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General Tabletop Discussion
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DM question: how much do you incorporate PC backgrounds into the campaign?
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<blockquote data-quote="uzirath" data-source="post: 7944832" data-attributes="member: 8495"><p>I just launched a new campaign this past weekend with three of my players (three more will be joining in the coming weeks). Each player approached their backstories differently. </p><p></p><p>One wrote a great character story (she's a published writer, so I don't complain when she writes longer backstories), leaving some blanks for me to fill in with setting-appropriate details. We had a good time batting drafts back and forth before the game. </p><p></p><p>The next player sent me a basic idea, "I want to be the rich third son of a nobleman, perhaps from this town on the map that you shared with us." (We're using Douglas Cole's excellent <a href="https://gamingballistic.com/product/the-citadel-at-nordvorn-print/" target="_blank">Citadel at Nordvorn</a> as the setting.) I sent him some further information on the town, suggested some names for other members of the family, and ran with it. </p><p></p><p>The third focused entirely on the mechanics of his character, knowing only that he was a "Viking sea druid." During the course of the game, however, he invented many background elements, writing everything in his campaign journal for future reference. These inventions invariably added the the fun at the table, and gave me many ingredients to use in future adventures. For example, when he fought a minor winterfae villain, he discovered that his enchanted bone harpoon wasn't very effective because it isn't made of iron. When one of the other PCs suggested switching to his knife, he decided that his harpoon is a religious artifact that he has vowed to use as his only weapon. This was an awesome moment of roleplaying at the table, despite the fact that it was written into his character on the spot.</p><p></p><p>Over the course of the weekend, we played for more than15 hours. I went into it with zero notes. My only preparation (to my consternation, initially) was bouncing around some of the backstory ideas, perusing their character sheets, and skimming the setting book. I let the players take the lead, allowing for flashbacks and spatial/temporal jumps as we explored the world and got to know the characters. Within an hour of the start, they had zeroed in on a thread that interested them and we were off and running. I had to insert a few breaks to plan some encounters, but everything was remarkably spontaneous. </p><p></p><p>It was an exhilarating game with far more drama than any of us were expecting. Backstory, even for the player who didn't initially write any, was essential to provide the sense that the characters were real people exploring a real world.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="uzirath, post: 7944832, member: 8495"] I just launched a new campaign this past weekend with three of my players (three more will be joining in the coming weeks). Each player approached their backstories differently. One wrote a great character story (she's a published writer, so I don't complain when she writes longer backstories), leaving some blanks for me to fill in with setting-appropriate details. We had a good time batting drafts back and forth before the game. The next player sent me a basic idea, "I want to be the rich third son of a nobleman, perhaps from this town on the map that you shared with us." (We're using Douglas Cole's excellent [URL='https://gamingballistic.com/product/the-citadel-at-nordvorn-print/']Citadel at Nordvorn[/URL] as the setting.) I sent him some further information on the town, suggested some names for other members of the family, and ran with it. The third focused entirely on the mechanics of his character, knowing only that he was a "Viking sea druid." During the course of the game, however, he invented many background elements, writing everything in his campaign journal for future reference. These inventions invariably added the the fun at the table, and gave me many ingredients to use in future adventures. For example, when he fought a minor winterfae villain, he discovered that his enchanted bone harpoon wasn't very effective because it isn't made of iron. When one of the other PCs suggested switching to his knife, he decided that his harpoon is a religious artifact that he has vowed to use as his only weapon. This was an awesome moment of roleplaying at the table, despite the fact that it was written into his character on the spot. Over the course of the weekend, we played for more than15 hours. I went into it with zero notes. My only preparation (to my consternation, initially) was bouncing around some of the backstory ideas, perusing their character sheets, and skimming the setting book. I let the players take the lead, allowing for flashbacks and spatial/temporal jumps as we explored the world and got to know the characters. Within an hour of the start, they had zeroed in on a thread that interested them and we were off and running. I had to insert a few breaks to plan some encounters, but everything was remarkably spontaneous. It was an exhilarating game with far more drama than any of us were expecting. Backstory, even for the player who didn't initially write any, was essential to provide the sense that the characters were real people exploring a real world. [/QUOTE]
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