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Does social standing have a place in your game?
- Thread starter DM-Rocco
- Start date
Raven Crowking
First Post
Does social standing have a place in your game?
Yes.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Yes.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
No.
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Yes.
At least, when I am running the game, the above are true.
EDIT: Here are the rules I use: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=166406
Yes.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Yes.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
No.
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Yes.
At least, when I am running the game, the above are true.
EDIT: Here are the rules I use: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=166406
Last edited:
jimpaladin
First Post
Sorry Raven Crowking I'm lazy today 
Good luck on the rules and let us know what you come up with!
Raven Crowking said:
Good luck on the rules and let us know what you come up with!
mhacdebhandia
Explorer
I would say that social standing will matter in the Savage Tide campaign I'm running in Eberron. I have three PCs connected to two dragonmarked houses, and I intend to play upon their backgrounds even though most of the action of the adventure path takes place very far from the social scene of Khorvaire.DM-Rocco said:
I'm the sort of player who favours beginning each game with a very rough sketch of his character's backstory, and filling in details as the game goes on.
In my Savage Tide game, I didn't require any of the PCs who declared they were part of a dragonmarked house to take the Favoured In House feat or the appropriate dragonmark. One of the three is playing a dragonmarked heir of House Orien, but that's because he and another player wanted to play brothers: one of whom was dragonmarked, magically talented, and favoured by their parents, the other being unmarked, overlooked, and in self-imposed exile working as a mercenary. The other is an unmarked member of House Cannith, but doesn't have any real connections to the house because all of her allies died in Cyre on the Day of Mourning.
[sblock]Well, actually, she's a changeling artificer impersonating an unmarked member of the house, but same difference: Favoured In House wouldn't work for the character, and she's not getting much out of her claim in any case due to the dragonmarked houses' absence from Sasserine.[/sblock]
I haven't for my game. In other games where backgrounds and/or social status were important, it hasn't been the case either. I played one d20 Wheel of Time game where my character, a former cavalry soldier, ended up romantically involved with the ruler of a small realm on the edge of civilisation, but the only mechanical benefits he gained from that were in the form of an excellent horse and heirloom arms and armour; we had more mechanical benefits in that game from our involvement with the world-shaping prophecy.
I've never wanted to. I suppose that, if I had a player who wanted to play someone that elevated in the world, I would try to tailor the game to accomodate that specifically. To use Eberron as an example again: one character's a prince or princess of Breland, another is a member of the King's Dark Lanterns, another might be a favoured heir of a dragonmarked house, another could be a decorated war hero, et cetera.
On the other hand, the people I play with probably wouldn't have much of a problem setting up one PC as vastly more socially important than the others - so a prince or princess out adventuring with their bodyguards, childhood friends, advisors, and so on.
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
DM-Rocco said:
A little. Adventurers tend to be disreputable, or hang out with disreputable people, even if they were of high birth.
I try to follow the Spirit of the Century rules. A few blurbs, making sure to link other characters into the backstory. However, backstories have to be short, otherwise PCs have no reason to work together, and besides English class wasn't fun for me. We've found trying to enforce backstories to suit the DM doesn't work because none of us ever knows what the DM wants, even if he sends back a note saying "add more".
That's why d20 Modern has occupations. Otherwise no.
I don't know. Most wouldn't, unless you were disinherited or not the eldest son. Otherwise the moment the old man dies you're on the rapid path of becoming an NPC.
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Does social standing have a place in your game?
Assuming you're talking about D&D specifically here - some other games have explicit ways to deal with social standing, where D&D does not. In my games, social status does usually have some place, yes.
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
I eventually end up with lots of depth in the backgrounds of characters I play for any length of time, and I encourage my players to have depth as well. But depth of background does not imply much about the place of social standing in my game. "I am a prince!" isn't necessarily deep.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
No, I do not. I prefer to take background as a source for knowing the PC's motivations, and handing them the kinds of plot hooks they'll want. I don't view it as an issue that requires rules.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Not really applicable, as I'm the DM.
I don't give bonuses to fill out background. In the game I currently run, I'd not allow a prince, but that's for entirely in-game reasons. In general, I handle such requests on a case-by-case basis - noting that your typical prince really doesn't have time to both be a prince and an adventurer. One aspect or the other is going to suffer for that.
Assuming you're talking about D&D specifically here - some other games have explicit ways to deal with social standing, where D&D does not. In my games, social status does usually have some place, yes.
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
I eventually end up with lots of depth in the backgrounds of characters I play for any length of time, and I encourage my players to have depth as well. But depth of background does not imply much about the place of social standing in my game. "I am a prince!" isn't necessarily deep.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
No, I do not. I prefer to take background as a source for knowing the PC's motivations, and handing them the kinds of plot hooks they'll want. I don't view it as an issue that requires rules.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Not really applicable, as I'm the DM.
I don't give bonuses to fill out background. In the game I currently run, I'd not allow a prince, but that's for entirely in-game reasons. In general, I handle such requests on a case-by-case basis - noting that your typical prince really doesn't have time to both be a prince and an adventurer. One aspect or the other is going to suffer for that.
Yes. It does, in both of the games in which I play and in the two that I run.DM-Rocco said:
When I am a player and not the GM, I do not create my character background without consulting every step of the way with my GM. I view my character background as a co-creation of myself and the GM, not something I have independently generated. The GM, after all, knows things about the world that I do not.
No. But when I GM, I try to provide lots of setting information in the form of stuff I've written myself or references to other stuff. As a GM, I'm also available to answer any questions my players have during character creation.
No. And I don't favour this option. If a DM wants to represent such a thing in game terms, I think a more reasonable way to go would be an initial level in an NPC class like Expert.
Depends on what "prince" means in a particular campaign setting. If I were in a 19th century Russia or late 12th century Russia game, the answer would probably be "yes." In a Game of Thrones game, I would expect "no."
Does social standing have a place in your game?
Yes it does, though most times my players are at the bottom of the social ladder. It is one of the ways I determine how the NPC's will react.
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
a moderate background, enough to give any DM some potential plot hooks
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Depending on the game, in most games a character gets +4 skill points in Knowledge (Region) where the region is their home. In games that use class/cross class skills then the skill becomes a class skill.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
I usually do, see above
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Probably not, at least not a full on prince. A prince in exile would be ok though.
Yes it does, though most times my players are at the bottom of the social ladder. It is one of the ways I determine how the NPC's will react.
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
a moderate background, enough to give any DM some potential plot hooks
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Depending on the game, in most games a character gets +4 skill points in Knowledge (Region) where the region is their home. In games that use class/cross class skills then the skill becomes a class skill.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
I usually do, see above
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Probably not, at least not a full on prince. A prince in exile would be ok though.
Aeric
Explorer
Does social standing have a place in your game?
Absolutely. If the PCs are a bunch of ragged adventurers come to see the prince, chances are they won't be let through the door unless there are some special circumstances (and a bath and some clean clothes wouldn't hurt, either!).
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
I used to write up 1-3 pages of character background, including friends, family, lovers, plot hooks, etc. 99 times out of 100 nothing in those backgrounds ever came up, so I stopped bothering. These days, you're lucky to get more than a paragraph out of me.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Sometimes I give bonus XP or action points for backgrounds, but it changes from game to game.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
Almost never.
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Probably. It would depend on the story. If it wouldn't make sense for such a character to be involved in this particular adventure, then no.
Absolutely. If the PCs are a bunch of ragged adventurers come to see the prince, chances are they won't be let through the door unless there are some special circumstances (and a bath and some clean clothes wouldn't hurt, either!).
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
I used to write up 1-3 pages of character background, including friends, family, lovers, plot hooks, etc. 99 times out of 100 nothing in those backgrounds ever came up, so I stopped bothering. These days, you're lucky to get more than a paragraph out of me.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Sometimes I give bonus XP or action points for backgrounds, but it changes from game to game.
Does your DM give you bonus skill points of feats to help flesh out a background?
Almost never.
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
Probably. It would depend on the story. If it wouldn't make sense for such a character to be involved in this particular adventure, then no.
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Does social standing have a place in your game?
Absolutely. "Influence" is one of the more important derived stats IMC and is initally determined as Level + Cha. I use a modified wealth mechanic to determine what Influence can get as well as a few extras
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
Lots I like to provide at least 3 NPCs and rewquire the same when I DM. The Influence mechanic is used to determine the highest level of any attached NPCs.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Yes
Does your DM give you bonus skill points or feats to help flesh out a background?
Yes
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
As a DM I tend to take the view that PC adventurers are NOT peasants and thus most likely from Bourgeoisie if not Aristocratic backgrounds. They may be related to the Prince but are unlikely to be royalty themselves unless they have a really good background story.
Absolutely. "Influence" is one of the more important derived stats IMC and is initally determined as Level + Cha. I use a modified wealth mechanic to determine what Influence can get as well as a few extras
When you make up a background for your character how much depth do you put into it?
Lots I like to provide at least 3 NPCs and rewquire the same when I DM. The Influence mechanic is used to determine the highest level of any attached NPCs.
Do you have rules set in place for backgrounds?
Yes
Does your DM give you bonus skill points or feats to help flesh out a background?
Yes
Will your DM allow you to play a prince?
As a DM I tend to take the view that PC adventurers are NOT peasants and thus most likely from Bourgeoisie if not Aristocratic backgrounds. They may be related to the Prince but are unlikely to be royalty themselves unless they have a really good background story.
