Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Character Biographies

In order to encourage deeper character development, the DM team offers an incentive to write character biographies, providing a small reward and greater engagement with your character's background. It is also a requirement for any 'unusual characters' (see below) to seek biography approval to make the character concept valid.

Unusual characters

It is expected that the player shows a good sense of understanding of how the character fits in with the Forgotten Realms setting. This doesn't mean that you cannot play something outside of the norm - in fact we are very happy for you to! What it means is that we expect you to show through the biography how and why the character diverges from the norm, how it fits in with setting expectations, and what it means for the character's history and future.

As stated in the server rules, any 'unusual' character concept MUST involve biography approval to make such a concept valid. If in doubt, please contact the DM Team with your concept before creating the character.

RCR and biography approval

Once a character biography is approved, any major changes must be discussed with the DM beforehand. Unapproved revisions may result in the loss of DM support, retraction of the biography, removal of any granted heirloom items, and denial of future submissions for that character.

The reward for the biography is:

20000 experience points
or
20000 gold
or
An heirloom item (see "Heirloom items" section below)

Additionally, characters that have either 17 levels in Favoured Soul or 10 in Dragon Disciple may request wings after approval of their biography, which will involve one or two quests from a DM. See the end of the post for more information on wings.

The benefit of a biography will also mean that what is approved will be respected by the DM team in DM events and RP. Examples of this can be, but is not limited to: Contacts "back home" for characters of foreign lands; local contacts, both inside and outside server areas (if events take place in other geographical areas); mentors, teachers, colleagues, fellow students from background; Being an Underdark Race living in the Surface, etc.

What will not be accepted?

(The DM team reserves the right to alter this list as we move forward)

• Royalty backgrounds.
• Noble backgrounds where the character still is regarded as nobility (being disowned or abandoning the nobility can be accepted).
• Excessive plane travel backgrounds, especially from other Primes.

Tips on what the DM Team is looking for in a biography

• Compliance. All aspects of the biography must be compliant with General Server Rules and with the Narrative and Expectations of the server. For example, the detail in the biography should fit with the Content Rating of the server.
• Character concepts outside the norm. Where concepts deviate from the norm, they should be consistent within the setting in terms of AD&D / Server Lore.
• Detail and consistency. The DM team generally assess how the character's race (and physical description/features), divine worship, class abilities, background, and history fits in with source material (and where it does not, an explanation for why is helpful). Useful sources to consult in preparing a biography include Races of Faerûn, Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, Demihuman Deities, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. Other AD&D and 3.x sourcebooks related to specific regions are also helpful. See a list of sourcebooks here It helps the DM Team and speeds up your application if you provide us with the exact citation of more exotic/finer details in your character's biography.
• Coming up with your concept. It is up to you as a player to write the detail of your character, their background, ancestors, patrons, etc. Whether your character knows all the aspects of their background or not is up to you. It is not up to to the DM Team to write details for you (e.g., we will not come up with your character's tiefling ancestor or why their brother no longer speaks to them), although we may provide feedback on what is written.

How to submit a biography?

To submit a biography, send a PM to the DM team with your character's written biography. You can also post it publicly if you wish to, but this is not required. For the biography to be approved, no information can be omitted of the character's background in the version sent to DMs. Restrictions on AI generated content apply to submitted biographies and can be reviewed in the server rules.

Please note that each player may only submit a maximum of 2 biographies within a year and may only have 1 biography under review at any given time. This includes if you play characters across multiple accounts. This is to ensure a manageable workload for the DM Team and so we can provide more support in DM plots to characters intended to be played.

Below is a form that can be used. You can choose to style your own form too, and some of our posted examples have indeed used different forms. But if using a custom form, it's important to include any required information (relationship to dogma for divine classes, family members, ancestor for the relevant classes/feats, etc.).

In reviewing the application, the DM Team will provide feedback on aspects of the biography that could be clarified, or may request changes to ensure the character concept complies with server expectations. Most biographies receive feedback, so please do expect it. Our aim is to support you to flesh out a coherent concept that fits with server expectations.

Heirloom items

Heirloom items are items of low epic quality that can potentially receive upgrades through DM plots and events. This item cannot be traded away at any point, and is tied to the character. If this is the reward you choose you have to present three options for us to build upon. These options must be relatively vaguely described - certainly no actual stats. Note that if you receive an heirloom item reward as part of an approved character biography and then choose to RCR your character into a different race, class combination, or otherwise change defining features of your character that were not part of the originally-approved biography, the heirloom item may be considered forfeit. After approval of your biography, if wanting to RCR your character to change significant details of their class, you are required to send an update of the biography to the DM Team.

Here's an example of an heirloom item:

Potential items for a female paladin of Tyr named Fiona Starmeadow:

• Ring of Starmeadow
  An ancient family heirloom of the Starmeadows, passed from mother to daughter for at least 30 generations. It carries the family crest.
• Mediation
  This warhammer was passed to Fiona from her mentor as he died.
• Mar-Talloc, the Heart of Justice
  An amulet, at first glance looking like an ordinary symbol of Tyr, this magical pendant was given to Fiona by her mentor when she finished her initiation into the Knights of Holy Judgement.

Minimum age per race

Please note that all characters must fit the age rule for your race as stated in the server rules here.

Race	Minimum age
Deep Imaskari	25
Drow	120
Dwarf (all types)	50
Elf (all types)	120
Gnome (Rock)	45
Gnome (Deep)	25
Half-elf (including half-drow)	21
Half-orc	18
Halfling (all types)	22
Human (all ethnicities)	18
Orc	18
Planetouched	18
Tanarukk	18

Profile

Full name:
Age: (see above on minimum ages)
Race: (also specify subrace, e.g., lightfoot halfling; or ethnicity, e.g., Chondathan)
Sex:
Date of birth:
Place of birth:
Alignment:
Patron deity:
Profession: (e.g., Adventurer, Priest, Hunter, Merchant, or another role they work as or are understood as)
Classes: (Initial class, and future classes if planned in build)
Primary language:

Secondary languages:
(Feel free to add degree of fluency. We also advise, but not require, explanation of how and why the character has learned the individual languages. See also ruling on 'animal' language which represents wild empathy class ability.)

Physical description:
(Describe such things as, but not limited to: Eyes, hair, physique, scars, typical style of attire, general health. This section is expected as at least paragraph or so. Ensure it is consistent with the norms for races in Races of Faerûn, and where it does not, e.g., use of hair dye, please explain.)

Psychological description:
(Describe such things as, but not limited to: Personality, temperament, personal philosophy, likes and dislikes, habits and hobbies. This section is expected as at least paragraph or so.)

Religious views:
(Religion in Faerûn is polytheistic and largely synonymous with the various cultures of the lands; all characters have relationships to the different faiths. Please describe your character's relationship to faith, including specific churches, their patron deity, and other deities they may give blessings to regularly. If they currently have no patron or are faithless, the detail of this should be outlined here.

(It is also mandatory for the following classes to outline how your character upholds the dogma of your deity as part of receiving divine abilities:

• Blackguards
• Clerics
• Druids
• Divine champions
• Divine seekers
• Favored souls
• Paladins
• Rangers
• Spirit shamans)

Pact:
(FOR WARLOCKS ONLY. This must include the name and type of the entity providing the pact [if devil, what kind of devil? if demon, what kind of demon? If it is not one from lore, please also include a bit about the entity]. It must also include specifically the conditions of the pact, on both sides. Supported pacts are devil, demon, fey, slaadi and celestial, as mentioned in the source book Complete Mage.)

Ancestor:
(Required for sorcerers, bards, planetouched (aasimar, tiefling, air genasi, earth genasi, fire genasi, water genasi) and characters with heritage [fey, fiend, dragon, etc] background feats. Specify name and type of ancestor. Whether the character knows of it or not. Anything else of note about the ancestor specifically or the relation between the ancestor and the character.)

Biography

Family
(This can include, but is not limited to: Names of parents, siblings. Status of family members. Character's knowledge of family members [for example mentioning the name of the character's father doesn't mean the character knows who the father is].)

History
(This is the bulk of the character biography. A free text area, so to speak where you can add the character's childhood, training, how they were called to their paladinhood, how the warlock pact was established, and so on. We expect this to be fairly substantial. You should detail how your character became the class(es) they are, and how they ended up in the Western Heartlands region)

Future
(This section is to describe your characters goals, ambitions and motivations. Where are they headed? Why are they headed there? This does not need to be super detailed, but it helps to understand what their primary goals are. This will be important if DMs want to pick up your character's biography as part of their plots.)

Heirloom item
(Give at least three options for heirloom items. If wanting only either gold or XP as a biography reward, you can note this instead.)

Plot hooks
(Add at least two plot hooks that DMs may find interest in picking up. It's not a guarantee that they will be used for potential character plots, but it gives us a choice, and also some idea of what you might find interesting.)

Wings

Additionally, characters that have either 17 levels in Favored Soul or 10 in Dragon Disciple may request wings after approval of their biography.

To do this, after the biography is approved, please send in a request to the DM team for the wings. To achieve the wings, one or two small events will happen, either following the guidance of an appropriate dragon or being proven worthy of a manifestation of Faith, which may result in the wings being granted.

Favored Souls of good aligned Gods receive feathered wings, of evil gods receive batlike wings and of neutral gods may choose one or another. Dragon disciples receive batlike wings according to the colour of their dragon type! - Wings can be used for flight in RP where winged shapechangers and wildshapes could be, but provide no mechanical benefit.

NOTE: Having wings may attract positive or negative attention from NPCs; Also, while wings function as a cloak appearance and are mechanically removable by unequipping the cloak, doing so in character - as in, in any area that isn't the nexus or the fugue - will likely result in unconditional removal of the wings. They are NOT removable IC and are considered too bulky to be covered.

Also, note that the colour of the wings is noted by the DM team and players are not allowed to change it. Doing so, as above, may likely result in unconditional removal of the wings. They are not a fashion accessory to be modified at will and are, ICly, fully functional wings.

The default colorations for the Wings are in the Spoiler below

Hidden: show

Favored soul with good aligned god

Colour	Hexcode
White	#ffffff
Gold	#ffee99

Favored soul with neutral aligned god (feathered)

Colour	Hexcode
Grey	#ababab
Light green	#a7dda7
Light blue	#aaccee
Light red	#deabab

Favored soul with neutral aligned god (batlike)

Colour	Hexcode
Grey	#bababa
Light green	#abdeab
Light blue	#aaccee
Light red	#deabab

Favoured soul with evil aligned god

Colour	Hexcode
Black	#333333
Red	#990000

Chromatic dragon disciple

Colour	Hexcode
Black	#324332
Blue	#75baff
Green	#a8ffa8
Red	#ff3300
White	#ffffff

Metallic dragon disciple

Colour	Hexcode
Brass	#ffaa00
Bronze	#ffef42
Copper	#db8700
Gold	#ffdd00
Silver	#a8dfff

Update - Oct. 2023

After a review of our current biography system, we have decided to add wings as a possible addition to PCs that have certain classes and have gotten their biography approved;

Update - 02/07/2024

Due to some rebalancing of our heirloom item guidelines, we offer for those who have received heirlooms to contact a DM ingame for a slight improvement of their heirloom.

Update - 26/04/2025

Updated the guidelines:

• Formatting/cosmetic changes.
• New clause that players may only submit a maximum of 2 biographies within a year and may only have 1 biography under review at any given time.
• New section on 'Tips on what the DM Team is looking for in a biography'.
• Small edits to what we are looking for in a biography.
• Made clearer the expectation that biographies fit with server rules and a clearer reminder that unusual character concepts must seek biography approval.
• Added table to encourage people to stick with minimum ages to fit rules.