Excuses for Adventure: Optional Character Backgrounds

Why has your new PC decided to embark on a career in adventuring?  He is seriously considering delving into dark holes in the ground where he knows nasty creatures dwell.  He is embarking on a journey that will most likely include regular bouts with grave danger, wandering from one end of the continent (or dimension) to the other, etc.  There must be some sort of powerful reason…

1. Running away from a battleaxe wedding.  “I never should have asked her to go to the barn with me…”
2. Running out on a boring/laborious/unpleasant apprenticeship.  “If the master makes me warm up his coffee one more time, I swear…”
3. Running away from trouble.  “I did it like this.  I did it like that.  I did it with a wiffle-ball bat. So…”
4. Modern man lost in another dimension.  “Remember ‘Army of Darkness’?  Yeah.  All I need is a frickin’ chainsaw arm.”
5. Sent on a quest.  “The Order says I need some field experience, so you don’t happen to know where I could find the Shrine to Evil Chaos, do you?”
6. In search of the duchies.  “I like money—plain and simple.   Nasty monsters have the best bling.”
7. Revenge.  “Ever since his mother was eaten by bugbears he’s just itchin’ to go out and kill everything that lives in a cave.”
8. Ideological.  “Evil must be vanquished!”
9. Ideological.  “Do-gooders must be vanquished!”
10. Cursed.  “That evil wizard mumbled something and now I’ve got to keep moving every month before people start to get suspicious.
11. ...

Clerical Prayers on the Lost Continent

On the LC, clerical prayers work a little differently than suggested in the Labyrinth Lord rules.  Normally, a cleric or priest would pray for his spells in the morning, and use them as he could throughout the day.  This is still possible, but is one of three options for a cleric.

Option #1
Pray for specific spells in the morning, use them as you can throughout the day.  The rule book method.

Option #2
Pray for general support from your Creator in the morning, then choose spells to cast in the heat of the moment.  This method allows for much more flexibility, but there is a 10-25% chance that the spell you receive in the heat of the moment is not the one you prayed for.  God is not a gumball machine, you can't just put in a quarter and know that gum is coming out.  You make your prayer and God will give you what you need, whether you think you need it or not.

Option #3
Use a combination of options 1 and 2.  Pray for some specific spells, and leave some points free for last minute requests.

This method also incorporates the spell point system I've devised, so picking spells is a little more strategic than usual.