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The Story Engine Deck

Backstory Prompts Expansion

Name: Backstory Prompts Expansion
Brand: The Story Engine Deck
SKU: tse-sto-02e-06bac
Rating: 5.0 (5 reviews)

Backstory Prompts Expansion

5 total reviews

$19.99

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Dig up the past with our 60-card backstory expansion for The Story Engine. This unique collection reveals not just the moments that defined your character, but how their past may come back to haunt them in a gripping new tale. Find out where you come from in Humble Roots and Epic Origins.

Contains: Guide booklet + 30 specially formatted Engines, 30 specially formatted Conflicts

⭐ CAPTIVATING PROMPTS
➡️ 60 cards for creating rich character backstories

⭐ INSTANT IDEAS
➡️ Generate character backgrounds during prep or live at the table

⭐ LEVEL UP YOUR SKILLS
➡️ Connect the present to the past to draw players deeper

⭐ BEAUTIFUL & FUNCTIONAL
➡️ Elegant, compact box is easy to carry and store

⭐ BUILT TO LAST
➡️ Printed on heavy 350gsm artpaper cards

⭐ COMBINES WITH OTHER DECKS
➡️ Pair with other Story Engine expansions to unlock the inner worlds of characters in any setting.

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Never run of ideas again.

Expansions can be used on their own, or combined with the main deck to create endless story ideas with boundless genre possibilities.

What deck users are saying

"...built to fuel the creative fire within Dungeon Masters, writers and teachers"
—
Forbes Magazine
"I've found this to be very useful while writing."
—
Jamie McKelvie, creator of The Wicked + The Divine
"I use them for plotting and love them."
—
Aliette de Bodard, Nebula Award-winning author

5 (5 reviews)

Britni

2025-04-13

I absolutely LOVE THIS LITTLE DECK. No complaints!

Chris Damron

2025-02-22

A very exciting addition of the Story Engine series, I highly recommend checking it out to expand in very interesting ways.

kgift

2024-12-26

Love adding this to the story engine. I like to write more character based stories, so this adds extra depth to my brainstorming. Lots of prompts, and not a dud among them!

Ria

2024-10-14

Great idea. I would like to see another set of sixty backstory carrds.

Magdalene Bloom

2024-08-27

I've been using them mostly for when I write character backstories - what have they experience in the past, what was their home town like - things like that. It is fun to create scenarios that I might use when I finally get off my butt and start DMing

Our Customers Love Us

Doug

I posted a video review on my YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/BlDLBOq8YQM?si=OswURkT4fmPeKFLm

Mischi

I absolutely LOVE The Story Engine Decks! I was expecting a simple card-draw system but was so pleasantly surprised to see the number of creative ways suggested to weave those card draws into such a full, flowing idea! Absolutely brilliant system and a must-have for writers and world builders alike! I'll be looking forward to the Lore Master's Deck and completing my Story Engine collection this year. Thank you so much!

Jason Anarchy

This is an attractive and easy story prompt system that makes writer's block a fun problem to have.

Kathy

During the pandemic lockdown, we printed off one of the pdf packs for our kids to keep them occupied. My son is very creative, and would spend hours creating stories with the prompt. We got him the story engine proper for Christmas - he was delighted. He doesn't always use it in the suggested manner, but who cares? Great for creativity, and it keeps him busy and entertained for hours. He now uses 'screens' to write his stories, rather than playing computer games or watching TV. A great gift!

Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran

It came in the mail yesterday, and it's so incredibly well-constructed that I expect it will change the way I think about stories altogether.

ordinal

My brain works well with random systems and this turned out to be a terrific way of kicking it into action when I'm trying to think of plots and details; it's great for giving me a starting point. I use the suggested methods but also just pull out random cards from a stack when I feel like it - it's easy to understand how the different classes of cards work and what you can use them for.