I broke a bad habit
- Thread starter Ry
- Start date
Just not with set numbers of such things. But that's by no means a bad thing, of course. Either way.MissingDividends
First Post
I use a sort of house rule to overcome what I call the "instant-character syndrome" (where characters are reduced to a few rolls, picking some stuff from a chart, and slapping it all on a sheet).
Basically, campaigns usually begin like this:
Session 1: Character Creation
Between Session 1 and Session 2, players type up a backstory and get it to the gm
Session 2: GM awards up to enough xp for the first level-up based on the backstories (think of it as overdue xp for the life they lived before the start of the campaign).
As a gm, I've gotten some amazing backstories. They come in all lengths (and levels of detail), but some of the best I've received were ~5-10 pages and covered from the characters earliest memories, through their major childhood experiences, through the start of the campaign. Players are encouraged to include motivations, fears, goals/dreams/ambitions, etc. of the character. It really makes playing the character easier (after vacations, you can just skim the backstory to get yourself back in the mindset of the character), and makes it easier for the gm to tie the plot into the characters. (The players also like it because they know that if they put in a good effort, they'll earn a level worth of xp)
Basically, campaigns usually begin like this:
Session 1: Character Creation
Between Session 1 and Session 2, players type up a backstory and get it to the gm
Session 2: GM awards up to enough xp for the first level-up based on the backstories (think of it as overdue xp for the life they lived before the start of the campaign).
As a gm, I've gotten some amazing backstories. They come in all lengths (and levels of detail), but some of the best I've received were ~5-10 pages and covered from the characters earliest memories, through their major childhood experiences, through the start of the campaign. Players are encouraged to include motivations, fears, goals/dreams/ambitions, etc. of the character. It really makes playing the character easier (after vacations, you can just skim the backstory to get yourself back in the mindset of the character), and makes it easier for the gm to tie the plot into the characters. (The players also like it because they know that if they put in a good effort, they'll earn a level worth of xp)
Bravo! Nice work Ryan.
Our D&D groups do preludes like White Wolf suggests. All of the nitty gritty and drives for the characters come from that. Your absolutely right.
We also ran DM campaign classes and Player classes in our store. These classes ran for a while, giving pointers on how to improve peoples games. The classes had a open discussion period, and alot of feedback was gained during this time.
The end result we found, after dealing with hundreds of customers through multiple classes, was that backgrounds with drives, key events that shaped the character's life, adventure hooks and the allies and enemies of the character and how they related to the other PCs was the key to a good rpg campaign more than anything else. I think this is one part of the secret of a good GM who intuitively gets this and can get these things done without boring the players.
The second half is the storytelling method, using pacing, shifting from scene to scene and ecnounter to encounter well. Wrapping in overarching plots and giving everyone in the group something to do. The right mix of action, storytelling, acting and puzzle is good too.
Our D&D groups do preludes like White Wolf suggests. All of the nitty gritty and drives for the characters come from that. Your absolutely right.
We also ran DM campaign classes and Player classes in our store. These classes ran for a while, giving pointers on how to improve peoples games. The classes had a open discussion period, and alot of feedback was gained during this time.
The end result we found, after dealing with hundreds of customers through multiple classes, was that backgrounds with drives, key events that shaped the character's life, adventure hooks and the allies and enemies of the character and how they related to the other PCs was the key to a good rpg campaign more than anything else. I think this is one part of the secret of a good GM who intuitively gets this and can get these things done without boring the players.
The second half is the storytelling method, using pacing, shifting from scene to scene and ecnounter to encounter well. Wrapping in overarching plots and giving everyone in the group something to do. The right mix of action, storytelling, acting and puzzle is good too.
MissingDividends said:
I found that players enjoy an interactive backstory. Have them come up with a concept, and then roleplay through their past at the key moments in their life. Do this one on one with the other players hanging in the next room playing video games or something. Then when pcs histories tie together, bring the players involved together for that point. You spend a night playing the backgrounds and getting players informed of the world, but it is done in a interactive roleplaying party like atmosphere. The depth it adds to the game is amazing.
Claudius Gaius
First Post
Oh yes. At least one session for everyone to come up with the basics about their character, and then lots of between-game calls, conferences, and development. Some of them don't have the mechanics nailed down for weeks or months: they just hold back on a few points, feats, or whatever the current system uses until they know what makes sense for their character's history.
Woas
First Post
Doesn't it feel great? This mode of game "setup" and play is something I've just recently adopted myself in the past 4-6 months.
I used to bang my head on the keyboard/desk trying to think of stories/plots/adventures that all seemed even remotely logical and somehow "involved" the players and their characters. But it was always an upward losing battle. Then after experimenting with games other than D&D it really opened my mind and I turned to whole process around. And it's great! I have such an easier time prepping for a game both session-to-session and overarching idea-wise now that I've let the players drive the boat and pretty much tell me what they want to do.
It's a hard habit to brake. I know I was one of "those" DMs that used to sit down and draw maps of continents and worlds and histories and did NOT want the players mess'n it all up! But no more. Plus I just don't have the time for it anymore. Letting the players "make" the game took so much weight off of my shoulders and freed my prep-time up.
So I say good for you Ryan.
I used to bang my head on the keyboard/desk trying to think of stories/plots/adventures that all seemed even remotely logical and somehow "involved" the players and their characters. But it was always an upward losing battle. Then after experimenting with games other than D&D it really opened my mind and I turned to whole process around. And it's great! I have such an easier time prepping for a game both session-to-session and overarching idea-wise now that I've let the players drive the boat and pretty much tell me what they want to do.
It's a hard habit to brake. I know I was one of "those" DMs that used to sit down and draw maps of continents and worlds and histories and did NOT want the players mess'n it all up! But no more. Plus I just don't have the time for it anymore. Letting the players "make" the game took so much weight off of my shoulders and freed my prep-time up.
So I say good for you Ryan.
Pretty cool. For myself, I just work up the countries and cultures, the main NPCs for the setting and a bit of current events for the regions ahead of time. Then, at the first meeting, I sit down with the players and give them a brief overview of the races, countries and cultures. When they settle on a race and culture that interests them, I take each one aside (or more than one if multiple players make a similar choice), give them a bit more indepth regarding the race, culture, a few noteable people and organizations and a bit of current events. After that, I send them back to work out their background (including enemies, rivals, contacts, etc.) and how they know anyone else (if they do at all). They then bring back their ideas and we tweak them if necessary.
The results were:
Two of the players chose to be northmen, one chose to be a druid and the other a Barbarian. Recent events included abduction of the jarl's daughter by foreign wizards, who wiped out most of the druid's in their attack.
The druid's player decided that he despised the wizards. Furthermore, keeping with the druid's role as advisors, emissaries, and councilors, he was being sent to negotiate the daughter's release. Normally, someone more experienced would be sent, but the few more experienced druids needed to stay in case the wizards returned. This would be his first real test to prove that he was promising young druid everyone thought him to be.
Meanwhile, the barbarian player decided his character's goal was to become a legendary warrior and eventually Jarl. His character was secretely in love with the Jarl's daughter and wanted to marry her. With a chance to advance both his goals, the character volunteered to be the druid's bodyguard.
The other player's came from other regions.
A paladin in search of his sister ( a former PC in the campaign). He was an orphan with his sister as his only known blood relative- both were left on the temple steps as children. The head priest was like a father figure to him and his order and other temples dedicated to his deity served as allies and contacts. Furthermore, he had never left the temple before except to visit the city outside the temple walls so he didn't have enemies other than those of his temple. A vision led him to the island ruled by the wizards.
A knight who was the lone survivor of an ambushed party and was attempting to complete his assigned mission rather than return home. Upon finding his ambushers, he slew them and found a note leading him to the island. Back home he had a fiancee and a rival with both a romantic interest in the fiancee and an interest in the PC's land holdings. He also had an elderly father and a knight that trained him back home.
An orphaned rogue residing on the island ruled by the wizards. He had various street contacts . He had no real enemies although he tried avoiding the local watch. The player planned to have the thief attempt to rob one of them when they arrived on the docks. (he chose the barbarian, but got caught by the druid). However, when he learned of their plight to save the princess, he would offer help and information thinking he would be rewarded (it worked out perfect, because he could be a guide). Eventually, he would permanently team up with the party out of self interest (the wizards would use magic to learn his identity) and eventually become "reformed" through his time spent with the party.
Using the backgrounds made creating the first adventure a breeze. It opened on the docks with the rogue watching "potential marks" disembark from a ship. It was also a favorite since it didn't involve starting at an inn or being assembled and hired by a mysterious patron.
The backgrounds also made me feel free to allow the player's more freedom in choosing where they wanted to go rather than keeping them on rails. So, midway through the campaign when they wanted to return to the knight's homeland and warn his king about news they had learned rather than pursue the wizards. I went with it. Upon his return, he learned everyone initally thought him to be dead, but later information revealed him to be in league with the ambushers. Furthemore, his fiancee was engaged to be married to his rival, who was also about to gain the PC's landholdings. The whole session was discovering, who acutally set up the ambush and helping him reclaim his good name, fiancee, and holdings. Plus, a really cool duel at the end which the players had taken a real interest.
On the downside, despite the PC's warning to the king, the wizards were one step closer to their goal, because NPC plans and other events continue their path if nobody intervenes.
The results were:
Two of the players chose to be northmen, one chose to be a druid and the other a Barbarian. Recent events included abduction of the jarl's daughter by foreign wizards, who wiped out most of the druid's in their attack.
The druid's player decided that he despised the wizards. Furthermore, keeping with the druid's role as advisors, emissaries, and councilors, he was being sent to negotiate the daughter's release. Normally, someone more experienced would be sent, but the few more experienced druids needed to stay in case the wizards returned. This would be his first real test to prove that he was promising young druid everyone thought him to be.
Meanwhile, the barbarian player decided his character's goal was to become a legendary warrior and eventually Jarl. His character was secretely in love with the Jarl's daughter and wanted to marry her. With a chance to advance both his goals, the character volunteered to be the druid's bodyguard.
The other player's came from other regions.
A paladin in search of his sister ( a former PC in the campaign). He was an orphan with his sister as his only known blood relative- both were left on the temple steps as children. The head priest was like a father figure to him and his order and other temples dedicated to his deity served as allies and contacts. Furthermore, he had never left the temple before except to visit the city outside the temple walls so he didn't have enemies other than those of his temple. A vision led him to the island ruled by the wizards.
A knight who was the lone survivor of an ambushed party and was attempting to complete his assigned mission rather than return home. Upon finding his ambushers, he slew them and found a note leading him to the island. Back home he had a fiancee and a rival with both a romantic interest in the fiancee and an interest in the PC's land holdings. He also had an elderly father and a knight that trained him back home.
An orphaned rogue residing on the island ruled by the wizards. He had various street contacts . He had no real enemies although he tried avoiding the local watch. The player planned to have the thief attempt to rob one of them when they arrived on the docks. (he chose the barbarian, but got caught by the druid). However, when he learned of their plight to save the princess, he would offer help and information thinking he would be rewarded (it worked out perfect, because he could be a guide). Eventually, he would permanently team up with the party out of self interest (the wizards would use magic to learn his identity) and eventually become "reformed" through his time spent with the party.
Using the backgrounds made creating the first adventure a breeze. It opened on the docks with the rogue watching "potential marks" disembark from a ship. It was also a favorite since it didn't involve starting at an inn or being assembled and hired by a mysterious patron.
The backgrounds also made me feel free to allow the player's more freedom in choosing where they wanted to go rather than keeping them on rails. So, midway through the campaign when they wanted to return to the knight's homeland and warn his king about news they had learned rather than pursue the wizards. I went with it. Upon his return, he learned everyone initally thought him to be dead, but later information revealed him to be in league with the ambushers. Furthemore, his fiancee was engaged to be married to his rival, who was also about to gain the PC's landholdings. The whole session was discovering, who acutally set up the ambush and helping him reclaim his good name, fiancee, and holdings. Plus, a really cool duel at the end which the players had taken a real interest.
On the downside, despite the PC's warning to the king, the wizards were one step closer to their goal, because NPC plans and other events continue their path if nobody intervenes.
Last edited:
Captain Tagon
First Post
Psion said:
Yeah, I don't know why Burning Wheel jumped out at me more, especially since I do a lot more with Spirit of the Century than Burning Wheel.
And Troikas looks like something I need to check out.
