To take people to a more relatable view of this topic.
DM buys a campaign setting. It is a desert wasteland like Athas/Dark Sun filled with brutal NPCs and constant danger. It has no connection to the Feywild and thus has withered. He studies it and loves it. He is an expert on every page on the setting and expands it to create his own unique touches. He is prepared with dozens of story hooks, adventure locations and great CHARACTER AGNOSTIC storylines.
Then he finds his players.
Player 1 wants to play a Tempest Cleric that was a former pirate.
Player 2 wants to play a Fey Pact Warlock Firbolg.
Player 3 wants to play a Dwarven Barbarian.
Two of those three PCs do not fit into the setting well.
Do you tell the players, "No, you can't play that PC. It doesn't fit into my game?" Is telling a player "No" unnecessarily likely to result in the best experience for the player?
Do you have them be from far away and just ignore their background and motivations? Is that exciting? Or is that going to leave the players feeling like the DM is playing with himself and the PCs are just there to watch... If they're not interwoven into the story meaningfully, they're meaningless. For an example of stock adventures where this is a problem see the old Dark Sun modules.
Or, do you adjust your world to give these PCs a reason to be there. Do you find a place where a sailor might come from and give this PC a reson to travel to this wasteland. Do you add a storyline about a weak connecion to the Feywild that allowd the Feypact Warlock to get his powers and give him motivations to return the world to a lush place...
The DMG has chapters that far too few DMs read on world building and running a campaign. There are many great resources online for world building and finding ways to make the play experience for your characters legendary. I don't care if you're new to the game or, like me, you've played in 5 different decades... There is always more to be learned by looking at other DMs, looking at their advice, and trying to incorporate your players deeper into the game. You'll find that a lot of DMs note that the biggest improvement they made in their games was when they transitioned from making a game FOR the players to making a game WITH the players.
As opposed to this:
A DM decides to run a game entirely based on the player characters. He has received the character sheets from the players, and low and behold...
Player 1 wants to play a Tempest Cleric that was a former pirate.
Player 2 wants to play a Fey Pact Warlock Firbolg.
Player 3 wants to play a Dwarven Barbarian.
So the DM decides to build the world around these folks. He thinks 'Oh, a former pirate. I am going to have it so the main enemy for the first arc is a pirate lord who takes Player 1's quitting of the pirate trade personally! Oh, and I'll have him stealing and plundering from the Ancient Dwarven Ruins, which angers the Dwarven Barbarian! Oooo and the Pirate Lord will have a pact with the same Fey Being that Player 2's Warlock has! Interesting and fun, the players will surely love and be motivated by this!
The DM eagerly preps and crafts the world, putting in various hooks and reveals that 100% relate to the characters. The first session begins. It is a high seas adventure which seas the former pirate fleeing from his old comrades, and the Warlock and the Barbarian and he join forces to cut down the enemy! They sneak through the ruins and sabotage the plundering operations of Evil Pirate Lord. This arc lasts about 3 sessions. All is going well...or so the DM thinks.
Session 4 comes around...and well, the Barbarian can't make it, something has come up with the Warlock's work, and that former pirate lord has decided to go play battletech instead. The DM is confused. Werent the players having fun? He confronts them.
Player 1: "I mean, sure it was cool and all but I was a 'former' pirate. I really didnt wanna do anything with pirates man.
DM: "But I thought cause you were a former pirate that..."
Player 1: "Nah it just sounded cool and maybe I could make pirate jokes now and then."
DM: "Oh..."
Player 2: "Yeah, I mean, the game was okay and all but when I started I really wanted to go to the nearest city, but you said it was some huge Tortuga-like hive of scum and villainy. Whats with you and pirates?"
Player 3: "I dunno, it just seems like it doesn't matter what we want, you've decided what we want. Everywhere we tried to go it was pirates and dwarves. Isnt there like...any normal cities?"
Do you see the issue here?
Also, before you run a campaign, best practice is to send your players what is called a Pitch Doc...where you explain the setting (briefly) along with maybe some of the major players/powers. Then the players will create character concepts that make sense for that world...sure, putting their own personal spin on it that you as a DM should both allow and encourage. But the horse goes before the cart. You let the setting/world inspire the players to create their characters...that way they always will fit, and always in a way THEY want to fit. Not what you think they want.
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