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The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Prompts and Activities to Create the Most Interesting Story for Your Character

The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Prompts and Activities to Create the Most Interesting Story for Your Character

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-11-26 09:53:13
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：James D’Amato
  • ISBN：1507208375
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Ramp up your role-playing game （RPG） and make your character your own with this fun， interactive workbook—an essential addition to any player’s gaming kit。

You’ve chosen your class， bought your weapons， and rolled for your stats， and you’re now the proud owner of your own RPG （role-playing game） avatar。 But before you begin your adventure， there’s so much more you can do with your character to make him or her your own！ Just how evil is she？ What does his dating profile look like？ Where did she get that scar？ What does he want for his birthday？ With fill-in-the blank narratives， prompts， and fun activities to help you customize your character at the start of the game， or build out your backstory as you play， The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Book will help you fully imagine your character and bring them to life for the ultimate gaming experience！

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Reviews

Timur ，

Well written for everyone who likes playing and/or DMing pen&paper

Justin Koster ，

An interesting series of exercises to bring a character or characters to life。

Nano Villa ，

Muchas ideas y prompts， pero un poco revuelto en su estructura， aunque es útil tanto para jugadores como Directores de juego， no lo considero esencial más bien una herramienta que podrías usar de cuando en cuando

Autumn Turner ，

This is a great tool to flesh out characters and NPCs。 Highly recommend for writers and those who play D&D or other RPG games。

Geordie ，

I'm not entirely sure what this book is supposed to be， but I know I didn't enjoy it。 It says right in the description that it is meant to be a guide to creating your RPG character's backstory。 Well， yes， SOME of it is。 Some of it is ways to flesh out your character， and some of that is pretty well written。 On the other hand， some of the listings seem to be role-playing situations that would NOT be backstory， but would be a way to experiment with your character so you have a better grip on how t I'm not entirely sure what this book is supposed to be， but I know I didn't enjoy it。 It says right in the description that it is meant to be a guide to creating your RPG character's backstory。 Well， yes， SOME of it is。 Some of it is ways to flesh out your character， and some of that is pretty well written。 On the other hand， some of the listings seem to be role-playing situations that would NOT be backstory， but would be a way to experiment with your character so you have a better grip on how to role-play him or her。 And then there are some sections that I have no clue what they're supposed to be for。 A prompt on what modern fashion is like in the role-playing world， and how older generations react to it。。。 how the heck is that supposed to flesh out a character at all？ And， isn't that supposed to be the purview of the Dungeon Master？ A lot of this book treads on the metaphorical feet of a game's Dungeon Master; you can start your character with enemies or allies， a curse， a magic spell-book， etcetera。 These aren't things I would automatically rule out of a character back-story， but， they muddy the waters of just who this book is intended for， and annoyingly make a DM's job harder， not easier。 Some of the ideas are certainly good， but some just make no sense to me。 And some of the writing is tepid， some of the humor sophomoric （an adventuring app， where you can swipe left or right on a series of goofy adventuring companions）。 The backstories are divided up by how high the character's level is; shouldn't most of it be focused on completely new characters？ If it was up to me， I would have divided it by backstory， role-playing exercises， and DMing suggestions。 Ultimately， reading bits and pieces of the guide isn't a terrible waste of time。 I can see getting some use and fun out of it as a web-page， podcast， or Youtube series。 But actually paying money for the book， it's just not worth it。 。。。more

Kate ，

This is so much fun to go through and think about new and old characters。

Mo ，

I am playing Dungeons and Dragons for the first time ever。 My friend recommended me to read this book to help guide the creation of the backstory of my character。 This book was so helpful and inspired me to continue playing RPGs！

Kelsey Brennan ，

"My ideal party is an eclectic group of surrogate family members who insist that they work alone while welcoming me into their lives。"I had fun working through some of the exercises while developing my latest characters。 While the exercises were fun throughout， I found that the ones I found the most useful were in the earlier part of the book。 Some of the exercises I thought were particularly compelling were:- Across a Crowded Tavern， which asks you to manifest how your core character statistic "My ideal party is an eclectic group of surrogate family members who insist that they work alone while welcoming me into their lives。"I had fun working through some of the exercises while developing my latest characters。 While the exercises were fun throughout， I found that the ones I found the most useful were in the earlier part of the book。 Some of the exercises I thought were particularly compelling were:- Across a Crowded Tavern， which asks you to manifest how your core character statistic is present and shows itself in your day-to-day life- Well Worn， which helps you add depth to some of the standard inventory items- Mountains and Molehills， which is a helpful reminder about how to build off your party to influence your own character and inspire meaningful role playProbably a book I'll pick up and flip through for anything that catches my eye while I'm going through the character creation process， pulling a few relevant exercises。 I also really appreciate D'Amato's dedication to varying pronouns throughout the book。 。。。more

Heidi The Reader ，

The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide is an excellent resource for anyone who is looking to create or improve their role-playing character back stories。James D'Amato utilizes his training in impromptu theater to craft questions that guide readers through story creation。 Some of the prompts are funny， most are entertaining， and all touch on essential elements of a character。The book is divided into character levels， so there's something for beginners to the more advanced gamer。Role playing g The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide is an excellent resource for anyone who is looking to create or improve their role-playing character back stories。James D'Amato utilizes his training in impromptu theater to craft questions that guide readers through story creation。 Some of the prompts are funny， most are entertaining， and all touch on essential elements of a character。The book is divided into character levels， so there's something for beginners to the more advanced gamer。Role playing games are fun because of the interaction between players and their characters。 By taking the time to create a detailed backstory， you're giving the gift of hours of entertainment for both yourself and your gaming buddies。Highly recommended。 。。。more

Lady Makaveli ，

I don’t see how anyone can give this book anything less than five stars， but， to each their own。 Personally， when I found this book it was a luxury I somehow didn’t know existed。 A book， no， a Role Playing （D&D） book full of different scenarios， questions， situations and circumstances already created for me to go through “with” or “as” my character！ Perhaps to you this isn’t special; to me it is extremely special。 Seeing someone has put together such a wonderfully organized， informative， creativ I don’t see how anyone can give this book anything less than five stars， but， to each their own。 Personally， when I found this book it was a luxury I somehow didn’t know existed。 A book， no， a Role Playing （D&D） book full of different scenarios， questions， situations and circumstances already created for me to go through “with” or “as” my character！ Perhaps to you this isn’t special; to me it is extremely special。 Seeing someone has put together such a wonderfully organized， informative， creative and in depth book of different methods in which one can get to know their character as deeply as I like to know mine lifted the weight of insanity off of my shoulders。 Wanting to know your character on the deepest level you desire is only found in the “responses” given once we create them， and this is something I had no idea anyone else did until finding this book。 In the past I have spent countless hours creating MY OWN questions， scenarios， circumstance and so forth for the purpose of knowing my characters intimately as possible。 I always search for the most well rounded and in depth history I can prepare for each of my characters but I am never been completely satisfied; I always feel I miss something。 That is why this book is a savior in my eyes。 Including the questions and situations presented and mixing with what I already know， I can honestly say I feel my understanding of my character is greater than ever。 This reflects in ones writings; both in character and story alike， in my opinion。I am unaware if there are any other books such as this but surely there are。 I cannot say if they are as fulfilling as this one has been or not; however！ I can say， if you are a writer who enjoys delving in and learning all you can about any and all aspects of your CP， this book won’t disappoint！ Keep in mind， of course， this is an rpg based backstory guide。 If you’re expecting anything less creative than fantasy， such as a western （ first thing that came to mind ） then obviously this will not be for you。 Before hating on a perfectly fine piece of work， how about using common sense; think in context of the genre you write in comparison with the book。 If you have a match; you won’t be disappointed。 。。。more

Angela Tolsma ，

This is a good book if you like role-playing and want to add more to your characters story。 It turns out it's not really how I like to play。 I also greatly disliked the use of pronouns within the pages， would have been much better if it had not been genderized。 This all said I did take notes and will be back to snag things from this book when I'm building new characters。 This is a good book if you like role-playing and want to add more to your characters story。 It turns out it's not really how I like to play。 I also greatly disliked the use of pronouns within the pages， would have been much better if it had not been genderized。 This all said I did take notes and will be back to snag things from this book when I'm building new characters。 。。。more

Ashley ，

Has some great prompts~

Mark ，

Variable。

Bill ，

This is a fantastic book for RPG players who want to add more character to their characters。 Interesting exercises， thought-provoking lists， and even some dice-rolling opportunities make this volume indispensable -- for RPG players and for Dungeon Masters as well。Game masters may want to pick one or two exercises as assignments for their players to think about or to write up; it gives the players new ways to think about their characters， and can easily add a nearly endless supply of plot hooks f This is a fantastic book for RPG players who want to add more character to their characters。 Interesting exercises， thought-provoking lists， and even some dice-rolling opportunities make this volume indispensable -- for RPG players and for Dungeon Masters as well。Game masters may want to pick one or two exercises as assignments for their players to think about or to write up; it gives the players new ways to think about their characters， and can easily add a nearly endless supply of plot hooks for GMs to keep the players busy。Not only is this book of use to gamers， but fantasy writers will find the exercises invaluable to beef up their characterizations。 。。。more

Cameron ，

Great exercises to help fill out your characters！

Beleek ，

I was really excited to get this book in。 I love creating additional content surrounding my DnD characters， and I love books like Xanathar's Guide to Everything， or using online surveys/questionnaires to flesh out more detail。 This book falls very short of all of that however and is ragingly mediocre。 I would not recommend this book。 I was really excited to get this book in。 I love creating additional content surrounding my DnD characters， and I love books like Xanathar's Guide to Everything， or using online surveys/questionnaires to flesh out more detail。 This book falls very short of all of that however and is ragingly mediocre。 I would not recommend this book。 。。。more

Jason ，

Hate filling out your characters back story？ Read this handy dandy book and all the pain goes away。。even if it will feel like someone just handed you homework。

Kevin Brown ，

A great book with lots of tips， tricks and exercises to help you create a more well rounded character。 It is lots of fun and very smart。

Katherine ，

This is a truly excellent resource for fleshing out the "RP" part of your TTRPG。 My only complaint is how D&D focused it is--many of the exercises are difficult or impossible to adapt to non-fantasy and even non-D&D specific games。 I'd love a companion book that has exercises tailored to other kinds of settings。 This is a truly excellent resource for fleshing out the "RP" part of your TTRPG。 My only complaint is how D&D focused it is--many of the exercises are difficult or impossible to adapt to non-fantasy and even non-D&D specific games。 I'd love a companion book that has exercises tailored to other kinds of settings。 。。。more

Adriana Gabrielle ，

Fantastic Book that assists in the development for D&D！ It's something you can't sit down and read in one sitting and you work through it as each section gives you character development prompts based on the level character you are！ It definitely helped me figure out some holes in my characters backstory for sure！ Fantastic Book that assists in the development for D&D！ It's something you can't sit down and read in one sitting and you work through it as each section gives you character development prompts based on the level character you are！ It definitely helped me figure out some holes in my characters backstory for sure！ 。。。more

Sarah ，

This book has many great prompt to help flesh out your backstory。 Not just for D&D but also for writers。

Dimitrios Gkirgkiris ，

Great exercises for creating NPCs or PC with detailed background for all RPGs。Also very good resource for fleshing out characters for novels。

C。D。 Gallant-King ，

I can't believe I hadn't rated this yet。 More detailed review to come， but for now let me just say this is AWESOME！ I can't believe I hadn't rated this yet。 More detailed review to come， but for now let me just say this is AWESOME！ 。。。more

Martin Maenza ，

This is not a book you read through completely。 It is better used as a tool when involved in a fantasy roleplaying game as it includes exercises you can perform to help flesh out the background/motivation of your characters。 There is a lot a variety here so plenty to pick and choose from if you are having a creative stall otherwise。

Candace ，

Really fun。 This will be a lot of fun when byilding characters for my novels， not just RPG。 Great writing exercises。

Carissa ，

An interactive book of prompts for those lacking ideas of character stories。 This book could easily be used in any situation where you need inspiration for any manner of character creation: novel writing， RPG play， whatever， but yes， it approaches it with the idea of D&D 5e in mind。 Still， it's fun to leaf through。 An interactive book of prompts for those lacking ideas of character stories。 This book could easily be used in any situation where you need inspiration for any manner of character creation: novel writing， RPG play， whatever， but yes， it approaches it with the idea of D&D 5e in mind。 Still， it's fun to leaf through。 。。。more

Ethan ，

I'm planning on retiring one of my D&D characters in the nearish future for narrative reasons so I've been chomping at the bit to roll up his replacement。 We'd just gotten this in at work so I brought it home and flipped through to give me some ideas or refine some more that I already had。 There's a lot of great starting points in here so flipping through and cherry picking things works great， there's also a lot of options you might roll that aren't great themselves but give you enough of a kick I'm planning on retiring one of my D&D characters in the nearish future for narrative reasons so I've been chomping at the bit to roll up his replacement。 We'd just gotten this in at work so I brought it home and flipped through to give me some ideas or refine some more that I already had。 There's a lot of great starting points in here so flipping through and cherry picking things works great， there's also a lot of options you might roll that aren't great themselves but give you enough of a kickstarter to think of one that better suits your character。 I think this would be a great addition to a DM toolbox; make copies of some pages and hand them out to first-time players to help encourage them to not accidentally make a cliche。 。。。more

Ai Miller ，

Just a really fun book that can be useful for both your RPG characters and also just like writing exercises to better know and flesh out characters！ D'Amato does an amazing job of asking these really， really insightful questions that strike at the heart of knowing more， and strikes the perfect balance of serious and also silly。 Probably my favorite exercises in the book include building a familiar/mount/apprentice， where you are forced through the exercise mechanics to build a balanced （and ther Just a really fun book that can be useful for both your RPG characters and also just like writing exercises to better know and flesh out characters！ D'Amato does an amazing job of asking these really， really insightful questions that strike at the heart of knowing more， and strikes the perfect balance of serious and also silly。 Probably my favorite exercises in the book include building a familiar/mount/apprentice， where you are forced through the exercise mechanics to build a balanced （and therefore more likely to be fleshed out） character for yours to interact with。 Some of the charts I found a little confusing， but otherwise I think this is a really handy book for any writer or roleplayer to keep around！ 。。。more

Katrina ，

True to its word， The Ultimate RCBG guides players through the process of creating a detailed backstory for their role-playing game characters with the lightheartedness and whimsy of most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns。 Readers will enjoy the comedic tone of many of the exercises， from the adventuring party formation app called “Ventur” （“Whom does your character swipe right？”） to the “Damn Merlinials” prompt that explores how older generations of adventurers might look down on those newer to the True to its word， The Ultimate RCBG guides players through the process of creating a detailed backstory for their role-playing game characters with the lightheartedness and whimsy of most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns。 Readers will enjoy the comedic tone of many of the exercises， from the adventuring party formation app called “Ventur” （“Whom does your character swipe right？”） to the “Damn Merlinials” prompt that explores how older generations of adventurers might look down on those newer to the lifestyle。The book leaps from topic to topic—“What is your character’s catchphrase？” segues into “What would you do to save a cat？” before proceeding to “What unique holiday do you celebrate？”， for example—which means readers don’t have to worry about getting “stuck” on one portion of their character’s life。 You can easily skip ahead to a prompt that interests you， or open up the book to a random page for an unexpected adventure。 If you want to work through the book in order， the activities are organized based on character level， which makes sense when you consider that the experiences of a fifteenth-level hero will differ compared to a first-level novice fresh from the farm。 There’s also some great guidance in the introduction for the types of feats your character will be capable of accomplishing by level。A reader needs only the loosest of character concepts in mind to complete the activities—and honestly， you could go in with a blank slate and have fun seeing what sort of character you generate through the prompts alone。 I think this is especially helpful for readers who may be intimidated at the prospect of crafting an epic backstory worthy of a George R。 R。 Martin novel （and having to generate a treatise numbering in the dozens of pages， like that one player always does）。 Even after completing only a handful of activities， you’ll produce an emergent narrative for your character’s past in much the same way that a series of rolls and card draws creates a story over the course of a board game。 Contemplating how the different episodes in a character’s life might be linked makes for an organic and unique backstory， although it might not have quite the elegance and resonance of a character whose histories have been tightly plotted。Where many character backstory generators focus on the who， what， where， and when， the activities are structured to let readers focus on the how and why， which is much more useful when figuring out how to actually role play as your character。 （Consider how two characters with a similarly tragic childhood might respond to those formative events very differently。） I was pleasantly surprised by how the activities also engage the rest of the adventuring party， inviting the reader to think about how their character relates to or potentially clashes with their fellow travelers。 This is an aspect absent in similar types of character-writing advice books for novelists， and it’s something Amato’s book does especially well。Who Should Get This Book？This book is especially geared toward players who want to continue enjoying the tabletop gaming hobby on their own time， players who are new to role-playing and Dungeons & Dragons specifically， and players who don’t normally consider themselves creative。 The latter type of reader will appreciate jumpstarting their inspiration with fill-in-the-blank prompts， short-answer questions， multiple-choice options， and tables to roll on to generate random results。 If you do consider yourself especially creative and enjoy writing， your answers to the activities can serve as the foundation for a slew of short stories or scenes。 The sheer variety of activities， as well as the range of prompts， makes the workbook fun and exciting to work through， since you’re genuinely curious to know what the next questions will be。Who May Want to Pass？This book won’t appeal as strongly to gamers who are turned off by fantasy tropes or settings， role-players who want a very serious or dark tone for their characters， and people who want to create novel-worthy characters efficiently （you can totally use these prompts to create a protagonist for your next writing project， but you won’t get there as efficiently or cover all the bases needed by a novel）。 That said， there’s still plenty of gaming goodness here for players of games other than D&D。Between the PagesThe very first thing I noticed upon opening the book was the interior design， which is elegant and well-balanced on the page。 The sans-serif font is easy to read and not too small。 The dual ink tones （black and orange） makes the product look good without the cost of a full-color production。 The spot gloss on the cover and spine also provides a touch of class。Unfortunately， a lot of the beauty and visual interest is lost in the Kindle version， and I was disappointed by the low resolution of the bullet icons （likely done to keep the file size low， but storage space usually isn’t a concern for me on my Kindle or tablet）。 On the plus side， the tables are sized properly and don’t break awkwardly in the Kindle reader like I’ve seen in many other professionally produced e-books。 Nevertheless， this book is definitely worth getting in print， or in a PDF option if one becomes available。Finally， I think any true workbook would benefit from a lay-flat binding， and some readers may find it awkward or impossible to write in their copies without breaking the spine。 However， coil binding would have greatly increased the cost， and customers who really want this experience can take their books to their local office supply store or print shop to rebind it for ten dollars or so。Final ThoughtsAll in all， this book helps fill a gap in a burgeoning hobby where most of the how-to books are directed at game masters。 Most importantly， this book provides a vehicle for many more hours of fun when you don’t feel like you have enough role-playing in your life。A complimentary copy of the softcover was provided to the author for review purposes。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Prompts and Activities to Create the Most Interesting Story for Your Character

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Prompts and Activities to Create the Most Interesting Story for Your Character&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Prompts and Activities to Create the Most Interesting Story for Your Character&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0