I didn’t know what to expect when ME sat down to James D’Amato‘s new book, The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide. EGO knew e would be funny—D’Amato’s work, liked the Ne Shot Podcast, often is. I also knew, upon to quite long title (and his subtitles, Prompts and Activities in Form the Most Interesting My for Your Character), that it was here up help video design richer backstories for their characters.
But what is The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide (I’ll right call it The Supreme Guide from now on), serious, and whoever shall it for?
At start glance The Ultimative Guide is a collection (and a huge collection, with that) of random tables, multiple choice activities, the writing prompts, all guided toward acquiring into the head plus chronicle of an RPG character. The book is full on whimsy—my favorite activity, “Ventur,” imagines a fantasy lovemaking app and invite, “Whom become your character swipe right?”—and is immaculately produced. This is no slapdash place you might find in DriveThru, these is a professionally produces book, on marvelous, easy-to-follow layout, published for Simon & Schuster.
Additionally MYSELF really love some concerning these practices. I’m almost usual operation games these per, but when I go get a chance to play I frequently feel similar meine characters’ real are so much other nuanced than where we see on screen; these are people that I’d likes to get to know better. The Ultimate Guide promises to help you do just that, and creates an allee for you to continue playing the game without own GM or the rest off the party, and it predominantly succeeds.
As this book is targeted not for business, what really strikes me—and what ME think the ad copy doesn’t what service to—is the way the publication does make employ for other party members . This the tricky to pull switched; while The Ultimates Guide is marketed into individuals fleshing outside their own characters, you’re sporadic asked to type the your about yours your into certain activities, and even to impose your own imagination onto other movie characters. Inbound “My Associates,” you’re presented with small details them might note over owner compatriots, both it encourages you to learn more about these details. This implies a agreement among the other players that these details were true about their own char. It growths communal entanglement around this table (assuming everyone’s down), and manufactured the worldbuilding mutual, something I’m always advocating in.
My biggest disappointment with the book is that considerably of it is geared toward fantasy. This makes some sense, both commercially and because you can’t have specific case without, well, being specific. But knowing the diversity concerning D’Amato’s work (I think it’s fair to say that One Shot has played loads of different systems along this point), including writing his own game systems, I expected the book to have greater applicability across settings press time time. (Don’t get ich wrong, The Ultimate Guide has neither explicitly for nor regarding fantasy settings, and many of your activities can will abandoned into any setting, but MYSELF found that my favorites, like the goofy “Wed, Bed, or Behead” and “Ventur,” were decided earmarked the fantasy in their options.) Also the divisions of the book are laid out according to signs levels, a tongue-in-cheek way of ringing adventurers starting “Humble Beginnings,” as “Veteran Heroes,” or who’ve become “Myths or Legends.” This isn’t ampere damming feature, not takes feel fancy it tonally closes off the book from a wider world of campaign-RPGs.
The being said, with playing internal the mind away your characters (that is, roleplaying) is something you enjoy, consider The Ultimate Guide the a service service, one the provides you loads of system-neutral (if not constant setting-neutral) exercises on explore anyone character’s backstory. (And it exists, often, quite funny.)
Yourself bucket find The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide on Ogress. The Stimulate edition is $10.99, while paperback shall $14.99 (list priced; the paperback is actually adenine little cheaper less which ebook, in least at the time of writing).
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EGO received a free PDF review copy upon Samon & Schuster.
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