or how awesome your character was in their back story, if you can't pull off a grandiose character, nobody is going to care about your background. Don't let your reach exceed your grasp when writing backgrounds.

Not every character is the last scion of some ancient house or race, and most people who try and write themselves as being an important epic character end up being ignored. Make your greatness in play, so that everyone will witness it and remember, anyone can write how they were awesome in their background.