Some players come into any RPG they play with a 4-page character origin and personal history that drives them to adventure — others can barely pick a name. What do you do with player character backgrounds like these? Would you rather have the deep story, and the story baggage that comes with it, or the blank campaign canvas? Do PC backstories ever lead to unfair play, special treatment or other problems in the TTRPGs you play?
In this week’s episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave dig into what they want and don’t want from character backstories, and how they use them in their games. Along the way, the guys talk about where their backstory boundaries are and a few times when background plans went way wrong.
3:00 Who writes the PC backstory: DM or Player?
8:00 The risks of embracing backstories
15:00 Background bias: Do you find PCs with more better backstories overshadow other players?
19:00 Using backstories to keep players invested
24:00 What do you want out of a PC backstory for your game?
29:00 How we make sure background details don’t become a problem
34:00 Some good ways to handle background contacts in the game
39:00 What’s off-limits in character backgrounds?
41:00 Do you give mechanical, in-game benefits based on backstories?
48:00 Secret history: Is it a good idea for the DM to “reveal” secret details the player doesn’t know about their character?
57:00 How secret do you keep player backgrounds and side-play?
60:00 What we want from a boss fight, and breaking down a good one: COS Baba Lysaga
66:00 Group backstories: What about having the whole party come in with a combined history?
72:00 When not using a PC’s backstory goes wrong
75:00 Final thoughts
Were you channeling THE Bruce Dickenson?
He who loves more cowbell?
He who puts his pants on one leg at a time and then makes gold records?
[as per the SNL skit with Walken and Farrell]
HAHAHAHA… one of THE best skits ever. I was actually going for an ode to Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden… but either is good!
First – a backstory at leasts demonstrates SOME degree of investment in the character/game – much better than just a sheet full of numbers (often likely to have been min/max’ed to death).
Second – *I* don’t claim to have a monopoly on clever and creative ideas and inspirations for character arcs and storylines. A party with multiple characters, each with their own backstory, is fertile ground for hooks and storyline ties.
Lastly, if backgrounds are leading toward DM favoritism, that’s a DM problem, not a player problem. “Sharing the spotlight” still applies. And with a table full of just “number sheet characters” can develop the same “DM favoritism” as well. It isn’t a “backstory only” issue.
Me – gimme stories upon which I can build bigger stories. (Aren’t we *always* told to “steal from anywhere and everywhere” for adventures? Why not steal from backstories as easily as from the plotline of a book or movie?
That all sounds good, but I think it’s easier said than done. If you’re playing through a story and trying to “move the football” as Tony says, you may already have plenty to do each session. And if you start exploring one backstory, can you fit in everyone’s?
It’s not hard for one or two characters that the DM is more interested in to start getting all that limited story time. And while you can try to guard against it, bias by its very nature is hard to recognize and prevent. You like what you like, mostly unconsciously, no matter how fair you’re trying to be.
I was expecting you to mention the crazy player whose character’s background took him right out of the game! 🙂
Hah! Actually, this was recorded before that happened. I’m sure it’ll come up in a future episode, though.