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RPG Backstory Ideas
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I was daydreaming about RPG character backstories and I came up with
these ideas.

.. contents::

Weird old hermit
================

The player was an orphan or a runaway and some weird old hermit adopted
the player.

The hermit secretly taught the player their skills (magic, thievery,
druid stuff, touch-typing, whatever).

Then one day:

*   some villain from the hermit's past shows up and kills him and then
    rides away.  Easy revenge plot hook here.

*   OR, the hermit gets some cryptic message and then announces he must
    leave to take care of something, but he will return by the next full
    moon, next winter, etc.

    And the hermit doesn't show up at that time, so the player is on
    a quest to find the hermit or complete his last mission.

Conscientious deserter
======================

The player joined the miliary or was conscripted during a war.  During
training, he showed the most potential of all the recruits and the
commander took a special interest in him, grooming him for great things.

The commander then tested the loyalty of the player by:

*   giving an order like "burn down that village and kill all the women
    and children" or something else that would deeply violate the
    player's moral code.

*   OR letting the player know that the enemy is on the way to destroy the
    player's home, but the commander will let it happen.

And instead of being the obedient soldier, the player deserted.

Maybe the player returns home in time to warn his village, maybe he gets
there and they're all slaughtered.  Either way, the player has to stay
on the move to avoid the commander's scouts that are hunting him down.


Last in a long line of travelling carnies
=========================================

This one works best for a thief.

The player belongs to a tribe of nomads.  They go from town to town
pretending to be merchants, but really they steal and swindle as much as
they can.

The player was learning the grifting trade, until the tribe's bad
behavior caught up with them and they were all hunted down and locked
up, beaten, or worse.  The player snuck away during the raid, and is
out on his own.


Private school dropout
======================

The player's parents sent him to some fancy school to learn the craft,
and the player shows lots of potential,  but OH NO -- he has to leave
school because the family has lost its nobility due to some scheming by
another family.

Runaway slave
=============

As a child, the player was a slave for a family of cruel nobles.  The
player was a servant to the heir, a boy the same age.  While the heir
trained in combat, the player secretly watched and then practiced on his
own.

One day, the player is discovered spying!  The noble of the house
decides to have his son duel the player, with real weapons, in front of
all the other slaves of the house, in order to teach the other slaves a
lesson about knowing their place.

And of course, the player kills the heir during the duel and humiliates
the noble family.

So, the player flees for his life and travels far, far away.

That noble family has posted a reward for the player.



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