Describe the characters background

The characters background is their history. What happened to them, and when, how they feel about the world, and how they normally interact with it. Backgrounds add depth to the character.

I can't stress enough how important it is to create and well thought out background for your character. They serve as reminders to you as to how to play the character, for example: It's a sticky situation, a gun would be useful right now but would a nun really pull out a gun and shoot someone?

Backgrounds help the storyteller guess which characters are most likely to see and do things, for example: Which character is more likely to notice the sniper on the roof up there? The one that used to be a bodyguard or the one that used to be an accountant.

Define the background

Write the characters background as you would someone's biography. At the very least, it should answer the following questions:

  • When and where were they born?
  • Where they different from other children?
    • Did they have a difficult upbringing?
  • What schools and institutions did they attend?
    • Did they enjoy it them?
    • Did they lean any special or unusual skill, if so how?
  • What kind of person are they?
    • Do they have a mean streak?
    • Do they have a strong sense of fair play?
    • Are they religious?
    • How well do they interact with people?
    • How do they cope when things don't go the way they planned?
  • What motivates them?
    • Do they go ballistic every time someone mentions the words "Cleaning Woman"?
    • Do they have a strong desire to care for lost cats?
  • What do they look like?
    • What is their ethnic background?
    • Any scars or a twitch?
    • What do they like to wear?
  • What do they do for a living?
    • When did they start doing it?
    • Where did they learn it?
    • How much do they earn?
  • What are their hobbies and interests?
  • Where do they live?
  • Do they have any special possessions?
    • A weapon of some sort, a library, or an artifact?
    • Where did it come from?
    • How did they get it?
  • When did they first encounter magic?
  • What form does your avatar manifest in?
    • How does it get your attention?
    • Is it particularly strong or particularly weak?

Backgrounds can become quite detailed. Personally, I think this is a very good thing. I will be asking to see it.

Note: If you do not want your character to belong to a tradition then make sure your background mentions what the characters specialty sphere is.

Honors Hand Backgrounds

Due to the concept of the game, all characters in Honors Hand must have some kind of Asian connection. I don't really care what it is but it must be present. For example:

  • They could be Asian, or half Asian, or something.
  • They or their family lived there for many years.
  • They work for an Asian company and they have very strong ties to it.
  • They visited Asia and "something" happened to them while they were there.
  • Their great-great grandfather was friends with one and owed him a debt of service, which was never collected.
  • Or something else, be creative.

Lastly, all characters should have a sense of honor and service. This is important because they will be asked to effectively give up whatever kind of a life they thought they had. If they were not the sorts of people that could at least learn to cope with that then they wouldn't have be asked.