History

About

The history of your character is often just as important as his or her personality, especially considering the two directly influence each other. An in-depth history will give you something to write about when you're stuck. The more memories you can call up for your character, the better! It makes them interesting, both for you and the people you interact with. A character with a brutal, abusive past could end up brutal and abusive as well, or he could strive to be the exact opposite of his past oppressors. A character with a loving, sheltered past probably wouldn't be all that street smart and will likely be amazed and mystified with much of the world. An interesting and rich history will only help create an character that is fun to play.

Bad Example

"Allyn was born to a pack. His parents were killed in a pack war and so were his brothers and sisters. He is sad because of this and ran away. He has lived a year on his own."

This is a pretty poor example of a proper history for a few reasons. First of all, "pack wars" of such a genocidal nature, if common, would virtually wipe out the wolf population. Not good, right? If you still want to go the war route though, it would be great to include how it got started, how long it lasted, what the character's thoughts on the situation were, whether he fought, etc. Second of all, the rest is equally bland and not detailed at all. Who were the brothers and sisters and mother and father? How important were they to him? What was his relationship like with each of them? What about the other pack members? How did he survive the year on his own? Who did he meet and see in that time? Where did he go? Details are important when writing a character history!

Good Example

"Allyn was born to a tiny pack just south of the northern border in western Montana. His once-powerful pack had control of the best hunting grounds for hundreds of miles; unfortunately, some generations ago the packs' power had begun to dwindle. Allyn's pack was slow to take up more Luperci traits, and as their neighbors became avid shifters, Allyn's ancestors remained true to their first normal forms, even if infected with the Luperci virus.

Of course, this didn't work out so well for them in the end. By the time Allyn was born, the pack had been run almost out of their original territory by their competitive neighbors, and only his parents and two drifters remained. Allyn had two sisters and one brother, and he was quite close with them. Unfortunately for his family, when Allyn was five months old, the drifters ended up turning on Allyn's parents, betraying them to a neighboring pack—during an attack, Allyn's parents and siblings were killed. Allyn managed to escape, though he was obviously traumatized, having witnessed the slaughter of his family.

Allyn spent the next several months of his life wandering, eventually hooking up with a band of travelers. Though he befriended a few of them, he found it difficult to adopt their jovial and carefree lifestyle, and when this pack neared 'Souls, he split off from them, heading off to make his destiny elsewhere."

This history example allows the player to establish a far deeper connection with the events that shaped the character's life. In the family section of the character's profile, one can even write out short paragraphs of information for the character's relationship with each of his family members, as well as the two drifters. Perhaps Allyn harbors a desire for revenge on these characters for their betrayal; it would make for interesting conflict if you were to post these historical characters to the Open Characters thread for them to be adopted.

Above all, remember how your character's history and past experiences will shape his/her personality. While it is not impossible to be oblivious, carefree, and fun-loving after a violent start such as Allyn's, such a state of being may require work on the player's part to make it believable.

Important!

Here are three important things to remember when writing a character's history:

1. Why did s/he leave their first pack, and why are they now seeking a new pack?
2. Who were his or her parents and other close relatives, and what was the relationship between them?
3. Where was their former pack? How far away was it? How long have they traveled?

The first one is very important, as it is the defining reason why your character has come to seek a new life. The second may shape future relationships with others. The third is important for traveling distance: it's important that your character originates from an area that is sensible for its age. Some journeys take many months and are too treacherous for young characters to make on their own. If you're not certain you've picked the right age for the traveling distance of your character, the Travel Guide should be able to help you. Check the World Travel Guide, too!