This Chapter’s goals are to assist you the Player in making a Narrative Background for your Character. You already would have decided on a mechanical Background in the Character Generation & Levelling Chapter, which was detailing something your Character did before they became an adventurer.
A Narrative Background is taking the elements of that chosen Background, the training and knowledge you decided to gain, and to give them a story you, your Party and your GG can call upon during play, both for Character motivation as well as future plot threads.
Creating a background is very simple grab a paper and pen, or a word document program, and write about the Character’s early life before they were an adventurer. This can be as simple as a bullet pointed list of key NPCs and moments or could be something more involved. It is entirely up to you and optional.
Once you do have something written though, pass it to your GG as it will potentially help with the Campaign, giving the main plot thread of the Campaign a chance to have greater import for your Character or providing the GG a new NPC to throw in at an important moment.
This Chapter is here to provide advice on writing a Narrative Background, provide prompts, and even example tables for answers to the prompts. This Class Playbook will also Feature some unique prompts and ideas related to the Class you have chosen to play. These tables and prompts should be used as places to help generate ideas rather than to force them, and as such, you do not have to use an prompt or a rolled result from a table if it doesn’t mesh with the Character.
So, to begin with first look back at the Background you made during Character Generation, note down in your Narrative Background document the following things:
Background’s Name. This was what you did before you became an Adventurer, it did not have to be your whole life prior, as you may have learnt the basics of your chosen Class before the first session.
As such consider how what you did in your Background related to your training to be a member of your Class.
Background’s Languages & Training. You in your Background chose to learn to use certain Weapons and Tools, as well as specific Languages. It may be wise to consider what about your Background led to you gaining that knowledge and could provide some threads to include in your Background.
Background’s Feat. Another thing you gained because of your Background was a Feat. Consider what the Feat says about the Character and their Background and how that could be incorporated into your Background’s narrative.
These may give you some ideas for basic beats your Background should cover, from there we get onto more specific aspects that will vary Character to Character.
Arcanists spend years studying their arts mastering the fundamentals of arcane formulae and cosmic mathemagic, before advancing to more advanced studies and specialisation. These questions will hopefully help determine aspects about your Character. So, considering your Character consider the following aspects and looking to the following tables for inspiration for your own answers:
Where did you study? Consider how you got your education, was it in formal academia, via an apprenticeship, or maybe self-taught? Did it require any entrance exam or proof of ability? Did you have friends or rivals? Who learnt with you, were you the only pupil, or did you study with others, maybe even competing for the ability to progress? This may inform how you answer the other questions.
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | You were apprenticed to an ancient arcanist who knew death would soon claim them. |
| 2 | You studied in the nation's foremost magical academy, having passed its ruthless entrance exam. |
| 3 | You were self-taught from books hidden away in your parent's secret room. |
| 4 | You studied in a rundown community run school for arcanists. The community coming together to share their combined knowledge to help you on your way. |
| 5 | You learnt from the spirits from another Realm, who tutored you in your dreams in your trips to the local woods or graveyard. |
| 6 | Your parents were arcanists of some repute, who taught you in your evenings when they were free from work. |
Why are you learning magic? What is it that drives you to spend so much of your time learning magic? Is it your own lofty ambition, or your family’s wishes, or a dictation of the law of your nation? How you feel about this reason may inform other aspects of your Character.
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | The state demands all those with potential to learn for the good and safety of the public. To serve as agents of the state. |
| 2 | You study to rewrite the laws of creation, that death is no longer a threat or certainty. |
| 3 | My family has always sent their children to learn to be arcanists. |
| 4 | You seek to study magic to share your knowledge for the good of all and to aid others. |
| 5 | You will be the greatest arcanist who has ever lived. |
| 6 | You wish to be a hero like in the storybooks you read as a child. |
Who was your mentor or teacher? Did you have any teacher or mentor at all? If so, were they one person or many? If there were many, did any one teacher pay you special attention, or did you have a favourite? How did they teach you, was it in stories, practical lessons, or a lot of theory? What was their personality like, were they strict or lenient, caring, or harsh, thorough, or light on details? Did they encourage learning outside of lessons or try to teach you everything? Did they impact your own behaviour or methodology with theirs?
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your teacher was an ageing arcanist who knew they were close to death and so wished to pass on their knowledge to another. |
| 2 | You were taught by a whole faculty of teachers, each granting you part of their vast knowledge. |
| 3 | Your parents taught you everything you know, quizzing you over dinner |
| 4 | The community came together to teach you. You were part of the community, and they poured their hopes into your education, wishing to see you succeed. |
| 5 | You learnt from the entities from another Realm though their reasons remain a mystery. |
| 6 | You had no teacher, only yourself to push you onwards. |
Have you picked up any unusual habits from your time studying? You may find during your studies coping mechanisms for stress, aiding concentration, or during overwhelming sensory stimulation. It may be a habit you made yourself, or one picked up from a teacher or fellow student.
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | You have a habit of clicking you tongue when deep in thought, trying to solve a problem. |
| 2 | You tend to always gesticulate while talking. |
| 3 | You always knock on wood when tempting fate. |
| 4 | You always need to have two of each of your spell components, just in case. |
| 5 | When entering a room, you always step out of the room before stepping back in again. |
| 6 | You always shout the name of the spell you are casting, as you cast it. |
What does your spellbook look like? Consider the above answers and your Character concept when answering the question. Potentially also consider how often do you consult it when casting your spells and what level of technology is the world you are playing in? Finally consider with all of the above, what does your spellbook say about you? How does it reflect the background and nature of your Character?
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | A well-worn leather-bound book given to you by your mentor, your last memento of them. |
| 2 | A book thrown into an inquisitor's pyre, and saved by your quick action, its pages are like your hands badl burnt. |
| 3 | Leather straps bound around a wand or staff, whose text is only revealed to others under the light of the moon. |
| 4 | A plain book identical to all others provided by your educational provider. |
| 5 | A collection of circular slate or metallic plates etched with acid, or chiseled into, to form the words and symbology. The text written in concentric rings around the centre. |
| 6 | A collection of etched stones in a small cloth bag. |
| 7 | A collection of random pages stuffed into a binder loosely, gathered from a variety of sources. |
| 8 | A picture book, with spells hidden in the strokes of the brush, and meaning hidden in the imagery themselves. |