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--- operations:public:interactive_rulebook:character:backstory [2025/05/29 05:47] – created eric
+++ operations:public:interactive_rulebook:character:backstory [2025/06/15 08:32] (current) – [✍️ Example 2: Bullet Format] eric
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 ====== Character Backstory ======
-Your backstory is the personal history that brings your character to life. It helps define their motivations, relationships, and how they fit into the world of Volaire. Whether you’re brand new to LARP or a seasoned roleplayer, this guide will walk you through creating a meaningful and playable backstory.
+{{:operations:public:interactive_rulebook:character:67cb464e-4b65-4dd8-b1c3-d182219d3417.png?nolink&400|}}\\
+Your backstory is the personal history that brings your character to life. It shapes their voice, purpose, and place in the world. Whether you’re brand new to LARP or a veteran of many campaigns, this guide will help you build a compelling and playable story for your time in Volaire.
 ----
 ===== 🎭 What Is a Backstory? =====
-A **backstory** is a summary of your character’s life up to the point they arrive in Volaire. It doesn’t have to be long or poetic—it just needs to explain who your character is, where they’ve been, and why they’re here now.
+A **backstory** is a short narrative explaining what your character has experienced before stepping onto the stage of play. It doesn’t need to be long or overly detailed—just enough to answer: *“Who are you, and why are you here?”*
-A strong backstory helps:
+A strong backstory:
-  * Inform your roleplay and decision-making
+  * Grounds your character in the world of Volaire
-  * Give Plot staff hooks to connect you to the world
+  * Inspires real-time choices and emotional depth
-  * Ground your character in Volaire’s setting
+  * Provides the Plot Team with threads to weave you into ongoing storylines
-  * Avoid clichés or overpowered tropes
+  * Adds weight to your victories, flaws, and alliances
-----
+Think of it like the prologue to a book—give us the “before” so we can help create the “after.”
+----
 ===== 🧱 The 5 Core Questions =====
-Use these questions as a template to get started:
+These questions help guide the essential structure of your backstory. You don’t have to answer them all—but the more you do, the more connected your character will feel.
 ^ Question ^ Think About… ^
-| 1. Where did you grow up? | A town, forest, ruin, caravan, fortress, or region? Did you live comfortably or struggle to survive? |
+| **1. Where did you grow up?** | Was it a major city, a merchant caravan, a ruined keep, a distant province? Was your life structured or chaotic, rich or poor, safe or dangerous? |
-| 2. What shaped you? | Was there a key event—loss, war, mentorship, betrayal, survival—that changed your path? |
+| **2. What shaped you?** | A tragedy? A mentor? A dark secret? A war? A haunting? What moment changed you or defined your path? |
-| 3. What skills have you learned? | Were you trained by someone? Did you learn from trial and error? What are you good at? |
+| **3. What skills have you learned?** | How did you become who you are? Were you trained in combat, study, craft, survival, or subterfuge? Did you learn formally or through necessity? |
-| 4. Why are you in Volaire now? | What pulled you here—hope, revenge, curiosity, duty, or accident? |
+| **4. Why are you in Volaire now?** | Did you come for work, redemption, knowledge, vengeance, duty, or by mistake? What is your stated reason—and is it the truth? |
-| 5. What drives you? | Are you searching for purpose? Chasing justice? Escaping a past? Hiding something? |
+| **5. What drives you forward?** | Do you seek belonging? Recognition? Escape? Redemption? Revolution? What burns at the heart of your story? |
-You can answer these as full paragraphs or simple bullet points.
+You can answer these as full prose or simple bullet points—whatever feels most natural to you.
 ----
 ===== 🧠 Tips for First-Time Roleplayers =====
-  * Keep it simple. One paragraph is better than none.
+  * **Keep it short and sharp.** One or two strong paragraphs is enough.
-  * Avoid being “The Chosen One” or “The Last of Your Kind.” You’re special—but so is everyone else!
+  * **Flaws make stories.** Perfect heroes are boring. Give your character vulnerabilities.
-  * Let your flaws be real. Being too trusting, bitter, or reckless adds more story than being perfect.
+  * **Avoid clichés.** “The chosen one,” “raised by wolves,” and “secret royalty” can feel tired. Make your character special through *how* they act, not just *what* they are.
-  * Don’t write your whole life. Focus on the last few years and key turning points.
+  * **Leave room to grow.** Don’t script your whole arc in advance. Let play shape the rest of their journey.
+  * **Don’t make assumptions.** Don’t claim relationships to NPCs or factions without staff approval.
 ----
+===== ✍️ Example 1: Simple Backstory =====
-===== ✍️ Example: Simple Backstory =====
 > **Name:** Kaelin Thorne
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 ----
+===== ✍️ Example 2: Bullet Format =====
+>--Born on the edge of Tuatha near the warfront.
+>--Spent early years scavenging among refugees; learned survival skills young.
+>--Father died fighting in the northern skirmishes. Mother was a traveling herbalist.
+>--Discovered latent magic during an ambush; fled the scene before being punished.
+>--Hopes to study magic in Volaire under more open-minded minds, but hides past trauma.
+----
 ===== 📜 Submitting Your Backstory =====
-Submit your backstory using the [[https://volairelarp.org/index.php?option=com_ats&view=ticket&layout=newticket&id=0&Itemid=210|Support Ticket System]] so Plot staff can review it and use it for story integration.
+Backstories are **optional**, but highly encouraged.
-Backstories are optional—but **highly encouraged**. The more you give us, the more we can give back to you in play.
+To submit:
+  * Use the official [[https://volairelarp.org/index.php?option=com_ats&view=ticket&layout=newticket&id=0&Itemid=210|Support Ticket System]]
+  * Include your **character name**, **race**, and **class**
+  * Make sure the file or message is clearly labeled for the Plot Team
+You must submit your backstory **by your third event** for it to be eligible for integration into personal or regional plotlines.
 ----
+===== 🚫 Content Restrictions =====
+For balance and setting integrity, the following are **not allowed** in character backstories:
+  * Claims of noble blood, titles, or royal lineage
+  * Undead transformation, necromantic origins, or forbidden pacts
+  * Possession of restricted classes or races without staff approval
+  * Destruction of major landmarks or named NPCs
+  * “I don’t remember anything” unless approved for specific story reasons
+All backstories are reviewed by staff. If edits are needed, you’ll be contacted.
+----
 ===== 🔍 Optional Add-Ons =====
-You may include any of the following for extra flavor:
+Want to add flavor? These elements are completely optional but add great story potential:
-  * **Personal quirks** (e.g., hates the cold, collects broken charms, talks to their weapon)
-  * **Memorable NPCs** (e.g., mentor, rival, parent, criminal contact)
-  * **Short-term goals** (e.g., find a lost item, earn respect, prove your worth)
-These don’t need to be complex—they just help create dynamic stories and open doors.
+  * **Quirks** – Fear of thunder, always hungry, obsessed with riddles
+  * **Keepsakes** – A family ring, a locket with a mystery photo, a cursed trinket
+  * **Named NPCs** – A sibling, a lost love, a bounty hunter on your trail
+  * **Short-Term Goals** – Earn coin, join a guild, find a missing friend
+  * **Secret Motivation** – Something your character hides even from allies
 ----
+===== 💬 Need Help? =====
+Not sure how to start? Reach out to staff or fellow players! We're happy to help brainstorm with you or review your draft before submission.
+Your story doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to be **yours**.
+----
 **Your backstory is your spark. Let it shape your future in the ashes of Volaire.**
+----
+----
+<wrap em>**Navigation:**
+[[operations:public|Return to Wiki Home]] | [[operations:public:interactive_rulebook:start|Interactive Rulebook Hub]]</wrap>