So, you’ve seen the hand you can be dealt and the scars you can choose. An Origin. A Subculture. You know what they are. Now it’s time to answer the most important question: Why?
A backstory isn’t a novel you write before you get here. It’s the set of scars that explains the choices you just made. It’s the connective tissue between your past and your present, the reason you are who you are on day one.
Step 1: Connect Your Choices (The “Why”)
Your Origin is where you came from. Your Scar is what you became to survive it. The most interesting stories live in the space between those two points. Don’t just pick them from a list; figure out how they crashed into each other.
- Are you a Vaulted who became a Sanguine out of a desperate, clinical curiosity for the very Blight you were so sheltered from?
- Are you an Outlander who joined the Mnemonics because you’re desperately trying to recover the lost history of your destroyed clan?
- Are you a Runner who embraced the Ascended path because the Whispers in your chrome started to sound less like madness and more like a god?
Answering this “why” gives you a motive. It gives you a history. And it gives you something to roleplay from the moment you hit the streets.
Step 2: The Look (Wearing Your Story)
As you’ve read, every path has its own look. Now, think about how your personal story blends them. Your avatar is your story’s cover, a visual history of your past.
An Outlander doesn’t look like they just stepped out of a corporate showroom. They wear the Wastes on their back—patched-up gear, scavenged armor, a gas mask that’s seen better days. But what if they’re also a Mnemonic? Maybe that rugged gear is now worn under a long, practical coat, with a high-end neural port at their temple being the only sign of their new, expensive trade . Let your history dictate your style.
Step 3: The Grind (Your Starting Point is Not Your Grave)
You’ve read what your choices do to your Story HUD—they set your initial resistance to the Blight, your knack for hacking, your sway with a certain crowd .
These are just starting points.
This is a community focused on character arcs, not starting stats. Your history doesn’t lock you in a box; it gives you a mountain to climb.
Your Outlander’s minimal hacking skill isn’t a permanent flaw; it’s a roleplay opportunity. It’s a reason to hire a Runner, to get into debt, to learn a new skill the hard way. Your Runner’s susceptibility to the Whispers isn’t a penalty; it’s a story. It’s a reason to seek out strange treatments or join a cult that promises clarity.
Over time, through the stories you tell and the roleplay you engage in, these weaknesses can become strengths. Your backstory is the “why” for your starting stats. Your roleplay is the “how” for your future growth.
Your Origin and Scar are where your story begins. They’re the first chapter. The rest of the book is blank.
Go write it.