Do we need backstories?

If you're not that much into backstories, but still, you'd like to spice up your PCs with simple backstory curse-like mechanics just jump to the bottom of this article you'll find a D10 curses table.

So, what about Player Character's backstories? They're great, they give depth to the game, they're a crucial part of the gaming experience. Or they're useless, and a waste of time that only delays the beginning of the campaign.

Until recently I used to play and run heavily story-oriented games: long story arcs, in-game world populated by complex and multidimensional NPCs, lots of relationships between PCs and NPCs. I ran entire sessions dedicated to actually playing the backstories, usually at the beginning of a campaign, and that was fun. I would play a backstory scene between each major character creation step. That’s a great process. At the end of it, the player really "owns" their character, and the backstory is not just a set of ideas and concepts, but, at least partially, the fruit of the game itself. In that case, the backstories would be actual memories of the player because they had generated them through gameplay. Sometimes we even played the backstory session in the middle of the campaign. Like a flashback, when the players had become more "fluent" with all the peculiarities of the game-world.

I used to favor backstories that implied complex relationships between the members of the party or between the PCs and some powerful PNCS, and so did the players of my group. I ran a pretty intense campaign a couple of years ago, in which one of the PCs was the very young daughter of another PC. That fact alone basically became the backbone of the campaign. 80% of the problems the party had to face were a consequence of the impulsive actions the Mother took in order to protect her rebellious Daughter in a post-apocalyptic world. That was really fun, for everybody. But playing the backstory, the relationship, relied only on the players. There was no real way to enforce the consequences of that specific relationship on the game. I could have crafted some custom rules at the time, but that seemed too complex to achieve in a meaningful way.

Jackie and Yellow, the daughter and mother PC, painted by Clara who played Yellow.

Lately, I became more interested in explorative gaming experiences that fall somehow into the OSR realm, that favor emergent narrative and problem-solving. But I still like backstories. I'm not totally eager to let them go. I feel like they add an emotional layer to the game, they add an emotional layer to the problems the NPCs have to face. But if the backstory is purely descriptive it can probably lead to beautiful and even intense roleplay moments, but it’s not really going to contribute organically to the fiction. In other words, if a character has a backstory, the effects of their backstory shouldn't be an option.

How can we design backstories that are not purely decorative but have a tangible effect on the game? How can we design a backstory that gives color to the character, but that is also tied to simple and powerful mechanics and brings new elements to problems that the players have to face?

Of course, it can be the work of the GM to fill the gaps and to ensure that NPCs, or other pieces of the game world, react accordingly to the backstory of the characters. But what I am looking for here, are mechanics, objective mechanics, in pure OSR fashion.

Randomness

Two games, Cairn by Yochai Gal, whom I interviewed recently -- you can listen to the podcast here https://anchor.fm/thelostbay -- and Knave by Ben Milton/Questing Beast, have random character creation tables that include backstory elements on different levels. Both games are classless, but the characters begin with a set of different items, weapons, and other objects, that can somehow suggest a backstory. Cairn has even a set of starting packages depending on the trope of the character. Both games have a Misfortunes table (Cairn has also a Reputation one) that adds backstory elements to the character. These tables/tools are great, they allow to generate random backstory elements quickly and add flavor to the characters. Simply having your PC starting with different objects based on an implicit backstory (for example a flute or a lantern) will have different effects on the fiction. 

Cairn / Knave creation tables

Cairn and Knave random tables add a set of unwanted traits to the PC as to say: you don't always choose where life takes you. Randomness adds a lot of unplanned problem solving, and thus fiction. Backstories should be random.

Backstory as debt

Electric Bastionland by Chris McDowell has the characters start with a failed profession, some objects, and a shared debt, usually a large amount of money the PCs owe to somebody. That debt drives the characters into their adventure. That’s simple. You got a gigantic debt, you’d better do something to pay the money back. Here debt looks very much like a curse. Something powerful and unpleasant that is hard to get rid of, and that will have unwanted and unavoidable consequences.

When you think about Oedipus, his backstory had him killing his father, having intercourse with his mother, and becoming blind. It couldn’t avoid confronting with it, like a monstrous debt he had unwillingly, and unfairly, inherited. He tried to escape his fate with no success. When told by the Oracle of Delphi that he would kill his father and marry his mother he fled from the parental house in Corinth, ignorant of the fact that King Polybus, and Queen Merope, were his adoptive parents. When later in Thebes he killed king Laius and married his wife Jocasta, his biological father and mother, he fulfilled the prophecy. The mechanics associated with Oedipus’ backstory could have been: whenever you will kill somebody, it will be your father; whenever you will lay with somebody, it will be your mother. That’s a pretty strong effect on fiction.

The Plague of Thebes by Charles-François Jalabert

For Oedipus the consequences of his backstory were Inevitable, like a curse, and also Unexpected, as he couldn’t know in advance when they would manifest. And they always should be, to some extent, Inevitable, and Unexpected. The mechanics triggered by the backstory should have a strong impact. 

Backstory as a scar

Cairn, again the game designed by Yochai Gal, borrows to Electric Bastionland the idea of scars. When a character reaches exactly 0 HP in they are afflicted by a scar. The scar is picked from a table. One of my favorites is:

Deafened: You cannot hear anything until you find extraordinary aid. Regardless, make a WIL save. If you pass, increase your max WIL by 1d4.

That's quite radical. The Deafened scar articulates two components: an immediate effect, a modifier tied to the WIL save, and the fact of becoming deaf, which can evolve if the PC finds "extraordinary aid". That creates fiction. A table of backstories could have, in a similar way, strong modifiers or mechanics, attached to the backstory. But the backstories should also give the PC the possibility of some sort of evolution, like in the example of the scar above.

With all that in mind, I designed a first random Backstory table. Actually, I called it a Curses table, as each backstory element is a bit grim, and the modifiers are pretty tough, even if technically they are not curses, but rather consequences of past actions of the PC. Basically what they do is create specific problems for each character. I’ve tested them in actual gameplay, and yes, they do create fiction! 

So I laid out a table themed to The Lost Bay universe. The entries are very 90s dark-weird teen adventury. But they are quite easy to tweak and adapt to different settings. The mechanics should suit any D&D or OSR game. The Lost Bay uses only 3 natural abilities (STR, DEX, HEART) and the mechanics have effects on those.

Here is the full table (it's not super easy to read, sorry I have difficulties with tables in blogger):

1.NOSY - You climbed to the top of a tall evergreen tree, you just wanted to peek through that window. You saw something terrifying, and fear made you fall. Now you constantly feel dizzy. You lost 1D6 DEX. If you find a cure to your vertigo roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current DEX score keep it.
2.FOOL - You never payed enough attention. Always joking, and once too often. Your hand was crushed by the engine of a scooter. Your fingers are so weak now. You roll all DEX saves involving hands at Disadvantage. If you can mend your hands, roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current HEART score keep it, you lose the Disadvantage
3.STIFF - You were locked into a small storage trunk by bullies. Your legs couldn’t move for a full weekend. When you got out, you could barely walk. You roll all DEX saves involving legs at Disadvantage. If you are able to fortify your limbs you lose the Disadvantage, roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current STR score keep it.
4.RAT - You were united by a secret oath, they were like sisters and brothers to you, they were your tribe. But jealousy drove you mad and you betrayed them. You broke their hearts, they kicked you out. You’re so lonely now. You lost 1D6 HRT. If you find a way to make amends roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current STR score keep it.
5.BLACK HOLE - You did something really ugly. And then you swore it wasn’t you. You were believed and another kid payed for the mess you made. Your broke your soul. All HRT saves at Disadvantage. If you manage to purify yourself roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current HRT score keep it.
6.OUTCAST - The other kids just don’t like you. For no reason. Lose 1D6 HRT. The first time your HP goes below 0, add 1D4+1 to your max HP.
7.SCAR - You wanted that thing so bad! You stole it from the kindest most delicate kid of all. You were caught and beaten up, broken bones, tore skin. You’re covered with scars now. You lost 1D6 STR. When you’re in a melee fight halve your damage roll. If you defeat someone stronger than you, roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current STR score keep it and lose your damage malus.
8.UNDEAD - You were so unloved. You lacked everything, food, warmth, protection. You barely survived, but somehow you managed. Halve your max HP. If you find a source of love roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current HRT score keep it and add 1D4 to your max HP.
9.MOSS - You went on a hike alone in the woods and got lost. For days. You found nothing to eat but rotten moss. That messed up your body. You smell funny now. You roll all your STR saves at Disadvantage. If you find a way to clean your blood roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current STR keep it.
10.BEAST - You’ve lost your head and went too far in a fight. When you came to your senses it was too late. You beat that kid so hard you almost broke their face. Guilt is haunting you now. At the beginning of each fight STR save at Disadvantage, if you fail you can’t attack. If you heal a wounded enemy, roll 3D6, if the result is higher than your current HRT you lose the malus.

The expectation in terms of design is that these backstories would also create a drive for exploration, as they offer the PCs the possibility of a strong evolution. 

The effects of these grim Curses can be quite strong, and I am working on a Gifts table, to somehow compensate for the Curses. This will probably result in unbalanced characters, which fits totally the mood of The Lost bay (I love unbalanced characters!)

You can find the same table nicely formatted in the DM tools pdf on itch.io, they're free or PWYW.