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[zombie killer]

How did your cleric come to become a cleric?
He was trained, it was family tradition, his father before him, and so it is tradition for clerics to train their sons as clerics.
what made him/her decide to devote their life to the god of healing?
It was not really the decision of the character, the character was taught to praise the god, and was always taught this.
 was it out of admiration for healings in the past?
The character admired the clerics for their ability to heal.
 was it out of a desire to heal him/herself? maybe there was someone he/she wanted to heal but couldn't?
no.

standard questions to help you write a backstory:

What kind of childhood did your character have?
a normal one, he was brought up by priests and clerics, taught the ways of his god, and how to heal.
what is/was your character's family like?
my characters family was supportive of him becoming a cleric, and he really had no choice in the matter. But when you become a cleric in the church, you serve the church, and you more or less live there, so my character does not know his family very well.
why did your character choose to become a cleric?
it was tradition.
what angers your character?
when people just are senselessly hurting one another, and he is also angered by people causing more work for him than is necessary.
what scares your character?
a being of pure evil.
what makes your character happy?
healing, good friends, good food, and good things.
what makes your character sad?
when people get hurt.
how does your character react to someone being a jerk?
ignores them
how does your character react to someone being kind?
listens to them
how does your character react when overwhelmed/confused?
falls back on his basic training: heal his companions, and attack only what attacks him first.
what motivates your character?
he just wants to find a church, and help them.
what kinds of memorable experiences would your character have growing up?
cleric training
does your character have any particularly beloved family members? if so, why?
no, he never really got to know his family.
how would the above-mentioned memorable experiences affect your character here and now?
he knows how to do cleric healing things
what is your character afraid of?
evil beings.
what is your character notably not afraid of?
things that do not hurt him.
how does your character handle their fears?
by hiding behind his companions and healing them, or by using his weapon.
when your character is over-stressed, how does he/she relax?
sit down in a nice, cool place and take a nap.
how well does your character handle being tired?
goes to sleep
how well does your character handle alcohol?
the character is a dwarf, he can hold his liquor.
how well does your character handle pain?
grimaces through it.
how well does your character handle death (of party members, family members, friends, acquaintances,
and of unknown persons)?
grieves, then decides they are with the gods, and moves on.
how tall is your character?
standard dwarf size.
what kind of build does your character have (buff? skinny? fat? etc.)
normal dwarf size
what scars, if any, does your character have?
a faint line above the left eye.
what is your character's complexion? (pale? dark? blue? tan? red? something else/in between?)
tan
what kind of clothes does your character wear?
robes of a cleric over armor.
what is your character's hair color and hairstyle?
color- brown, style-short
what is your character's eye color?
green
does your character have any distinctive features? (malformed hand? unusual walking style? very deep
voice? missing limb? etc.)
faint scar above the left eye
how would your character's appearance and distinctive features change how people behave around
you?
not at all, he is a dwarf.
how would these changes to how people behave affect your character?
not at all


thank you very much, lenglon.
this did help very much. i will use it to help write my characters in the future.

[Lenglon]

very nice, now for some follow-up questions:

you mentioned he has a faint scar over his left eye:
how'd he get the scar?

you mentioned that he was raised by the priesthood, and spent most of his life in the church:
how much experience out and about in the world does your character have? what kinds of experiences has your character never had?
how much traveling has your character done?
has your character ever seen the ocean?
has your character ever ridden a horse?
has your character ever had to kill before?
has your character ever had to kill an intelligent being?
has your character ever had to kill a member of a civilized race (like a human)?
has anyone stolen from your character before?
has your character ever had a girlfriend? if so, on what terms are they on now?
has your character caught someone repeatedly lying to them before?
does your character have experience haggling?

one important question I forgot to ask before:
why did your character choose to become an adventuring cleric instead of one that stays at the church and provides healing there?

[Mephansteras]

good cleric, likes healing people, and helping with his magic.

Maybe... give him a sort of reason to want that.

Had a fighter in one of my campaigns whose player decided he was addicted to healing magic. Maybe you could have the reverse, and be addicted to casting heal magic?

[Harry Baldman]

Had a fighter in one of my campaigns whose player decided he was addicted to healing magic. Maybe you could have the reverse, and be addicted to casting heal magic?

That's a rather interesting idea, I would say. A cleric who derives extreme pleasure from healing people, a sort of inimitable rush as divine energies run through their entire body and wash over somebody else. It would also help explain why the cleric is also an adventurer - after all, you get to heal far more dramatic things when following a troupe of adventurers - severed limbs, hideous burns, pierced livers, slit throats, oh my!

Also, if a cleric feels this may, make sure to have said cleric make... unusual sounds when healing people or otherwise magically invoking their deity. It'll make healing much more interesting.

[Harbingerjm]

Had a fighter in one of my campaigns whose player decided he was addicted to healing magic. Maybe you could have the reverse, and be addicted to casting heal magic?

That's a rather interesting idea, I would say. A cleric who derives extreme pleasure from healing people, a sort of inimitable rush as divine energies run through their entire body and wash over somebody else. It would also help explain why the cleric is also an adventurer - after all, you get to heal far more dramatic things when following a troupe of adventurers - severed limbs, hideous burns, pierced livers, slit throats, oh my!

Also, if a cleric feels this may, make sure to have said cleric make... unusual sounds when healing people or otherwise magically invoking their deity. It'll make healing much more interesting.

"Damnit, Dave, I don't care if you are the only friendly cleric for 500 miles, I'm not letting you heal me! You're far too "friendly," it creeps me right the fuck out!"

[GreatWyrmGold]

That's hilarious for multiple reasons.

[BFEL]

But mostly for the one

[Mephansteras]

It has all sorts of ways you could play it. The dark addiction that the noble cleric is trying to fight off, but he's always tempted to avoid helping out just a bit so that an injury he can heal is caused before the danger is over. Or the giddy rush of power, the proof that he is in fact closer to the gods than the mere mortals around him.

Lots of ways to play that, depending on how you want the cleric to go.