Okay, you’ve been to your first event, gotten your hands on some basic garb, and even spent some time finding the perfect inspiration for your character. Now, you’re ready to take the next step and figure out exactly who you are. Where do you begin? What do you need to know?

5 Steps to Writing a Character History

1) Learn About the World

Not all LARPs have the same game world to them. Some characters just don’t fit in, that doesn’t mean that a little creativity can’t be applied to make it fit, but you’re probably best off learning the basic make up of the world and working to fit it there. You don’t want to play an Airship Pirate in a Sword and Sorcery LARP, and you probably don’t want to play a Muskateer in a post apocalyptic Zombie LARP.

Your best bet is to get with the friends you’ve made and start with something that fits in easily with them. You can always branch away from that later on, when you’re more confident and comfortable with the way the world works.

2) Know the Basics

Know the absolute basics of your character. These are pretty much the things that will come up in game quickly, and you can spend time fleshing out everything around them. The basics are usually pretty easy, too, because they’re the important things you’ll need to know just to play the game:

• What is your character’s name?
• If there is a choice, what is your character’s race?
• How about the class?

In addition to those, you might want to add a couple of details, like

• Where was your character born?
• Where did you learn your class skills?

3) Add Some Background

Once you’ve got the basic details down, you can start working to really flesh out your background story. Of course, the more you know about your character and motivations, the easier it is to role play. It is important in this step that you work with your game officers a little bit and make sure you’re not putting anything into your character background that goes against the game’s established story.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what you need to know, you might want to take a look at Dread Pirate Rose’s List of 100 questions to Ask About your Role Playing Character

4) Go Out and Play.

The absolute best way to build your character is to spend time playing it. Get out there and role play! Make friends, enemies, and the occasional bad decision. People learn who they are by living, and your character will do the same. Chances are, if you don’t know something about your character now, you’ll learn something about your character while you’re on the field. Maybe you’ll learn that you really are afraid of dragons, even if you don’t want to admit your afraid of anything.

5) You’re Never Really Done

From my experience, anything you put into your character background now will change a year from now, and probably again two years from now. The longer you play one character the more they grow, both in who they are now, and how they got there. Sometimes you might decided to change a detail that didn’t quite fit, and sometimes the game will change them for you, revealing secrets you didn’t even know about your character. That’s part of the fun of it all.

Don’t Worry if It Isn’t Perfect

Life is dirty and messy, and the best characters are no exception. Your history doesn’t have to be an immaculate best selling novel ready to hit the shelves. It doesn’t have to answer every question about your character. The only reason it exists is to help you, and your game officers, to get more involved in what’s going on. Don’t sweat it if you aren’t Tolkien. Just do what’s best for you.