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<blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 9361533" data-attributes="member: 86653">Yeah, absolutely. I mostly run sandboxes. Let the players decide where they want to go. Whether they're basing those choices off pure self-interest or unspoken goals or the backstory they have in their heads is up to them. I don't tend to have any issues with interest as it's all player driven. I can definitely see the benefits of being more upfront and concrete about starting with defined goals. In old-school and OSR games, PCs tend to develop those naturally over time through play. Starting with just enough of a backstory to have goals sounds fine. Starting with the epic novels I've had players hand me does not. I think the line is personal. On the extreme end I think the refrain about railroading DMs being frustrated novelists also applies to some of the people writing epic backstories grander than Lord of the Rings for their 1st-level zero XP characters.That OC player sounds like a nightmare straight out of my own personal hell.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="overgeeked, post: 9361533, member: 86653"] Yeah, absolutely. I mostly run sandboxes. Let the players decide where they want to go. Whether they're basing those choices off pure self-interest or unspoken goals or the backstory they have in their heads is up to them. I don't tend to have any issues with interest as it's all player driven. I can definitely see the benefits of being more upfront and concrete about starting with defined goals. In old-school and OSR games, PCs tend to develop those naturally over time through play. Starting with just enough of a backstory to have goals sounds fine. Starting with the epic novels I've had players hand me does not. I think the line is personal. On the extreme end I think the refrain about railroading DMs being frustrated novelists also applies to some of the people writing epic backstories grander than Lord of the Rings for their 1st-level zero XP characters. That OC player sounds like a nightmare straight out of my own personal hell. [/QUOTE]

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