The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide... will get you moving in the right direction in more ways than one.
This book is a great character booster for RPG gaming kits and should increase your interest in the actual game. It takes your character backstory to the next level by way of giving you a guide to follow when it comes to developing the life of your character. You even have idioms.
Based on where your character's level is, there are various tasks ranging between 1 - 5... like winning a bar fight. Levels 6 - 10... includes a scenario like Unseat a corrupt governor. Levels 11 - 15 includes... having your actions declared miraculous, etc. There are other things to do in these levels, but... you get the idea.
It's not only for your main character either... you also have your companions that have their experiences, personalities, and actions that affect other members of the party + situation. There is a situation involving a character losing something valuable, you decide on how they lost it (based on your experience with them). Did they lose it out of carelessness, robbed, etc.
You can even classify your villains. There are a hundred narratives in this book to fill the blanks on, prompts, and more... so you should be pleased if this is your sort of thing. (It goes beyond that for me.) There are so many things in this 272-page guide to flesh out a world, your characters, and more... which brings me to another reason I am doing a review. There are developers looking for ways to create characters for games, writers looking for ways to develop characters for books, and even scripts for shows and movies. I think this book is one heck of a tool to help with that because you aren't just coming up with a character with a vague backstory... this book has the right amount of depth to help you develop intriguing characters without them being... cookie cutter.
You don't have to necessarily follow the scenarios in the book either, but they're helpful. So while it benefits fans of (tabletop) RPGs by adding some oomph to their RPG experience, it can work wonders for character development in your own projects. Think about it... put you through the paces to really know these characters so they can benefit you in other ways.
It comes in paperback like I have... + an eBook. I recommend paperback to those of you who like to play tabletop RPGs while roughing it on a camping trip or something where electricity is used at a minimum. Some of you just prefer paperback... and that works too (I'm in a similar boat, I won't read eBooks as often). This will run you $14.99 on the publisher's website, while the eBook comes in at $10.99. I haven't used the eBook version, but it would be cool if they had active buttons to press based on your decisions made (not saying it does or does not, but it would be cool if it does).
Overall, I think this is a really cool book for those of you that enjoy RPG kits, but... I think its also a great tool for (aspiring) character developers. The price is right for either use, but... if you can get dual use of it it, that's even better... which is why I thought to share the idea.
Usefulness 5
Quality 5
Depth 5
Price 5
5 out of 5 Cool Points
Brought to you by the... Baby Fu Clothing Co!
