D&D 5E What do I tell players about my overly complex political world?

[MNblockhead]

Depends on the players. Some players love to go deep into background information. Others just focus on what they need for the game at hand. I think I would provide the introductory material to them before the game and between game sessions.

I use Realm Works, so that i can just reveal what they have encountered and they can read or refer to during the game. Makes it easy so I don't have to retype things and it makes it easy to remember what I revealed to them.

Main issues are (1) players need to buy the player's edition of the software (a web version is in the works but not idea when it will become available) and (2) no individual player reveal. If you reveal one item of info, all players can see it. Still for shared knowledge, it makes my life as a DM easier.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

I think it depends on the level of education of your players.
The son of a nobleman, or a member of the clergy, would be very informed of the history and political implications.
For commoners, it would be Princess' Father = high taxes = bad, and if they don't personally know the abductor, the he's just another nobleman / rich merchant.

I'm a big fan of individual backgrounds for PCs

LOL! Sorry, had to comment...I am still drinking my wake-up juice (coffee) and I *totally* read that the way you didn't intend. You said "...education of your players". My first thought was, 'Yeah, I can see that...', then you go on with "The son of a nobleman, or member of the clergy, ...". I think I almost got to the last sentence before I realized you didn't mean PLAYERS education, you meant PLAYER *CHARACTERS* education. hehe...almost spewed coffee out my nose!

No worries, good laugh! Lots of people mistake "Players" for "Player Characters" and think they can use them interchangedly (? is that a word...?).

Ahem...

Anyway, to the OP: I found writing out basic info and handing it to the players or getting them to read it on-line on our Obsidian Portal site is...almost useless. I have one player that would read it. Out of 6 or 7. So I found it most effective to just give a line or two to them when they first encounter someone/something that is 'important to the back story of the situation'.
So when they see/encounter that guy abducting the princess, ask a for the PC's "History" skill then make some rolls to see if anyone gets really good. Even if they all fail miserably, give them the info, but if someone does particularly well, maybe give them more or say they met the person before (or the persons father, son, cousin, whatever). That's what I've found works best. Info as the 'action/encounter' is happening...they remember it more.

PS: "Players" is the people at the table..."Player Characters" are the fictional characters they are playing in the game...
PSS: Sorry...couldn't resist!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Quickleaf]

Dear Enworlders:

So I'm about to start DMing a campaign. It's set in a homebrew world which has been designed and revised in my mind for the past 30 years. During that time, the politics and history of the world (even the little part of it that my PCs will inhabit) has grown more and more complex.

So the question is, how much of the backstory (which even common people in this world would know) can I give to the players without overwhelming them? For example, the first mission is pretty much a "save the princess" scenario, but the characters would also be expected to recognize the name of the man attempting to abduct her, and therefore why it's important to keep her safe, which would mean knowing the abductor's history. And they would know that one nation is subjugated to the princesses nation, and chafes under the king's (the princess' grandfather) yoke, and therefore the people may be more or less inclined to help. As you can see, it gets complicated quickly.

I have written up some background, but it runs about two pages, but even then I feel like it might be too much too soon. Especially as there will be more information coming in the future. And I don't really want, and they probably don't want to, have to keep consulting notes to remember who someone is.

Or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill, and underestimating my player's willingness to absorb large amounts of minutia? I was a history major in college, and have a fairly good memory for names and dates, so it's hard for me to judge things like this some times.

Any guidance anyone can give would be appreciated. Thanks.

--Scott

"How much backstory do I give my players?" "The least amount of backstory possible."

One thing I recommend, Scott, especially since you're starting a new campaign, is to disseminate small chunks of information keyed to each PC. Not more than a quick paragraph or two. This information should have some overlap with info all the PCs know, but should have one or two things in it unique to the individual PC's background...especially with allusions (foreshadowing?) to how they know what they know.

Keep it short and sweet. Make it personally relevant. That will grab their attention and keep it far better than a 2-page diatribe.

 

[BookBarbarian]

When my group started D&D, using the 5e Starter Set, my first DM and the other Players new virtually nothing about the Forgotten Realms. I knew more from having played the Neverwinter Nights games and reading the Salvatore novels, but I had never played in the setting before. It turned out we all we needed was what was in the Box. Which as many people have noted is not an FRCS.

So while it's certainly helpful for you as the DM to know the nitty gritty details, your players won't need much.

 

[ElderElementalEye]

Hey, honest mistake ;-)
I confuse players and characters all the time... English is not my native language.

Though it would be cool to play with a member of the clergy, or a nobleman

 

[GX.Sigma]

Tell them as little as possible. No, not even that much. Figure out how little you can get away with telling them, then tell them half that much. Tell them less than what they need to know. Then let them ask questions (and give them the shortest answers you can). Let them explore this world.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Tell them as little as possible. No, not even that much. Figure out how little you can get away with telling them, then tell them half that much. Tell them less than what they need to know. Then let them ask questions (and give them the shortest answers you can). Let them explore this world.

This.

Especially because however much you tell them, they probably won't actually absorb and remember it all. So save your breath, and save yourself the frustration of feeling like your efforts aren't being appreciated, by setting your expectations to the very achievable level of "The characters basically don't know anything."

 

[Bawylie]

Take the backstories and drill down to the motivations and goals of each NPC. Create a post-it or a card for each NPC your players meet (either as prep or when they meet in play).

Write The Motivation & Goal On The Card.

When the players interact with these NPCs, have the NPCs personify their motivations and act toward their goals. A lot of the backstory will sort itself out if you just play your part.

Exposition is an important tool, but it's also the least amount of Fun in your game. Therefore, use as little as feasible, or only as much as is necessary. I generally try for 3 sentences.

"Brad who is so-and-so again?"

So-and-so is the fairly unpopular king of wherever. He's been in a long running conflict with the nation of elsewhere. Recently, his granddaughter was kidnapped so he's been trying, kind of vainly, to drum up some rescue efforts.

Any details can come out during interactions with NPCs.

(Also, don't use the 3 Clue rule. It's terrible advice. Players searching for a needle in a haystack? Add 9 pins! That'll surely not be confusing or misleading!)


-Brad

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Give them the full write-up, but don't assume they'll read it. Instead, just tell them basic stuff they would know when it comes up. After a few sessions, tell them you are going to start reducing the amount of information like that you give them, since it's in the primer. Hopefully they will either read it then or deal with their characters suffering from bad memories.

 

[discosoc]

I used to be really big on "top down" world-building, but sometime in the last decade I've totally moved away from it. I've found it's just straight up more fun to tell people only the bare minimum needed for the area they are in, and slowly expand out as the group travels.

Take the Lord of the Rings movies for example (from the perspective of someone who hasn't read the books). You start with a quick flashback that clearly references a major villain in a war from history. Then it drops you into a nice lovely place where friendly hobbits are being hobbits, and obviously the world as we see it is nothing like the battle fought at "Mount Doom." As the hobbits travel, the audience gets a better understanding of what the world is like.

This style of storytelling is also more flexible on the DM, in my opinion. All you really need to know up front is the basic size of the known world, the geography of the region, a few important NPCs like the Baron Cragmire or Samstad of the Guild, primary means of travel, and vague distances between major locations. Beyond that, maybe write up a few dozen bits of one-sentence "lore" ideas and put together a random encounter table for when players overhear local gossip or start roleplaying it up with the barkeep. You don't have to know exactly how they fit in the larger world, but they can help you in the process of building it on the fly. Use ideas from random generators to seed your chart, like http://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/random/#type=encounter;enc-type=Town.