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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tetrasodium" data-source="post: 8574356" data-attributes="member: 93670">As to how I'd react to your story & goal itself I'll tackle that in the spoiler below because it's important but will start off with the question. Yes you have given the GM those things but there are other players at the table.  Maybe thing  that go in that direction have seemingly inadequate compensation because the GM decided that:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Reclaiming your homeland is too big of a job for a one off or even a short term thing& needs to be a big thing with many revolving parts that happen to start elsewhere in an area that another player is interested in because the GM wants to interest more than you...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Maybe reclaiming your homeland is a thing that needs to be done bit by bit over generations because of worldbuilding reasons the GM feels like you are ignoring them on like you trying to import FR dwarves into eberron or Athas.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Maybe nobody but you cares about your homeland but you are very pushy & railroad your fellow players into whatever you decide that your sidekicks must aid you in & the GM is tired of hearing about it from the conflict averse players.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Maybe the entire last campaign  was you fulfilling your mary sue fantasy of getting revenge for the bad guy who did a thing & the GM is not taking your hook because they got tired of you refusing every clue not presented on bended knees for proper adherence to the specifics of the novel of a backstory you wrote?  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Maybe the GM wants to give another player a chance to drive the train for a bit & is providing your storyline inadequate rewards to entice them into finding a reason to seize the wheel so to speak</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Maybe the GM wants to give developments related to your homeland that you personally might not even know exist time to brew a bit  or spill out into other areas that make them more interesting.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">on & on & on</li> </ul>[spoiler]<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"If I make a dwarf PC and I say I want to reclaim my ancestral keep from the forces that razed it,<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Good! great start! I get to decide how important that keep is, where it is, who razed it, & why it happened</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> including the rumored red dragon<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My world has a red dragon interested in doing things like that?... wow... I tend to use dragons more like eberron's dragons & this conflicts. .</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> and goblin tribes, <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Most of my games take place in eberron, this is kind of an FRism, it's not going to be goblin tribes because they have <a href="https://keith-baker.com/dragonmarks-goblins/" target="_blank">real problems</a>. There may have been a keep razed by someone during the last war, but it's going to be someone thatmakes narrative sense given the location.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'm giving you a clear goal and story hook for my PC. I'm confused about where we go from here.".<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the next step is "talk to & work with your gm on fitting your character in their world".  It would probably be a good idea to regularly be on the lookout for ways you could proactively say things like "this group of karrnathi bandits seems to have some military ties from what it sounds like, is it possible they were related to the soldiers who seized my ancestral keep?" or "hey bossnpc/patron who hired us, do you have any dealings near my ancestral keep that need attention from folks like us?" & so on rather than passively waiting for the next step to be thrust upon you by some NPC taking action to fill their goals by hiring you.</li> </ul></li> </ul>I say that because if you want to write a novel you should do that, or to have total control over it in a game of d&d you should DM such a campaign.* Bringing your story to my table is laudable but it won't be your story when it plays out at the table & if it doesn't fit my world it's not even going to start to the point that I might even tell the other players that their characters have no idea what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABniby%C5%8D#:~:text=Ch%C5%ABniby%C5%8D" target="_blank">chunibyo</a> fantasy the dwarf is spouting but they know it's a preposterous work of fiction (and I have done that kind of thing more than once over the years when a player persists).It sounds like I do tend to run games that are some degree more sandboxy than [USER=6855114]@Helldritch[/USER] appears to have described in <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/how-has-d-d-changed-over-the-decades.686433/post-8574346" target="_blank">1094</a> (or not, it doesn't matter),but I too try to put more focus on making sure PC's work together & with me on things like character creation & backstory.  Prior to 5e this was never an issue & players were always excited to have a chance to collaborate, but with modern d&d it's treated very different & is like pulling teeth that I dare expect anything beyond a player showing up & perhaps thrusting a 5 page backstory at me after they wrote it in isolation.* I'm assured that you will have no trouble whatsoever if you just discuss it with your players[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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