Lightly sketched Backstories Are Best

Lightly sketched backstories are best. My current Classic Traveller campaign in MTU (my traveller universe) has PCs involved in counter-espionage, alien investigation, doppelgangers, and a Sword World Confederation invasion. There have been many instances where the PCs need to (or asked to by me) explain a connection or event which happened in the past. With lightly-sketched backstory in hand, the PC has a springboard to assist creativity an invention on the spot. 

 And putting a character “on the spot” is one of the main responsibilities of the Game Master. And yes, when these character blank spots in their past require explanation I put this on the player. I want the players to be invested in the game, and being able to create portions of the game helps achieve this important relationship, which fosters immersive role-playing. It also helps the world-building, of course. Being quick to note these facts down, the player’s creations, is a fundamental step towards creating a living world. Player’s crave impacting the campaign world in meaningful ways, and this is only going to manifest through the reaction of NPCs to the PCs plots and schemes. Linking plausible reactions of adversaries in response to actions the players made is all everyone is looking for. Having a loose skin of a backstory facilitates this goal better then a straight jacket of preconceived notions on what the PC is all about. 

And this is what the Traveller game does so well with their character creation system. It provides a lightly sketched backstory through character creation. Sure, it is very generic: Army, Navy, Merchant, Other…, but this is by design. Most early game companies assumed players would make up their own campaign worlds and universes, so the Traveller game accommodated this take with generic science fiction descriptions which, when combined in different ways, provided the tools for a Game Master to craft their campaign vision. It works; it really does. I am on my fourth Traveller player group and all have found cohesion and direction identifying their lightly sketched backstory and letting the fast-moving and exciting session events prompt them to answer questions just as quickly. 

Just like the GM, the Player does not know what their character is until they get them into play. The lightly sketched character backstory (works for NPCs too!) has proved to be of superior utility time and time again! All hail Satan.