Narrated D&D Story: How The Veteran DM Taught Me The Importance Of Having A Great Backstory


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How The Veteran DM Taught Me The Importance Of Having A Great Backstory Giveaway

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Illustrated By: CJ Downing


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  1. I love writing backstories – sometimes a big story can be cut a little so DM won’t get overwhelmed and character still has room for growth. And to read player’s bacstories! And it’s sad to see players who do… like one or two paragraphs or even lines of text you can’t build even a “mercenary needs cash” plot hooks weak.

  2. My first dm was a good friend in high school and the one who first introduced me to DnD. With his guidance, I created Morgoth, a half-orc sorcadin. It was a very complicated character for a first time player, but with my friends guidance, I made it through to level 9. At that point there was an almost total tpk, where only me and one other player had our characters walk out alive. This was a very emotional ending to our campaign, as it was close to the end of the year anyways. That has created a long lasting love for DnD, the same love that keeps me coming back to playing over and over. I love your videos, and they have inspired some of my latest campaign ideas. I hope you continue to produce amazing content like this far into the future.

  3. I’m a new DnD player. I’ve wanted to play for a while and now that I am, I’m still not 100% comfortable with role-playing. I’m honestly just waiting for that moment when everything just clicks for me.

  4. I love to generate character builds until ideas from generating these characters fuel concepts for backstories. I have made friends from a random online group and it just made the experience so much more richer. What was a simple Water Genasi Storm Sorcerer Sailor, that worked for his father was part of the Port City Militia, is that previously mentioned with a lot more depth as we decided to have a shared background amongst all the characters and it just made the experience so much better. And I am usually thinking at least 4 character backgrounds and 12 characters a week.

  5. A great backstory gives the dm more to use to interact with and flesh out your character as the campaign progresses. Better backstory, better experience

  6. I’m new to DnD; but, have come to quickly love the game. Everything from storybuilding to developing your characters with friends is just so awesome. My best DM moment is probably the first time I DM’d for my group with a homebrew setting I made. Seeing my friends talk through strategies and solving puzzles throughout the dungeon was awesome, and the best part was them telling me how much better it was than they expected. I’ve been using a borrowed set of the game; but, am looking to get some for myself. Love the channel, and the stories; they’re always good entertainment for any occasion, keep up the good work đź‘Ť.

  7. Writing backstory is a lot of fun! Not only gives your DM ideas for upcomming events but also gives your character a personality. When it comes to backstories I always remember my first D&D game. (I’m sorry its my first time actually posting anything here and there can also be some grammar mistakes.) Oh and sorry if this story of mine will be a little long but its the one that I will remember forever.
    One of my frends said that they are having a D&D campain and asked if I want to join them. I wasn’t sure about it due to my lack of understanding the rules and that I never played it before. I meet with the DM 2 hours before the rest of the party showed up. He was a veteran and a awesome storyteller! He helped me with creating my character and then he asked me about my background. As I never played before I asked if its really important to have one. He just smiled and told me some of his stories. I myself am a little of writer so after his stories I went on with my ideas and discussed with him untill the rest of the people showed up. Then we spend one more hour on creating characters for other players. I was left with only finishing my background. We all got ready, gave him our characters with backgrounds for him to look up and were waiting for the game! I was so nervous as he started reading mine. For a second he looked at me and gave me a big thumbs up. Then we started the Game. Because I was in this game and other players wanted to have some fun it was a Homebrew 5e game. I was playing as one of special races that our DM created. Pale skin with silver hair and deep blue eyes. Not only my eyes were a little glowing but I had another feature that was even more outstanding. A pair of fox ears. So I was playing as(fox elf how I called it)Rogue called Rein. Other players were a Dragonborn monk Elegar, dwarf barbarian Gerdmund, human cleric Celia and elf sorcerer Alessia. My character wasn’t with them from the start. They were a small mercenary group that had a quest of exploring new dungeon that one of the scouts found near the town. They prepared all gear that they needed and went in, cleared first and second floor. Everyone were confused when DM sterted to describe the inside of the dungeon. It was more of a ruins of some sort not a dungeon that was just tunels going everywhere like they seen. Before they went to see third floor party decided to rest. They made campfire near the stairs and one of the player with a luck of nat20! Found a secret passage leading to a room with a growing tree in the middle. When they got near the tree a stone gollem attacked them. After a small boss fight they started to loot the place and when human cleric Celia investigated the tree, she was stunned. On the other side inside of the tree there was a crystal like glass and behind it a handsome sleeping Male. His long hair was covering left side of his face and on the right cheek a deep cut could be seen. Celia touched the crystal and asked the DM if she cal try to heal it. But as she said that the crystal glass shattered and I was awaken. The rest of the party gathered around my “bed” as I opened my eyes. As my first reaction was scream and tried to block them with my hands. After some time and them rolling to calm me down then party started to ask me questions. When I was about to tell my story DM looked at me and told me that when he read my backstory he was touched. While the party was going thru the dungeon me and Dm passed some notes about it and he asked me if he can tell my story but with his knowledge about the race. So Rein was born in the Bloom village. A mystical that now is just a legend. He grew up and discovered a talent in using knifes. Rein had a good eye and was calm. He helped in hunting and was having a normal life. One day when he was in the forest near village he heard an explosion. He ran as fast as he could to see what happend. When he finally reached his house he saw a massacre. Half of the buildings were broken and on fire. About ten tall figures wearing red robes were killing his frends and town people. As he was to join in the fight His mother dragged him away. With about five people including His mother, himself, two of the great magic masters and Elder they went to sacred tree of life. Tree that was giving this village its protection from evil beast. After a discusion elder decided about puting Rein into ethernal Dream. In this state he will be slowly getting more powerfull so one day he could awake and restore this place and make sure our race doesn’t dissapear. Rein didn’t want that but had to make a promise to his mother. And that is what my character remembered about his past.(I had to shorten it a little and some parts are missing due to me not remembering everything)
    I hope that you liked my story of how me and my first DM created a backstory that touched not only my party members but also my players in my first campain that I started. Thank you for reading and I hope I didn’t made a lot of mistakes in grammar. ^-^

  8. A great backstory and a great dm always leads to amazing moments. I don’t even want to try to count all the times a dm has used the backstory of one of the PCs to create an awesome moment. It’s moments like these that remind me why I still play dnd.

  9. I used to over do my backstories to epic proportion, but thanfully most of my DMs were able to include the many details from my stories into their own. One DM whose game I have been playing recently made my Dragonborn paladin meet up with a future self of himself, looking all battle hardened and missing an eye, (plus he was also an Echo Knight!) TLDR; good DMs make good story, GREAT DMs include good stories and make them into an epic tale.

  10. One thing I can say for sure is that my more positive D&D experiences have actually utilized my back story in some form or another, whether it be a blood feud against the BBEG or a simple comment from the NPC about some trait or another that most other characters would not note right away unless familiar with the character.

  11. Well this reminds me of the time my character grith the lonely gith came to me it all started with an assassination gone wrong a deal with a crazy betting devil and fate that came with 2 extremely powerful bags of holding That turned a city to a giant crater…

  12. It is wonderful when good role playing truly comes together within a story as goals and life goals come together allowing for better time and even better co-operation. The better able people are able to unite together as they all have a part in the story not just killing but a true investment. It is a magical time when the players not only have to do the original plot but their own life as well. Breathing life not only into the world but into the souls of the players as they fight tooth and nail to survive in a world out to kill them. Overcoming all odds or failing and having to retreat, nursing their wounds. Nothing is better then when it all comes together. The good, the bad, everything matters.

  13. For my first ever pathfinder campain i played a dwarf casted out of his city for incompetence on the battlefield…3 years later and he is going back to his under siege hometown with an army of knights a golem and the secrets of firearms to clean his name and save his family

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