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<blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 4952591" data-attributes="member: 3820">I don't tend to lean too heavily on players who choose to be orphans or without any sort of family, to be honest. As noted, some players aren't really that interested in devising families, and forcing them to do so under pain of disadvantage doesn't make them enjoy a &quot;more well-rounded character&quot; any more.I've noted, though, that more often it seems that being orphaned, sold into slavery by your poor parents, having your parents go missing, being exiled or the like is meant to serve as the event that puts the character on the path to adventure. The call to adventure usually comes with some reason, like loss of family, why the character &quot;cannot go back&quot;. This isn't true in every case, but it's often true when a character concept entails personality traits like &quot;I could actually be happy being a productive member of society in a small town, if circumstances allowed.&quot; Absence of family NPCs can be a warning sign of a mentality where the player doesn't want any bonds for a character, sure. But it often isn't. I admit, though, that I don't have standardized questions. Usually they occur to me as I'm talking things over with a player. I might ask what the player wants to get out of a racial/class/splat choice, where they picked up an unusual skill, or for a little more elaboration on a motivation. (&quot;I want money.&quot; &quot;What for? What do you really want to spend it on?&quot;) Preferably the player is also asking me questions, too. Optimally I want to hit a state where both of us are excited about the character and his/her/its ambitions and story hooks.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Barastrondo, post: 4952591, member: 3820"] I don't tend to lean too heavily on players who choose to be orphans or without any sort of family, to be honest. As noted, some players aren't really that interested in devising families, and forcing them to do so under pain of disadvantage doesn't make them enjoy a "more well-rounded character" any more. I've noted, though, that more often it seems that being orphaned, sold into slavery by your poor parents, having your parents go missing, being exiled or the like is meant to serve as the event that puts the character on the path to adventure. The call to adventure usually comes with some reason, like loss of family, why the character "cannot go back". This isn't true in every case, but it's often true when a character concept entails personality traits like "I could actually be happy being a productive member of society in a small town, if circumstances allowed." Absence of family NPCs can be a warning sign of a mentality where the player doesn't want any bonds for a character, sure. But it often isn't. I admit, though, that I don't have standardized questions. Usually they occur to me as I'm talking things over with a player. I might ask what the player wants to get out of a racial/class/splat choice, where they picked up an unusual skill, or for a little more elaboration on a motivation. ("I want money." "What for? What do you really want to spend it on?") Preferably the player is also asking me questions, too. Optimally I want to hit a state where both of us are excited about the character and his/her/its ambitions and story hooks. [/QUOTE]

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