NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 6719986" data-attributes="member: 40177">I think this is where I disconnect from what you're saying.  So, when I run a game, I have a simple rule - don't give me a big backstory!  Big backstories tell the GM what type of game you want him to run for you.  And I don't jive with that.  The GM is going to run a game, and you're a participant.  It's not about you, and only you.When I run games, I want you to have a rough idea of who your character is, a very loose idea of who he was, and not much in the way of knowing who he'll wind up being.  I'm going to introduce things in the game that will change all three of those aspects, and I don't want you to be so tied to some facets that haven't shown up in play that you'll ragequit after your character loses a finger, or gets a mild insanity after desecrating that foul altar.  So, if you tell me, in three paragraphs, about how your character fought in such a such war, won such a such medal, and all that, I'm going to say "okay.  Let's just say he's a soldier in army X, and now he's out.  We'll cover the rest through play".  The rest just isn't necessary, and in my experience, it is a hindrance to play.You're all going to start at first level.  Whether you're 17 or 37, you'll be first level.  It's up to you to explain why that is.  And why are 1st level characters inexperienced scrubs?  I mean, even at first level, they can handle being outnumbered by human bandits.  And that's pretty badass.If you want a game where older = better, try out Traveller, or some games in that vein.  D&D is not that game, and that's fine.  It prefers you start young, as a first level character, and age into something bigger.My bigger problem with D&D is the fact that you start a 1st level character at 17 years of age... and end a 20th level character at 17.5 years of age.  This has been a problem since at LEAST 3rd edition, though... and I've been finding that 5e's ample use of downtime is helping fix things.  Although, this could be a case of the fact that I'm more attentive to the issue now as a GM.  Hm.  I dunno about that.  A peasant, in the core game, is lucky to have a +2 modifier on an attack roll, while a fighter is going to have at least double that.  And, if you want to be a fighter who has years of experience but is only first level, it's up to you as a player to figure out why this is.  Personally, I'd ignore it and just keep playing, but if you need a reason - he's out of shape.  Caramon in the Dragonlance novels had to bulk back up in one book, and the roman general Marius was known to carry out an exercise regimen after he was seen getting flabby to get back into "fighting trim".  A 1st level fighter character in his 30s who is 1st level could have once been an awesome sergeant... but then took to drinking after seeing some good men killed, and now he's sober and wants to see the world once more (but doesn't trust the army structure).  Fair enough.  Personally, I just ignore it.  I don't think it's really a problem.  I've played older 1st level PCs, and it's never bugged me.  I just ignore the mechanical similarities between me and 1st level companions who are half my age, and pretend that I'm somehow better.</blockquote>

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