I want to write my wizard and sorcerer backstories betterI think mine are pretty good so far but I want to make them better, I want to play them more properHow do you make them interesting? Study and magical pursuits are what define them, on paper they should sound boring, but they can have some really interesting shit to them if you put in the work.
>>94796646Sorcerers don't really "study" magic so much as they develop a natural talent for it. For my Sorcerers I tend to lean heavily into almost comic-book type themes of young adults developing supernatural abilities and having to cope with the fact that they're different from normal people and that their power comes with responsibility and all that. It's tropeyvand archetypal, but sometimes the tropey archetypal stuff is the most fun.
>>94796704tropey is fine but a backstory like that is just the backbone that facilitates the character's abilities, not about *who* they areWhat shapes them, their ideals, their pursuits, their fears, and so on
>>94796646Since wizards are mostly defined by their studies, my choice of depth for a Wizard backstories usually takes one of two approaches.The first approach is to lean heavily into mentor-related drama. A mentor who's gone missing, is researching something dangerous, or caught up with bad people is a great mine of potential plothooks and character influences... that being said, the DM also now has to work around the fact that your character has easy access to an NPC who's probably more powerful than anyone in the party and predisposed to helping the party. Not saying this can't work, it's just something to be aware of.My second approach to wizards, especially in campaigns which start at a higher level, is to make court wizards for royalty or a noble's estate. This gives them pre-existing ties into the world, and it's easy to send them on adventures as nobles have obvious reason to be concerned about any threats to their territory. Say the territory is rebuilding after a disaster or recent attack and you've also got an excuse to have resources spread too thin to just the player tons of free money and support.
>>94796646Backstory does not have to be interesting. The game is the exciting part of their life. All your backstory needs to do is establish who they are and why they're on an adventure.
>>94796646>>94796714I'm confused by the question. You say you want advice on how to specifically write wizards and sorcerers but when given advice you pivot to wanting advice about writing characters in general.Frankly no one can really give you advice on how to write interesting characters because what makes a character interesting is ultimately subjective and heavily based on personal tastes.There's some general advice for writing backstories for RPGs like keep it relatively short, tie your character into the world, consider relative power level compared to stated achievements. As well as some others.But for advice on writing characters I'd recommend studying real people, understanding them, and then using that to give your characters depth.Interesting and deep are not entirely synonymous, but it's usually easier to be invested in a character that is deep than one that is shallow.Also furthermore learn to roleplay without being embarrassed if you haven't already. Most people aren't going to read your backstory and automatically be super invested in your character regardless of how well written it is. That's just the way it goes. So learn to actually highlight their traits in roleplay and you'll probably get a better response.
>>94796646My current Wizard character is an elven archmage who got petrified in an experiment gone wrong 3,000 years ago, who was found by the party and then UN-petrified.3,000 years ago in this setting, magic was new and had only just started to have been studied. Back then even being able to cast 1st level spells reluably meant you were hot shit. Now he's awake in an age and a place where the kingdom he's in has a magic academy on a floating island, literal human teenagers in magic school know spells that took him decades to learn originally, and the prestige and reputation he used to have as an archmage are no more. What better way to speed run catching up and earning it all back than to join the treasure hunting weirdos who found him? Not like he has any other business to take care of anymore.
Here's on I wrote of a 13 year old sorceress learning to control her powers.Kacey was born in the city of Fairgate. Her mother, Natalie Affeton, worked as a weaver. Kacey’s mother fell in love with a man named Astarian who left suddenly after she had gotten pregnant with Kacey. When Kacey was 12, her mother Natalie met and married a man named Thomas Ghett, a wealthy merchant in the city. Thomas already had a daughter named Naomi. Naomi was 4 years older than Kacey. Kacey grew to secretly admire Naomi, but was jealous of her at the same time. They had an antagonistic relationship. Naomi always seemed to be better at everything than Kacey. A year after their marriage, Thomas and Natalie had a child, a son named Riley. It was around this time that Kacey discovered strange things happening to her. She accidentally set the kitchen on fire once while cooking dinner. She shot flames straight out of her hands. Kacey kept this a secret until her mother noticed her testing out her new powers. She confronted Kacey. Natalie revealed to Kacey that her father was actually a powerful sorcerer, and that her great grandfather is actually a dragon. Shocked by this revelation Kacey questioned, “I’m part dragon too?” “Yes,” her mother said. Kacey, now 13, hopes to master her powers and prove now that she finally can do something her step-sister Naomi cannot!
No one is interested in your backstory. Have a few broad ideas to describe how they got where they are and who they are as a person. Stories that develop in-game are what other players and your GM care about. You can fill in specific background details as you go.You'll get a better outcome for your own satisfaction with this method, too.
Read the biographies of famous scientists/mathematicians/whateverYou'll find some interesting details to flourish your own backstory: Childhood events that inspired their interest in magic, eureka moments that proved to be a breakthrough, eccentric personalities or just interesting careers.
What about warlocks?
>>94799551I actually read a shit ton of lovecraft and weird fiction so I could probably write a very very good warlock backstoryonly problem is i never want to play one and only play wizards or sorcerers
>>94796646Traditional games?
>>94799596I think its a pretty valid thread
>>94799551Wizards study, Sorcerers train, how do Warlocks progress in their power (levels)
>>94799635A mix of making their magical sugar-daddies happy, and generally just getting better at channeling the power of their patron.
>>94799659So studying magic doesn’t help unless they want to take levels in wizard?
>>94804751Their casting stat is literally Charisma and they get their magic given to them by a patron. Warlock is pretty much THE class for the lazy bitch who doesn't want to have to study to learn magic.
>>94804844Of course, they still have a patron they have to deal with.
>>94796838What was he trying to do when he got petrified?
My character was a young prodigy born into a noble house to two well known and powerful wizards. His talents were exceptional and he was sent to the finest wizarding school, his future was bright.But he was an idiot. His magical prowess was natural to him, he was a sorcerer born under an arcane star. He was terrible at his studies, but managed to scrape by just enough to not get kicked out. He understood that this was a waste of everyone's time and spent most of his time doing what he was good at instead. Sweet talking the faculty, flirting with hot wizard girls, and annoying the nerdiest of the nerds to no end. Eventually, he grew bored of scraping by and got himself expelled. Partially from his poor academic performance, but mostly because he got caught with a teacher in a broom closet.His parents told him he was being selfish and that he would go right back and apologize, and they would grease the wheels to get him back in school to graduate. Instead he chose to leave home. He knew he couldn't be what they wanted, and he didn't even want to try anymore.From the age of 15, he spent his time on the streets. Learning how to survive, suffering for it, and putting his talents to use in getting the things he needed. Eventually he teamed up with an idiot dragonborn and they protected each other. Soon they would find themselves doing odd jobs as hired muscle, pulling the occasional scam, and spending their nights drinking and womanizing.One day they would take on a job to protect some archeologist while they examined some ruins. A few others joined them and soon they found themselves dragged into something much bigger than they were expecting.
>>94796838I would also like to know what he was up to before being petrified, seeing as he seems to remember everything else that was going on previously (to the extent of possessing magical knowledge still)
>>94824870That’s a good point. If nothing else he probably could sell his knowledge of the past to the highest bidder for funding.
