This is a touchy subject, I know. But I'm going to go on the record with it. I'm not a huge fan of the lengthy, highly detailed character back story. There are players and DMs who advocate that players should write them up so that the DM and player have hooks to motivate the character and the ensuing action.
However, I believe in practice their function is entirely opposite than what is intended. First of all, as a DM, I don't want to read them. I have enough text to read and too many things to manage to read a novella you've write about your character. Second, RPGs are collaborative storytelling games that involve both the player and the DM shaping the character through actual gameplay. Background narrative is the player version of railroading the DM. I want the adventure of you and I learning about your character as they develop from actual role play. (Never mind, the annoying aspect of a player saying to the others something along the lines of "If you knew / read my character's back story, you'd realize that . . . .)
Now I'm not saying starting out the campaign as a character with absolutely no back story. Yes, as a DM, I do want some plot hooks and something about your character's past to excite you and to motivate you going forward. No, what I object to is the level of detail involved and the sense that your character's nature is written in stone. No, what I want and what I'd appreciate is a handful of written bullet points about your character -- medium- to low- detail that describe your character. At a level that I can encompass the relevant facts and from which I can imaginatively improvise hooks and from which you can then proceed from to define your character further through actual gameplay.
Now this may be a stylistic preference on my side. Or it may be game design philosophy. YMMV. But it's my experiene and my feeling on the subject.
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