New DM here, I've got a question on flavor-type items. One of the players in my game is my 12 year old nephew, and when he created his wizard, he chose the sage background. One of the things that came with that choice is "a letter from a dead colleague posing a question you have not yet been able to answer." Well, now said wizard is asking every NPC he can find about the letter and if they have any thoughts. This is obviously an opportunity to get some juicy backstory going, but I am just drawing a complete blank.
My question is, what do you use for inspiration for these kinds of things? I've considered cribbing from TV or film, but I feel like if I tie it into the current campaign (Lost Mine of Phendelver from the starter pack) then it'll resolve too soon (plus I'll need to figure it all out much faster) but if I don't tie it into the story then it feels like a waste of time and could cause unintended consequences if he thinks there's a hook there.
Well not necessarily a character backstory has to be tied to the current plot. You as DM you can create a pattern of NPCs (already present in the adventure or created on your own) which give just small hints about this backstory. Just small ones, this way this backstory will not be resolve too soon. Then, it is up to you when and how this mystery is resolved.
Assuming the letter is some sort of riddle, maybe have a few side quests or random encounters with NPC's that might garner a hint toward what the riddle could mean. I have a wizard with the same background and I was stuck with this for a while before our game started -- what I chose to do actually was only write the beginning part of the letter and gave it to the player. As certain events unfold the letter expands and contains more and more detail, but it's all in a poetic riddle and while some things seem to make sense, others don't at all to him. His "dead" colleague was also a wizard and actually may not be dead, but is just missing (he created this whole event that happened and nobody saw the wizard again after he drove off enemy invaders), so the letter left has a magical spell on it that's slowly revealing the written words.
As far as what inspired me to do this? Honestly, not spending enough time coming up with a good letter before the game -- with the letter magically extending at seemingly random times, it gives me time to literally write its contents. I swap his letter with the current version (playing online allows me to do this without him knowing, but I told him the first time as I didn't want him to never look back at it) and do not tell him. I decided this would give me more time to develop a really deep/complex riddle (which this player absolutely loves and seems to live for) and he isn't exactly sure what is triggering the letter to continue revealing the words.
I feel like if I come up with an idea that might have worked better than something I already did, I can still implement it by just using "magic" to a point. The letter might have seemed plain forever, then all of a sudden some event happened and suddenly it's magical and contains more information. I also had the players roll trinkets in the beginning and come up with a reason why they have them (that they didn't have to share if they didn't want to), but this tied an additional background element. I then gave the trinkets a magical power that the players are discovering throughout the campaign. It's on them to eventually learn that though (where I might give them a reason to figure that out or potentially an NPC who flat out notices it and knows what it is, but they are pretty experimental with everything and have learned some magical properties of things to this point).
Also, it doesn't have to be tied to the main story -- you can make up a few new NPC's, a few encounters and such that follow the direction he is going, and at the end put a reward like some sort of magical item. Who knows, that might be the part of the story they enjoyed the most, and it was all created by you. Just because it isn't relevant to the main plot doesn't make it a waste of time. Making it a waste of time would be leading him to NPC after NPC, learning what the letter meant, and it having no consequence/benefit.
Backstory elements don't have to tie to the current adventure. You can always thread hints as to something into the adventure, but don't make it the focus of it. Remember, the story is larger than any one adventure in the entire campaign, because the party will most likely be going on multiple adventures together. Have some NPCs know a bit, but they need to do some research into it and they ask the PC to come back once they've looked into it more (which gives you time to come up with something and gives the party something to do after this one adventure is over).
Backstory elements don't have to tie to the current adventure. You can always thread hints as to something into the adventure, but don't make it the focus of it. Remember, the story is larger than any one adventure in the entire campaign, because the party will most likely be going on multiple adventures together. Have some NPCs know a bit, but they need to do some research into it and they ask the PC to come back once they've looked into it more (which gives you time to come up with something and gives the party something to do after this one adventure is over).
That's a great suggestion, Erika. I've considered making that letter as non-story-impact as having it be integral in helping the wizard learn a new spell, just so that I didn't have to put too much into wedging anything new into the campaign, but this helps me buy some time while not discouraging him from asking about it.
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Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
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New DM here, I've got a question on flavor-type items. One of the players in my game is my 12 year old nephew, and when he created his wizard, he chose the sage background. One of the things that came with that choice is "a letter from a dead colleague posing a question you have not yet been able to answer." Well, now said wizard is asking every NPC he can find about the letter and if they have any thoughts. This is obviously an opportunity to get some juicy backstory going, but I am just drawing a complete blank.
My question is, what do you use for inspiration for these kinds of things? I've considered cribbing from TV or film, but I feel like if I tie it into the current campaign (Lost Mine of Phendelver from the starter pack) then it'll resolve too soon (plus I'll need to figure it all out much faster) but if I don't tie it into the story then it feels like a waste of time and could cause unintended consequences if he thinks there's a hook there.
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
Well not necessarily a character backstory has to be tied to the current plot. You as DM you can create a pattern of NPCs (already present in the adventure or created on your own) which give just small hints about this backstory. Just small ones, this way this backstory will not be resolve too soon. Then, it is up to you when and how this mystery is resolved.
Assuming the letter is some sort of riddle, maybe have a few side quests or random encounters with NPC's that might garner a hint toward what the riddle could mean. I have a wizard with the same background and I was stuck with this for a while before our game started -- what I chose to do actually was only write the beginning part of the letter and gave it to the player. As certain events unfold the letter expands and contains more and more detail, but it's all in a poetic riddle and while some things seem to make sense, others don't at all to him. His "dead" colleague was also a wizard and actually may not be dead, but is just missing (he created this whole event that happened and nobody saw the wizard again after he drove off enemy invaders), so the letter left has a magical spell on it that's slowly revealing the written words.
As far as what inspired me to do this? Honestly, not spending enough time coming up with a good letter before the game -- with the letter magically extending at seemingly random times, it gives me time to literally write its contents. I swap his letter with the current version (playing online allows me to do this without him knowing, but I told him the first time as I didn't want him to never look back at it) and do not tell him. I decided this would give me more time to develop a really deep/complex riddle (which this player absolutely loves and seems to live for) and he isn't exactly sure what is triggering the letter to continue revealing the words.
I feel like if I come up with an idea that might have worked better than something I already did, I can still implement it by just using "magic" to a point. The letter might have seemed plain forever, then all of a sudden some event happened and suddenly it's magical and contains more information. I also had the players roll trinkets in the beginning and come up with a reason why they have them (that they didn't have to share if they didn't want to), but this tied an additional background element. I then gave the trinkets a magical power that the players are discovering throughout the campaign. It's on them to eventually learn that though (where I might give them a reason to figure that out or potentially an NPC who flat out notices it and knows what it is, but they are pretty experimental with everything and have learned some magical properties of things to this point).
Also, it doesn't have to be tied to the main story -- you can make up a few new NPC's, a few encounters and such that follow the direction he is going, and at the end put a reward like some sort of magical item. Who knows, that might be the part of the story they enjoyed the most, and it was all created by you. Just because it isn't relevant to the main plot doesn't make it a waste of time. Making it a waste of time would be leading him to NPC after NPC, learning what the letter meant, and it having no consequence/benefit.
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!
Backstory elements don't have to tie to the current adventure. You can always thread hints as to something into the adventure, but don't make it the focus of it. Remember, the story is larger than any one adventure in the entire campaign, because the party will most likely be going on multiple adventures together. Have some NPCs know a bit, but they need to do some research into it and they ask the PC to come back once they've looked into it more (which gives you time to come up with something and gives the party something to do after this one adventure is over).
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.