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<blockquote data-quote="Malmuria" data-source="post: 8437327" data-attributes="member: 7030755">That's what I thought...I got confused because you seemed to be using the example of a gm checking notes to index a particular kind of game, but maybe that was just a correlation.&nbsp; &nbsp; Should your usage of the term backstory be taken to be a synonym, or at least congruent, with plot and resolution?&nbsp; This is confusing to me with regards to a sandbox, because as a dm I've set up the &quot;backstory&quot; without thinking about how that might be engaged with by the players.&nbsp; For example, I might set up 4 factions, with different goals, wants, and relationships, and the PCs can engage with them or not as they want.&nbsp; The temporal dimension is also important: hex 23 might contain the lizardfolk lair, but that faction isn't just waiting around, static, until the PCs get to them; ideally, they are operating in the background that I can track using a faction turn.&nbsp;&nbsp; All of this can be subject to <a href="https://chartopia.d12dev.com/collection/1634/" target="_blank">randomness</a> via dice.&nbsp; I agree that &quot;backstory&quot; is central insofar as the world exists independently from the characters; they can have hooks into it from their backstories, but it doesn't revolve around them.&nbsp; They can choose to sit in the tavern all day, and the world would still change without their intervention.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Malmuria, post: 8437327, member: 7030755"] That's what I thought...I got confused because you seemed to be using the example of a gm checking notes to index a particular kind of game, but maybe that was just a correlation. Should your usage of the term [I]backstory[/I] be taken to be a synonym, or at least congruent, with [I]plot [/I]and [I]resolution?[/I] This is confusing to me with regards to a sandbox, because as a dm I've set up the "backstory" without thinking about how that might be engaged with by the players. For example, I might set up 4 factions, with different goals, wants, and relationships, and the PCs can engage with them or not as they want. The temporal dimension is also important: hex 23 might contain the lizardfolk lair, but that faction isn't just waiting around, static, until the PCs get to them; ideally, they are operating in the background that I can track using a faction turn. All of this can be subject to [URL='https://chartopia.d12dev.com/collection/1634/']randomness[/URL] via dice. I agree that "backstory" is central insofar as the world exists independently from the characters; they can have hooks into it from [I]their[/I] backstories, but it doesn't revolve around them. They can choose to sit in the tavern all day, and the world would still change without their intervention. [/QUOTE]

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