Croesus said this much better than I did
Back story is great, but mostly as a driver for motivation. Try to hook into that, and keep in tune with how that motivation may change over time.
D&D 5E Query for DMs: How do you get the most of characters' backstories?
- Thread starter WhosAChaoticGoodBoy
- Start date
Croesus said this much better than I did
Back story is great, but mostly as a driver for motivation. Try to hook into that, and keep in tune with how that motivation may change over time.
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Depends.
In my current campaign, I spend a lot of time with my players going back and forth on their character backgrounds. There were good an bad reasons for this.
Good reasons:
1. Many of the players were new, I had never played with them before. This was a good way to start to get a sense of each others styles and make sure we really wanted to play in the same game before the first in-person session.
2. I built a home brew world and wanted to create build customize story lines around their backgrounds. If I were running a published AP, I think backgrounds would be less important.
3. Some players love to go into great detail building and discussing their backgrounds. I want to encourage and reward that without turning the first session into a creative writing read-your-work session.
Bad reason
1. I wanted to control the backgrounds to fit them into the campaign I wanted to run in the home brew world I spent a lot of time created. In hindsight, I would have given them more free reign and found a way to work with what they came up with.
Now, if I were running a published AP, I think background is mostly for the players. Background can also give skills and such, but beyond that I don't make much use of the inspiration mechanic in my games. It is too easy to forget about and is too arbitrary a carrot.
In my current campaign, I spend a lot of time with my players going back and forth on their character backgrounds. There were good an bad reasons for this.
Good reasons:
1. Many of the players were new, I had never played with them before. This was a good way to start to get a sense of each others styles and make sure we really wanted to play in the same game before the first in-person session.
2. I built a home brew world and wanted to create build customize story lines around their backgrounds. If I were running a published AP, I think backgrounds would be less important.
3. Some players love to go into great detail building and discussing their backgrounds. I want to encourage and reward that without turning the first session into a creative writing read-your-work session.
Bad reason
1. I wanted to control the backgrounds to fit them into the campaign I wanted to run in the home brew world I spent a lot of time created. In hindsight, I would have given them more free reign and found a way to work with what they came up with.
Now, if I were running a published AP, I think background is mostly for the players. Background can also give skills and such, but beyond that I don't make much use of the inspiration mechanic in my games. It is too easy to forget about and is too arbitrary a carrot.
iserith
Magic Wordsmith
One thing I've concluded over the years is that someone who is good at writing a backstory is not necessarily a good roleplayer.
In fact, in my experience, there is a strong correlation between someone who writes up a long backstory and being completely flat during actual play. It's like they get it all out on the page, but when playing, you don't ever see it manifested to any great degree. Except, of course, when we get to the "My character wouldn't do that..." stage when they point at the backstory as a reason not to engage with some game element. And for some reason, it's that moment that is seen by many (again, in my experience) as the height of roleplaying skill. Ugh.
I saw this very thing recently with a group I joined late in their campaign to replace a player that had to bail. It's a rotating DM system, so I got to run a game as well to see this player from both sides of the screen. They are 13th level and play like once a month, so this game has probably been going for well over a year. One of the players is pretty much silent during the game except to chime in with what his character won't do, which is frequent and annoying as play must effectively halt while everyone else works to convince him to go long. (I could write a whole thread on just that silliness, but won't for everyone's sake.)
Anyway, when my stint as DM was complete, it passed to another DM who suggested the next leg of the campaign take place in the aforementioned player's character's homeland. It was a place the party hadn't been yet and made a lot of sense as a follow-up to my offering. The player expressed interest in it, stating that getting back to his homeland was his character's goal as stated in his backstory. The rest of the players were like "Really?" The player sounded a little annoyed that the rest of the players had no idea this was what he had been wanting to do. But here's the thing - if you leave it on the page and never say a thing about it during play, how can you be miffed at the other players? And we're talking about a group that's been going for well over a year! If the rest of the players barely know a thing about your character after all that time, then that's because you failed to roleplay that character in a way that shows the backstory elements.
So as I said in my original post, show, don't tell.
In fact, in my experience, there is a strong correlation between someone who writes up a long backstory and being completely flat during actual play. It's like they get it all out on the page, but when playing, you don't ever see it manifested to any great degree. Except, of course, when we get to the "My character wouldn't do that..." stage when they point at the backstory as a reason not to engage with some game element. And for some reason, it's that moment that is seen by many (again, in my experience) as the height of roleplaying skill. Ugh.
I saw this very thing recently with a group I joined late in their campaign to replace a player that had to bail. It's a rotating DM system, so I got to run a game as well to see this player from both sides of the screen. They are 13th level and play like once a month, so this game has probably been going for well over a year. One of the players is pretty much silent during the game except to chime in with what his character won't do, which is frequent and annoying as play must effectively halt while everyone else works to convince him to go long. (I could write a whole thread on just that silliness, but won't for everyone's sake.)
Anyway, when my stint as DM was complete, it passed to another DM who suggested the next leg of the campaign take place in the aforementioned player's character's homeland. It was a place the party hadn't been yet and made a lot of sense as a follow-up to my offering. The player expressed interest in it, stating that getting back to his homeland was his character's goal as stated in his backstory. The rest of the players were like "Really?" The player sounded a little annoyed that the rest of the players had no idea this was what he had been wanting to do. But here's the thing - if you leave it on the page and never say a thing about it during play, how can you be miffed at the other players? And we're talking about a group that's been going for well over a year! If the rest of the players barely know a thing about your character after all that time, then that's because you failed to roleplay that character in a way that shows the backstory elements.
So as I said in my original post, show, don't tell.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
What I want out of a backstory (other than only being a few paragraphs at the most!) is something that ties into their hopes for the future. Give me a nemesis from their past, an aspiration, or a debt to be repaid. Give me something interesting and punchy to work with, and I’m a happy DM.
WhosAChaoticGoodBoy
Explorer
haven't read all the responses yet, but after the fact I'm really happy I left the original prompt a little open ended. You guys are awesome.
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aco175
Legend
I have sometimes given out or strongly coached backgrounds to young or inexperienced players. Same thing with traits to help run the character. All my players now are good with backstory, but it does not come up as much as I would like.
As the DM, I do not try to force the backstory on the players unless they mention it. I should use it more. There is a pirate bard in the group right now, but no old friends or foes have showed up. Some of the other PCs have moved from their hometown be hundreds of miles so it makes it harder to tie things in.
As the DM, I do not try to force the backstory on the players unless they mention it. I should use it more. There is a pirate bard in the group right now, but no old friends or foes have showed up. Some of the other PCs have moved from their hometown be hundreds of miles so it makes it harder to tie things in.
Rya.Reisender
Explorer
I personally, give some responsibilities to my players. Instead of getting the character's backstories and then making something out of them, I give my players the list of possible adventure hooks and then ask them to work their backgrounds into those. I give them suggestions of course in how far they can reflavor the hook without losing content.
I really like this idea, and think I will try it going forward. Sounds like a good way to get the PCs invested.
It really depends on the player. Some don't really care about backstories for their characters and just want to roll dice and kill monsters. Others will come up with a multi-page backstory at the drop of a hat.
I'm not going to expend time or resources on melding their backstory into the campaign if the player doesn't seem to really care about it.
The more developed (and non-ridiculous) the backstory, the more I will try to work it into the campaign - either making references to it, a side quest, or a full storyline quest if I find it interesting and the player shows they actually care about it.
I'm not going to expend time or resources on melding their backstory into the campaign if the player doesn't seem to really care about it.
The more developed (and non-ridiculous) the backstory, the more I will try to work it into the campaign - either making references to it, a side quest, or a full storyline quest if I find it interesting and the player shows they actually care about it.
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