Need advice: creating PC's within the context of a unfamiliar setting.

[Sunseeker]

How do you get your players to create characters within the context of the setting when it's a Home-Brew?

The players have Zero Knowledge about the world and it's conflicts or the factions on any side.

It's unrealistic to spell it all out at Session Zero; and few players have interest in reading a synopsis beyond a few paragraphs in length. (But it had better be packed full of hooks!) You can't expect players to absorb gallons of setting information at the start.

Tell them to suck it up and read it because it's important and there will be a quiz. IE: ensure their in-game survival has some relation to knowing certain readily available information. If every Tuesday the King expects everyone to be groveling at his feet buck naked, and anyone who doesn't is killed on sight, then there's good reason for them to know this information, and there's no reason for their character not to know.

If it is the law that everyone donate 10% of their income to the local church, and not doing so is punishable by jail time, when the tax-man comes around and the players refuse to pay up, don't give them any leeway on the punishment. They're not criminals. Maybe they can avoid the cops, maybe they can't, but if they aren't going to follow the law, they are going to be punished.

Most players ignore the setting fluff because it largely doesn't matter so you need to make it matter.

In the end, I want them to have backgrounds and personality and goals and motives that make sense within the context of the setting, but they simply do not have enough info at the start to be getting on with. Once a few game sessions passes and I've had time to give exposition to the setting (Showing, as opposed to simply Telling), THEN maybe they'd be better prepared to created something truly 'hooked in'.

Again, give them that info. If they choose to ignore it, you may need to reassess DMing for those people.

What other advice could you give DM's and players putting together characters for a home-brew, going in with only a drop of knowledge at Session Zero?

The only answer I can imagine is to ask the perspective players to drop all character preconceptions before coming to the table. They'd have to draw up fairly generic PC's attached to the campaign with bare threads provided by the DM until the player finds something 'in-game' that interests them. But, is that very exciting? If I were a player, I'm not sure I'd like to be given my tie to the campaign world until I found something to hook onto on my own.

I don't do this. If certain world-knowledge is important to the game, I give it to them. But honestly, I don't try to go there. I often stick to the tropes, elves are tree-huggers, dwarves love rocks, humans reproduce like bunnies, orcs are violent, etc... When I don't, I create a print-out for my players with important information any sentient with a functioning brain would know. If they choose to ignore it, I don't care. I gave them the information and there will be a test (their in-game survival).

Is that my only option? As a DM bringing my pre-fabricated campaign, I realize I have a responsibility to be flexible, but I'd rather not have to flex the boundaries defined by my created work much. And in the end, aren't I permitted, as DM, to determine said boundaries?

No. In fact I'd advise against giving players little information combined with high restrictions. It's going to make players unhappy fast. I've run some very limited campaigns with some very specific important information (Ravenloft campaign setting). Characters who don't lean die. Players who don't learn are asked to leave. If you're going to have boundaries, that's fine. Just be ready to enforce them. But laws with reasoning behind them are always better than laws because I said so.

For example: In the past, I've had players who wanted to bring in concepts like 'Witch Hunter' or 'miniature giant from a faraway land' or 'slime cultist worshiping an entity from the Xth Dimension'. Really far-out stuff that'd I'd have to stretch my setting and create whole new swaths of factions and opponents totally unrelated to my predominant theme. They all felt like square pegs hammered into square hole. I would like to avoid this, this time around.

Then don't. Set the guidelines for what you will accept. Provide a reason for those guidelines. Characters are often special snowflakes, but rarely are they so at level 1 and I have no problem making that clear with low survival rates, especially for the unprepared. Special Snowflake Tier starts around level 16 in most of my settings.

Don't be afraid to say "NO". But your answers, yes or no, should always be backed up with some reason. A little sugar to help the pill go down.

 

[Jhaelen]

Talk to them about the idea behind their character, "I wanna be a pirate!", "I'm a barbarian!", "I want to worship the Sun god.", or whatever idea that they have. Then individually fill them in with enough details to get started with that sort of character.

Yep, that's exactly what I'd do (and have done in the past). I make suggestions and present options based on their (general) ideas.

However, just as Blue mentioned, I also provide a small introductory document. Given that the characters are supposed to have some common knowledge about the world they've been born in, this makes only sense. It's not actually important that everyone reads it before the first session, but it's something you can direct them to, if they ask general questions about the setting.

 

[Lanefan]

What I did with my current campaign was tell them they were starting out in a Human land and as such all their first-run characters had to be Human. Other races could be brought in later (and in this case "later" meant within the first adventure) once the party had broadened their horizons a bit.

I also showed them a map of the home realm and a basic (though intentionally more-or-less vague) gazetteer of the surrounding realms/areas that reflected what neophyte adventurers might be expected to (think they) know; while having also prepared for later reveal various maps of other realms and areas once the party either got there or thought to pre-acquire said maps.

Lanefan

 

[Askaval30]

As a DM you can can create a Tolkienesque backstory, a beautifully created map, an evocative setting and a truly engrossing intro manual that should fire up their imaginations and creative juices. But...

All of this, all of this will fall flat upon its face if the Players are not on board with the shared concepts you put out in front of them. A campaign is ultimately a collaborative process and if your main protagonists ignore this or balk at some of these premises... well... let's just say I always wanted to play a gritty Dark Sun campain for decades, but that remains a pipe dream to this day.

It is not my intent to discourage, but my point is that unless you have the fortune of being able to hand-pick your players to match the concepts in your head... perhaps you should prepare yourself to make some allowances. That is the blessing and curse of us DMs... the enjoyment of the group trumps our personal expectations.

 

[fuindordm]

Good question!

Some players are interested in integrating with a homebrew session, others just want to play a generic PC or something far out.

The way I deal with this is:
(1) Before I even start to flesh out the setting, I share my sketchy ideas with the players and ask them if they're interested in the campaign. They often start tossing ideas for PCs around at this stage.
(2) Give the players a 2-page handout describing the setting in session 0 and even earlier. This has just enough information for them to make PCs that match the TONE of the campaign. If there are important factions/conflicts that every PC would be aware of, I mention them briefly. If there are banned races/classes, I mention them too.
(3) At this stage I probably already have a lot more information on the setting in my head than I wrote down on the handout. I probably even have an idea for the plot. But I make sure to leave plenty of white space in both, so that I can acommodate unusual PCs. Neighboring countries are sketched out in only a few sentences, so if a player wants to play a serpent druid of Quetzalcoatl, then I can stick a jungle somewhere nearby without a problem.
(4) After all the PCs have been created, I start developing the plot and adventures in more detail, and find ways to hook them into the story and move the spotlight from one PC to another.

Hope this helps!
Ben

 

[Istbor]

Have an idea of the area or continent/kingdom you will be starting in or playing on. I tend to draw the landmass and oceans/rivers/lakes and seas. I add mountains and some forests and other landmarks I know will be there. Indicate where the campaign kicks off at, and that is it. Show this rough map to the players when you meet to discuss. All of those blank or undefined areas are for later when your group either travels there or during player creation and they want to help incorporate places and themes into these areas.

I also always have a packet, as others have stated. It goes over some various things to give a basic 'common' knowledge to the characters and players.

- Different important regions/landscapes/kingdoms
- Important NPCs (usually rulers) they would know from just living in the world
- God(s) and Goddess(es) that they would be aware of
- I always add a brief timeline so the players have an Idea of what is going on and what has happened in the recent past
- Then, I zoom in to wherever we are starting and list the key locations and describe the locals they would have encountered or know

Once all that is done it is time to create those characters that will be part of the world

I hand that packet out a week before holding what is called Session Zero. Important for starting off a campaign, and I think almost mandatory now, for kicking off a home brew. Here the we can discuss what the players want to do, what there characters may like to do and so on. We build the characters and we establish ties to the world and sometimes the players create bonds that their characters already have with one another.

As some have stated also, people may not read it. Yeah, this could happen, but if they want to play in this world, generally the players are going to try and immerse themselves.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

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[magnusmalkus]

Thanks folks for that advice. It's a broad spectrum of stuff I thought I'd have to do, stuff I thought I should do, and a confirmation on my apprehension that, for some players, this all may be for naught.

It also made me realize that the info packet i do present to the players should be severely restricted to relevant data. I must curtail the info to leave unnecessary flavor and fluff out, reserving that for exposition for the game itself.

I wanted to start the players off with a bang and put them in the thick of the adventuring part of the campaign, but it looks like I may have to pull back and stick them in the back-woods as country bumpkins and bring them out, slowly introducing them to the campaign world... THEN I can start the 'adventuring' part of the campaign.

That was awesome advice. Thanks folks.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1) Don't make it too dry. You want the players to read this, after all.

2) "starting off with a bang" is not mutually exclusive with giving players a good campaign packet.

 

[Ashabel]

[1a] Have them summoned from alternate realities and/or different planets.
[1b] I am playing in a 3.5 D&D Ravenloft game currently with an old west mad scientist (from the Shadows of Brimstone setting, similar to Deadlands). It is fun to wield a colt revolver in D&D (took a firearms feat).
[1c] In another 3.5 D&D game the party was summoned from alternate dimensions and/or different planets in order to complete a quest. I was extremely tempted to play a Fraggle Bard, from Fraggle Rock.

[2a] Have them begin the game with amnesia (leaving class abilities and professional skills intact).
[2b] SyFi has a rather cool show called Dark Matter that did this. It screams RPG.
[2c] Play a few sessions and then have each player come up with a background fact about each other’s player’s backgrounds.
[2d] Introduce their backgrounds slowly.

-The groom of an angry bride and/or family “stood-up” on her wedding day. The father? The local thieves guild grandmaster. The bride-to-be? Well she is cursed by a witch to kill her first husband in her sleep. The curse seems happy enough to consider a fiance as close enough to husband to kick in. Have her be some crazy stealthy sleeping ninja that shadow-walks to wherever he is, and tries to murder him at night. The father has a second husband lined up.
-The weapon-smith and/or wizard that was commissioned to deliver the duke a masterpiece and/or enchanted sword (the PC could be an apprentice or an enchanter that will slowly remember how to enchant as they gain levels). The duke thinks that there is thievery involved. The sword? It can talk telepathically, is +1 (or grants advantage against goblins, or something), can dance giving a +1 AC (perhaps later also attack by itself), has a fly speed of whatever is needed to stay within the same square as its wielder, cannot go further than a square away, is madly in love with its creator, and is up to some shenanigans.
-A visiting princess, wearing an enchanted ring that changes her appearance. Everyone is frantically looking for her in order to prevent an international incident. The ring gives off a pleasant sensation (it is also a ring of sustenance . . . so she sleeps like 2-hours a night, and does not need to eat), and the wearer feels that there may be consequences for taking the ring off (she would then be hungry and would then need to sleep ~8-hours a night).
-A man who volunteered to be the village’s sacrifice to a nearby monster, so that the monster would leave his village alone. He thought that he was terminally ill, but his "best-friend" wants to marry his girlfriend/wife, has been poisoning him, and conning him into thinking that he is terminally ill.
-A werewolf (house-rule something up, the standard werewolf’s are too powerful and creepy evil) that has been searching for her pup-napped newborn. The circus kidnapped them for their freak show. Or perhaps one of those cat folks with a choker that makes her look human (or she has a soul that is part cat-folk and part human, and can look like either with some innate effort).
-The paladin/cleric? Well he is actually a sentient holy avenger, is on holiday, and was temporally given a human body by the god he serves as payment for deeds well done. For some reason he finds that weapon-smith/wizard's sentient sword to be attractive. The paladin order and/or clerics are looking for this missing artifact, and need it to combat a great evil. Divination spells keep leading them to the party, but they cannot seem to find the holy avenger. You could use this group of Paladins and clerics to help the party beat a powerful foe (let the PCs be the heroes).

I really like option 2 (kinda wanna use it for my current new char), but I would let the player have a final fact/fiction veto on it. Maybe that's what they believe until they remember differently. Or maybe even "that may be true, but that's not who I choose to be anymore"