Weaving the plot around the characters

[stevelabny]

I think the fault doesnt so much lie with DMs but with past history.

If you set up a story around the PCs, and then some of the players leave the game for whatever reason, the game suffers immensely.

In the game where I am a player, the DM has a complex homebrew world, and I personally witnessed a dozen PCs get created, worked into the story and depart soon after. The DM has shelved his homebrew world for now, and started some simpler min-campaigns quite possibly until we have a consistent group again. if ever.

In the game I started running as a DM, I've basically been running the 3.0 adventure path modules, and done almost nothing to work the characters in. Their back stories are short or nonexistant and have never been used. But this was done to make sure that the group would be consistent, especially compared to my other group.

When this campaign ends, we will be starting an Eberron campaign and although I've yet to read the whole book, some of my players have already started working on complex back stories tying them directly and importantly into Eberron. THIS will be a campaign that revolves much more around the characters. But it can only work if you KNOW what youre working with with players-wise, and that theyre gonna show up every week.

 

[deltadave]

The first step is that the players must tell you what they are interested in by way of a written background and a couple of character motivations. I always make the players write out 4 different motivations for their characters that I build the scenarios around, interweaving as many elements of background and motivation as I can. Those same four motivations are what I use to judge how to reward roleplaying.

 

[Nifft]

I've got a generally great group, but this one guy keeps swapping PCs.

I know I should put my foot down, but it seems like he gets bored with any given PC very quickly. Maybe it's some kind of fear of commitment due to bad past experiences or something, but it's also kinda destructive to my ability to make plans around the party.

-- N

 

[Doug McCrae]

The thing I don't like about tying a story to one PC is that it ignores the rest of the group. The default DnD setup is that the PCs either want to defeat evil or acquire loot or both. The DM creates a dungeon containing evil monsters that possess loot. Instant motivation for all the PCs.

If OTOH, the adventure is about rescuing one PC's long lost brother or something, why should the rest of the party get involved?

 

[painandgreed]

As a DM, I love character weaving but find the most difficult part in getting players to come up with stuff. They'll sit in the tavern and drink till somebody shows up and gives them a map to follow. On the other hand, its hard for players to decide a course of action when they know next to nothing about the world or what is going on.

One thing I've tried is having the players present two short term goals and one long term goal for their characters that they'll get XP for completeing. Once done they replace the completed goal with another one according to their current level. Some players will make good use of this while others won't even choose any goals.

Another thing I usually do is give an XP bonus for every game they bring something that helps to flesh out their character. It could be drawings of the character, their character history, or even fiction they write dealing with there character. It helps to flesh out their character and you can get an idea of where they want their character to go and weave it into the story.

 

[barsoomcore]

I like my players to provide me with "mysteries" in their backgrounds. Things they observed or were affected by but never learned the truth of.

One of my players decided her character ran away on the eve of her wedding. She changed her mind and came back, only to discover that the wedding had gone on, and there was somebody looking EXACTLY LIKE HER at the altar. So she ran away for good.

And then left it up to me to either come up with an explanation or not. To tie it into the plot or not.

It has since turned out that she wasn't the only person this had happened to. Bad guys with a breeding program were kidnapping people, breeding them and then returning them with their memories addled. Duplicates were created and used to replace them so they wouldn't be missed.

They just (last session) came across one of these breeding stations. She discovered she once had a child, who died in a sorcerous experiment. Very unsavoury. Very fun.

And boy is she now motivated to deal with the bad guys. Yes sir.

 

[Pants]

Character weaving requires DM and Player cooperation. The players need to give the DM a history, a personality or some goals that can be used as part of an adventure. If your PCs only have the goal of getting rich then you better have an interesting history or the DM won't be able to weave anything.

True and my players don't really seem interested in that, so... I really don't do it. I've said at the beginnings of new campaigns 'Now, think up a backstory of why you would all be together' but nothing usually comes of it, so I relly don't bother them anymore. Still have lots of fun in the games though.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

They'll sit in the tavern and drink till somebody shows up and gives them a map to follow.

I flat out refuse to start games like this. I tell my players before a new campaign begins that they have to come up with the reason they're together and their motivations for adventuring. It's not my job to hold their hands. If they can't come up with something this simple, I have other things I can do on the weekends.

 

[Dagger75]

I always try to write my adventures with there characters in mind. I find it easier than trying to shoe horn a prebublished mod.

 

[ivocaliban]

I've gone into great detail on this subject in past threads, so I'll only briefly touch on a few ideas now. Those "Your uncle sends you a letter..." plot hooks should merely be considered springboards. The better you know the characters the easier it is to tailor something more original for them. I spend my first session creating the characters with my players and then I conduct an interview them. I write out anywhere between a dozen and twenty questions, depending on how in-depth the campaign will be, and then go over them finding out interesting details along the way. But beyond that, the DM needs to take what they know of the PCs and give any plot hook a twist that befits those characters

For instance, here are some variations on "Your uncle sends you a letter..."

Background: The PC is a paranoid wizard (or rogue) of a wealthy family (or thieves' guild). Paranoid because the skirmishes between his and an opposing order of mages (or thieves' guild) has excalated to a full scale war. His uncle sends him a letter requesting assistance. From this, many things can result:

*The letter is a forgery. The enemy order of mages has concocted this fallacy to draw out the PC so that they might capture and interrogate (or assassinate) him. The PC might be fooled by this and decide to go aid his uncle or he might realize it's a forgery. If he does see the fake for what it is, he may decide to go anyway because his uncle may still be in danger (perhaps the mages kidnapped him and forced his hand, killed him and sent the letter regardless...and so on). Or, perhaps the uncle himself has set up a betrayal. He may be promised a great boon by the order of mages if he hands over his nephew. Or, then again, he may have been forced to write the letter and set up a betrayal because the mages have some information they could blackmail him with...the possibilities are endless.

*The letter is genuine. The uncle needs help. Perhaps the order of mages is causing the problem (whatever it may be). They may be doing so openly or discreetly...and the uncle may or may not be aware of the culprits (and the letter would state the chosen case). Either way, there's quite a lot of room to play with here. The uncle could be kiddnapped, dead, or dying when the PC arrives. Again, there are many options.

Even more general concepts could play well here. Perhaps the uncle is dying and sends a letter to the nephew requesting to see him before he passes. This works well with greedy players or characters if you make sure to state there's something to gain for their efforts. It also works well for family-oriented or generally good aligned characters as they are unlikely to deny a family member his last request.

It's important to remember that all of these things are just sub-plots to make the PCs feel caught-up in the story instead of just scribbled in. They most likely have nothing to do with the actual adventure or quest, they simply happen in addition to the storyline. The general concept "Your uncle sends you a letter..." is fairly dull, but so is unseasoned steak. It's the spices that make it taste good instead of just filling your belly. The same is true with plot hooks.