James D’Amato is the author of The Ultimate RPG Series, cofounder of the One Shot Podcast Network, and host of the One Shot and Campaign: Skyjacks podcasts. He trained at Second City and iO in Chicago in the art of improvisational comedy: he now uses that education to introduce new people to role-playing, and incorporates improvisational storytelling techniques to create compelling and entertaining stories for RPG campaigns and one-shot adventures.
"Your character creating journey itself seems like a game, there’s
space available to write in the book which I feel helps add to
pencil and paper feel to the famed tabletop RPGs! What I like about
this book is even if you don’t want to play with others, you could
entertain yourself by creating characters for fun OR to help you
create characters for a book or short story. From what I’ve read so
far, this book is pure fun. If someone like me who knows little to
nothing about traditional RPG’s could enjoy this book, then other
newcomers to the genre and returning heroes from past fellowships
will find something in this for them."
*Horror Fuel*
"I took my time reading through this book, trying out exercises
with new and existing characters, and handed it off to friends,
both those who D&D players and short story writers. I was
pretty quickly getting questions about how much it cost, ($14.00
USD MSRP, though it’s currently on sale for a lower price several
places), when it comes out, (October 2nd) and if I’d be willing to
let them borrow it, which I think speaks volumes. I’ve found myself
reaching for the book when trying to come up with a clever little
something to fit into a character’s backstory while writing a
script, and have had other writers suggest they’d use it to do the
same. It’s not only a useful tool for building and fleshing out
characters, it’s also written in an incredibly entertaining way,
making it fun way to get the creative juices flowing."
*Gaming Trend*
"James D’Amato has thought about the novice and the experienced
player and has put together ‘The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory
Guide’ to essentially have you be an RPG superstar…. Taking fear
into account can make your role-playing character come to life by
giving them a sense of humanity and creating interesting gameplay.
That’s something only D’Amato has realized and gamers will be the
better for it…. James D’Amato has done something special with his
new book ‘The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide.’ It’s akin to
a graduate school course in role-playing games."
*Reviewfix*
"This is a great book for any player of RPGs and can be a valuable
resource for those that act as a Game Master. Much of this book is
addressed in the third person and it gives the feeling of a great
attentive Game Master working out character creation you the reader
as the player. We should all be so lucky to have such a GM and we
should all be such thoughtful and creative players."
*Game Industry*
"I can give The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide the
following praise - it's inspired me to want to kick off a new RPG
Campaign for the first time in a year and a half. I want to DM a
campaign and I want to play in a campaign. I want to pick through
the guide for nuggets of inspiration, for added depth to my next
game world. I can think of no better endorsement other than "this
book will be used". Sadly, I can't say that for the vast majority
of my gaming collection."
*Tenkar's Tavern*
"For me as a founder of Halo: The Lost Keys a text based RPG played
via discord it really was fun and entertaining to do, and I look
forward to writing some more in it."
*Nation Fusion*
"It truly is an RPG guide that hopes to make everyone a bit more
excited for the RPG experience. Again, as mentioned above, it’s
incredibly useful for those trying to get a kickstart into creating
a story for their friends… I can dig this guide and its purpose…
Anyway, there isn’t a lot to dislike about this book. It shoots
straight, it works for what it is, and it feels open. I
particularly enjoyed the fact that there are spaces for
writers/game masters to fill in the blanks to answer questions, as
well as make notes… it is a good book that does truly act as
a guide. It will certainly help to kickstart ideas for characters,
stories, and situations that pure RPGers can get behind."
*Digital Chumps*
"The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide is the perfect way to
create a unique character for yourself, and no two characters made
using this book will be the same… Even if you don’t intend to use
your character for anything, going through this book will give you
an appreciation for the skill of creating characters. Whether for
video games, literature, D&D or even comic books… The Ultimate
RPG Character Backstory Guide is a gem for all dungeon masters, and
for anyone who may find themselves with the need to create
characters with depth. I could even picture indie developers who
may not have their own creative resources, utilizing this book to
flesh out characters in their RPGs. At $10.39 for the paperback
currently, this book is completely worth the price."
*Koalition*
"In what seemed like it would be a novelty item to your RPG
adventure, The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide comes off far
more as a requirement for crafting your character… I absolutely
enjoyed this. I tried to be a bit critical and think what this book
lacked. There’s really not much… The Ultimate RPG Character
Backstory Guide is still a really essential guide for crafting your
player character to their fullest. For me, this gave me the
opportunity to delve a bit deeper into my own character in some
rather interesting ways that I never thought about. Highly
recommended."
*Outright Geekery*
"James D'Amato's The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide
contains a wealth of exercises that can be used to enrich RPG
characters and their interactions with others through the use of
improvisational storytelling techniques, something James has a
great deal of experience with, having trained at Second City and iO
in Chicago in improvisational comedy."
*Game Vortex*
"Whether you are a DM/GM that wants to encourage their players to
have deeper characters and create more engaging Non-Player
Characters (NPCs), or a player looking to bolster their roleplaying
by establishing more about a character’s origin, or even an author
in need of a tool to assist in building believable characters,
relationships, and establishing world building, The Ultimate RPG
Character Backstory Guide is a perfect supplement to any game’s
character creation process. Ever activity is well thought out and
cover a broad range of impact to the character and the world they
live in. Some are silly and fun, while others dig deep into a
character’s major events. For RPG veterans and new players alike
grabbing The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide is a sure way
to expand your overall RPG experiences!"
*Marooners Rock*
"This guide is a great addition to any adventurers’ library."
*Gaming Buddha*
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