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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Haltherrion" data-source="post: 5412557" data-attributes="member: 18253">As a ref and a player, I wouldn't go quite that far (but agree with the sentiment <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />). I think it is a bonus when the ref uses character background material but for some types of games (the more plotted, story-arc type) or when there are a lot of characters with good backgrounds, it can get hard to 'visit' all the relevant stuff in a background. I like to think of the background as:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">helps firm the player's conception of the character and perhaps affects some of your in-game decisions.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">provides the referee with possible story or plot-hook ideas as it works into the game.</li> </ol>On point 2, nothing says the player can't remind the ref of an item in their background in hopes of getting it worked in at some point. In our current campaign, one of the PCs was exiled from the elven forest. This ties in with her tiefling blood which, in this setting, manifests itself around maturity and caused her to become outcast by the elves. On point #1, she has a big chip on her shoulder regarding elves, doesn't like them and will try to thwart them. On point #2, she would really like a way to prove that they were wrong to kick her out. This second point might be resolved without ref intervention but most likely requires the ref to make situations that might lend themselves to proving herself. In the terms of our campaign, the players have shown interest in a long standing plot-hook (now a full blown arc) that, among other things, supposes some demonic types trying to break through from the underworld into the surface world. Thanks to the tiefling's background, I chose to make one of the entry points in the elven forest. The party has learned of this and the tiefling is interested in thwarting that attack as a way to prove herself to the elves. Time will tell if they can pull it off (they don't know where the egress is in the forest; it hasn't actually broken through yet so they need to follow it through from the underworld side and then will have to finesse how they thwart it- defeat the threat before a break through and the elves might not think the tiefling actually did anything for them.) This is an example of a background affecting things already in the works. Just one way to use a background.</blockquote>

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