I explored all character backgrounds so you don't have to.

[b0rsuk]

You set your character background at character creation, but there's also the first conversation with Callisca. What you say ends up in your biography. Some people in the game will react to this - I'm not going to list those in this thread.

 

Some backgrounds hide professions you wouldn't expect there. Now you can choose something you like the most without restarting. Maybe I should update the wiki.

 

Aristocrat (all except The Living Lands)

 

    "That's right. Royal blood runs through my veins."
        "Someone tried to poison me."
        "Certain jealous family members whispered into my father's ear, and I was disinherited."
        "My family was ousted from power. Some are still held captive."
        "I don't want to rule."
    "Only to some. Our titles were purchased, not inherited."
        "We hid the truth of our lineage, but it was eventually uncovered."
        "No matter how much status my family gains, it will never be accepted among the nobility."
        "My family was disgraced by the lies of a rival. Our reputation is ruined."
    "My family has some clout among the elite, it's true."
        "Our family fortune is secretly squandered. I must rebuild it where I would not be recognized."
        "My family considers me an embarrassment and wants nothing to do with me."
        "I am ashamed of my family and would rather be anywhere else."

 

 

 

Artist (Old Valia)

 

 

    "More of a performer, really."
        "My troupe was disbanded. It got ugly. Things were said and can never be taken back."
        "I was terrible. I'll never be able to perform for my home crowd again."
        "There was an accident. A tragedy. I'm no longer welcome."
    "I made my living as an artisan."
        "The lord there lined his own pockets with outrageous taxes. I could no longer make a living."
        "My master was petty. I lost my apprenticeship, and I was blackballed from pursuing the trade elsewhere."
        "I was sabotaged by a rival and my business was ruined."
    "Yes, in the traditional sense. I try to capture life as I see it, create something new."
        "No one understood my work."
        "I lived in a slum and my work was stolen by thieves. I used the last of my money to escape that place."
        "I no longer feel inspired. I don't know why, but somehow I've lost it."

 

 

Clergyman (Aedyr)

 

    "I was. I left all that behind."
        "My god wasn't there for me when I was in need."
        "I committed a terrible blasphemy for which there can be no forgiveness."
        "There were certain oaths I couldn't live with."
    "I led a congregation at one time."
        "No one at home seemed to listen what I preached."
        "There were... trysts with adoring members of my flock. Then they started talking to each other."
        "The town I practiced my faith in was sacked."
    "I was a missionary."
        "I came to realize faith wasn't the answer to the prayers of the people I was supposed to be helping."
        "I was let down by those who supposedly share my beliefs."
        "I'm hoping to spread my faith abroad."
    "Not really. That's just a lie I tell people so I can manipulate them."
        "They found out I had made everything up. I had no choice."
        "Too many people know my act. I need to be somewhere where no one knows me."
        "I'm not proud of what I've done. This is a fresh start."

 

 

 

Colonist (Aedyr, Old Valia, The Living Lands)

 

    "There was a fortune to be made where I was."
        "There was no fortune to be found there. Just a lot of work for nothing."
        "The well of riches had dried up. I knew only hardship there."
        "I thought it was what I wanted. It turns out, I was wrong."
    "It wasn't by choice. I was fleeing persecution."
        "The people I was running from finally caught up. I got out, but not everyone was so lucky."
        "The place I ended up was just as bad as the place I left. Another dead end."
        "I was always looking over my shoulder there. I needed someplace new, farther away."
    "I was there to pacify the land. And the people who were native to it."
        "Some of the natives didn't take so kindly to our efforts. They burnt down our settlement."
        "I did some things there, things I'm having trouble living with."
        "Turned out, the land pacified us. Some awful disease. Wiped most of us. I was lucky to get out."

 

 

 

Dissident (Aedyr, Ixamitl Plains, Old Valia, Rauatai)

 

 

    "For some I was. I fought for a rebellion."
        "We lost. I am exiled from my own homeland."
        "We won the war, but the new government, the one we bled for, ended up being much worse."
        "I've had my fill of war and bloodshed."
    "You might say that. I was a spy for a time."
        "I was caught, but I managed to escape and some old friends got me passage out."
        "I double-crossed my employer, and my employer is as powerful as they come."
        "They gave me a job I couldn't bring myself myself to carry out. That's not something they were agreeable to."
    "That's why they put me in jail."
        "I served my time. I didn't want to be reminded of that place another minute."
        "I got loose. Far as I know they're still looking for me."
        "I was released. Was supposed to report back every few days or they'd haul me in again. That's just another kind of jail."

 

 

 

Drifter (All)

 

 

    "That sort of thing tends to happen with orphans."
        "I burned down the orphanage and got out of there while I could."
        "I've never had a place to call home. Still looking."
        "I'm a self-made orphan. My parents got what they deserved, and now I'm leaving all that behind."
    "Sure. I wander into lives of fools, talk them out of their money, and wander back out."
        "Eventually they caught wise and chased me out of town."
        "I think I just got tired of cheating people."
        "One of the fools turned out to be very dangerous and influential."
    "You have to be when people are looking for you."
        "I think I have something that belongs to them. Something they're pretty intent on getting back."
        "I crossed dangerous people. I couldn't stick around."
        "I don't know why they're looking for me, and I don't care to find out."

 

 

 

Explorer (Deadfire Archipelago, The Living Lands, The White That Wends)

 

    "In the watery parts of the world. I was a mariner."
        "We were attacked by pirates at sea. Our ship was destroyed."
        "I didn't find what I was looking for."
        "The sea is a lonely place to live your life."
    "I lived out on a frontier for a time."
        "It was a harsh place to live. I was surrounded by death out there."
        "It was too quiet. I was looking for something more."
        "Raiders destroyed my home, took everything from me."
    "Interesting might not be the word. I sailed with cold-blooded conquerors."
        "All we did was pillage and destroy. It accomplished nothing."
        "You conquer enough places, it isn't long before it's your homeland they go after."
        "No amount of plundering has been able to quench my bloodlust. I wonder if anything will."

 

 

 

Hunter (All)

 

    "I spent a lot of time living on my own in the wilderness."
        "Civilization came and spoiled the land."
        "A great fire destroyed everything."
        "I wore out my welcome, and they ran me off my land."
    "I used to hunt monsters for a living."
        "We attempted a dangerous hunt. I was too ambitious, and we weren't ready. Mos of the others are dead now."
        "I risked my life and kept a lot of people safe in their beds, and no one ever so much as thanked me."
        "We tracked a monster for ages. Killing it would have made me famous. We found it long-dead of natural causes. After that there was no reason to stay."
    "I was responsible for hunting and gathering for my village."
        "We had a bad season, many of us starved. I don't want to face that again."
        "We had an accident, and I was blamed for another hunter's death."
        "I hoped to accomplish more with my life. My village was ashamed of my choice to abandon them."
    "I was a fisherman, actually."
        "Larger vessels took all the fish there were to catch. It was leave or starve."
        "My ship went down in a great storm. It was all I had. I have to start over."
        "I had a family at home. All depending on me, and all I wanted was to be free of them. So one day I just left."

 

 

 

Laborer (All)

 

    "Hard work, at that. I was a blacksmith."
        "My master was a jealous person. He saw to it that as soon as I finished my apprenticeship I would never be able to compete against him."
        "My master died in the middle of my training. There was nothing left for me there."
        "My skills were wasted on that place."
    "That's right. Made my living as a builder."
        "I made an error in my planning. One of my buildings collapsed. That was the end of my short career."
        "I learned my trade when times were good. Now that they're hard, no one has need of me."
        "My business partner ran off with my money and went into business for himself. All the people I thought were loyal had different ideas."
    "Of a sort. I was a cook."
        "I worked for an insufferable ****."
        "I spat in a noble's food and he responded by ruining my life."
        "I had an affair with a rich man's wife and he put a bounty on my head."
        "I had an affair with a rich woman's husband and she put a bounty on my head."
        "My skills languished in that kitchen for far too long."

 

 

 

Mercenary (all but The White That Wends)

 

 

    "I'm a war veteran."
        "I fought for the wrong side. Didn't need the reminder."
        "I fought beside people far better than me, but somehow I'm the one who made it out. I can't reconcile that."
        "All I know is war. Maybe this is my way out, maybe this is just the way to the next one."
    "I was a blade for hire."
        "I've never been good at anything else, but I need to go where there's work that pays."
        "I've got a lot of debt to someone you don't want to be in debt to. I have to pay it off somehow."
        "Let's just say I don't have the most sparkling of reputations at home. Here I'm anonymous."
    "I used to go on adventures and expeditions, whatever paid."
        "Got into a barfight with someone with the spare time and resources to punish me for the rest of my life."
        "Had a job go bad on me. Some deaths didn't need to happen."
        "I took a job from the wrong person. Only after I finished it did I realize it would cause everyone to hate me."
        "I've just had my fill of it. Time to lead a quieter life."
    "I was a constable."
        "A group of brigands overwhelmed us ad took the town. It's under their 'law' now."
        "There wasn't much copper in it."
        "No matter what I did, people still got hurt."

 

 

 

Merchant (All)

 

 

    "I used to transport things people wanted kept secret. Goods, people."
        "A competitor sold me out to the authorities, but I managed to escape capture."
        "I was tricked into transporting something I never would've agreed to. I'm never going to be in that position again."
        "I got double-crossed while doing a deal. They made off with everything."
    "I piloted cargo ships."
        "We were attacked by privateers. Our ship was taken, we were left to die at sea. I made it out, but I've lost my taste for that life."
        "I was cast out in a mutiny."
        "Had a big fight with my superiors about the way the ship was being run. They got rid of me."
    "I ran a shop."
        "My shop was attacked by bandits, and they took everything I've worked for. Wasn't much point in staying."
        "I was bad at business. I ran it into the ground, and the men who funded it have seen to it that I won't get another chance."
        "The competition hired men to destroy my shop."

 

 

 

Mystic (The White That Wends)

 

    "I spend my days studying theology."
        "I've come to believe that theology must be lived rather than studied."
        "I've become disillusioned with all the things we still don't know about the gods and the way the world works."
        "I found some provocative things, and they set my peers on edge. They discredited me."
    "I get visions from time to time that guide my way."
        "I get a vision that sent me here."
        "People tried to use me to their ends. I need anonymity."
        "I was accused of heresy."
    "Spirituality was my life. I was an ascetic."
        "I chose the wrong life. Gave up everything for the wrong pursuit."
        "I fell in love. It made me rethink everything. And then it didn't work out."
        "I learned everything I could there. It was time to experience the world."

 

 

 

Philosopher (Ixamitl Plains)

 

    "I used to spend a lot of time reasoning about good and evil, right and wrong."
        "I came to put my theories into practice."
        "I realized it was all just a tremendous waste of time."
        "I was frustrated that there seemed to be no way to be able to prove any of it."
    "It's part of my nature. I was a teacher before I came here."
        "I had an affair with a student. Then was jilted by both the student and my husband."
        "I had an affair with a student. Then was jilted by both the student and my wife."
        "I lived in a town of imbeciles that didn't care for the material I taught."
        "I always thought I could be more."
    "I don't believe in anything, and I've spent a lot of time challenging other people's beliefs."
        "I was persecuted by the religious."
        "Not believing in anything turned out to be excessively boring."
        "Why do anything ?"

 

 

 

Raider (Deadfire Archipelago)

 

    "I've been known to liberate certain underappreciated valuables from their owners' homes."
        "I'm a wanted man. If I'd been caught stealing again, they'd have hanged me."
        "My partner double-crossed me on a job. She got the money, I got the blame."
        "I stole from the kind of people who don't forgive or forget."
        "I fell in love with someone who could never be mine."
    "You wouldn't have wanted to run into me at sea. We boarded and plundered ships."
        "I crossed some of my shipmates. They forced me off the boat. I barely survived."
        "Eventually governments started sending their ships after us, and we went down."
        "Let's just say I'm no longer in my captain's good graces."
    "I was a highwayman in my old life."
        "That kind of work, there's a lot of killing, and most times, they don't deserve it."
        "The people I banded with were small thinkers. I have larger goals in mind, need better people."
        "We drew the attention of the army, and they came down on us hard. We disbanded."

 

 

 

Scholar (Ixamitl Plains, Rauatai)

 

    "I was a historian."
        "I wanted to see with my own eyes what I'd only seen described in text."
        "I decided it was better to be a part of history than to read about it."
        "I came to realize that all history is written with an angle. It's impossible to know what really happened."
        "I made a poor choice and I was expelled for it."
    "I took an interest in all matters arcane."
        "They wouldn't give me the freedom to study what I wanted."
        "It was a waste of time. My teachers were hedge witches, their lessons were parlor tricks."
        "I broke a few rules, and they expelled me for it."
    "I studied war and combat."
        "I studied it enough to learn I didn't want anything to do with it."
        "I killed another student."
        "I eclipsed my teachers. There was nothing more I could learn in a school."

 

 

 

Scientist (The Living Lands)

 

    "I learned to harness it to solve crimes."
        "I made mistakes. Some of the people who got in trouble weren't the right people."
        "I came across something I couldn't solve, and that troubled me more than I thought it would."
        "I found out more than I wanted about someone I cared for."
    "There's a lot of demand for substances that alter the mind. A little science goes a long way in meeting that demand."
        "Over time I came to see the horrible things they did to people's lives."
        "I was less than subtle with my transactions, and the authorities caught on."
        "I was forced out of the business by my competition."
    "I spent a long time pursuing the knowledge promised by alchemy."
        "Alchemy is dangerous. I was nearly killed in an accident."
        "My teacher was a fraud who cheated people out of their hard-earned money."
        "I found it to be limited. Its secrets weren't the secrets I wanted answers to."

 

 

 

Slave (Aedyr, Deadfire Archipelago, Old Valia, Rauatai)

 

    "I was on a galley at sea."
        "Our ship was wrecked. Most of us were pulled to the bottom by our chains. I was lucky."
        "We conspired against our masters. When we found an opening, we took over the ship and sent them overboard."
        "Someone bought me out of slavery. It's something I can never pay back."
    "I used to work on a large farming estate."
        "I ran away."
        "Change in local law. We were freed."
        "I killed my master."
    "I was an indentured servant."
        "It took a long time, but my debt is paid."
        "We were liberated by an invading army."
        "I fled. Had to leave my family behind."

 

 

[kaiki]

I really wish Butcher had been an option under Labourer :\

 

"I realized kith and beasts weren't that different in taking apart..."

"Plague hit the village's livestock, not much work from then on."

"I realized there had to be more to life then wadding ankle deep in blood."

 

Great work on the research as well :D

Edited April 30, 2015 by kaiki

[JadedWolf]

"I'm a self-made orphan. My parents got what they deserved, and now I'm leaving all that behind."

 

That one is brilliant.

[Leferd]

Cook seems to be a fun option. Wonder how that plays out.

[b0rsuk]

After explaining your background to Callisca, you talk about Lord Raedric's offer for new settlers:

 

 

"It's a hard offer to pass up."
    "I'm going to settle here and start a new life."
    "I'm going to lay low here for a while. Try not to draw too much attention to myself."
    "Getting filthy rich."
    "I have no idea what I'm going to do next."
"No, I'm just passing through."
    "Nowhere special. Just putting as much time and distance between me and my old life as I possibly can."
    "I'm going to continue on to the city, see where that takes me."
    "I'll probably wander for a while."
    "Somewhere I can make some money."
    "I have no idea what I'm going to do next."
"I haven't given it much thought."
    "I hope to meet someone and fall in love."
    "Probably the same things I did before."
    "Just looking for some adventure, really."
    "Getting into trouble, I expect."
    "I'm going to find some new friends."
    "I have no idea what I'm going to do next."

 

Callisca mostly has a few stock responses. She should be a diplomat, she excels at responses that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Mostly.

 

 

"Uh no, uh uh. You're not dragging me into your black void of despair. We're gonna talk about something normal, whether you like it or not."
"No offense, but you probably had that coming. They say the gods see that each man gets his due. Don't know if I believe that but they seem to have gotten the better of you."

 

 

[omgFIREBALLS]

"We attempted a dangerous hunt. I was too ambitious, and we weren't ready. Most of the others are dead now."

 

So the guy on the road to the Friendly Arm Inn decided to give Gilded Vale a shot, eh.

[Starwars]

Great work, thanks!

 

Gotta say, these are fantastic. There's obviously not a huge impact on the game but the number of backgrounds, plus the variations, plus the biography filling itself up really creates an environment for... setting up a character. I really hope they continue with this in the sequel.

[sp3cw4r]

Great work, thanks for this.

 

Maybe you could add Calisca's question for each background to put some of these answers in perspective.

 

ex.

 

[Raider] "No offense, but I've known my share of dangerous people, and you remind me of them."

[Yria]

Thank you for your great work.

 

By the way, hunter backround seems to be bugged: in your Biography, everything under the "I spent a lot of time living on my own in the wilderness" option gets the "No background selected" line. Anyone else had the same problem?

[b0rsuk]

Great work, thanks for this.

 

Maybe you could add Calisca's question for each background to put some of these answers in perspective.

 

ex.

 

[Raider] "No offense, but I've known my share of dangerous people, and you remind me of them."

 

I'm not going to. This is meant to be helpful for creating new characters. Callisca's answers hardly make a difference. Many backgrounds that sounded interesting at first didn't have interesting answers, while others contain hidden gems. And would you guess artisan is a subcategory of artist, not laborer ?

Besides, that would be a lot of typing.

 

That said, Callisca is a very interesting and well-defined character. More intriguing than some other companions.