6 thoughts on “Beliefs and Drives – anyone got solid list of examples to coax players?”

  1. Here are some example beliefs I wrote for my players to either choose from or use as inspiration, maybe it’s helpful: docs.google.com – Beliefs Examples

    I don’t think beliefs or drives have to be that mechanical (i.e. chosen from a list) but I wanted to make them put something down on paper.

    For heritage, remember that it’s not just where you’re from but also a detail about your family background. Three PCs from Doskvol might all express their heritage in a session very differently if one’s from a working class family, one’s from a noble family, and one was raised by rats in the sewers (for example…). Once you know that detail, it’s not so hard to express heritage (e.g. belting out songs on a piano in a pub, or mingling with the upper crust at a ball).

  2. Thanks really useful, yes I’m just hoping to get them to put something down to start thinking about it. These are D&D gamers who have generally hand waved fleshing their characters out beyond, I want gold!

  3. Usually a players beliefs and drives come out in play. Its obvious what a character believes and is aiming for by the way the player plays as them. Heritage and background are the ones more set in stone imo. Drives and beliefs change constantly

  4. I think of them as if we were watching a show. So when we’re doing xp at the end, we’re thinking, “Did we, as an audience, get a good look at what your character believes or what drives her? Do we have a better feel for what makes her tick?”

    That way, we get to figure it out as we play. Every time the character has some spotlight he/she can expose something dark/vulnerable/soft, etc. Even if they didn’t realize it about their characters either until that very moment.

  5. Have players complete the following statements:

    Beliefs: “I Will Never…”

    Drives: “I Will Always…”

    Background : “I Love…” / “I Hate…”

    These make it easy to figure out what “triggered” during XP time but more importantly it also give you as the GM juicy carrots to dangle in front of players when it comes to Devils Bargains and making tough choices during the game.

    Example

    “I Will Never harm an innocent”

    “I Will Always put a Bluecoat in their place”

    “I Love to read dusty, arcane tomes “

    “I Hate Nobles who treat their staff like shit”

    Allow players to change these around as their PCs grow and change.

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