Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8243588" data-attributes="member: 6790260">This seems a tad pessimistic, implying that the only stories that can possibly interest the group must always originate during play itself, that players are incapable of contributing original storytelling that can excite anyone except themselves.It is incumbent on the players to make stories that are interesting enough for the group to look into. Sometimes, that can take the form of "this is important to you, Durim, and that means it's important to me"; others, an NPC ally brought in by one character is beloved by the whole party, thus making common cause despite growing from only one person's story; others still, the party is simply curious or travelling without a specific target or otherwise open for an adventure.I don't see why the DM has exclusive claim to being able to introduce story elements that can excite, intrigue, or motivate the group as a whole.I have players with serious anxiety, so while I didn't do this precise thing, I did something similar. I promised my players that I would never just randomly or purposelessly rip away the things they care about, and would never treat "this person matters to you" as automatic justification for "this person has a target on their heads." I have endeavored as much as possible to explain why this is the case; for our tiefling bard, as an example, his direct family has never been targeted despite the party going up against assassins. At first, this was because the assassins intended to simply kill him directly and be done with it, but they miscalculated (naturally, since he's a Hero!) Now, however, it's because his actions have precipitated a full-scale internecine war between the faction that holds him as the prophesied Lord of the Ravens (the term itself is gender-neutral, "Lord" is just the closest English equivalent), come to break them and reforge them, come to destroy their purpose and fulfill it and give them new purpose.....and the faction that sees him as an existential threat the likes of which they have never seen before. His family is now protected 24/7 by assassins absolutely willing to lay down their lives to protect the "holy bloodline," keeping them safe and helping make the Bard DEEPLY uncomfortable with being a religious icon while being pretty solidly irreligious himself. (Not anti-religious, just not super active about his nominal religion.)The rest of the party gets to learn about the assassin-cult, must equally wrestle with the idea of having some former bitter enemies as dubious allies with an extreme agenda, and tries to help the Bard either change the assassins' ways or learn that they're unsalvagable. It's still "the Bard's story," but it links into the other factions, the stories of the Bard's friends and allies, and the important hidden truths of the world, while providing real and serious adventure hooks for the whole group.And all because I wanted my players to not feel like "tell me who your family is" meant "tell me who to paint a target upon." By feeding care for and enjoyment of their allies, rather than leaving a Sword of Damocles overhead at all times, I've helped build a world my players truly care about, one they know CAN absolutely be truly threatened, but which can more importantly always be saved if they strive for it. Of course, "being saved" and "never experiencing loss, harm, or hardship" are two very different things! I exploit that difference ruthlessly to create the drama for our game.What you love can always be saved. What price will be paid to get there? Who will you be when you've paid it, or chosen not to? Ay, there's the rub. And, in my experience, much more interesting than simple "kill the fam"/"kidnap the love interest" type stuff.</blockquote>

Verification