Suggestions for Player Bribes

[Rechan]

As a player and a DM, I prefer the "write down what you feel like and otherwise make it up during play".

So if I don't write down on my background that I have one sister and no other siblings then the dm and I are free to make it up when it becomes important.

That means that I can use it to bum off my sister who happens to live around these parts, or the dm can use it to take my sister hostage or have her bug me to do some quest.

That's also fine.

 

[VannATLC]

I try to write my characters backgrounds and actions into my storylines, and use them for hooks, etc. I only ask for a page, and I get no response.

 

[Kichwas]

Different people play well in different ways.

Some players use a backstory to give them a solid footing to launch off with. Others find the story from the events of the game.

Don't punish either style by rewarding the other.

Just let them choose what works for them, and as you get things from them, incorporate it into your plots. If you get a backstory ahead of time, that might help you set up the initial stories, but if several game sessions into the campaign one of the backstory-less characters starts latching onto something as the player seems to be itching to fill in extraneous details, encourage them, and see where it takes things.

I've seen amazing play and amazing players in both formats. I've also seen play and players that fall flat in both. Sometimes though, this is less about the player, or the GM, than it is simply about how well they sync with each other and the others at the table.

 

[BWS]

Different people play well in different ways.

Some players use a backstory to give them a solid footing to launch off with. Others find the story from the events of the game.

Don't punish either style by rewarding the other.

This!

Also, I believe strongly that one should never reward (or punish) meta-game behavior with in-character effects. I'm not a big fan of rewards and punishment for meta-game behavior in general, but I find that any issues that arise only get aggravated when you also reward/punish the PCs.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Oh, one other way I've seen of handling this sort of thing:

Allow the player to "invest" something in NPCs.

In D&D I've no idea what would be appropriate, but in Arcdream's "wild talents", they have something called willpower (kind of like action points in some ways, sanity points in others), that refreshes at the rate of 1/night of rest.

If you choose, you can invest some of it in an NPC or a community. Whenever you interact with that NPC or community in a positive fashion, you gain back however many points you invested. On the downside, if the NPC or community is killed/destroyed, you'd permanently lose all the invested willpower.

I suppose maybe something similar could be done with action points or surges if people had more per day, or they recovered more slowly.