Always Fill In Background Details To Make Your Character MORE Involved Rather Than LESS

In a lot of games that use a Vancian magic system (the one most common to Dungeons and Dragons, and similar systems) there is often an interesting trick that allows prepared spellcasters (such as clerics who pray for specific spells, wizards who go through the rituals out of their spellbooks, etc.) can use to maintain their flexibility. What they do is allow you to essentially reserve a spell slot (or several of them, if you so choose), leaving it purposefully empty so that it can be filled with a spell at a later time. So if the party is traveling along, and they find an inhospitable environment, a poisonous fog, or some other condition that knowing just the right spell could fix, the caster can take a few minutes to memorize the appropriate spell, and then deploy it using that empty slot.

Now, there are discussions about just how effective this can be as a strategy in a mechanical sense. However, this logic of leaving wiggle room so that you can adapt to unforeseen circumstances is something I'd recommend more of us actually do with our characters when it comes to the details of their stories. Because even those of us who write several pages of background often leave plenty of white space that we can fill up at appropriate story moments to help keep things moving forward.

Let me explain...

Even with all these notes, there's a LOT you didn't cover.

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

If There's Nothing There, You Can Fill It In!

To illustrate what I'm talking about, let's take a very low-stakes example. Say that your party is all meeting at the local tavern, and you ask your Game Master what the current specials on the menu are. And because your GM recently picked up a copy of my 100 Fantasy Foods, they tell you that salamander steaks are currently on offer. A unique meal due to the salamander's resilience to heat and fire, they tend to be raw and bloody, scorched with acid and flavored with citrus. That sounds interesting, so you decide that your dwarven wizard is going to order that.

However, you choose to take things a little further. Because you know that Hervarth was raised in a forge mountain, skilled at enchanting magic weapons and armor as part of his learning in the ways of spellcraft, you decide to add into his backstory that salamander meat was something he fell in love with during his study as an apprentice because it was always available around the mountain (since the beasts were drawn to the fiery hearts of the forge). Perhaps this is a sign that this particular tavern is relatively close to the mountain he trained at, or it's surprising for him that this meal is available so far afield, but either way it sets up a little detail, and gives your character something to be excited about, while paying off a minor detail the GM slipped into the session.

The power of imagination!

This is the sort of thing I mean about filling in the blank parts of your character's canvas. If there's a detail about their past that hasn't been established as canon yet (like their favorite food), then when an opportunity arises you can capitalize on that detail to fill in a previously unexplored part of their character, revealing it to the rest of the table in a way that adds to the scene.

However, you can do this for big details, as well as small ones.

For example, say you're playing a hard-as-nails rogue. You've been a bandit and a highwaymen, you were a gang enforcer, and there is no dirty job you won't do... but when a bunch of kids start eyeing the party, he pulls a small, bean-stuffed leather ball out of nowhere, and teaches them a game they can play with it. Soon they're laughing, kicking it back and forth in a little circle, using their elbows, feet, knees, and heads to keep it in the air as long as they can.

Why does the scarred, cold-hearted bruiser have a soft spot for kids? Maybe he had some of his own that he hasn't seen since their mother left. Or since they died; collateral for the life he led. Maybe he was an elder sibling, and he got into the life he's in now to get the money to take care of his baby brother and sister, so he knows how to entertain and bond with younglings. And if a quest hook comes up where the children are in danger, a quest hook with little to no monetary reward, that little background detail might be enough to drag the money-up-front mercenary into a fight for a good cause.

These background details you add to your character on the fly could be as a simple result of a roleplay opportunity, as mentioned above. They might be a result of an absurdly good skill check (perhaps the dark-eyed ranger knows so much about religion because their mother is a priestess, and the two of them haven't spoken since she rejected the cloth and the oath of her order). But the idea behind filling in your backstory is that it should always be done with the express purpose of adding to a scene, rather than taking your character out of it.

For example, if you hear that a monastery was attacked, you could add in that your brother was inducted into that order, and you have to find out if he's all right. You shouldn't decide that your character has a negative history with that monastic order, using this grudge as a reason not to get involved. If you hear there are bandits terrorizing a town, you should feel free to add in that you have history with one or more of the bandits in that gang, and you're going to at least stop them, and possibly settle a grudge or two along the way. You should not decide you have a heretofore-unmentioned bounty on your head in that region, so you can't go there and risk being recognized and arrested.

And so on, and so forth.

The goal should always be to keep the momentum of a scene going, not to put the brakes on. If the addition you're going to make is going to stop your character from getting involved, or give you an excuse not to go down a story path, or to remove you from a scene, that's not a good addition. Much like improv, you want to be able to say, "Yes, and," when you add something from your character to the scene.

For additional, related examples and advice, consider checking out Find A Reason For Your Character To Get Involved. And if you're a Game Master who wants to build off of the supplement I plugged earlier, then I'd recommend grabbing your very own copy of the Inn & Tavern Bundle to get a slew of useful resources that just might end up adding to your characters' backstories, as well as fleshing out your setting!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Do Clothes Make The Adventurer?

The man sitting in the chair near the fire in the common room needed no introduction, if one had eyes to read the signs. His surcoat was green velvet, finely cared for and tailored to his frame. The shirt beneath was silk, the cuff links glittering with emerald chips. His boots were well-made, and had been re-soled a time or two. Most tellingly, though, was the symbol that adorned his breast. A black heart, with a fire burning inside it. That badge, combined with the signet ring on his right hand, marked him as the Maester Arcanum to Lord Blackburn. A man, and a position, not to be trifled with lightly.

Don't even get me started on his bodyguard...

We've all had those moments when we sit down at a table, and describe to the other players what our PC looks like. Problem is, most of the time it sounds like a police description rather than a heroic introduction. We get ethnicity, race, hair and eye color, height, weight, and general description of what they're wearing and carrying. Which gets the point across, but it paints a pretty flat image overall. So if you want your PC to stand out, look at what they're wearing. Now give it a little personality, and maybe an Easter egg or two for the people with Knowledge skills to roll.

Going Beyond The Basics

What you wear says something about you, but the devil is in the details. For example, say your PC is a man with a shaved head, wearing a brown robe, and walking with a staff. Sure, that tells us the broad strokes, but what else do we notice? Is the robe a rough weave, indicating it was made by hand for utility rather than looks? Is it new, or old? Does it fit well, or was it made as a kind of one-size-fits-all garment? Does it have any adornment, such as a cloak clasp on the chest, or large pockets in the front? What about his footwear? Does he wear pants with the robe, or is that his only garment?

Once you have the answers to those questions, ask what the sum of those answers means. Is this the way peasants and farmers dress in the outlying provinces of a particular nation? Or is this the uniform of an order of monks who wear only plain, functional clothes? Or is dressing like this the mark of a pilgrim, showing that this person is likely on a religious journey? Or an arcane tradition that focuses on the ephemeral and internal by eschewing luxuries?

And how well-recognized is this attire by those who see you?

Everything your character wears tells a story, if you include the right details. As an example, you might have a big man dressed in fine clothes, and wearing rings and jewelry. However, the fine clothes don't fit him well, and he looks uncomfortable in them. If you combine that with a rougher manner of speech, scars, and sword-calloused hands, then you may have someone who's been knighted, but who was clearly not born to the aristocracy. You could also have the reverse, where the one-eyed mercenary in the ragged cloak speaks just a little too well to have been born and raised as a common sellsword.

That particular tell shows up more than once in my 100 Random Bandits to Meet list, for DMs wondering where they could incorporate those moments of surprise insight.

It's Not Just What You Wear, It's How You Wear It

There are a thousand little details in what your character wears and carries that you can use to help make it clear who they are. For example, say your character openly wears a rapier and dagger. Those choices of weapon make a statement, but what are the nuances beneath the obvious? Are the hilts fancy, or common? What sort of guards do they have? Do the weapons bear a maker's mark? Do you wear them forward on your hips, or back? Or do you wear the sword at your hip, and the dagger in an underarm brace for a faster, cross-draw? And are any of those things indicative of where the weapons came from, the style of fighting the character uses, or membership in any particular groups?

Every style tells a different tale.

The same is true for your armor, your jackets, your jewelry, and your other accessories; what do they say about you?

To help get your gears going, I'll give you a few more examples.

- Jerran Vand is easy enough to spot in a crowd, with her white breeches and cape. Cut high and tight, she strikes a dramatic figure. However, it's the braided red leather of her sword belt that gives most pause. The white marks her as a student of the Damari sword guild, but that belt names her a city champion who has blooded some of the most dangerous swordsmen ever to step in the square.

- Dane Hardwell looks exactly the way a man-at-arms should look. His tabard is clean, his boots shined, and his belt always square. His armor is always polished to a parade shine, and his face clean-shaven. It isn't all for show, though. Anyone who notices the medals stamped along his paldrons can tell at a glance that this man has seen his share of battles, and survived to tell the tale.

- Farran Emberwell is a squat, broad dwarf. Though he dresses in workman's leathers and wool, making him look almost like a common laborer, he wears a pair of ruby rings on the third finger of each hand. Those rings, clearly marked with the seals of Arendale, declare him a Master Transmuter.

You can include as many, or as few, of these details as you want. But before you tell the table that your PC is a tall human wearing a chain shirt and carrying a short sword, stop and ask for more specifics. What kind of chain is it, and is it being hidden or worn openly? What else is he wearing in terms of accessories? Does he have a hat? Ear rings? Bracers? A necklace? And what, if anything, do the things he's wearing say about his past, his religious beliefs, his status, or his membership in any organizations legal, illegal, or otherwise?

For other thoughts on how you can get more specific with your character's looks and habits, check out What Is Your Character's Everyday Carry? (And What Does It Say About Them?) and What Do Your Characters Eat?

That's all for this week's Fluff update. Hopefully it got your wheels turning, and you're thinking about what your character's outfits, accessories, etc. actually say about them. For more content from yours truly, check out my Vocal archive, or head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I and other gamers put together all kinds of different videos. If you want to keep up-to-date on my latest releases, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, to help support Improved Initiative, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron. Or click this link to Buy Me A Coffee! Either way, I'll send you some sweet gaming swag as a thank you for your help!

And if you've got a hankering for a new book, you could head to My Amazon Author Page to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!