How much background is too much?

[Sulimo]

It al depends on the type of book it is, whether its a generic adventure or not.

I for one adored the setup of the old MERP adventures which more or less combined a regional sourcebook with a handful (usually 3 or 4) adventure outlines.

Its ashame no-one does that anymore.

 

[Patrick-S&S]

I for one adored the setup of the old MERP adventures which more or less combined a regional sourcebook with a handful (usually 3 or 4) adventure outlines.

Its ashame no-one does that anymore.

Ahem... Ever heard of Hârn?

 

[Sulimo]

Ahem... Ever heard of Hârn?

Yep. Slipped my mind when I wrote it though. I must admit I am curious to know why this format is hardly ever used.

 

[Rune]

I want to say that I agree, pretty much, with everything that mouseferatu said.

Specifically, I would like to comment on the following:

The background is excessive if it does the following:

1) Provides a lot of information that has no bearing on the previous three points. (That is, it's fine to include little details, like the Merchant Prince being the son of a thief. But if you've got into who the thief was, how he went legit, what efforts he took to help his son become a merchant prince, etc, you've probably gone too far--unless the DM needs all that to run the adventure.

This would not be a case of having too much detail, but in making the background too convoluted, which is a real danger and a sign of a poorly thought-out adventure. I still contend that it is not possible to have too much detail.

2) Adds details that confuse the issues in the adventure, without actually contributing to it. Do not, for example, write an adventure in which the main villain and the high priest happen to have the same name, unless that fact is important to the story.

This, too, is a case of having a background that is too convoluted, not a problem of having too much detail. Furthermore, it is a sure sign of a poorly thought-out adventure.

3) Just seems, in general, too long without adding anything.

I'm not sure what to do with this statement, as it seems somewhat vague. If mouseferatu means that the background seems too long because it is dry (as opposed to actually taking up too much space within the covers of the adventure), I would again insist that the lack of brevity is due to the poorly written nature of the text--not the amount of detail within the text (although the details within are certainly subject to being poorly written).

I also wish I knew exactly what the Rodent of the Night means when he says "without adding anything." Anything useful? Or interesting? Or what?

 

[Bianca MarOu]

Excessive Backgrounds...

The more the better. The great thing about having a rich background is that you can use as much of it as you like and save the rest for extensions or entirely new adventures.

I'm notorious for giving expansive histories and complex societies for my plots (my favorite so far has been the dark lord who only has a friggin' long title for a name and "at a glace is one's greatest desire, and upon sight is one's greatest fear").

But I especially like using elements from old adventures and using them for new one's or entertwining games. So, in the end, I usually have a huge migraine as a sacrifice to my cause.

 

[Nightfall]

mmadsen,


It depends on what I'm doing though. Adventures, I tend to just run as is, at least with those that I think don't need a world. Some though, I think, COULD work, and thus I do tend to modify, not just to suit me but suit the world I'm running. Background is fine as long as it a) serves a purpose and b) prodives fun and interest for the Pcs.

 

[Rune]

bump, while I'm here grabbing the address

 

[Desdichado]

It's hard to have too much background. It's certainly possible, however, to have superflous or boring background. It really depends. If the background is tedious, than it's too much. Otherwise, everything's fine! But it's not the quantity that determines that, it's the quality.

 

[Palantir]

Too much background:

I was born at a very young age...

 

[Desdichado]

See, now, Palantir, that's not too much background, that's just poor background! That's exactly what I'm talking about.