How much back story do you allow/expect at the start of the game?

[cmad1977]

The story we tell is the back story. Don’t give me your fan fic history of your character. We’re doing X, why is your character interested in X?


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[Blue]

Because I am not that interested in their amateur fiction.

Good thing you never want to build stories with them.

Oh wait, those are the players whom you want to DM.

Luckily no player who has invested enough in their character to come up a long background ever wants any of those details to come up in play. I am sure they will be happy to know that their work has been discarded unread.

 

[Mort]

Good thing you never want to build stories with them.

Oh wait, those are the players whom you want to DM.

Luckily no player who has invested enough in their character to come up a long background ever wants any of those details to come up in play. I am sure they will be happy to know that their work has been discarded unread.

Rather, maybe ask the question:

Does a single PCs long initial backstory benefit the collective story building of the group moving forward?

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[Blue]

Rather, maybe ask the question:

Does a single PCs long initial backstory benefit the collective story building of the group moving forward?

Nope, not the question I'd ask. If a player is engaged enough to give me that level of detail, I'll work it in. Why would I want to discourage player buy-in?

Anyway, I usually have an arc for each character as well as campaign arcs going on, and usually manage to twine them together by later in the campaign - that player A was part of a cult but left it and player B has an estranged father and player C is the disinherited black sheep of a noble family who's now found religion which has moved him off a self-destructive course - these can all give hooks and not be mutually exclusive. I've found that players often enjoy more when they are fighting for something they care about, and if they bothered to write it up in a background then they care about it.

 

[Mort]

Nope, not the question I'd ask. If a player is engaged enough to give me that level of detail, I'll work it in. Why would I want to discourage player buy-in?

Player buyin is great. The question stands though, does a large backstory tend to encourage spotlight hogging? Which takes away from the evolving story of the party as a whole?

Anyway, I usually have an arc for each character as well as campaign arcs going on, and usually manage to twine them together by later in the campaign - that player A was part of a cult but left it and player B has an estranged father and player C is the disinherited black sheep of a noble family who's now found religion which has moved him off a self-destructive course - these can all give hooks and not be mutually exclusive. .

All great, none require more than a paragraph from any given player.

I've found that players often enjoy more when they are fighting for something they care about, and if they bothered to write it up in a background then they care about it.

I 100% agree that players are more engaged when it's something they care about. But, I've found that applies even better when it's the whole party that has shared in experience. That's better done at the table as opposed to a backstory.


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[Caliban]

Different people want different things from the game.

Sometimes the game is about the players, sometime it is about what the DM has planned.

Either way can be fun, neither way is wrong. As long as everyone is on board it's fine.

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[Mort]

Different people want different things from the game.

Sometimes the game is about the players, sometime it is about what the DM has planned.

Either way can be fun, neither way is wrong. As long as everyone is on board it's fine.

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As with most things in gaming, communication between DM and players is the key. Though it's, as always, the DM that must balance the wants of the various players.

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[Phion]

I am in the middle of doing a long backstory of my character but I have bullet pointed the important parts of the story for the DM and would not expect them to read as they tend to have enough going on already (although I would appreciate it if they did). I mostly started writing because my console is broke and its a fun way to pass time, my writing style has improved a lot over the course and I will have to go back to the beginning once finished to make it more enjoyable for people to read. I was conscious to make the story not sound like fan fiction/ glorification of my character, it would make my eyes bleed reading some else's back story if it was like that throughout; a bit of empathy goes a long way.

On a side note, does anyone know of a respectable website that I could upload the story later? (Really not clued up on this kind of stuff)

 

[Blue]

Player buyin is great. The question stands though, does a large backstory tend to encourage spotlight hogging? Which takes away from the evolving story of the party as a whole?

So you're saying that if the player gives me more hooks, it's not under my control how many I use so a player grabs more spotlight?

Please, I don't really understand your point. How does more backstory force me to give them more spotlight time?

All great, none require more than a paragraph from any given player.

The point under discussion isn't how concisely small examples that I picked to fit several in a sentence can be written. It's about a DM refusing to read a character's background if it's too long. That super-simplified examples can be written shortly is besides the point.

I 100% agree that players are more engaged when it's something they care about. But, I've found that applies even better when it's the whole party that has shared in experience. That's better done at the table as opposed to a backstory.

And then you should admit that it's even better when you do both - have things that tie in character backstory and while-adventuring points.

Unless you're saying that any given scene can only have a single influence - which I'll respectfully disagree.

 

[Mort]

So you're saying that if the player gives me more hooks, it's not under my control how many I use so a player grabs more spotlight?

Please, I don't really understand your point. How does more backstory force me to give them more spotlight time?

You're not "forced" but it's hard not to be influenced. Which is fine if that's the way you want to go, but then you should be careful to not, "spotlight" a PC vs. others. Unless, of course, the players are all fine with that - hence communication being key.

The point under discussion isn't how concisely small examples that I picked to fit several in a sentence can be written. It's about a DM refusing to read a character's background if it's too long. That super-simplified examples can be written shortly is besides the point.

If the DM specifies a paragraph and you give her 10 pages, that's not OK either. If the DM does not specify, well, I still think it's best to check before giving a long backstory. As said before, communication is key.

And then you should admit that it's even better when you do both - have things that tie in character backstory and while-adventuring points.

Unless you're saying that any given scene can only have a single influence - which I'll respectfully disagree.

Multiple influences are fine, seems I just prefer mine more concise than you do. That's ok.



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