Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How do I get more roleplaying out of my players?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 3221686" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>You can lead a horse to water, but sometimes after that all you can do is drown it, 'cause it ain't gonna drink. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>Getting people to write up a backstory (particularly if they don't wnat to and-or have no ideas for such) is probably more headache-inducing than it's worth. Sometimes, I'll dream stuff up on the fly for my characters (have I ever been to this town? ::roll:: nope, never even heard of it), erring on the side of bland and inocuous. But "what do you fear" type questions just annoy me.</p><p></p><p>That said, if anyone *does* come up with a back-story you've got something to build on.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes, the DM will have dreamed up some tables to determine roughly where you're from, whether you have any siblings, whether your parents are still alive, whether any of those people are significant somehow (being Dwalin the Dwarf is one thing, being Dwalin brother of Balin the Thunderer, Smiter of Giants is another thing entirely!), and that right there can lead a player into back-story ideas.</p><p></p><p>My 3e Illusionist, it turned out, came from a family of farmers and - according to DM roll - had an identical twin sister. It took a couple of pages of small type to explain how she ever wound up as an Illusionist (the sister went into Necromancy), but it was fun to do. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>Lanefan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 3221686, member: 29398"] You can lead a horse to water, but sometimes after that all you can do is drown it, 'cause it ain't gonna drink. :) Getting people to write up a backstory (particularly if they don't wnat to and-or have no ideas for such) is probably more headache-inducing than it's worth. Sometimes, I'll dream stuff up on the fly for my characters (have I ever been to this town? ::roll:: nope, never even heard of it), erring on the side of bland and inocuous. But "what do you fear" type questions just annoy me. That said, if anyone *does* come up with a back-story you've got something to build on. Sometimes, the DM will have dreamed up some tables to determine roughly where you're from, whether you have any siblings, whether your parents are still alive, whether any of those people are significant somehow (being Dwalin the Dwarf is one thing, being Dwalin brother of Balin the Thunderer, Smiter of Giants is another thing entirely!), and that right there can lead a player into back-story ideas. My 3e Illusionist, it turned out, came from a family of farmers and - according to DM roll - had an identical twin sister. It took a couple of pages of small type to explain how she ever wound up as an Illusionist (the sister went into Necromancy), but it was fun to do. :) Lanefan [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How do I get more roleplaying out of my players?
Top