CharlesRyan
Adventurer
Another thought on this topic:
In one of 3.5 Eberron books (Five Nations, I think), there were sidebars on various topics built around a five-things-everyone-knows meme. Like "Five Things Every Karnathi Knows."
I thought this was a great idea, and I've run with it. I start many of my game sessions with Five Things Everyone Knows about [Topic]. [Topic] is sometimes important and immediately relevant, and sometimes it's a completely trivial aside (and sometimes it's something that will be relevant in the future, but the players don't know that). It's a great way to flesh out a campaign world, adding colour, detail, and context. And it's not too taxing on DM prep or on player attention spans.
I've also turned that on the players. A short while into the campaign (not at the beginning, but after an adventure or two when the players are coming to know their own characters), I require each player to come up with Five Things Everyone Knows about [Character]. I put no restrictions on what those things are: Some players come up with things like "he has brown hair" and others write detailed passages of backstory. Most come up with a mix of the two.
The five-bullet-point format is easy; even the players who aren't into this sort of thing don't find it taxing. And it's easy to deliver: Hearing each player read five (usually short) sentences is much easier than long diatribes.
And, finally, it gives both players and the GM hooks on which to build future plot points.
In one of 3.5 Eberron books (Five Nations, I think), there were sidebars on various topics built around a five-things-everyone-knows meme. Like "Five Things Every Karnathi Knows."
I thought this was a great idea, and I've run with it. I start many of my game sessions with Five Things Everyone Knows about [Topic]. [Topic] is sometimes important and immediately relevant, and sometimes it's a completely trivial aside (and sometimes it's something that will be relevant in the future, but the players don't know that). It's a great way to flesh out a campaign world, adding colour, detail, and context. And it's not too taxing on DM prep or on player attention spans.
I've also turned that on the players. A short while into the campaign (not at the beginning, but after an adventure or two when the players are coming to know their own characters), I require each player to come up with Five Things Everyone Knows about [Character]. I put no restrictions on what those things are: Some players come up with things like "he has brown hair" and others write detailed passages of backstory. Most come up with a mix of the two.
The five-bullet-point format is easy; even the players who aren't into this sort of thing don't find it taxing. And it's easy to deliver: Hearing each player read five (usually short) sentences is much easier than long diatribes.
And, finally, it gives both players and the GM hooks on which to build future plot points.
