INCITING ADVENTURING INCIDENT
Every character has to have a reason they started adventuring.
Why did they leave behind their life as a civilian and take up the heroic lifestyle?
- Was their village raided by orcs, and they swore revenge?
- Did they have a vision from a powerful entity about their destiny?
- Were they forced into a life of adventure due to circumstances beyond their control?
A good inciting incident for a character is one that shifts their perspective. Upon being introduced to a new party, no matter the level, the character is in a state of change:
There is a reason that they abandoned whatever homey or difficult life they had previously in order to join this party. What is that reason? How do they feel about it?
The party’s quest is going to be the character’s primary goal, so their perspective has to shift in order to pursue that goal. (Characters can have motivations that differ from the group’s, but these should be limited to personal goals, lest there be too much inner-party conflict.)
In addition, good inciting incidents leave room for mysteries that can be filled in by the DM.
- Why did the orcs raid the village?
- What was the powerful entity that contacted your character?
- Having a villain or mystery present in your backstory, especially those with vague or unknown (to the character) motivations, is a great way for a DM to connect your character organically into the world.
It should be noted that the inciting incident is a problem that the character has encountered, but not necessarily already overcome. If a character has already solved the problem of their inciting incident, then you have to think about the reason why they’re continuing to adventure. For example, if a clan of orcs killed the character’s family, but the character has already exacted revenge upon that clan before the start of the adventure -- what, now, is their motivation for adventuring?
That is not to say that the character cannot have already been on several adventures or be adept at their class; however, it is the duty of the campaign to turn your character into a hero. A character should not be a notable hero at the beginning of the adventure unless you’re starting at a high level or your DM has mentioned this as part of the setting.
So then, what is your characters inciting incident? Write a short (or long if you wish) paragraph to put into your characters page!