So i'm going to be playing in a dnd campaign pretty soon, and I think I'm going to be the arcane caster in our party. While I'm totally comfortable with the mechanics of the character, I don't have a detailed backstory/history for my character. Any ideas for an interesting character history that would end up with a distinct, fun character?

Also, this campaign is pretty serious, so as much as I would love to have my family killed by goblins, resulting in a serious goblin vendetta, I doubt it would fly with my GM or the other players.

He's a prisoner set free to find his destiny and defeat the great evil.
Best backstory ever. Bethesda approved!

Teehee... I would quite like to use that. He would have to be some sort of interesting prisoner somehow though... Like a pirate doctor who was set free, or a bandit who was once a professor...

I'd love it if he had some interesting personality quirks!

He was a farmer, that's why he's very proficient with staff. His had a family, but his wife died from disease and his son abdocted by an elf. To find his son back he has to pierce through the elven magic, so he began learning magic from Raislin/Elminister. That's a wizard background.

For a sorceror background. Let's see. His ancestor was a dragon and screwed a human/elf/ooze/sheep/whatever which the blood passed down to you..... ok sorceror doesn't really need a background, you are born awesome.

I like what I see so far. Any other ideas?

/shameless self-bump

He was accused of using Black Magic and was beaten until near death.

Which was in fact true, and he wasn't beaten near death, but totally dead, then the experimental black magic he casted on himself brought him back. However the toll was most of his magic power along with memories attached to said power, which rendered him a level 1 wizard/sorceror. Now he seeks for ways to regain his power, tracing back the possible memories he had left behind, but he can't do this alone so he needs friends.

4e or 3.5e?

If 3.5e, is he a wizard or sorcerer? They are very different. I'm sure you know this, but sorcerers have a natural talent and don't need to prepare their spells, they have more spells/day than wizards, but a lot less versitility and can only learn one spell per level. A wizard has to learn everything and has to prepare his spells before hand, they can write spells down that are on scrolls and can cast anything they know the spell to (and have the appropriate level).

4e? I don't know. My friends haven't touched 4e yet, but I'm loving 3.5e.

He was warped into being from the Ether. He is a composite of different minds but does not have his own identity. He is brimming with untapped arcane energies but does not yet know how to use them to their full potential. As the energies become tapped he learns more of himself. This is your story. The tale of self realization through the pursuit of power.