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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5477426" data-attributes="member: 22424">If the player puts a 'blank' in his character background (&quot;My character is an amnesiac - he doesn't remember anything from the last 5 years&quot;), then the DM is free to insert whatever he wants.If the player leaves his entire background blank, then I feel the DM is free to insert whatever he wants.Beyond that, tread very carefully. In general, the more detailed the PC's background, the less the DM should insert. So, if the entire background consists of &quot;Was brought up on the mean streets of Waterdeep&quot;, then the DM can add quite a lot; if the background runs to several pages, complete with family trees and history, then the DM basically shouldn't throw anything in there.In any case, if the player has detailed the background at all, and hasn't left an obvious 'blank' then the DM should always consult with the player before adding anything.Edit: Of course, the ideal solution is for the player and DM to work out the background for the character together. That way, the background fits the world and the campaign, and there are no surprises.Also: In general, my preference (as DM) for PC backgrounds is for them to be no more detailed at the start of the campaign than are the characters in any &quot;Star Trek&quot; show in the pilot episode. That is, we know a few things about them, but not too much. Then, as the campaign progresses, both the player and the DM can add new background elements suitable to the game. (In both cases, the two need to communicate; it's no more appropriate for a player to introduce &quot;he's secretly crown prince of BigKingdomLane&quot; than for the DM to introduce &quot;and he's on the run from deadly Pirate-Ninjas for stealing their sacred cutlass&quot;.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="delericho, post: 5477426, member: 22424"] If the player puts a 'blank' in his character background ("My character is an amnesiac - he doesn't remember anything from the last 5 years"), then the DM is free to insert whatever he wants. If the player leaves his entire background blank, then I feel the DM is free to insert whatever he wants. Beyond that, tread very carefully. In general, the more detailed the PC's background, the less the DM should insert. So, if the entire background consists of "Was brought up on the mean streets of Waterdeep", then the DM can add quite a lot; if the background runs to several pages, complete with family trees and history, then the DM basically shouldn't throw anything in there. In any case, if the player has detailed the background at all, and hasn't left an obvious 'blank' then the DM should always consult with the player before adding anything. Edit: Of course, the ideal solution is for the player and DM to work out the background for the character together. That way, the background fits the world and the campaign, and there are no surprises. Also: In general, my preference (as DM) for PC backgrounds is for them to be no more detailed at the start of the campaign than are the characters in any "Star Trek" show in the pilot episode. That is, we know a few things about them, but not too much. Then, as the campaign progresses, both the player and the DM can add new background elements suitable to the game. (In both cases, the two need to communicate; it's no more appropriate for a player to introduce "he's secretly crown prince of BigKingdomLane" than for the DM to introduce "and he's on the run from deadly Pirate-Ninjas for stealing their sacred cutlass".) [/QUOTE]

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