Hero Backgrounds

If Super Heroes/Heroines & Super Villains are your game, discuss them here.

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Prince Cherico
Hero
Posts: 1134
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2001 2:01 am
Comment: Remember also that the smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights, cannot claim to be defenders of minorities
Ayn Rand
Location: california

Unread post by Prince Cherico »

When determining a charaters back ground the most important
thing is to make sure that the charater flows organically.

First what OCC is the charater?
A mage should have a differnt mindset then an Experment.

Next is personality what does the charater like what does he
belive in. Personality is important and it could and probally should
influance what powers the charater chooses.

Finally motivation why does the charater put his butt on the line.

Once you have these three concepts everything else should flow
organically.
Svartalf- if Cherico were a character created in a point game system, he'd have all his scores in geeky skills and his youtube and weird net stuff schticks all paid through a a Terminal Bad Luck (with more nasty GM intervention) disadvantage, and probably an Uncouth (can not have social skills) disad as well...
In an RPG with deadly situations that character would have had to be replaced a dozen times over[
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Stone Gargoyle
Virtuoso of Variants
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Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:18 pm
Comment: "Your inferiority complex might be justified."
Location: Lurking on rooftops like a proper gargoyle should, in and around Tacoma, WA.
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Unread post by Stone Gargoyle »

The player and I generally work it out between us, as he will generally have an idea how he wants the character to have come about and I will have a story set and try to work it in. Often the character background/origin will get worked into the first few sessions if they are established as being new to their powers...
"SG, you are a limitless fountain of Butt-Saving Advice. You Rock, Stone and Concrete." ~ TrumbachD
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slade the sniper
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Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:46 am
Location: SDF-1, Macross Island

Unread post by slade the sniper »

IMO, the hardest part of character creation is the background. The numbers and to a lesser extent the concept are easy, but the "Why is this guy an adventurer?" part is hard to do correctly. Usually, with a lot of campaigns they are pretty much mass murderers with a larcenous streak...well, that's not very heroic. A lot of times they will justify it as saving humanity, well that just makes them genocidal (Kill the orks, kill the elves, kill whoever you want to as long as you can justify it) theives.

It is much, much harder to make a Hero in a superheroic game because so many of the tried and true methods (slave, vengeance, become the king, fulfill the prophecy) of making a PC just don't work. In essence, a superhero is not about powers, abilities or even vision for a better world. The essence of a Hero in these games is someone who sees a need to DO something and instead of just ***** about it or waiting for social change or others to do something, they decide to do it themselves.

That is what these heroes are, people (or at least psychologically similar enough to humans) who have decided to make something happen. HOW they make this happen is what makes them heroes or villains and the powers are really just tools to speed up the process.

Just my thoughts, although a bit rambling. I hope that helps...

-STS
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