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Backgrounds: Use 'Em or Lose 'Em?
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<blockquote data-quote="5ekyu" data-source="post: 7568715" data-attributes="member: 6919838"><p>To me, and in my experience, the degree to which 5e backgrounds play into the foreground is up to the player and GM - and dependent on them working together - on some page. </p><p></p><p>Folk hero could be "where you came from", your "glory days" in a small pond that propelled you onto a bigger stage but not in itself be a significant factor on that next stage. Or it could be one character's prologue to the bigger story now unfolding, building on that start - driving them to the intersection with the other PCs. </p><p></p><p>5e backgrounds allow for both - and of course a lot of other degrees. </p><p></p><p>But if **all** backgrounds bring with them narrative paths that lock in some narrative milestones between levels 1-10 that brings them all into foreground constructions which seem to be a smaller subset of options. </p><p></p><p>In my experience, systems work best that serve both foregtounded, backgrounded and in-between - especially at first step day one chargen. More than a few players feel and grow their way into the character as the first few levels of play are done - and chaining that narrative "where am I going" to for 10 levels to the initial background is not gonna serve all of those.</p><p></p><p>If the narrative path mechanics were say an extension to background concept, picked at say tier-2 5th level that provided a somewhat formalized set of objectives and rewards that extended through tiers 2 (with new choices at tier 3 and 4) it would be more interesting and imo useful to me. </p><p></p><p>That would turn it into more useful storytelling props more than an anchor picked really before many players and GMs have so solid an idea of what the "game" is. </p><p></p><p>To me what you describe in your folk hero experience is just a case of GM and player not being on some page - not working together. The same mismatch could occur if the player wanted his folk hero days to be behind him but the GM keeps the plots and stories circling that small town past.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="5ekyu, post: 7568715, member: 6919838"] To me, and in my experience, the degree to which 5e backgrounds play into the foreground is up to the player and GM - and dependent on them working together - on some page. Folk hero could be "where you came from", your "glory days" in a small pond that propelled you onto a bigger stage but not in itself be a significant factor on that next stage. Or it could be one character's prologue to the bigger story now unfolding, building on that start - driving them to the intersection with the other PCs. 5e backgrounds allow for both - and of course a lot of other degrees. But if **all** backgrounds bring with them narrative paths that lock in some narrative milestones between levels 1-10 that brings them all into foreground constructions which seem to be a smaller subset of options. In my experience, systems work best that serve both foregtounded, backgrounded and in-between - especially at first step day one chargen. More than a few players feel and grow their way into the character as the first few levels of play are done - and chaining that narrative "where am I going" to for 10 levels to the initial background is not gonna serve all of those. If the narrative path mechanics were say an extension to background concept, picked at say tier-2 5th level that provided a somewhat formalized set of objectives and rewards that extended through tiers 2 (with new choices at tier 3 and 4) it would be more interesting and imo useful to me. That would turn it into more useful storytelling props more than an anchor picked really before many players and GMs have so solid an idea of what the "game" is. To me what you describe in your folk hero experience is just a case of GM and player not being on some page - not working together. The same mismatch could occur if the player wanted his folk hero days to be behind him but the GM keeps the plots and stories circling that small town past. [/QUOTE]
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