I’m starting my first Dungeon Worlds campaign with people other than my kids. I really really love the life path systems in both Burning Wheel and Artesia. So i’m planning on asking some lifepath questions during character creation. Does anybody have some good lifepath question ideas? I was planning on asking the standard questions:
Where did you grow up?
Are your parents still alive?
If not, how did they die?
What did you spend your childhood doing?
What was your first job after leaving home?
Can you think of any others that I should ask? Do you ask each of these questions to each of the players, or do you just do a round robin thing and ask them each one question.
Thanks for any help.
I usually ask different question to different players because I ask things about both the character and the setting in the first session.
Questions can be asked in different ways to different players. For example, yuo can ask one player “What was your first job after leaving home?” and another “What was your first job you were forced to do because is a duty of your caste?”
So you are saying that some PG are born inside a caste system and others not. If you dont want to decide that you can delegate and ask who belong and who not as one of the firsts question and also if there is a caste system of if there is a liberal regime or what else is true in your setting.
Some question I would like to ask If I want to focus on their “background” (usually I focus in “what made you a hero”, so you give to me a good way to do it different).
As “born lifepath”:
– did you born free or as a slave/servant?
– did you born poor or rich?
– did you born as a commoner or noble (here you can use a different word than noble for example “in the brahmin caste” so you can say something about the setting, as always you can delegate and ask the player whic word is more correct for the setting)
After a “childhood lifepath” and a “mundane young lifepath” I will ask something about a “young hero” lifepath. I will ask how the became special (if they are not born special). For example after a Fighter found her unique weapons (or discover that the weapons she always carry is so special) you can ask if he hide the fact to all and maybe still live as a cannon fodder soldier or if she show to all how powerful is and she became the king’s champion or hunted because the weapon is cursed. Myabe just ask “what did you do when you discover the power of your weapon?”.
Anyway rememeber that lifepath system and first session question are different ways to build “backgrounds” so you cant have the same results if you use the Burning Wheel or Warhammer lifepath system or if you use the first session Dungeon World rules. So I suggest often ask questions about the answers of previous questions, dont limit yourself to ask a list of prepared questions.
What food also be pretty cool would be to use the Heritage Move system from The Planarch Codex, with three moves being based on circumstances of birth, a life changing childhood moment, and how they got in to the adventuring gig.
The questions could be spiced up a bit:
+ What was the worst thing about the stinking swamp where you grew up?
+ What is the thing you will never forgive your father for?
+ What was the last thing you remember your mother saying before the raiders came to your village?
+ Who was the only voice of kindness in your childhood of slavery?
+ What false promises did the man who sold you the treasure map make?
So is it ok to kind of make up some of the players background with questions like “Who was the only voice of kindness in your childhood of slavery?” Guess i’ve never thought of it that way.
Leading questions are pretty awesome, go with Joel’s advice. If the player doesn’t like where you’re leading them, they can always refuse, and say “well, I wouldn’t call it slavery really, and there were many kind voices!” Or they can run with it and you get more background than from just a simple question.
Ryan Kruse You give a little bit in the leading question, then the player riffs off that and gives you some more. It’s the heart of collaborative storytelling, and something that DW excels at. 🙂