The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide shoots straight, it works for what it is, and it feels open. I particularly enjoyed the fact that there are spaces for writers/game masters to fill in the blanks to answer questions, as well as make notes. I can’t imagine writing in this guide at all, but the option to do so is nice. Maybe sometime in the future, when the material becomes cheaper, the pages could be reusable in some way, or maybe the books come with an access code to download software to fill in those blanks. I think the latter is more feasible (not that I need to tell you that). Regardless, it is a good book that does truly act as a guide. It will certainly help to kickstart ideas for characters, stories, and situations that pure RPGers can get behind.
Stories are why you game. Games are memorable because of stories. Games can be video or otherwise, but always are great because stories make them great. All of this rambling is true, it’s universal, and it is the reason why we care so much about gaming, be it with dice or a controller. That said, it’s even truer (and that is possible) when you’re in the role-playing game genre, where connecting with your characters, the plot points, the successes, and the tragedies, are key to a good experience. It’s why the first D&D game was so popular, or the modules for them they used to sell. It’s why games like Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star are so impactful. It’s all because of stories.
While it has been forever since I’ve played an actual D&D-esque role-playing game with dice, much like video games, I find it absolutely necessary to get a story done properly without interruption to sink into an RPG experience. If done properly, you can keep the flow of the experience for said gaming session absolutely alive and kicking, and make way for the imagination to sit back and enjoy the journey, while shaping the characters, world, and dangers/victories without a hitch. If a story can be constructed, consistently laid out like a rug, then you’re in for one helluva experience.
To help things along the way, author James D’Amato has put together a neat little guide to give you options during your D&D experience with a book called The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide. Again, having not played a non-video RPG dice-based gaming experience in decades, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail and thought that went into this book, and the understandable ease-of-use it seems to have when constructing an experience. One of the main reasons I’m excited about the book is that not everyone is a writer. To push it one step further, not everyone is a creative writer. Creatively constructing a world for people to experience through careful narrative design is an art. People can certainly learn it, but not everyone wants to do it or is on their creative edge 24/7. The purpose of this book is to spark that and get you in the mood to create. It asks a bevy of questions, gives you thoughts and paths to consider, and sets you in motion to help create a special gaming experience that makes people want to come back for more. I can really appreciate the direction of it, as well as the variety.
D’Amato’s book offers up that chance and spark for creating such an experience, by delivering character suggestions, types, histories, backstories, and other character attributes. It beautiful divides out the characters into beginnings, veterans, and even backstories to fill the world you’re creating. The book is a beautiful cornucopia of a guide that really does a great job of presenting/suggesting possible scenarios and ways to build up a character. It’s remarkably detailed, as well as technical in its advice on how to approach the creation of the storytelling process. For example, the book presents different scenarios that might be a part of characters playing the game, such as lost lovers, mentors, and even down to the trusty steed for the adventurer. When you can discuss a steed’s history with an adventurer, you’re in for a deep dive. The book also thinks of a lot of elements and attributes that might affect characters or situations they may run into, and how they handle them. It covers a lot of ground, which will certainly spark creative pieces that will come together into a nice gaming story experience. There is a lot of variety and different choices one can make to create the perfect story.
It truly is an RPG guide that hopes to make everyone a bit more excited for the RPG experience. Again, as mentioned above, it’s incredibly useful for those trying to get a kickstart into creating a story for their friends. Being creative is not an easy task, and you’re not going to always need a book like this to jumpstart it, but it certainly provides enough content to keep the creative juices flowing when you’re trying to change the experience each time. I can dig this guide and its purpose.
Anyway, there isn’t a lot to dislike about this book. It shoots straight, it works for what it is, and it feels open. I particularly enjoyed the fact that there are spaces for writers/game masters to fill in the blanks to answer questions, as well as make notes. I can’t imagine writing in this guide at all, but the option to do so is nice. Maybe sometime in the future, when the material becomes cheaper, the pages could be reusable in some way, or maybe the books come with an access code to download software to fill in those blanks. I think the latter is more feasible (not that I need to tell you that). Regardless, it is a good book that does truly act as a guide. It will certainly help to kickstart ideas for characters, stories, and situations that pure RPGers can get behind.
If you’re interested in this book, and I think you should be, you can find it here.
