Barastrondo
First Post
Very back-and-forth for us. Sometimes I'll get some fun writeups from a player that elaborate a lot, but here's a sample of how it usually works:
"So the game will start out in a rustic Tuscan-style countryside, with everyone guests of this landowner. It's pretty much Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing when the game begins."
"Okay. I'm thinking a rogue. Probably a half-elf. Sort of Ezio Auditore-style, but more light-hearted. About that social status."
"If you're thinking of being from a House, House Iluni would be good; they're mostly half-elf, and their hooks are being very diplomatic and involved in intrigues."
"Yeah, sounds good. He'd be very urbane, and is probably out in the countryside lying low for a while with a family friend until a scandal dies down."
"How serious? Someone died, blood vendetta declared?"
"No, more 'slept with the wrong girl' kind of serious. From a hostile House."
"That would be awesome. Unless you have a preference, I'd say you slept with one of the daughters of House Rovino; they're kind of possessive and volatile..."
And there, that's a background. Sometimes the player will write it up a little more formally in a paragraph or two; sometimes they won't, and the reminders will just pop up in-game*. But I'd never offer to write a character's background unless the player just flat-out asked me to. I don't want a character just to be based on my ideas alone: I've got a lot, but it's still fewer than the greater set of my ideas + a player's ideas.
*Ettorio would later find out that one of his companions is actually a Rovino, travelling under an assumed name. He would also repeat the same mistake, enjoying a lovely evening with a permissive Tuderi girl who subsequently made him quite persona non grata with the Tuderi of another city entirely...
"So the game will start out in a rustic Tuscan-style countryside, with everyone guests of this landowner. It's pretty much Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing when the game begins."
"Okay. I'm thinking a rogue. Probably a half-elf. Sort of Ezio Auditore-style, but more light-hearted. About that social status."
"If you're thinking of being from a House, House Iluni would be good; they're mostly half-elf, and their hooks are being very diplomatic and involved in intrigues."
"Yeah, sounds good. He'd be very urbane, and is probably out in the countryside lying low for a while with a family friend until a scandal dies down."
"How serious? Someone died, blood vendetta declared?"
"No, more 'slept with the wrong girl' kind of serious. From a hostile House."
"That would be awesome. Unless you have a preference, I'd say you slept with one of the daughters of House Rovino; they're kind of possessive and volatile..."
And there, that's a background. Sometimes the player will write it up a little more formally in a paragraph or two; sometimes they won't, and the reminders will just pop up in-game*. But I'd never offer to write a character's background unless the player just flat-out asked me to. I don't want a character just to be based on my ideas alone: I've got a lot, but it's still fewer than the greater set of my ideas + a player's ideas.
*Ettorio would later find out that one of his companions is actually a Rovino, travelling under an assumed name. He would also repeat the same mistake, enjoying a lovely evening with a permissive Tuderi girl who subsequently made him quite persona non grata with the Tuderi of another city entirely...
