I have always loved random tables in my RPGs. I enjoy random games and random happenstance. Some of my favorite products are the random dungeon and character decks from Gamers Rule. I recommend you check them out if you also like random generators, but I’m mostly writing about a book I was recently directed to: Background Noise.

It is available as both a PDF and iPhone app, and although I have an iPad, I haven’t tried the app yet, although I imagine it’s awesome! The book itself is a series of random tables that determine a fairly detailed back story for a character. There are 40 tables in this thing, each cross referenced to one another. Some are used for every character, but many lead to other tables depending on result. If you’re born a slave, for instance, there’s a Slavery Event Table (Table X), but not everyone would roll on that one. All 40 tables are based on percentile, although some have as few as 6 entries. The ranges are not uniform though, so while you can use a d6 in the aforementioned table (Table B Family Wealth), you’d be much more likely to be born wealthy in that case. I will give you an example of a character background generated using the tables, so you have an idea of what this book can give you. The author considers the work “…a springboard for your imagination,” and I think the following example illustrates that very well!

So, my unnamed character starts off rolling on the tables, and I come up with the following list of things:

Family Satus: Middle Class Family Wealth: Want for Nothing From a sub-arctic cliffside city The Father was a candle-maker The character was basically raised in a Convent Born in his home Firstborn of two children (has a sister) Parents are respected and feared in the community for unknown reasons The Mother was a Cleric While cleaning out a back room of the church, as a lowly acolyte, the character discovered a previously unknown text that sheds light on some previously confusing passages. The find is heralded as the harbinger of great things to come for the character The father thinks the child belongs to someone else. His thoughts may or may not be correct. Character used to be infamous for some early mistake. He is forced to change his coat of arms (if any) and change his appearance to avoid recognition and ridicule Character is a hobbyist actor He’s a Liar

It took about 7 minutes to roll up that background, including typing it all onto the list. That’s pretty quick considering. Not everything will make sense when you roll, but that’s the nature of random tables. I really enjoy looking at some of the events, many of which can easily provide a nice character hook for GMs to use. Products like Background Noise are a springboard for creativity, something that can offer that little bit of needed inspiration for a player or GM. I plan on using this to create some Fantasy NPCs, and I would not be surprised if my players want to use it, too.

Despite what many people think about different RPG games, RPGs are by their very nature all about roleplaying not roll-playing. By extension, this involves a character or characters of some sort, each with their own histories, backgrounds, personalities, motivations, and general character quirks. Background Noise, a new product from Second Rat Games, helps one with exactly those mentioned aspects of creating a character. It allows one, through a multitude of tables, to generate a fully detailed, fleshed out and most importantly flavorful character. Background Noise contains more tables than most people would need, and certainly quite a few that many wouldn't even think of. While some players of RPG games might not want this kind of rigid structure, it's a marvellous source of inspiration for extending character concepts that players have envisaged.

This 34 page pdf product comes as a single pdf file. The product contains both a table of contents, and an extensive list of bookmarks, allowing you to easily navigate through the pdf. The bookmarks are doubly useful as they actually link to specific tables, which makes it easier to find what you want. Layout and editing is good, with the addition of some wonderful stock art from the talented people at Cerberus Games. The majority of the pdf contains over 40 different tables to use when creating a character, and good advice is provided on both using the tables, and what each table is for. As is almost natural for most products on the market these days, there are one or two minor writing/editing blips, but nothing that's needs specifically pointing out. Presentation is overall very good, with an easy to use product, good and liberal use of art, and good writing in the tables.

This product is all about breathing life into your character, fleshing out his or her personality or background, and generally making them more flavorful as an individual and a person (or creature, as there's no reason this can't be used for something like that, albeit it might require some modification here and there). The large variety of tables include details such as family status, birthplace, childhood events, personality, hobbies, good or bad events in a character's life, pets a character may have had, love events of the past or present, curses, crimes, disfigurements, etc. There is literally something for most areas or aspects of a character's life that you can think of. And most of the writing detailing, for example, a childhood event, shows some imagination and is generally a good fit for a typical individual. The product should be useable for any genre, although it feels like it's more geared towards fantasy, rather than modern or space.

I found this a useful, and often thought-provoking pdf. It does exactly what it says on the cover, and does so well. The product doesn't help to create concepts per se, but it does help to flesh out a character once you've decided on a specific concept, and it's possible that the process of working through the tables of this product will inspire a specific interesting concept. You could argue against the utility of the product, as other useful resources exist to determine a character's background, but having all the right information in a single place is a good utility. I think the areas covered by the product are covered well, although here and there a little more imagination, or perhaps an additional table or two would've enhanced the product. Overall, extremely useful, well presented, shows good imagination, and decent value.