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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Maestrino" data-source="post: 7938069" data-attributes="member: 7015644">This whole discussion seems to come down to whether you're the kind of DM that plots out an entire campaign and doesn't want any player backstories derailing "your" campaign, or whether you're the kind of DM that comes up with major plot hooks that can be dropped into pretty much any situation to steer your campagn while still letting your players feel like they're in a wide-open sandbox.EXAMPLE:Scenario 1: You have a plot set up to take place in Neverwinter. Come hell or high water, these events will take place in Neverwinter, no matter how you have to get the party there. It's a cool plotScenario 2: You have a plot hook that the PCs will find out one of their informants has been captured and thrown in prison. Could happen pretty much anywhere. Wait, one of the characters has some backstory in Neverwinter? Left their cousin for dead in Neverwinter and ran away to become an adventurer? The characters are going to be on their way to Luskan and pass right by Neverwinter anyway? The NPC is now in prison in Neverwinter. The PCs now want to stop to break her out on the way to Luskan. Now one PC reluctantly comes along, but is on edge the whole time because they're worried someone will recognize them. What if that cousin isn't dead? What if the cousin has a position of some power in Neverwinter now, and has been dreaming about revenge for years? This could turn into a dozen game sessions in Neverwinter.In Scenario 2, is the rest of the party "bored" because this plot hook only ties in to one PCs backstory? Hell no, they're planning a prison break, which is what they would have been doing in Scenario 1 anyway, but now they have extra reason to be sneaky and avoid detection.</blockquote>

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