Unpopular opinions go here

[Lanefan]

Don't really agree with the rest of your post, but this...

Extensive character histories aren't good roleplaying and they aren't conducive to good roleplaying. Play out one good session with a group of other roleplayers and your character will have one session of actual backstory.

...is 100% bang on.

All the pre-adventuring bits can be filled in later, once the character has shown it'll probably be around a while.

 

[Reynard]

Don't really agree with the rest of your post, but this...

...is 100% bang on.

All the pre-adventuring bits can be filled in later, once the character has shown it'll probably be around a while.

I think of RPG campaigns like ensemble TV shows, and so I encourage players to use that template when making their characters and their backstories. That is, give your character a hook, for sure, and maybe a couple small background details, but be ready to integrate what happens in play to that background. Some weirdo shows up with a quest offer? Maybe it's your aunt or the man who betrayed your father or whatever.

 

[Reynard]

Crunch is good.

 

[Lanefan]

People can get used to a lot of things, usually pretty quickly. It's certainly something that could be done within a generation, but likely much faster than that.

Canada's been metric for decades and I still use miles for distance, feet for elevation, feet-inches and pounds for someone's height and weight, inches for snowfall and rainfall, and so on; and (most importantly!) pints for beer. But I also use celsius for temperature, litres/millilitres for grocery items, kmh for wind and car speed, and so on.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

There's a rest of the world..?

Now we're really drifting into unpopular opinions. This thread has gone too far!

Of course there is a rest of the world!

The rest of the world is the place that Americans travel to, where we meet other Americans and talk about how hard it is to get a decent hamburger.

 

[Velderan]

Of course there is a rest of the world!

The rest of the world is the place that Americans travel to, where we meet other Americans and talk about how hard it is to get a decent hamburger.

Oh! You mean where we go and measure their level of civilization based on whether they have a McDonalds or not?

 

[Committed Hero]

Both are 16. I only know that because I have a little conversion chart fridge magnet that I used to reference while cooking. I switched to metric and haven't looked back. So much easier.

Do recipes converted from imperial measurements to metric round things off to manageable numbers, or are there calls for like 37.2mls of olive oil?

 

[Celebrim]

Plot armor as a player-side game mechanic is genius and more games should make use of it

Isn't that just hit points?

 

[CleverNickName]

Who's to say those things aren't one and the same?

Ethically-questionable? Bring it on! Ethically-bankrupt? Sure, why not?

Maybe I'm weird, but I absolutely do not want to sit through someone's detailed narrative/power fantasy of a graphic assault scene (or worse). I'd not only disallow it in-game, I would ask the player to leave.

 

[overgeeked]

I think of RPG campaigns like ensemble TV shows, and so I encourage players to use that template when making their characters and their backstories. That is, give your character a hook, for sure, and maybe a couple small background details, but be ready to integrate what happens in play to that background. Some weirdo shows up with a quest offer? Maybe it's your aunt or the man who betrayed your father or whatever.

While that approach (creating a goal or hook for your character), when people talk about backstories in RPGs they’re generally referring to the “my PC’s so awesome” fanfiction that many players have embraced recently. Things like being 1st-level in a D&D game and already having defeated giants and dragons or having a mountain of lore the player expects the referee to incorporate into the game.