Using Backgrounds to Populate a Campaign

As an idea for starting or fleshing out a campaign, consider using the characters' backgrounds to help you determine the important people and places of your starting campaign setting. Backgrounds are a great tool for describing how characters relate to the game setting, so lean into it and use them to make your initial location matter to your players.

Start your game prep with getting your players together and having them make characters. This can be done in person, which is a terrific way to see how people work together and get them comfortable collaborating on story ideas, or online using something like a shared chat. In this example, the key element of the characters will be the Backgrounds.

When you're talking over backgrounds with your players, think about how likely they are to be useful in the game. If your game is a one-shot or short campaign, make sure the background will see some use! In a city or town game the Outlander's background feature may not see a lot of use. Some players may want to choose a different background; others may be more interested in the idea of being an Outlander than the mechanical benefits.
Once you finish initial character creation you'll have a group of characters that each have distinctive backgrounds. Think about your starting location for your game. Ideally this is small and singular. A village, a city, a wild spot on a map. Think about what your players have chosen as characters, too. If you have a lot of characters with city backgrounds, like Urchin, Entertainer and Sage you may want to start in a city location. If you have character backgrounds like Outlander you may want to start in the wilderness. Talk to your players about what you want to run and what they want to play.

Whatever you pick for your starting location, make it the only one within a reasonable distance. If it's a city, don't think about the whole city. Your city may be separated by geography (rivers, heights), social boundaries (walls, guard posts) or cultures (an inner city of elite nobles, an outer city mix of lower classes). Have a single district that you can break out.

Once you have a starting location the group is interested in, start making a map. This can be a thought diagram or a list of ideas more than a physical map, but having an idea of how things relate and how close they are can be helpful.

Pick a player to go first. Look at their character's background. Most backgrounds give a sphere of influence where the character can receive free lodging and assistance. The Acolyte, Entertainer and Folk Hero are good examples of this. Ask that player about their background.

• Where did their character come from?
• Where do they now gain that aid?
• Is this a popular or important local feature?
• Is it a permanent fixture or something passing through?

Have them name a place and put it on your starting location map. An Acolyte could add a monastery, church or cathedral. An Entertainer could add a tavern or village green but they might add a stadium or carnival site instead. A Folk Hero could add the site of their great victory, a local enemy or their family farm.

Other backgrounds make it easier for your character to move and travel. The Outlander, Sailor and Urchin are examples of this. For the characters with this sort of background, ask the player:

• Where did you come from?
• Where have you been before?
• Where have you dreamed of going?
• What is this area like? 

Get them to contribute an idea to your location map. An Outlander could contribute a fantastic landmark like a volcano, a cave that looks like a dragon''s mouth, or a valley that stays filled with fog year round. Sailors might add a port, a river, or a lake.
Try to stick to your initial location; if you're doing a town or city location, focus on the features of that town or city- a city gate that only opens for the guard, the wizard academy that sends sparks over the river, the bridge where you saw a ghost one night.

Let all your players go around and add a location. Leave some space for new ideas; you might have a player join late or you might have an idea (from you or another player) that you need space for. After a first round, look at what you have. Does it seem like enough to go on? Are your players interested in the process? If it seems like you all want to add more, go ahead! When you feel like you have enough material to start, get started. Give everyone a prompt related to a location on the map.

For example, in a party with an Acolyte, a Guild Artisan and an Outlander, you could choose the Cerulean Temple as your starting location. Here are some sample prompts:

• (to the Guild Artisan): What has the Temple asked your Guild to craft for them? Will you be making it? Have you ever made something like this before?
• (to the Outlander): What scent or sound drew you to this Temple today? What far off place does it come from and what does it remind you of?
• (to the Acolyte): What important Temple person has asked for your assistance today? How do they treat you? Is this a typical duty for you?

Don't try to make it a combat encounter or a quest. Just let the players get comfortable with one another and let their characters mingle. Have a few rolls to get the game flowing and focus on the interactions. With a short 15 to 30 minute scene you can get all the players excited for next time. For the best outcome, consider having the end of the session wrapping up the intro and leaving a cliffhanger.

For example, in the provided sample you could end by having the Guild Artisan roll to see if they completed the Temple commission to satisfaction, then reminding the Outlander about the unusual smell, the one they last smelled in the fog-covered valley when they encountered the animated vines that protected a sacred tree. The Acolyte goes into the basement of the Temple, doing their chores and cleaning the building, where they find a small potted plant hidden behind an urn. That's when they notice the vines snaking out of the darkness towards them...

Have fun creating your campaign together!