How much background is too much?

[shadow]

I've heard it time and time again - detailed backgrounds for settings and adventures make the game more believable and enjoyable. To some extent I agree. Afterall, going around looting dungeons without reason in a generic fantasy world gets a little silly after a while. However, I've come to the conclusion that sometimes DMs put to much background in their worlds, at least from a player's point of view. I played an adventure a while back in a homebrew world. Before we started playing the DM made us all read a ten page history of the region we were adventuring in. Not only was it extremely detailed, but it was also a very dry and complicated read. The players were just wanting to start playing, and have the relevant information explained when it became necessary. I enjoy detailed backgrounds as much as the next player, but sometimes I wonder if DMs make overly complicated backgrounds and then expect the players to remember them.

 

[Vlos]

One can never have too much background. I love playing/running a very detailed world.

This was actually a recent thread, forget where though.

Making the players read it though is another. I don't think I would read a 10 page document if my GM gave it to me before I even started.

The previous thread was how to get players to read the details that GM's have created.

Some ideas were that the players found books or tomes which had historical info. Or they needed to research info to solve a clue/mystery. This makes the players want to find out the information rather than just handing them a 10 page document.

So no, never too much background, how it is presented, yes.

 

[Rel]

I've got TONS of campaign background. But I didn't see any need to hit the players with it all at once. I gave them a broad synopsis that covered the general geography of the known world and some history that I deemed to be "common knowlege". It was probably 4 pages total and I know that all the players didn't read all the information. That's fine. Those are the same people who you meet on the street who don't know that George Washington was the first president.

Since then I've sprinkled little "history lessons" throughout the campaign via NPC's or documents that they've picked up. Some of this information has been assimilated by the players and some of it they skimmed and didn't really absorb. That's ok too. Events are coming to a head right now and they've made some correct and some incorrect conjectures based on the information they've managed to find and understand. Their incorrect assumptions tend to lead to as many fun gaming moments as their correct ones (or more).

From time to time they run into a NPC who understands the historical facts in play and will correct their erroneous assumptions (sometimes condescendingly and sometimes not, depending on the NPC). This happens often enough that they stay vaguely on the right path and that's good enough for me.

 

[Kesh]

The problem comes if you expect the players to know everything the characters would possibly know.

It's like jumping into a Dragonlance "Age of Mortals" campaign, but expecting folks to have read the dozen or so books by Weis & Hickman. Sure, if they have, it's great to mention how the item they're looking for might be in the ruins of Pax Tharkas, but those who have no idea what that is will be lost if you don't explain to them during the game what it means to go there.

So, having the detail is great. But don't expect the players to know it, or even keep up with it during the course of a campaign.

 

[Hand of Evil]

The more the better but the trick is the releasing of the information. You provide enough for the players to get going and to ask questions during game, you then have to keep providing more information and details as needed, you never stop.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

The more the better but the trick is the releasing of the information. You provide enough for the players to get going and to ask questions during game, you then have to keep providing more information and details as needed, you never stop.

True. My own history is at over 30 pages, but there is a brief summary, book-marked Time Line, and other features that make it easy to get the "Cliff Notes" immediately and look up the rest as you desire (or find relevant) at a later date.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Background is good, but I have a passion for it the other players at my table lack. I could write 10 pages for different region's history, politics, economics, sure. I can't reasonable expect my players to care enough to read and remember it though. What's important is that the DM knows what's going on. If people make Knowledge (History)/(Geography)/(Local)/(Politics) checks he can just spout off the answer, or provide a document. The region will seem more coherent and realistic because it has been well thought out. If the background of an area is important to what's going on in the game, it will come out in the game, naturally. No need to force this stuff on the players.

[slight tangent, personal story]My cousin wrote a which-way book that had a 20-page introduction, starting with the creation of the universe, going on to the creation of the world, the history of the world, empires that rose and fell, kingdoms that sprouted, wars, etc, all culminating in(and largely irrelivent to) the quest that your characters was setting out on. This wouldn't have been quite as maddening if he let you play the book more than once, but if your character died, he took the book away and said "In real life, you don't get to start over." I didn't get past the first encounter: "You see a phalanx of statues of armed soldiers standing in the middle of the road. They appear to have been there for some time. Do you: (1) Go through the formation, continuing on your way, (2) Go off the road, go around the formation, return to the road, and continue on your way, or (3) observe the statues from a distance for a while." Only option 3 would enable your character to survive. I went around and the statues came to life and threw spears at me, killing me. Whisk! No more book, no retries, I just read 20 pages of backstory for nothin'. [/tangent]

 

[Painfully]

I prefer to pass out general information early in the campaign. Social contacts can be especially important as the campaign continues, and can serve as a reason for the PCs to protect their homeland, or to venture out and save someone they know.

I will typically give a player a one-page background that describes basic info specific to their character. In it I describe a few relatives, friends, local customs/traditions (like the oldest brother in the family always buys the most expensive gift at a sister's wedding), local arts/crafts (basketweaving), political relations to those around them (war or trade), and important details on religion (the most prominent deity), and crime and punishment (exile and shaved beards for dwarven thieves).

It's usually just enough to touch on the big items, and leave room for explaining more only as needed. Anything more than a page of info seems overbearing to me. I only give my one-page backgrounds at the beginning of a campaign.

There is a certain efficiency to being brief while getting out the information you need to. At 10-pages it seems your DM has a lot of free time, and expect it from the players as well.

 

[Rel]

No more book, no retries, I just read 20 pages of backstory for nothin'.

"...and to this day they have not developed the medical technology to remove those pages from his colon. Sometimes science lets you down."

 

[Knightcrawler]

I think back/history is very important to the game. THe way I do it is that each of my players has a small three ring binder. I'm running a FR campaign in Silverymoon. I have an 8-10 page insert detailing what each of their characters know about Silverymoon; taverns, inns, shops, temples, etc, etc.

Now a lot of the information is the same in each of the inserts but there are also areas that only certain players know about. The parties thief knows more about the cities underworld, where to buy and sell illegal goods and the parties cleric knows about more about the cities temples and shrines.

Then I have 2 or 3 pages covering each characters family, friends, contacts and acquaitences. The better a character knows someone the more information there is on that person. I've ha deach player roll up their background from the charts in the Hero Builders Guide and then from that write a background/history for their character, just a couple of paragraphs. I then use that to build side stories and quests into the campaign.

Each session I would give each player a handout that covered rumors they heard, things they had witnessed and general news. These are saved in their binder so that they can go back and look at past new items and rumors. I have never required them to read this through, if they want to they can. They use it to look up information that they know and things that have happened. My players seem to thoroughly enjoy this as it adds to the depth of the game and makes the actually think about what they are doing.