Do you prefer your character to be connected or unconnected to the adventure hook?

[Doug McCrae]

An example of the former would be taking vengeance on the murderer of your PC's parents. An example of the latter would be a bounty hunter PC choosing to track down the same murderer but lacking any personal connection, at least initially.

The former makes for a more emotionally engaging story. The latter potentially gives the players more freedom, assuming it's a sandbox containing many possible adventures.

 

[ruemere]

Note that creating relatives only for them to be killed may be quite unkind to emotionally invested player. Even an adventure prologue (ie. an initial setup) could be nasty (especially if it hits vulnerable members of the family).

The recommendation would be to hold an auction of sorts, during which you put a few plot hooks on the table, including the nasty options, and just ask if someone would like to play an avenger.

 

[John Dallman]

I'm happy to be connected to the adventure hook if it's something that grows naturally out of the character and their background. A fair few published CoC scenarios start with a distant relative who's never ben mentioned before, and that feels clumsy the second time in an ongoing campaign, even if it is faithful to the source material.

On the whole, I prefer adventure hooks that appeal to the characters' motives, rather than being nailed onto their backgrounds. Curiosity is a powerful motive, as are duty, money, fame, and the desire to make the world a better place.

 

[nevin]

Depends on the Adventure Hook and the DM. Some DM's use Adventure hooks like Freight trains and you don't really get any choices.

IN general I'd rather have a plot hook that engages me. What I do find is most GM's, including me sometimes, make a plot hook expecting a certain kind of reaction and sometimes send their game careening off in an unexpected direction. Make sure you understand your players and thier player concepts really well before you bait that hook. You might end up with a White whale dragging your whole game in a strange new direction if you don't.

 

[Scott Christian]

I prefer a mix within the group. A few connected by familial ties, magic items, ancestry, etc. but all the rest unconnected.

On a personal preference, if I am a player, I prefer to not be connected as I like to watch the reactions of other players as the character arc becomes clear. As a GM, I prefer one or two players to have character arcs. Too many arcs means not enough time spent developing one person's story. And watered down stories are always just meh.

 

[TwoSix]

Connected. Helping out the DM and connecting to what they’re running is Powergaming 201.

 

[Eltab]

Connected, loosely or thematically, but not wound into this story so tightly that the character is squandered if the campaign shuts down before we reach the Final Confrontation With BBEG.

 

[Umbran]

The recommendation would be to hold an auction of sorts, during which you put a few plot hooks on the table, including the nasty options, and just ask if someone would like to play an avenger.

Better, in my experience, is to have your players note on their backstories that which the GM is allowed to mess with, and that which the GM is not, and have a discussion with the group over what is acceptable for those things the GM may mess with.

 

[Nobby-W]

If you're trying to do a setting where characters' connections are significant then the former is good, as it emphasises the connections. I've done games of this sort, and often make up character backgrounds with a few of this type of connection; more often than not, the DMs really appreciate it.

If you're doing a setting where your players are a party of murder hobos then it's a bit harder to do this in a sensible way. However, your players have to be at least willing to pick up on the hints about an adventure in the offing.

 

[dragoner]

An example of the former would be taking vengeance on the murderer of your PC's parents. An example of the latter would be a bounty hunter PC choosing to track down the same murderer but lacking any personal connection, at least initially.

The former makes for a more emotionally engaging story. The latter potentially gives the players more freedom, assuming it's a sandbox containing many possible adventures.

Neither is exactly ideal, not being an American, probably makes a difference here. Ideally, it would be someone bringing someone to justice in an official capacity. How much would I like to play that? I don't know, in a jingoistic pro-police capacity, no, probably not.

That is the issue with connecting to the story, usually if a player calls it out, it can be ok, except if it comes with a prewritten story line then it's just a burden, esp if it means trying to figure out through 20 questions what the GM has already planned for the PC to do.