DM Advice - character with partial amnesia (and he doesn't know it)

[Nagol]

IME few players are as prickly as this, but you do need to be careful, and know your player. If you think they would react like Shidaku then don't do it.

Edit: Also, IME a 4,000 word backstory is a big WARNING sign that this guy may well be very sensitive to you messing with his 'canon'. These tend to be the 'special snowflake' players who only care about playing a pre-conceived PC (usually recycled from other games) exactly the way they want, and have no real interest in your campaign per se.
Personally I strongly discourage anything over half a page, and the guy with the 5-page backstory is usually not a guy I want in my game, PC or player.

I'll rarely bother with a deep back-story for a D&D character. When I do and a DM tries to insert something like this into a character without my knowledge, my typical response is to hand him the sheet, tell him to have fun with the NPC and let me know what happened in his story. I'll then roll a new character WITHOUT the baggage I didn't ask for -- or not, if the DM is as prickly as me.

Hitting me with consequences of actions I as a player consented to / instigated is entirely different than hitting me with this form of complication out of the blue from something I gave to you because I was being pleasant as a player.

 

[MarkB]

Hey hold on a second. I can write up a 5 page backstory in about an hour if I've got a good idea and decide to run with it. I've lost a lot of characters I've put a lot of effort into over the years, often before they ever get anywhere either. For people who are good at writing and have a good idea of their character, writing 5 pages is a drop in the bucket. How okay they are with their character dying is variable. I come up with new character concepts about every 10 minutes. When one dies, it's not particularly surprising that I'll have another, similarly well developed character pressed and ready with a similarly long backstory.

My experience is similar. Once I have a basic character concept in mind, spinning that out into a detailed backstory is easy, almost automatic. And if that backstory never gets round to being explored in-game, that's fine - mainly it's there to sit in the back of my mind and help shape the way I play the character.

 

[Sunseeker]

My experience is similar. Once I have a basic character concept in mind, spinning that out into a detailed backstory is easy, almost automatic. And if that backstory never gets round to being explored in-game, that's fine - mainly it's there to sit in the back of my mind and help shape the way I play the character.

To the bolded part in particular, yeah, I don't write backgrounds so that the DM can create specific interactions with my character throughout the game. It's great if he does, it'll probably be very effective at pushing my character's buttons and pulling on his heartstrings. If the DM does not, that's fine. In large part, character backgrounds, bios, short-stories and whatever else I write are more for me than him. He just gets to read it because he asked.

 

[S'mon]

Hey hold on a second...

Sorry, I conflated two issues. My off-topic feelings about long backstories (bad) are irrelevant to my feelings about screwing over the PC without player consent (also bad). Long backstory guy is particularly likely to be upset, but is no more deserving of this than one-paragraph guy.

 

[S'mon]

For people who are good at writing and have a good idea of their character, writing 5 pages is a drop in the bucket.

Is it a drop in the bucket for the GM, though?
I can't think of any sort of game where that would be a good idea. Not even Narrativist type games where you build the world in-play around PC concerns; 5 pages closes down far too many questions. Not traditional sandboxing where it closes off motivations, definitely not adventure paths where the GM has to fit 5 pages into a pre-written plot.
I guess it's least harmful for sandbox games with self-motivated PCs; the GM may not have to worry about it much and the player can use it in play as appropriate, perhaps. That sounds like what you guys are doing. Even in sandbox I've seen some really horrible, destructive backstories, though.

 

[MarkB]

Even in sandbox I've seen some really horrible, destructive backstories, though.

I tend to avoid particularly tortured backstories, mainly because that sort of character can be a pain to play. I recall, in the last Dresden Files game our group played (now there's a system that encourages detailed backgrounds), the GM was surprised to find that I was the only player who hadn't managed to get his character orphaned before the game started.

I don't expect a GM to root every aspect of a detailed character background into his ongoing plot, or even particularly care what the character did before he became an adventurer. But I don't think it should be seen as a flaw for a player to know who his character is and how he came to be where he is.

 

[MDK]

I considder myself lazy in that I rarely produce more than a single page of background (on paper anyway), but regardless of how much I write, it's written for me, not for the DM. By which I mean I do not expect the DM to ever use even 1 letter from it in the campaign. It's fun when that happens, but hey. And no, the backgrounds are generally not very tortured either; my characters generally are explorers out to see what's behind the horizon, not abused seekers of vengeance. I've only ever had one orphan (parents died in a tragic accident), and that was because I wanted her (a human) to have a specific elven-only background trait (warrior of old) in pathfinder: only way to get the trait was if she'd been adopted by elves.
Regarding the OP, yea I'd be pretty miffed if the DM pulled that stunt on me without discussing it with me beforehand. If it happens as the result of something that ocurred in the game then sure go right ahead, but my background is how I view my character, and suddenly finding out she's a nutcase is not going to make me appreciate the game.

 

[Sunseeker]

Is it a drop in the bucket for the GM, though?
I can't think of any sort of game where that would be a good idea. Not even Narrativist type games where you build the world in-play around PC concerns; 5 pages closes down far too many questions. Not traditional sandboxing where it closes off motivations, definitely not adventure paths where the GM has to fit 5 pages into a pre-written plot.
I guess it's least harmful for sandbox games with self-motivated PCs; the GM may not have to worry about it much and the player can use it in play as appropriate, perhaps. That sounds like what you guys are doing. Even in sandbox I've seen some really horrible, destructive backstories, though.

Like I said I don't expect him to. 5 pages isn't for him, its for me, because he asked he gets to see the same stuff I'm using to better RP my character. How much plot 5pages actually involves depends on the writing, I personally tend to write backstories more along the lines of "a day in the life" of my character. So its not five pages of me becoming a champion wrestler because I was raised by wolves and I how I defeated so-in-son in single combat. It's more about one specific event that defines my character and demonstrates how they react to certain stimuli.

But like I said, backstories are more for me than him. If he feels its too much to read I really don't care if he asks for a synopsis, but I don't write my backstories that way, too boring.

EDIT: I also make an effort to avoid "damaged" characters. Sure I pull the "orphan" trope from time to time, but only if birth is relevant to the backstory. Characters with severe emotional issues are not something I write well, and being the son of a therapist I know that mental health is an incredibly complex issue.

DOUBLEPLUSEDIT: Your comment reminded me of one of the long running complaints about "weird races" wherein the DM wonders whatever shall they do when the PHB includes something weird they don't like, and Timmy wants to play it. In regards to background stories, as much as playable classes and races, the DM IMO, always retains the right to say "NO." and should be okay with having to exercise that right. If Timmy makes a background that he was raised in some place that doesn't exist, by some people the DM isn't interested in including and did some stuff the DM doesn't want referenced, beyond the ability to simply decline to include any reference to Timmy's backstory, the DM should also be OK with telling Timmy that his backstory doesn't fit the game.

HOWEVER: this is an issue I see pop up from time to time, why do you have players wanting to do things you don't want done in a game? Either:
A: you didn't clarify these things and it's really your fault.
B: You did and your players are disrespectful jerks.
If you failed to clarify what you're okay with in a game, you need to either own up and clarify ASAP, or suck it up.
If your players are disrespectful jerks who won't at least try to work within the bounds of your story, you need to tell them to shape up or ship out.

 

[Herzog]

Interesting roleplay situations require (IMHO) the DM knowing what motivates your character.
Therefore, when I write a character background, it is most definately for the DM.
Of course, I like it when the DM tries to pull tricks on my character and/or his background.

A player in another game however, writes backgrounds for herself. The DM for that game once used something in that background in his game, and she was very upset.

That has given me the following pointers for when I think to pull something like that when I DM:
1. Inform the player you want or may want to do something involving her/his backround.
2. Ask whether he/she has a problem with that.
3. If not, ask the player how much they want to know about the things you want to change/use from the background.
4. If you actually change parts of the background (like introducing the fact the parents where killed) provide the player with the changed background.
5. If the player has a problem with you 'using' the characters background, ignore the character background. There are other players at the table who might have less problems.
6. If the player wants you to incorporate parts of the background into your game, but does not want you to change/add/use it (or not without his/her knowledge) make a very specific note of this, to avoid future disagreements. In case this is too much work to keep track of, inform the player of this (and refer to point 5)

 

[pemerton]

I can't think of any sort of game where that would be a good idea. Not even Narrativist type games where you build the world in-play around PC concerns; 5 pages closes down far too many questions.

I agree with this. I tend to find a PC works best when s/he has a couple of clear "positive" motivations (people/things loved or longed for) and a couple of clear "negative" motivaitons (people/things hated, feared etc) - this is enough for the GM to build situations around, while giving all participants - the player, other players, the GM - room to move in developing, pushing and pulling the PC in the actual course of play.

Which takes me to:

I don't expect a GM to root every aspect of a detailed character background into his ongoing plot, or even particularly care what the character did before he became an adventurer.

As a GM, I want to build as much of the PC's backgrounds and interests into the game as possible. I don't like a game in which events and scenarios are essentially "free-floating" relative to the PCs' histories and personal motivations.

Of course, that's only one way to approach an RPG. It just happens to be my preferred way.