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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6422678" data-attributes="member: 42582">Why? How does it improve the play of the game to have nothing new introduced once play begins?In the last Rolemaster campaign that I GMed, one of the PCs was a fox-spirit. At the time of character creation, we envisaged him as a fox trying to turn itself into a human through following the proper mental and spiritual disciplines (loosely inspired by the film Green Snake). At the start of the campaign, this particular PC began in a monastery, in the company of its abbot. The abbot was the only person, at the start of the campaign, who knew that the PC was really a fox and not a human. From the point of view of the praciticalities of play, this starting situation explained how the PC could be very long-lived and experienced yet have the abilities of only a 1st level PC - with the help of the abbot he had just recovered from an episode of regression into fox form.Some time after the campaign had started - maybe a year or so in - the player of the fox spirit PC sent me the following via email, as a text written by the above-mentioned abbot:Hideyo Fox, a study. Returning to full self awareness as an mature sophont a few scant months ago with only dim memories of his life or even existance before that (but retaining significant language skills, suggesting perhaps a scholar or poet in some previous existance) Hideyo seems to be the spirit of a wild fox reborn in a human (looking) body, allegedly by force of will. This theory under which this soul moved directly from animal state to the sometime thoughtful, sometime savage entity we know now has both strengths and weaknesses, and is probably not all true or all false. In support of this theory his physical aptitudes seem very similat to those one might expect from a creature whose animal spirit still remembers being both a killer and a thief. The skills for flight and hiding, but no distance stamina combined with a keenly developed sense for murder and ambush are very reminiscent of the wild fox. His self confessed cowardice and fondness for stealth are likewise convincing aspects of an animal in human form. On the other hand there are aspects of his development and behaviour which suggest this cannot be the whole story. As mentioned previously his language skills are well developed, moreso in the spirit tounge as spoken in the courts of the fae princes, but not spoken by ordinary foxes. His rapidly emerging chi powers, while not entirely at ods with the animal side of his nature are surprisingly well developed, and the social/influencing abilities seem to have few parallels in the animal kindom (but would be very usful in the torrid atmosphere of the spirit court). He has a rudimentary grasp of chi based buddhist healing medicince, allegedly gained at a monastry (perhaps where is slight undertanding of his own place in the cosmos was learned?) but once again this implies a significant ammount of time spent in man shape amonst men. Even more intriguing is this individuals essentially undeveloped ability to channel power from (presumably fox ancestor?) spirits. Is this some inherited trait, that he has been granted by his ancestors by virtue of his unusual heritage, or something learned in a phase of his existance of which he currently has no memory. Added to this is the evidence of his endeniable (if somewhat unpricipled) social proficiency. Hideyo seems skilled at all forms of discourse and influence, displaying a familiarity with discussion, debate, argument and abuse which would seem entirely unnatual to have sprung forth fully developed from the chi of the spirit of a solitary animal with no particularly well developed language. Both this aptitude for influencing people and his lack of compuntion in using such methods on innocent novices once again suggest to me that this creature spent some considerable time amongst a sophisticated court. In conclusion, I belive the spirit known as Hideyo was at some time a functionary in one of the spirit courts (most likely an assasin in the court of the Vulpine Pince). It seems clear that immediately before his current incaration he was living as a wild animal in the woods hereabouts, and slowly recovered his more human memories. Equally clearly sometime before that he was trained as a healer by those of the buddhist persuasion. Whether this was, as he believed, a short number of years previously between his initial birth as a natural fox and his current life is unclear. It is possible he was not born as a natural fox at all, but was raised in the spirit court and banished to live as a beast for some some crime or convenience. It may also be that his recollection is correct, and he did in fact raise himself on the wheel by sheer force on will, and then took a post in some palace or other, only to fall away to animal state again, either as a punisment as speculated above, or simply internally after some great shock or trauma. Nothing can be certain about this except there is more to this one than a simple spirit who honestly learned to be man shaped and lived in a forest and a temple, that just doesn't make any sense. Note also that none of these speculations explain his minor but unignorable ability to channel. I fear I will be unable to investigate this phenomena further myself, my time grows near. Should Hideyo discover (in your mind) the truth about himself, and should he be (in your mind) a friend of our temple at that time, please show him this treatise, and forgive an old man's vanity in hoping he was at least close to the truth.This was inspired by a combination of (i) developments in the PC on the build side, (ii) developments in the campaign and its increasing focus on the politics of the Celestial courts, and (iii) player whim. We decided that the PC was, indeed, a fox spirit who had been cast out of the animal courts for some infraction. This became clear to the other PCs (and the other players) when constables of heaven turned up to try and take the PC prisoner, in order to be punished for violating the terms of his banishment (namely, by transforming himself from animal to human form). This confict with heaven, and also the past relationship with the animal courts, became increasingly significant over the course of the campaign.The idea that all backstory shoud be authored at the start of the campaign just strike me as silly. It has never been advocated for GMs - who, in the D&D context, are generally told to start with a village and a nearby dungeon (see eg Gygax's DMG p 87). Why should it be any different for players with respect to their PCs?Sure. But that is not an argument for having such things in a game. The idea of a mystery or puzzle that can't be solved, and the solution to which will fall out only after the adventure is over, as the tying up of a loose end, strikes me as poor scenario design. I could hardly think of a better way to cultivate frustrated, and hence ultimately passive, players.</blockquote>

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