Character Back-stories! (part 2)

I was inspired a little by the guys over in the UK at the D20 Future Show podcast, because when we were starting the show, they each introduced their characters with a summary of their back-stories—this information was in the old Starter Kit that I sent them, which has now been replaced by the free demo, Operation: Flash Strike. Flash Strike didn't have enough room for the character bios, but I didn't want to lose those role-playing stories for each character. Updating the Character Pack gave me an excuse to keep those back-stories around, and that information can really help players connect with the pre-made characters and get into the game universe. I remember when one of the D20 Future Show players, George, introduced the sad back-story of his female Krissethi character, Satha. The other players all listened with interest and then seemed saddened and affected by the end, commenting that her story was “tragic.” Satha's family was lower-class than most Krissethi clans, and she went through her life treated as a servant. She became skilled at disguising herself to pass herself as different upper-class people, and even managed to impersonate someone else to try to get a job at the Union Guard—something Satha knew would bring honor and prestige to her family. Even though she was later caught as an imposter, the UG hired her because they needed someone with her disguise skills. The tragedy was that her position there was covert, so she couldn't tell anyone she worked at the UG, and was unable to help raise the status of her family.