What To Ask About Your Game's PCs

So there are about a million lists like this floating around, some long, some short, of questions for your players to answer about their characters to generate a backstory or deepen their character or give you hooks to plot upon or whatever. Here's my contribution.

I recently asked my players to, for a new campaign I'm running, give me the answers to any three of these questions:

• a goal, something your character wants or something you want for your character
• something your character hates or fears
• an NPC your character knows positively (a childhood friend, a romantic interest, etc)
• an NPC your character knows negatively (an enemy, a rival, etc)
• a secret your character knows, or one about your character that they do not know
• something your character regrets
• your character's zodiac sign (for my campaign, that's "what Wanderer was in prominence in what Constellation when your character was born?" -- you can use your own setting's zodiac-equivalent if you've made one, or one or more real-world ones, or whatever)
• a virtue or vice your character prizes, partakes of, or strongly disapproves of
• what motivation your character has for joining the campaign
• some connection/bond your character has with another character in the party

I only asked the party to do any three, but then I did all of them for a major NPC by way of demonstration. Example:

• Tess Corm's main goal is to make the colony into a powerful nation. A stretch goal involves conquering and subjugating Shell.
• Tess has grown to hate the whole corrupt oligarchic establishment of Shell, a place she has not been since she was 10.
• Tess's closest advisor is a human named Tristram Groxer, who has been a good friend and retainer of her father's.
• Tess's nemesis is Bob Varakas, Serene Doge of Shell, who ruined her father.
• Tess has taken out many debts, mostly monetary, in the service of financing this expedition. One dark secret, known by few but suspected by more, involves the exact natures of some of her creditors.
• Tess's first true love went awry when her drive and ambition got in the way. She regrets this, but not enough to actually tone it down with the drive and ambition or anything.
• When Tess was born, red Othag (which represents change) was in the Fist (which represents taking what you want by force).
• Tess approves of industry, diligence, envy, and pride. She disapproves of sloth.
• Tess set up this expedition as her ambition is to rule a great nation.
• Employment is the connection Tess has with the rest of the party. She hired them. (This one wound up being a bit of a cop-out.)