Background: What makes you the individual you are

What makes us the person we are today? It could be that a summary of our experiences & perceptions have made us into the person we are. The failures, the things we tried to get away with but shouldn't have, the tears, the loss, the challenges, and the heroic self sacrifice for others.

In some game systems, background was what introduced the character to the story. It was often the last event they experienced before the characters meet them. A tyrant banished them, the town got sacked & they survived, family shunned them, etc. For simplicity, this works. If necessary, the game leader could expand the backstory of the character.

In major stories, like Harry Potter (child becomes famous for parents sacrifice & has to build own legacy), Star Wars (father tries to chose what is best, but family redeems), or Lord of the Rings (a son picks up a father's responsibility to save the world while reliant on friendship) the side plot & character motivation is the main theme. The challenges they overcome is the tools to advance the plot of their daily interaction in life.

In more current versions of Wizards of the Coast including the playtest version, background is confused with a profession (what you do to earn an income). As with my discussion on skills last week, we have personal, professional, and spirtual reasons for growth, survival, and motivation. Some we observed, some we learned formally, some we forgot, & some we learned (through trying something & failing).

I am expanding my series:
* Tune in next week & I will provide templates of what a background should be.  Simple, yet effective for players & story leaders.
* Tune in 2 weeks to see my discussion on Professions. To me, this is a subcategory of Background.