Character prologues - Going beyond backgrounds

[Umbran]

Playing out a scene that happened a long time ago can also be good fun, but it can also be deadly boring. Because the scene has already happened, the players know that they aren't changing anything (barring some strange time mechanics).

You don't need strange time mechanics.

"After this prologue, if you want to make some adjustments to your character before the first full session, we'll discuss it."

Voila!

This works especially well if, during the prologue, they're playing a "zero level" version of their character, so everyone already accepts that the sheet's going to change.

 

[Baron Opal]

...something I have been very keen on is enhancing player ownership of characters. ... One of the problems I have in games I run is that players aren't as attached to their characters as I feel they could be, and will often switch out characters when they get bored with them.

So, I came up with a plan that (I hope) will give their respective characters a compelling raison d'etre, and give them to desire to see their characters fulfill it.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of "that would irritate me."

Noting that your plans have changed, here's how I started a game back in the day. I informed the players for the next game that their characters would either be minor nobles or be connected to the nobles of the realm. At the first session, I chose one character who was the nominal "captain". He didn't have any rank or control over the other PCs, but his character had the drive to Fix the Problem. He described his character, a little background, and which house he belonged to. I then directed each player to describe their character and why the captain chose them to accompany them.

That gave everyone a little control over where they came from and defined their place in play. It gave me some ties to how everyone was integrated with each other and the noble scheme in general. It was about a paragraph's worth of data for each person.

Further character development happened during play. I'm a pretty firm believer that the majority of character development should happen through play rather than narration.