The Backstory of Better Backstories: An Interview With Jay Aress

Today I have an interview with a good friend of mine, TTRPG creator of Better Backstories, Jay Aress.

WTAP: So tell me Jay, what got you into ttrpgs in the first place?

JAY:Star Wars. I came from a nerdy family, or what passed for one in Alaska in the early 1980s. We saw all the scif-fi movies growing up: Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Star Trek, and Star Wars. We got an Atari 2600 in 1979 or 1980, and an Apple //e for Christmas in 1983. I still have the Apple //e and it still works. I heard about Dungeons & Dragons from the Saturday Morning cartoon of the same name, and later from a video game called Pool of Radiance. I had also played an Apple //e game called "Phantasie III: The Wrath of Nikademus", which was similiar to the D&D party model. So, back to Star Wars. In 1987, we went to Disneyland and rode on Star Tours. After the ride, we were in a merch store and I saw a book called 'The Star Wars Sourcebook'. Quickly flipping through it, I saw biographies for Luke and Han, and a map of the Millenium Falcon. Being a fan of Star Trek Sourcebooks, I bought it and started reading through it. However, after a while, I started to notice the boxes with statistics for the people, ships, and vehicles. On the back of the book there was a little box that indicated this as a supplement for the Star Wars Role-Playing Game. I got a copy of the main rules and tried to teach myself and my friends. In later discussions around school, I would learn about games like Top Secret, Marvel Super Heroes, and Dungeons & Dragons. I wasn't heavy into Fantasy at that time, so I focused on Marvel and even GURPS. Eventually, I met a guy at a local bookstore who invited me to an Advanced D&D game he was running at Denny's. I joined in a few times, and learned more about D&D's role in the TTRPG universe.

I joined the Navy in 1995, and while stationed in Spain, I joined up with a group playing AD&D 2nd Edition. That was the longest single character/campaign I had been a part of in any game system up to that point. I don't remember the name of my character, but he was a Rogue. Later I would also play aboard an aircraft carrier and write this story about Roleplaying at Sea: http://www.theescapist.com/sailors.htm

When I got to my third duty station in Iceland, both D&D 3rd Edition and Star Wars d20 came out, and I latched onto both. Played Ferros Stonecove, a Halfing Barbarian in a D&D campaign, and I ran a Star Wars campaign for my friends. Even after I got married, D&D was a regular activity everywhere I was stationed. When I got back to Maryland in 2010, I started teaching 4th Edition for Beginners at a local game store. Then, while serving in Afghanistan, I took the D&D Next (5e) rule with me to beta test them. I had a weekly session at the USO on base and drew at least 10 players per session. Upon my retirement from the Navy and my divorce, I started doing more D&D for Beginners in my area and a couple of years ago started offering my services to teach D&D to people in the comfort of their own home.

WTAP: Tell me about Better Backstories

JAY:

I created Better Backstories because I am very creative and obsessed with making new characters. All the way back in high school, I generated more than 500 super hero characters for the Marvel Super Heroes RPG, and I tried to make them all distinct. Today, I have more than 300 D&D characters and I try to make them unique. I've used plenty of other backstory generators, namely Central Casting: Heroes of Legend by Task Force Games. This collection used in depth rolling charts to help you create details about your character's parents, birth, childhood, and more. It was a bit cumbersome, though, constantly having to go from page 17 to page 39 to page 91. Shift to about eight years ago when I started cosplaying at local comic book conventions. I noticed a healthy contingent of gaming folks at these events, and I tried to think of something I could 'sell' at a booth. At first I thought I could run a service to help people develop their character's backstories, both with the books and my own brainstorming prowess. But I realized the books would be too much work and who just carries their character sheet around with them looking to update the backstory. I also figured I would need to highlight the core concepts of a character's background on index cards or something. That's when it hit me ... Tarot Cards. So I started developing 'Chronicle Cards' using self-printable business cards for my alpha deck, and later a Tarot-sized set of cards for my Beta deck. After some refinement, testing with friends, and support from co-workers for layout and design, I settled on the poker card-sized Better Backstories deck we all know and love. I then started a Kickstarter and a co-worker helped me make a kick-ass video. I asked for $3000 and I got nearly $25,000 and 1300 backers from all over the world. Here's a video of an unboxing of the orignal Tarot-sized Beta Deck.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OxBF9fKYGDqSP-Amz-Cr2iEe1qzjkOBS/view?usp=sharing

WTAP: Now, I've seen you use the deck in creating a back story for a character for myself. It's easy to use and does create an awesome back story. Is there a particular backstory that you've created that is your favorite?

JAY:

I've created so many it's hard to pick a favorite. But one that stands out is Beechum Phynwyn, Half-Elf Artificer. Beechum's mother was part of a reclusive tribe of elves, and his father washed up on their island. After a whirlwind romance, he was rescued. A year later, she appeared in his port town with a baby and left it with him. His father was embarassed of Beechum's half-elf heritage, so he burned the tips off his ears in an attempt to hide it. Later, once he married and had new heirs, Beechum was shuffled off to the military where he began to learn rune craft. He also befriended a cocky rooster named Wynglet. Upon returning home, Beechum's stepmother intercepted him and insisted he go away and stay away.

WTAP: I recognize Beechum from a text based game that I play with you. His story is awesome and so is yours. Where can people find you or your products and services?

JAY: You can purchase Better Backstories decks online at www.betterbackstories.com for $10 plus shipping and handling. I ship anywhere in the world. If anyone within an hour of Baltimore would like to hire me as a Dungeon Master, they can email me at rollingdungeonmaster@gmail.com. I have a video commercial here: https://youtube.com/shorts/Gb_o4vrvzD8 and a demonstration of a game with a family here: https://youtu.be/O1amVGCuM8g

I also now have a conference room in Towson, Maryland (northern Baltimore) where I can host groups. This is in case people don't want to use their own home, or don't have room for a game.

Better Backstories is genre neutral and system agnosic, so it can be used for any roleplaying game. People have also used it for creative writing, improvisation, art prompts, and songwriting. Decks are $10 plus shipping and handling at www.betterbackstories.com. For more details about hiring me for Dungeons & Dragons, they can email me at RollingDungeonMaster@gmail.com. I currently serve the Baltimore area, but I'm hoping to expand into Discord Live Videos.