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.
Warriors spend years studying their arts, be it from professional martial schools, on the front as part of an army or mercenary company, or even from the hardships life threw at them. 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 learn to fight? Consider where did you learn to fight and how does this tie into the wider themes of your Character's backstory, was it a formal education under a specific weapon master, or in a martial academy, or perhaps you were self-taught or learnt in the field as a trial by fire as part of a nation’s army or a mercenary band. Do you find you naturally show aptitude for the art? What was your relationship with your mentor(s)? This may inform how you answer the other questions.
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am self-taught. I learnt in the field of battle and bear the marks of my mistakes. |
| 2 | I learnt in the arena. My mentor was a former fighter who took me under their wing. I bought my freedom, and some still recall my moniker from the ring. |
| 3 | I was trained as part of a company. Be it the army or a mercenary band. I was trained as part of a unit and know well how to fight as a team. |
| 4 | I was trained in a martial school. My family afforded the tuition where I studied in a safe environment under many bright minds. |
| 5 | I learnt on the street. Maybe as a member of law enforcement, or maybe in a gang. I learnt to fight dirty and to always find a way to turn a fight to my advantage. |
| 6 | I trained under a master. Perhaps my family hired them as a private tutor, or perhaps I was chosen for some reason only my master could see. I learnt to master a specific combat style of my master’s. |
What is your preferred weapon? Which weapon do you prefer? Are you versatile learning the use of all of them equally, did you prefer the use of a specific weapon group, or did you master one above all others? Why is this the case? Is it tied to your backstory? Maybe it's a family heirloom, or a preferred item of a famous family member or your mentor. How effective are you when not using that weapon?
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your fists have always served you well. Ever reliable and hard to disarm. |
| 2 | You have mastered the use of the bow. Your parents taught you to use it, as a child you have practiced those same drills ever since, feeling their presence as you draw the bowstring back. |
| 3 | You prefer the spear. A simple weapon you have learnt to use since your training began. |
| 4 | You prefer a firearm. A modern solution suitable for all situations. |
| 5 | The lance better suits your preference for fighting on horseback. |
| 6 | You have mastered the use of your family’s ancestral longsword. No other weapon will do. |
Who or what do you fight for? Why do you fight? Perhaps it is tied to a moment from your backstory, one that led you upon the path of a warrior. Perhaps however it is a simpler need? Such as coin, fame, glory, or the ability to travel. How far has the cause led you, and for how long will it continue to do so? In times of hardship will these reasons be enough to allow you to continue?
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | I fight for my nation! I fight for this land that has given me so much. |
| 2 | I fight for coin! I fight for whoever pays me the most, for as long as you survive the job pays well. |
| 3 | I fight for love! I fight to keep those I love most safe against the hardships of the world, or maybe to win another’s heart. |
| 4 | I fight for glory! Be it personal or familial glory, you fight that your name will be forever remembered. |
| 5 | I fight for a promise! You made a promise long ago, and you will fight to keep it. |
| 6 | I fight to survive! For there is no other reason more important to you. |
Do you have personal heraldry, or do you wear the heraldry of another? Do you have your own heraldry, some mark that denotes you amongst a group, something others could recognise as your name and fame spreads? Perhaps instead you wear the heraldry of your family, a lord you serve, a company or knightly order you owe allegiance to? How openly do you wear it and how much a part of your tale and name do you allow to be associated with it?
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | I bear no heraldry for my name and deeds belong to no one. |
| 2 | I bear the heraldry of my party. |
| 3 | I bear the heraldry of my lord, a gules phoenix upon a sable field. Representing my lord’s ascension to the throne after his death. |
| 4 | I bear the mark of my company, a rampant or dragon upon a vert field. |
| 5 | I bear the sigil of my family house, three gules lions rampant upon an argent backdrop. While upon the azure chief lie two pheons flanking a sword. |
| 6 | My shield is barren, for I do not recall my name or past. But as I write my future so too will I draw my own heraldry. |
What is your signature fighting style? Consider the above answers and your Character concept when answering the question. What does their fighting look like? Are they reckless or more of a planner? Are they very controlled or unpredictable in their actions? Finally Consider what does your fighting and your relationship to it say about you as a Character? How does it reflect the background and nature of your Character?
| Results | |
|---|---|
| 1 | You do not plan. You rush in and try to break your opponent with brute force, as quickly as possible. A dead foe is one who cannot harm yourself or others. |
| 2 | You like to get in your foes’ heads. You throw insults and barbs and use every dirty trick in the book. You fight to win and to live. |
| 3 | You are the planner. Every step and movement are calculated and controlled. You try to read your foes for their intended moves while trying to avoid giving away anything about your own. |
| 4 | You are full of energy and passion. You try witty remarks with your foes, have fun with them as you fight. For you fight for the joy of fighting and nothing more. |
| 5 | You are like clockwork. You have drilled from a young age on combat forms. You know each move and their counters and progressions. You follow these procedures but can struggle when things break these patterns. |
| 6 | You are bored. You give nothing away but that is because for you this is no challenge. No one interests you, for no one has ever made you sweat, not since the days of your training under your mentor. You own the battlefield, and you know it. |
| 7 | You fight like a graceful dancer. Each move is beautiful, elegant, an art piece of its own. Making your whole actions an art piece of beautiful majesty and power. |
| 8 | You are adaptable, ever changing. It is not that you do not plan, rather you are constantly planning and assessing in the moment. Adjusting for each change that occurs, rarely committing to actions that take more than a moment to perform. |