Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
trading backstory for some xp?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="irdeggman" data-source="post: 4446201" data-attributes="member: 16285"><p>You appear to be missing the point of the backstory issue.</p><p></p><p>It is not for continuous gaming sessions.</p><p></p><p>It is designed around giving the player something to wrap his character concept around.</p><p></p><p>Now if all the game is about is hacking and slashing and resetting after every encounter that is an entirely different story. In that case character "history" has no meaning whatsoever.</p><p></p><p>In the games I play in (and run) this is a one-time award designed to help the player get a good idea of what drives and motivates their PC and not have the PC relegated to a simple stat sheet.</p><p></p><p>I do not award "extra" for a well-written (or pretty) story. I award based on what is contained. Nor do I award for someone keeping a journal (although some of the DMs do - I don't see that as a role-playing thing or something that should be specially rewarded).</p><p></p><p>If the player gives me a bulletized sheet that is fine as long as I can tell they have designed the character around something. If they write that they have single-handedly slain giants and gods (as a 1st level character) - I raise the BS flag.</p><p></p><p>I have had to "nix" character concepts for players who wanted their PCs to be gods for the get-go.</p><p></p><p>It also helps me keep some out-of-control players in check. I have one who loves to design his PC out to epic level from inception (even when we are starting with 1st level PCs).</p><p></p><p>This background also helps me when I award role-playing awards, since I have something to compare the PC against. Although since life is constantly evolving so should the PCs so unless they give me a life-long rivalry it is only something used at the very beginning and a tool for judging how the PC is "evolving".</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And that is the point - it is an "incentive" and not a huge power up.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="irdeggman, post: 4446201, member: 16285"] You appear to be missing the point of the backstory issue. It is not for continuous gaming sessions. It is designed around giving the player something to wrap his character concept around. Now if all the game is about is hacking and slashing and resetting after every encounter that is an entirely different story. In that case character "history" has no meaning whatsoever. In the games I play in (and run) this is a one-time award designed to help the player get a good idea of what drives and motivates their PC and not have the PC relegated to a simple stat sheet. I do not award "extra" for a well-written (or pretty) story. I award based on what is contained. Nor do I award for someone keeping a journal (although some of the DMs do - I don't see that as a role-playing thing or something that should be specially rewarded). If the player gives me a bulletized sheet that is fine as long as I can tell they have designed the character around something. If they write that they have single-handedly slain giants and gods (as a 1st level character) - I raise the BS flag. I have had to "nix" character concepts for players who wanted their PCs to be gods for the get-go. It also helps me keep some out-of-control players in check. I have one who loves to design his PC out to epic level from inception (even when we are starting with 1st level PCs). This background also helps me when I award role-playing awards, since I have something to compare the PC against. Although since life is constantly evolving so should the PCs so unless they give me a life-long rivalry it is only something used at the very beginning and a tool for judging how the PC is "evolving". And that is the point - it is an "incentive" and not a huge power up. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
trading backstory for some xp?
Top
