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Players establishing facts about the world impromptu during play
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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 8264883" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p>As I see it, the DM has sole authorship of the world, and the players have of their characters. Anything that falls somewhere in between, should be discussed by both.</p><p></p><p>If for example I decided mid game that my character's father was a fisherman, then that is exactly what he was. If however he was from a specific town that does not exist yet, that is a matter that should be discussed with the DM first. I don't get to just insert this new village into the campaign setting.</p><p></p><p>Likewise, the DM doesn't get to decide that my character's parents were secretly a cabal of werewolves, without discussing it with me first.</p><p></p><p>Actual example from play: </p><p></p><p>As a DM I wanted to introduce the father of one of the pc's into the game. But for that I first asked permission of the player, and I asked him what the relationship between his character and their father was like. Since he hadn't written this into his background in detail yet, I asked him if he wanted to add to it a bit.</p><p></p><p>It ended up being a really great piece of roleplaying. His father had given him away to a whaler, so he could learn an actual profession, and because his father was poor and unable to support him. This father had spent the rest of his life regretting this decission and thinking his son hated him.</p><p></p><p>As the player character became famous, he sought him out in secret. He talked with his party members, and found out what a great man he had become. Not one angry at his father, but understanding of the difficult choice he made. From afar he looked at his son from a crowd, and saw that he was doing well for himself. Proud and reliefed, he disappeared without ever exchanging a word with him. It was left to his party members to decide if they would tell their friend that his father dropped by or not.</p><p></p><p>I think as a DM you should tread lightly, and respect the authorship of the players when it comes to their characters, and their backgrounds. Also, resist the urge to kill off or hold hostage any characters mentioned in their pc background.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 8264883, member: 6801286"] As I see it, the DM has sole authorship of the world, and the players have of their characters. Anything that falls somewhere in between, should be discussed by both. If for example I decided mid game that my character's father was a fisherman, then that is exactly what he was. If however he was from a specific town that does not exist yet, that is a matter that should be discussed with the DM first. I don't get to just insert this new village into the campaign setting. Likewise, the DM doesn't get to decide that my character's parents were secretly a cabal of werewolves, without discussing it with me first. Actual example from play: As a DM I wanted to introduce the father of one of the pc's into the game. But for that I first asked permission of the player, and I asked him what the relationship between his character and their father was like. Since he hadn't written this into his background in detail yet, I asked him if he wanted to add to it a bit. It ended up being a really great piece of roleplaying. His father had given him away to a whaler, so he could learn an actual profession, and because his father was poor and unable to support him. This father had spent the rest of his life regretting this decission and thinking his son hated him. As the player character became famous, he sought him out in secret. He talked with his party members, and found out what a great man he had become. Not one angry at his father, but understanding of the difficult choice he made. From afar he looked at his son from a crowd, and saw that he was doing well for himself. Proud and reliefed, he disappeared without ever exchanging a word with him. It was left to his party members to decide if they would tell their friend that his father dropped by or not. I think as a DM you should tread lightly, and respect the authorship of the players when it comes to their characters, and their backgrounds. Also, resist the urge to kill off or hold hostage any characters mentioned in their pc background. [/QUOTE]
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