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<blockquote data-quote="Haltherrion" data-source="post: 5415036" data-attributes="member: 18253">Well, per the post I did point out, saying any effect of backgrounds is &quot;wishful thinking&quot; is rather bold. It is the sort of statement to catch one's attention, isn't it? Put another way, weren't you intending to denigrate backgrounds when you made the wishful thinking statement? I have trouble interpreting the statement any other way.&nbsp;&nbsp;As often happens, we will have to disagree. From where I ref, for some players, background makes little difference in their play. But for many, a background provides a unifying theme on which to build the character, a foundation. I'm a big fan of foundations be they for a physical structure, like your house, an engineering project, or a creative exercise like a book, movie or D&amp;D campaign. Tolkien certainly made use of a massive foundation...&nbsp;Beyond just the utility of helping a player play their character, I also like backgrounds for providing the referee &quot;plot hooks&quot; to work material into the campaign. Whether it is a true plot hook that the ref himself spins into a story or some elements of interest to the player he presents for the players to do with what they wish depends on the ref's style but it has great utility in my experience. I won't claim to always have a brilliant, gripping idea of what to prep next and appreciate tips from the players on what interest them.&nbsp;To be honest, I'm somewhat surprised that as a ref that doesn't provide story, that seems to let the players direct things, you don't let them get a head start on the direction by working up character backgrounds.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Haltherrion, post: 5415036, member: 18253"] Well, per the post I did point out, saying any effect of backgrounds is "wishful thinking" is rather bold. It is the sort of statement to catch one's attention, isn't it? Put another way, weren't you intending to denigrate backgrounds when you made the wishful thinking statement? I have trouble interpreting the statement any other way. As often happens, we will have to disagree. From where I ref, for some players, background makes little difference in their play. But for many, a background provides a unifying theme on which to build the character, a foundation. I'm a big fan of foundations be they for a physical structure, like your house, an engineering project, or a creative exercise like a book, movie or D&D campaign. Tolkien certainly made use of a massive foundation... Beyond just the utility of helping a player play their character, I also like backgrounds for providing the referee "plot hooks" to work material into the campaign. Whether it is a true plot hook that the ref himself spins into a story or some elements of interest to the player he presents for the players to do with what they wish depends on the ref's style but it has great utility in my experience. I won't claim to always have a brilliant, gripping idea of what to prep next and appreciate tips from the players on what interest them. To be honest, I'm somewhat surprised that as a ref that doesn't provide story, that seems to let the players direct things, you don't let them get a head start on the direction by working up character backgrounds. [/QUOTE]

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