On Backgrounds & Journals

Being that this is a server centered around role-playing, it is important to have a well thought out and developed character. To foster and promote this, we will be rewarding all characters who have written and submitted a unique character background with one Role-Play Token that gets approved by the DM team. We ask that your background be insightful and creative, written in any manner that you consider best. To be eligible for the Role-Play Token, your background must be no less than 500 words and give the Dungeon Master team insight into your character's family, personality, and past experiences. We want to know who and what made your character who they are!

In addition to the Role-Play Token reward, the Dungeon Master team intends to familiarize themselves with your backgrounds so that we may engage you with quests and storylines personally tailored to your characters.

Additionally, you may submit an additional "Journal Entry" (in the thread started by your background) for each additional level after fifth level and be eligible for an additional Role-Play Token. A successful Journal Entry will inform the Dungeon Master team as to the progress and development that has occurred with your character. We are not looking for a summary of all of the monsters you have killed, nor all the quests you have completed. Instead, we look for a glimpse into who your character has become, who they are becoming, and why they are becoming that way.

Please note: While it is not mandatory to submit a background, your character will not be eligible for any Role-Play Tokens until one has been approved, whether they are from DM-events or otherwise.

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A number of players, myself included, wish to recreate some of their favorite past characters that they have played on other servers or in other games. While this is perfectly acceptable, we do ask players to bear a few things in mind.

Here are a number of things to keep in mind when writing your background, whether for a fresh character or a recreated character:

• Your character is just beginning their adventuring career. Most of the big adventures in their life have yet to come!
  
• Telling us about the family or environment in which your character was raised can shed a lot of light on who your character is and why they are how they are.
  
• Many characters will have underwent some form of training so far, but it will have been the most basic training! A warrior has barely learned to wield their weapon; a wizard has barely mastered his cantrips; a priest has only recently taken their vows; and so forth.
  
• Refrain from assuming positions of authority. Claiming to belong to a minor noble house is often okay; claiming to be highborn and the blood of the King will require special permission.
  
• Many of the biggest legends have come from the most mundane lives. It is not always necessary for a character's background to be epic or the stuff of legends!
  
• There are many generic locations in the Forgotten Realms; if, on the other hand, you wish to write something specific to a location, please have some familiarity with that location.
  
• Extremely unusual or spectacular backgrounds or character concepts may require special permission.
  
• Claiming something that is not on your character sheet or a game mechanic will require special consideration.
  

Of special consideration are conversions of previous characters. Please pay special attention to rework your past experiences into a background fitting for a low-level character. While it is acceptable to maintain key elements to your character, we do ask that you leave out any specific adventurers or role-play that may have occurred on other servers.

There are a number of creative ways that this can be done. Starting here with a couple friends that you've played with elsewhere, and you've all agreed to recreate your favorite characters? Instead of having been adventurers that have previously slain dragons and saved kingdoms, maybe now you're just best friends from childhood. Previously married? Maybe now you're simply betrothed. The kinship and friendships remain, but the experiences do not. This allows you to maintain key elements while also allowing your character to develop organically and without preconceived constraints.

To summarize, we do allow players to recreate some of their favorite characters from other servers. However, the character must start new and fresh, just as when they started at first level on the previous server. Players may recreate their characters, but they may not continue them from previous servers.

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