You don’t have to have an elaborate backstory to have interesting plot hooks to play with. Here are five ways to let the DM mess with you.
And by “let the DM mess with you” I mean here are some ways for your character to take some of the plot spotlight, or plotlight, for a little while. Of course, in any game of D&D, hopefully the DM and players are working together to make each character feel unique and special and like a bespoke incarnation into the world. But sometimes you don’t feel like putting in that much work. It’s a short campaign. Or you’re just coming up with a replacement because your last character failed their third death save.
Whatever the case, here are five ways to have some easy plot hooks. And if you’re a DM, here are five easy plot hooks you’re naturally sort of gravitating towards anyway.
Play an Aasimar
Look, there are a number of different options when it comes to figuring out the ancestry and heritage of your character. You could be an elf. You could be a dwarf. Or you could be a mortal who carries a spark of the Upper Plains within their very soul. You could be a potential descendant of angels or other celestial entities.
Playing an Aasimar is a great way to mark your character as “special.” Because unless your DM is very cosmopolitan, odds are good you won’t find many aasimar shopkeepers, or aasimar city guards. So you’re kind of special by default.
Especially since once you reach level 3, you gain the ability to reveal your celestial heritage by unfurling radiant wings or a necrotic shroud or celestial light. You know? Cool stuff that naturally sparks curiosity. And when DMs see big dramatic effects like that, they tend to think “oh now here’s an easy lever to pull, storywise.” Sure, you can do that for any species—but aasimar really lend themselves to plot hooks.
Use That Background
There are a couple of backgrounds that feel like they come with more built-in backstory/plot hooks than some of the others. Not that you’d necessarily want to take them—after all, in 5.5E, backgrounds are the way you increase your stats.
But if you know a little about the kind of campaign you’re playing, you can maybe lean in a little harder with the background choice. For instance, a city-based campaign (or one with a decently civilized wilderness) might find backgrounds like Noble or Criminal getting their plot hooks pulled. While a wilderness-centered campaign might have more natural hooks for characters like Guides or Wayfarers.
Play a Paladin
More so than your choice of species, some character classes just come with built-in plot hooks. And Paladins are one of the big ones. They’ve always had pseudo main-character syndrome, even in the earliest days of their existence D&D when you had to go through all sorts of hoops to be one.
Even in 5.5E, Paladins have a lot of backstory/ploot hooks in the form of their Oaths. The Tenets you have to live by are a big shiny button for many DMs. Couple that with the fact that you’re one of the classes that can visibly take big swings and do big damage numbers and that attracts a DM’s plot brain like a flame draws moth.
Play a Warlock
Of course, the other option, character class-wise, is Warlock. And I say this as someone who’s played them, who’s run for them, even though we all know that it says in the book that Warlocks have already made their bargain with their patron, that their power has been granted; it is rare to see a DM resist giving at least the occasional nudge in a direction from your Warlock’s patron. I feel like it happens moreso than with Clerics and their gods.
Personally, I think it has something to do with the fact that Warlock patrons aren’t necessarily as “distant” or divinely powerful. It’s easier for the DM to be like “you feel your patron’s curiosity welling up” or whatever. Even Baldur’s Gate 3 employs this tactic. Proving no one is immune to Warlock plot syndrome.
Pick Up That Cursed Item
What if you don’t want to play a Warlock or a Paladin. What if you want to be a humble human Fighter from a nice family farm who is out there to make it big in the world. Well, a) that’s already a great story, fullof fun hooks. But b) if you want more, just pick up whatever the magical artifact/item/device/macguffin your DM spends a lot of time talking about.
Someone’s gotta do it. And it may as well be you. Another way of thinking about this tip, less cheekily, might just be, “be game for the plot” instead of trying to outsmart it. Often times just being like “hell yeah” goes a long way towards the DM working in little story/plot moments for a character. More than pretty much anything else.
Happy adventuring!
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