I tend to write background for the first couple chapters (levels 1-10). This covers why my alignment, ethos, class, sphere, etc. are what they are.

Everything after that is story mode, chronicling the characters progress, important events, new goals, etc.

Unless I dream up something really wonky, all of my roles tend to follow that format. Sometimes for throwaway characters or characters I otherwise don't expect to hero or play much, I'll just have a simple background role of a few paragraphs and that's it.

As a player, my goal in writing a role is often just to earn enough XP for certain quests to work and to get a least a little juice for edges.