Want to check it out before buying? Since this resource went live, Arlen Walker of the gaming podcast Pellam's Wasteland gave Brazen Backgrounds a 5-out-of-5 stars rating, and kindly devoted a full episode of his podcast to a read-through, which you can find here. The DriveThruRpg page has a pretty robust .pdf preview for the product, and I also offer some details on it here. As of this morning, I'm two purchases away from making the "Copper Best Seller" category on DriveThru (vweo-vweo, my subliminal marketing techniques now begin their devious, sinister work...) and I'm grateful and excited that so many of you have taken the plunge. If you bought Brazen Backgrounds and especially if you've been putting it to use, please let me know how you find it - I'd love to hear any at-the-table stories using the thing I wrote!
Finally, to mark the sale I'm going to use the tables in Brazen Backgrounds to roll up a couple new sample characters here, each with two prior fantasy Bronze Age backgrounds. As I hope these illustrate, with just this tool and the clatter of a few quick dice rolls you can create interesting backstories that suggest character psychologies, hint at old enemies or connections, and flesh out a kind of setting not always familiar to players more accustomed to faux-medieval fantasy worlds. Here we go:
First sample character: Priest and Caravaneer.
"As a Priest, you were part of a cult that sought to reach some entity described on clay tablets from the Old Empire. You are literate [which is rare, as an adjustable default]. You left after you couldn't bring yourself to carry out your first human sacrifice. After you left, you lived among the Khori ram-riders, itinerant families of independent merchants who carry cargoes across mountain ranges in multi-level howdahs on the backs of giant rams. Your caravan passed through a small town ravaged by a terrible plague. Days later, most of your fellow travelers were dying or dead. The survivors dispersed to other lands."
Second sample character: Charioteer and Sailor.
"You were a chariot-archer, skilled at shooting down the enemy while moving at high speed. Add either scale armor (class as 'chain') or a bow-and-arrows to your equipment inventory. You served a minor frontier prince who rebelled against his royal overlord. Recognizing the inevitable consequences, you left rather than take part in the uprising. That prince and his remaining soldiers are now all dead. Despite your cautions, were your prince's stated grievances justified or not? After you left, you only found work as a street tough...a local temple hired you to guard its premises (and to help beat up members of rival cults on the side). But you always wanted something better. A ship came in needing to hire on another crewmember, and you jumped at your chance to seek a new life."
If you like the idea of creating backstories like this quickly with a few dice, please check out BRAZEN BACKGROUNDS right here (aff).
Thanks all, and happy gaming!
'Gundobad'
Got it, reading it, very nice!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Glad you're liking it. :-)
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