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<blockquote data-quote="Sigurd" data-source="post: 2650121" data-attributes="member: 19412">bill91 -- I think you've got the most reasonable summary of this all.I think the process at the heart of this is that module writers fall in love with their own story, after all,&nbsp; telling is a form of very personal role playing. If the story exhausts them or they cannot escape its allure writers might not create enough resources to expose that story to the players.&nbsp; Certainly, on one level, this is failure to serve the players.The Tolkien allusion is very apt. The Silmarillion deffinately contributed to the writing of the Lord of the Rings\Hobbit but its forced inclusion into the text of the main books might have destroyed the series. Who would read a book with 2 chapters of lineage after each introduced character? But for those that choose to seek it, the background works are the point of departure for story extensions. The backstory can create a logical framework to serve and align exposed storyline.If your big baddy is the child of a Devil and a Millers wife that suggests a type of magic (lawful evil) and a setting element.The backstory can serve the construction of the tale. So long as the backstory is intrinsic to the situation it is a plus. It may only justify a situation and not be exposed elegantly to the players but I think it is contributes to the structure of the story. It may not be a plus you choose to avail yourself of but that's true of every element of a module.Everyone is right except those who deny others their preference.Sigurd</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sigurd, post: 2650121, member: 19412"] bill91 -- I think you've got the most reasonable summary of this all. I think the process at the heart of this is that module writers fall in love with their own story, after all, telling is a form of very personal role playing. If the story exhausts them or they cannot escape its allure writers might not create enough resources to expose that story to the players. Certainly, on one level, this is failure to serve the players. The Tolkien allusion is very apt. The Silmarillion deffinately contributed to the writing of the Lord of the Rings\Hobbit but its forced inclusion into the text of the main books might have destroyed the series. Who would read a book with 2 chapters of lineage after each introduced character? But for those that choose to seek it, the background works are the point of departure for story extensions. The backstory can create a logical framework to serve and align exposed storyline. If your big baddy is the child of a Devil and a Millers wife that suggests a type of magic (lawful evil) and a setting element. The backstory can serve the construction of the tale. So long as the backstory is intrinsic to the situation it is a plus. It may only justify a situation and not be exposed elegantly to the players but I think it is contributes to the structure of the story. It may not be a plus you choose to avail yourself of but that's true of every element of a module. Everyone is right except those who deny others their preference. Sigurd [/QUOTE]

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