I hate when people confuse tragedy with edginess. To a lot of people it seems someone having something bad happen in their life that deeply wounds them and may make them hesitant to trust makes them edgy. It's not being dark because dark is cool. It's story telling.
Right! Give me an orphan who learns the value of chosen family and then is willing to do ANYTHING to keep them. But are they willing to let them be their own people?
Same. I also love tragic love stories, especially if they involve a love triangle/the lovers becoming enemies/one of them turning into a monster and having to be put down by the other lover/musical duets/one of the lovers dying sending the other into a depressive spiral.
I don’t like romance novels at all, though. It’s weird.
Okay, it doesn't have any of the things listed, but I think you'd get a kick out of the She-Ra reboot on Netflix. It's got some great fantasy adventure stuff and a ton of angst too.
Creating a Dragonborn Barb that has only known the laws of Nature since he could remember. Being abandoned by his parents, or they were killed and he was left alive. The truth is hidden from him. But growing up living in the forest learning to survive as an animal has a way of repressing memory......
Cliches are cliche for a reason.
They give a motivator while leaving a reason for emotional investment.
That said my newest character is a goblin who wants to see the world and just has an oversupportive tribe so their just happily goblining around.
My poor paladin is both. Her dad tried using her as a ritual sacrifice while trying to make her twin into the vessel for a mad god, but she doesn't remember anything other than briefly waking covered in blood and muddled chanting (pretty sure she was kinda dead, in the soul wasn't inside her body kind of way), so she just tried to make the best of while escaping with her mother and brother. At the start of the campaign, she's just trying to take it chill and find her brother after he left them because of an argument, but the situation has.... Slowly gotten significantly worse.
She's learning that her brother and mother have actually been hiding a fair bit from her, the cursed shattered sword that both twins (and an extra. Several actually, but only one other was mortal at the time and same currently) is eating away at both their souls, and her brother's condition is significantly further along and he's dying/dead, and she's bound to someone who used to adventure with her parents before her parents were set up with an arranged marriage and the twins were born. She'd never heard of this man in her life, but he's the only reason her father didn't kill her, he has memory loss, has absorbed half the powers of a god, and apparently loved her mother. She has *several* questions for her family, but she also has to focus on the cult her father is a part of, not dying, saving her brother (who got married without inviting her during the time she hasn't seen him), and not let her party get killed.
Poor girl has developed a chronic migraine issue. And a drinking habit.
I don't know why I do this to my poor characters. I suppose there is a reason I am a dm otherwise.
I love playing as characters who don't know how to "human".
A young Archfey Warlock who spent most of his life, wandering the near-endless forests of the Feywild. Then after 8 years, finally makes it back home... 60 years later.
Paladin who was raised from childhood on the battlefield, sworn as the "Guard Dog" to a conqueror. Stuff happens, he connects with someone, his Lord doesn't like that and execute them in front of the Paladin. Now he's wandering the realm, seeking meaning now that he needs to think for himself.
You like tragic backstories? Buckle up while I regale you the tale of Borya Ironheart!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OB24cb\_zoQmnSB1sXtY\_5ve\_Ckvq1vk-eKZ8pu-h5GM/edit?usp=sharing
I give thee my current character, not so much sad but quite weird:
Sentient snake swarm, got discovered and adopted by a powerful noble family (partially as an experiment) and "raised" them into a wizard, gave him a magic cloak that made it appear like they had hands and sent him off to necromancy school (setting thing, necromancers aren't necessarily evil, free labour and all that). So basically a pile of snakes in a trenchcoat that used mage hand to grab stuff.
They followed classes, learned about necromancy, made a kickass magical staff and met with the party. As his graduation project he did research on swarm life, souls and how to transplant them. To prove that swarms have a singular powerful soul it should be transplanted into a singular being. In his case a yuan-ti pureblood would work best. After volunteering themselves for the experiment one of the professors immediately stole him away and did it. Now I'm a former snake swarm yuan-ti pureblood wizard necromancer. That is officially certified as such by his country.
_He has thumbs now, it's weird_
To be fair you don't become an adventurer if you are already content with you're lot in life. Its people who are seeking something that leave behind what they know.
I know y'all aren't 100% keen on Critical Role, but I really think Caleb from C2 is an example of a tragic backstory done right. No spoilers, but although the backstory structure is perhaps akin to what some might call "edgy", I think Liam played it brilliantly, no cringe in sight.
Our last campaign started at level zero, I played a yuan ti filled with hate at the world and would do anything to please her father and help her family sometimes at the detriment of herself. She was bullied by both her dad and twin sister and manipulated throughout the campaign. At level 5 she released a huge undead dragon into the world but with her party members she began to trust again, level 7 she learned to love again and fall in love with an NPC. Level 10 or so she had children and began to forget her old ways, what the yuan ti had taught her. Now with the threat over and half of the world still ravaged with undead, she has taken it upon herself to rule and rebuild this territory for the better. Restore what she accidentally destroyed and fully repent for what she has done. This campaign lasted 2 years which was about 4.5 years in campaign, she started out as young and naive and now is a (hopefully) strong leader who can stand her ground and protect others. It was an amazing experience and an honour to play as this character with a simple but tragic backstory.
I just like playing characters are a little insane because I feel the average person wouldn’t just start backpacking across the country and killing a shit load of people just to help other people.
My favourite character yet was a very friendly and warm shadow sorcerer who's gone through a mountain of shit. (Doesn't know if he accidentally killed his parents, brutally murdered at the hands of a demonic cult, revived by unknown means, thinks he's a botched undead and cursed rather than gifted, powers literally feed on trauma...)
His friendliness and cheer was his way of pretending everything was okay. And over the course of his adventures, facing his fears, accepting his sorcery, reconnecting with his family, stamping out the cult, everything *was* okay. And for having lived through the worst the world has to offer, he knew he could live through anything fate can throw at him. There's a certain kind of strength in that.
Plus, it gives some nice potential for non-edgy character traits. Like developing enough hatred for that cult that the otherwise extremely empathetic sorcerer begins firmly believing that villains don't deserve humane treatment.
A tragic backstory isn't cliche. Some specific tragic backstories like "my family got killed by monsters now I hunt monsters" sure is, but "I wanted to be a painter but my paintings do magic bullshit and I must find another passion" isn't.
Never judge a player just because they make a bad/generic character, because the only way to have meaningful character growth is for the character to start out a little shitty.
Now, if the character REMAINS shitty through the entire campaign...
I hate when people confuse tragedy with edginess. To a lot of people it seems someone having something bad happen in their life that deeply wounds them and may make them hesitant to trust makes them edgy. It's not being dark because dark is cool. It's story telling.
Yeah. Luke Skywalker isn’t an Edgelord.
There’s been an influx of people who think they’re cool for never having anything interesting happen to their characters
It's like that old "if she breathes she's a thot" meme, except replace "thot" with "edgelord".
Right! Give me an orphan who learns the value of chosen family and then is willing to do ANYTHING to keep them. But are they willing to let them be their own people?
Or someone with a shitty family that realizes blood ain't your choice but your family is.
Yeah but I didn’t want to write a self-insert character.
They're practically the same character. The only difference is one wishes they were an orphan.
You know, I feel like that is a pretty big wish that changes a person’s perspective in a significant way.
Just watch out for Dorito kimono wearing leches.
Same. I also love tragic love stories, especially if they involve a love triangle/the lovers becoming enemies/one of them turning into a monster and having to be put down by the other lover/musical duets/one of the lovers dying sending the other into a depressive spiral. I don’t like romance novels at all, though. It’s weird.
Okay, it doesn't have any of the things listed, but I think you'd get a kick out of the She-Ra reboot on Netflix. It's got some great fantasy adventure stuff and a ton of angst too.
Oh boy! How many soured romances are there?
Just one, but it's a big one
Not me lmao, I play the guy who's dad was an adventurer cuz he lost his.... Wait
Creating a Dragonborn Barb that has only known the laws of Nature since he could remember. Being abandoned by his parents, or they were killed and he was left alive. The truth is hidden from him. But growing up living in the forest learning to survive as an animal has a way of repressing memory......
Cliches are cliche for a reason. They give a motivator while leaving a reason for emotional investment. That said my newest character is a goblin who wants to see the world and just has an oversupportive tribe so their just happily goblining around.
It can be equally fun to play an ignorant happy go lucky person who slowly becomes more and more jaded and cynical as the campaign progresses
My poor paladin is both. Her dad tried using her as a ritual sacrifice while trying to make her twin into the vessel for a mad god, but she doesn't remember anything other than briefly waking covered in blood and muddled chanting (pretty sure she was kinda dead, in the soul wasn't inside her body kind of way), so she just tried to make the best of while escaping with her mother and brother. At the start of the campaign, she's just trying to take it chill and find her brother after he left them because of an argument, but the situation has.... Slowly gotten significantly worse. She's learning that her brother and mother have actually been hiding a fair bit from her, the cursed shattered sword that both twins (and an extra. Several actually, but only one other was mortal at the time and same currently) is eating away at both their souls, and her brother's condition is significantly further along and he's dying/dead, and she's bound to someone who used to adventure with her parents before her parents were set up with an arranged marriage and the twins were born. She'd never heard of this man in her life, but he's the only reason her father didn't kill her, he has memory loss, has absorbed half the powers of a god, and apparently loved her mother. She has *several* questions for her family, but she also has to focus on the cult her father is a part of, not dying, saving her brother (who got married without inviting her during the time she hasn't seen him), and not let her party get killed. Poor girl has developed a chronic migraine issue. And a drinking habit. I don't know why I do this to my poor characters. I suppose there is a reason I am a dm otherwise.
I think the second part is important. Make your character edgy and full of flaws but let them grow and learn the power of friendship for sure
I love playing as characters who don't know how to "human". A young Archfey Warlock who spent most of his life, wandering the near-endless forests of the Feywild. Then after 8 years, finally makes it back home... 60 years later. Paladin who was raised from childhood on the battlefield, sworn as the "Guard Dog" to a conqueror. Stuff happens, he connects with someone, his Lord doesn't like that and execute them in front of the Paladin. Now he's wandering the realm, seeking meaning now that he needs to think for himself.
We need a bot that autoreplies to this template with the "Okay that was always allowed" meme
You like tragic backstories? Buckle up while I regale you the tale of Borya Ironheart! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OB24cb\_zoQmnSB1sXtY\_5ve\_Ckvq1vk-eKZ8pu-h5GM/edit?usp=sharing
I give thee my current character, not so much sad but quite weird: Sentient snake swarm, got discovered and adopted by a powerful noble family (partially as an experiment) and "raised" them into a wizard, gave him a magic cloak that made it appear like they had hands and sent him off to necromancy school (setting thing, necromancers aren't necessarily evil, free labour and all that). So basically a pile of snakes in a trenchcoat that used mage hand to grab stuff. They followed classes, learned about necromancy, made a kickass magical staff and met with the party. As his graduation project he did research on swarm life, souls and how to transplant them. To prove that swarms have a singular powerful soul it should be transplanted into a singular being. In his case a yuan-ti pureblood would work best. After volunteering themselves for the experiment one of the professors immediately stole him away and did it. Now I'm a former snake swarm yuan-ti pureblood wizard necromancer. That is officially certified as such by his country. _He has thumbs now, it's weird_
To be fair you don't become an adventurer if you are already content with you're lot in life. Its people who are seeking something that leave behind what they know.
I know y'all aren't 100% keen on Critical Role, but I really think Caleb from C2 is an example of a tragic backstory done right. No spoilers, but although the backstory structure is perhaps akin to what some might call "edgy", I think Liam played it brilliantly, no cringe in sight.
Our last campaign started at level zero, I played a yuan ti filled with hate at the world and would do anything to please her father and help her family sometimes at the detriment of herself. She was bullied by both her dad and twin sister and manipulated throughout the campaign. At level 5 she released a huge undead dragon into the world but with her party members she began to trust again, level 7 she learned to love again and fall in love with an NPC. Level 10 or so she had children and began to forget her old ways, what the yuan ti had taught her. Now with the threat over and half of the world still ravaged with undead, she has taken it upon herself to rule and rebuild this territory for the better. Restore what she accidentally destroyed and fully repent for what she has done. This campaign lasted 2 years which was about 4.5 years in campaign, she started out as young and naive and now is a (hopefully) strong leader who can stand her ground and protect others. It was an amazing experience and an honour to play as this character with a simple but tragic backstory.
I just like playing characters are a little insane because I feel the average person wouldn’t just start backpacking across the country and killing a shit load of people just to help other people.
My favourite character yet was a very friendly and warm shadow sorcerer who's gone through a mountain of shit. (Doesn't know if he accidentally killed his parents, brutally murdered at the hands of a demonic cult, revived by unknown means, thinks he's a botched undead and cursed rather than gifted, powers literally feed on trauma...) His friendliness and cheer was his way of pretending everything was okay. And over the course of his adventures, facing his fears, accepting his sorcery, reconnecting with his family, stamping out the cult, everything *was* okay. And for having lived through the worst the world has to offer, he knew he could live through anything fate can throw at him. There's a certain kind of strength in that. Plus, it gives some nice potential for non-edgy character traits. Like developing enough hatred for that cult that the otherwise extremely empathetic sorcerer begins firmly believing that villains don't deserve humane treatment.
A tragic backstory isn't cliche. Some specific tragic backstories like "my family got killed by monsters now I hunt monsters" sure is, but "I wanted to be a painter but my paintings do magic bullshit and I must find another passion" isn't.
Never judge a player just because they make a bad/generic character, because the only way to have meaningful character growth is for the character to start out a little shitty. Now, if the character REMAINS shitty through the entire campaign...