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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sadras" data-source="post: 7514251" data-attributes="member: 6688277">The freedom your players have to create/narrate content during play.Speaking for myself, the PCs create their own backstory content - names, occupations, parents, nemesis, organisations...etcThey might seek advice if they want to integrate their characters more into the setting but other than that its pretty much free reign. I encourage that. I might only step in if their idea conflicts with big picture.What I do though is weave their backstory into the foreground - perhaps making it part of the main arc or a possible complication.So one player wrote about 6+ pages about his parents, the enchanted shard they had hidden away, his relationship with his siblings and his early experiences with the shard's powers. Now I'm bringing his story to the fore, which is something the player desires and wants to be surprised - the truth about his parents and the secrets of the shard (rod of 7 parts).Another player wrote how he was kidnapped, brainwashed and trained in the arts by a shadowy organisation until he managed to escape them. Once he returned to his family he was unrecognisable by them - essentially they mourned him twice (1st time when he was kidnapped and the second time when he returned and couldn't fit in).I've just recently revealed that his best mate who was left behind in the organisation is actually now the leader of the Cult of the Dragon, Severin, who is seeking to bring Tiamat into the FR. Severin has found out that the PC has been a major thorn in the Cult's plans and has sought him out to offer him partnership within the organisation. Surprisingly the PC actually accepted.A third is playing Priest of Kelemvor (Deity of the Dead) who is actually the soul of a deceased PC who has returned to hunt down an ex-character of the same player whose character went rogue and is attempting to resurrect a dead god, which is against the wishes of Kelemvor. The rest of the players (and characters) are unaware of this. So the player is looking at me to bring that story to the fore. All they while the main story arc are two meshed 5e AP's with the characters' backgrounds weaving through them causing complications and forcing interesting decisions.Just to add, two of my players have created off-screen moments, between adventures and the like by writing up character prose. I have never changed anything on those. Maybe my style is closer to yours than you or me might know since we don't get to experience each others' games properly. But at the end of the day, my authority to say no to anything, is given to me by the players as they trust I would act in their best interests and the campaign.</blockquote>

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