In January, I kicked off a new roleplaying game campaign using Night’s Black Agents. The premise of this GUMSHOE-based RPG is basically “what if a couple of Jason Bournes were hunting vampires?” Intrigued, I ran the NBA one-shot “The Van Helsing Letter” from Free RPG Day 2016, and the group liked the system and concept well enough that we decided to dive in with our own characters and story. Who’s behind Unternehmen Braun, and what do they want? Is Operation Edom friend, or foe? And what else besides vampires might stalk the night?

To facilitate character creation at today’s session zero, I quickly worked up this Agent Creation Cheat Sheet to help guide the group through the process. Along with printed out character sheets and a copy of the core rulebook, the session ran as smoothly as I could hope for. Download the PDF for free here.

The Bewitching Hour is a solo journaling microgame of gothic romance. Inspired by such works as Crimson Peak, Dracula, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, as well as the works of Jane Austen, this game pays homage to the gothic genre without taking itself too seriously.

As you play, you’ll discover your character’s traits, the rumors and secrets surrounding the lord of the manor, and what happens during one fateful, stormy night. The core “gameplay loop” involves answering prompts, following directions, and choosing or rolling for multiple-choice answers. In summary, you’ll use your imagination (occasionally aided by a random dice roll) to come up with a pair of characters and a story between them that you enjoy. As a “journaling” game, you’re encouraged to chronicle your answers and choices in whatever manner you see fit. You could journal in first-person POV, narrate your tale in third-person POV prose, or draw the scenes out as a comic. The choice is entirely yours!

Without further ado, you can download your preferred version of The Bewitching Hour below. Please do not redistribute this game without permission, but feel free to share this link with your friends!

• Download the Digital Edition – Play using Adobe Reader on your tablet or desktop (mobile not recommended)
• Download the Print Edition – Play using a hardcopy pamphlet printed on legal-sized paper
• Download the Print Edition Instructions – Learn how to print and fold the pamphlet as intended

If you would like to be notified of updates to these game files or would like to receive free resources and advice on writing, roleplaying, and gamemastering, please consider subscribing to my newsletter:

You don’t need to be familiar with James D’Amato’s One Shot podcast in order to have a blast with the The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide, released this month from Adams Media.

It’s About the Journey, Not the Destination

True to its word, The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide steers players through the process of creating a detailed backstory for their role-playing game characters with the lightheartedness and whimsy of most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. Readers will enjoy the comedic tone of many of the exercises, from the adventuring party formation app called “Ventur” (“Whom does your character swipe right?”) to the “Damn Merlinials” prompt that explores how older generations of adventurers might look down on those newer to the lifestyle.

The Id DM recently invited me on his podcast, Ego Check, an interview podcast series hosted by a licensed psychologist, Michael Mallen, Ph.D. The podcast delves into a variety of game types (e.g., tabletop roleplaying games, board games, video games) from a psychological perspective. Dr. Mallen has been interviewing members of the gaming community for articles on his blog, The Id DM, since 2011 and is now posting these interviews for others to enjoy. Check out his blog as well as the other fantastic episodes with other guests from the gaming industry and beyond!

Katrina Ostrander of Fantasy Flight Games on Anxiety and Being a Woman in the Gaming Industry

• Listen on the web
• Listen on Podbean
• Listen on iTunes

Whether this is your first or your hundredth time rolling up a character for a new roleplaying game campaign, coming up with a compelling backstory can be tough.

Maybe you’ve spent a ton of time trying to come up with a character, but you still end up bored with them or worry that they’re one-dimensional. Or perhaps you have the basics down and want to take your characters to the next level. The following steps will help you write a killer character backstory, one that will get you excited about your character, provide cues to roleplay them, and give the gamemaster (GM) tools to enrich the campaign in a way that engages and excites you.

Step 1: Ground Your Character in the Campaign Setting

Before you can begin creating, you need to fuel your creativity. Now is your chance to settle down with the rulebooks or source material for the setting and enjoy them. (Yes, this is permission to rewatch the show/movies or reread the books!) And if your GM is building a world from scratch, she’ll likely be more than happy to tell you all about her original setting if you ask.

Once you’ve immersed yourself in the world, examine which world details strike you as coolest. What do you want to know more about? Is there a remote monastery devoted to a mysterious deity that piques your interest, or is there an interesting settlement that you think would be an intriguing hometown for a character? Make a list of the setting elements—people, places, artifacts, prophecies, etc.—that you might want to incorporate into your character’s backstory. Next, brainstorm how they could have influenced your character. It’s okay if you come up with a couple of different concepts.