Background Template
Character Background Template:
Step 1: One Unique Thing
Each character should have one unique feature you invent for him or her when you create the character. Your one unique thing is an unusual trait that sets your character apart from every other hero. Choose something you think is interesting and will generate story hooks later. "She's from an offshoot clan of the Whateleys who turned to Mad Science instead of Black Magic," "He cut off his own finger to show how tough he is," "She's actually from the future, from the Hell on Earth setting, and is trying to change the past," "he's wanted in 14 states. Not for murder or assault (though he is a violent person), but because he just winds up getting blamed when supernatural events happen around him."
Example: Dr. Ambrose Evans
"Dr. Evans is a Mad Scientist with the ethics and style of a snake-oil salesman, who travels the west in a covered wagon shilling patent medicines which sometimes actually work."
Step 2: Your Backstory
List 5 important events from your character's past.
Example:
Dr. Ambrose Evans
1. Have you heard of the Amazing Evans, who travels the land in a colored wagon promising the cure for whatever ails you?
2. Once he was a promising scientist Back East, studying the effects of Electricity and Ether for Science!
3. Then he caught the eye of the wife of a Texas Ranger, and wooed her. Furious, the Ranger had him sued. Evans managed to win his suit, but lose the respect of his peers.
4. Unable to practice his Science in an academic setting (and being a bit too fond of gambling, drinking, and wooing married women to be comfortable there anymore) he decided to ride out west.
5. Now he funds his scientific breakthroughs with sales of his "patented cure-alls," bogus snakeoil remedies that get sold thanks to his charm and wit.
Step 3: Your Goals
Pick 2 goals for your character. Either these are goals the character has ("he wants to find the snake who killed his family," "She wants to be recognized for her brilliant Mad Science designs") or goals you have for the character ("I'd like to see him find peace for his outlaw past," "I'd like her to find true love.")
Example:
Dr. Ambrose Evans
1. Despite his lifestyle, Evans wants to settle down someday and be seen as somewhat respectable, not just some flim-flam salesman.
2. I'd like for Evans to find a source of legitimacy somewhere, perhaps becoming a hero somehow.
Step 4: Your Secrets
Choose two secrets that concern your character. One is a secret that your character knows ("He's a deserter from the Union army," "Her inventions are fakes and she's a con artist"). The other is a secret that concerns your character, but not one they are aware of ("A man he shot has returned from the grave Harrowed and is seeking revenge," "Her inventions are fueled from her devotion to Science and she's actually a Blessed")
Example:
Dr. Ambrose Evans
1. His father was a Huckster who went by the name of "The Great Harlequin," and some of his magical leanings rubbed off on his son. Dr. Evans is a Mad Scientist, who can hear the whispers of the Manitou urging him to build strange devices.
2. Caine Saunders, the Ranger he cuckolded, is not finished with Evans. Annoyed that Evans beat the suit against him, Caine has decided to make things personal and is currently looking for Evans, in order to settle the score.
Step 5: Your Relationships
Pick 3 people your character knows. Two of them are friendly or at least neutral to the character ("His sister, who will still talk to him after he became an outlaw," "Her mentor, a mad scientist who was like a father to her"). One is hostile, possibly to the point of the Enemy Hindrance ("He's being chased by the law," "She's trying to escapee the clutches of her ex-husband, who wants to profit from her science").
Example:
Dr. Evans
1. Dr. Evans has wandered into a love/hate rivalry with Phineas Jones, another snakeoil salesman who touts herbal remedies of a dubious nature. They travel the same routes, set up shop near another, and have even saved each others lives a couple of times. Evans is getting sick of him as competition, and is considering offing him a partnership so he has someone to watch his back on their frequent misadventures.
2. Evans is easy on the eyes and has a way with women. He can count on a few friendly girls in places he's stayed...usually.
3. Caine Saunders, a Texas Ranger with a mean-steak a mile wide, has it in for Evans. That's a bad place to be for someone who makes his living selling medicines of a dubious nature. Evans has managed to evade Caine's grasp thus far, but it's only a matter of time before the Ranger comes knocking.
Step 6: Your Worst Nightmare
What frightens your character at his core, and really motivates him? ("He hears the whispers of the men he's killed, promising to drag him to Hell with them," "She fears that one day her inspiration, which knocks around her head, will drive her insane.")
Example:
Dr. Evans
Dr. Evans is wondering if his life has been a waste. Sure, he can suavely catch a ladies eye while twirling his waxed mustache, but life on the road doesn't really suit him, and he's beginning to feel that everything is a bit hollow and cold. This sensation of emptiness and purposelessness is what he's really running from, and the despair that it might all be for nothing eats at him constantly.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:09, Mon 10 Feb 2014.
