Building Your Character's Story

I give my players the following series of questions to not only help them develop a character but also give me something to build more of their hometown with them. We also use these questions for any downtime, travel, or time skip to give my players a sense of getting to know each other even when it's not fully role played out.

• What type of biome does your character’s hometown exist in (tropical, stone tundra, desert, meadows, farmland, etc.)?
• How large is your character’s hometown?
• Did they have any pets while growing up?
• Where have they had the best meal of their life so far and what was it?
• What is the name of this town/city?
• Where did your character spend most of their childhood days and with whom?
• Tell us about your character’s first kiss.
• When did your character discover they could cast magic/perform a particular feat?
• What did others in their life think of this ability?
• Who did your character dislike the most in the town you grew up in and why?
• Does your character have siblings? Who is their favorite sibling & why?
• What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to your character as a child?
• What was your character’s favorite subject in school?
• Of all the people who lived in the town your character grew up in, tell us about at least one of them that had a tremendous impact on them.
• What special thing is your character’s hometown known for?
• What unique festival/holiday does your character’s hometown celebrate?
• Who is the prettiest girl in your character’s hometown?
• Who is the handsomest boy?
• Who is the town gossip?
• What is the scariest local legend from your character’s hometown?
• What is the most daring thing your character did as a child?
• What is your character’s comfort food and why?
• How would the townsfolk describe your character?
• What story does your character’s parent/sibling tell about them all the time that they wish they wouldn’t?
• What did your character want to be as a child?
• Did your character continue with school beyond basic schooling? If so, what was that experience?
• What does your character know of local politics?
• How does your character view themselves? Do they think they're smart, pretty, tough, sad, scared, lazy, etc.?

Goals

These are questions that might change at any point throughout the game but it gives me and my players a sense of what they're looking for at any given point in the game. I will also ask them to update it from time to time when I feel that there has been a significant shift in the game.

• What is your character’s ultimate goal right now?
• How does your character think they can best achieve that goal?
• How far is your character willing to go to achieve that goal?
• Is there a specific timeline that your character needs to achieve this in?
• How long do they think achieving this will take?
• Name 2 alternatives your character would consider if this goal can never be achieved.