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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
DM question: how much do you incorporate PC backgrounds into the campaign?
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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7939148" data-attributes="member: 6785785"><p>I feel like you're assuming the worst possible version of the concept. Or course it could be bad. So could the GM's ideas. We shouldn't assume the worst when we discuss these things, or no one would ever get anywhere. </p><p></p><p>When I'm talking about the idea of incorporating backstory, it's not about the PC's life as a turnip farmer prior to the start of play. Do you always have play begin with PCs having some sort of mundane place in the world that they leave behind due to the call of adventure? I mean, that's a strong trope in this kind of fiction, so I think there's absolutely a place for it....but does it apply to al the PCs? In every game? </p><p></p><p>Isn't that...to use your phrase.....unbelievably cheesy? </p><p></p><p>I kind of assume a variety of backgrounds and histories for the PCs. Perhaps one has been a caravan guard, perhaps another is a street urchin, and a third is an apprentice of some kind. These are all perfectly mundane starting points much like your turnip farmer....but there's also room to expand on each much more readily than the turnip farmer. Where has the caravan guard been? Who has he met? What happened on his last job? For the urchin, is he at all connected to the local thieves' guild? If not, how do they look at his petty crimes? Who has he stolen from? For the apprentice, what craft is he learning? Who is his master? Why is he heading out into the world; on some quest from his master, or must he now make his own name? </p><p></p><p>There's no reason that these things need to be boring, or that the GM can't incorporate them into the story. These don't have to be stories about why "Only this urchin can save the world" kind of fated hero tropes that you seem to think they must be. It's just about creating a place in the world where the PC has been, and which will continue to shape things, even if the PC leaves it behind. </p><p></p><p>As you say, there should be meaningful choices made in play. Having a backstory of some kind helps grant context to those decisions that may not exist otherwise.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 7939148, member: 6785785"] I feel like you're assuming the worst possible version of the concept. Or course it could be bad. So could the GM's ideas. We shouldn't assume the worst when we discuss these things, or no one would ever get anywhere. When I'm talking about the idea of incorporating backstory, it's not about the PC's life as a turnip farmer prior to the start of play. Do you always have play begin with PCs having some sort of mundane place in the world that they leave behind due to the call of adventure? I mean, that's a strong trope in this kind of fiction, so I think there's absolutely a place for it....but does it apply to al the PCs? In every game? Isn't that...to use your phrase.....unbelievably cheesy? I kind of assume a variety of backgrounds and histories for the PCs. Perhaps one has been a caravan guard, perhaps another is a street urchin, and a third is an apprentice of some kind. These are all perfectly mundane starting points much like your turnip farmer....but there's also room to expand on each much more readily than the turnip farmer. Where has the caravan guard been? Who has he met? What happened on his last job? For the urchin, is he at all connected to the local thieves' guild? If not, how do they look at his petty crimes? Who has he stolen from? For the apprentice, what craft is he learning? Who is his master? Why is he heading out into the world; on some quest from his master, or must he now make his own name? There's no reason that these things need to be boring, or that the GM can't incorporate them into the story. These don't have to be stories about why "Only this urchin can save the world" kind of fated hero tropes that you seem to think they must be. It's just about creating a place in the world where the PC has been, and which will continue to shape things, even if the PC leaves it behind. As you say, there should be meaningful choices made in play. Having a backstory of some kind helps grant context to those decisions that may not exist otherwise. [/QUOTE]
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DM question: how much do you incorporate PC backgrounds into the campaign?
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