Mechanical backgrounds (eg. Criminal, Folk Hero, etc.)? I don't tend to use the rp mechanic involved in them (eg. Criminal Contact, Rustic Hospitality) unless it's something the player actively takes interest in using. I do however take the idea of the background as a whole into account (a Criminal, in my modern-day campaign, had advantage on checks to hotwire a car to highjack it because "she's probably done that before".)
As for characters' written backstories? Stuff the players totally made up? I go all in on those. My campaigns don't have a plot until my players give me their backstories for me to intertwine behind the scenes into a big web of drama. In my last campaign, the BBEG was the Devil sidekick to the Sorcerer's father, who also happened to be the Warlock's patron, who was manipulating both of them throughout the last few levels of the campaign. The other Sorcerer's mother and the Wizard's grandfather were revealed to each be the source of those two characters' identical visions, caused by a corrupting influence in the Feywild brought on by that Devil's evil army tromping through and destroying things over there.
In my current campaign, the backstories are less intertwined because this one is more open world, but they all still affect the overarching plot: The Paladin accidentally started the zombie apocalypse and this knowledge will come back to bite him in the ass later, the Bard's parents are being taken hostage by an evil corporation trying to take over the world using the resources provided by their oil company. The Sorcerer's abandoned sister was found by a roving gang of survivors who escaped the north and will now provide the party with information from closer to the source as the party treks forwards, etc. etc.
Simple side quests? Not so much, but story arcs that span multiple sessions and gives each character a chance to shine and feel involved in the world and making a difference? Yes... every time. I do want broadstrokes of family background from each player's character. Mix them into the world to be seen and interacted with at various times and then add in the plot drama to possibly save someone they care about or use them to deliver news affecting the kindom. Just got to mix that part up every time so the player's don't just expect bad things to happen to everyone in their backstories. Lots of fun... and the players get more inventive over time and look forward to seeing their thoughts and ideas come to life and evolve to create the story we weave together.
Caveat, I'm kind of an old-school DM, so my philosophy on this is going to be quite different from more modern takes... but
To me the concept of a background, in which a player writes a bunch of stuff a character already did, who they are in the context of world using language that suggests a lot of experience and events that transpired before the game started and links to important NPC's or history with villains or whatever... I don't usually allow and for this very reason that, this sets me up for having to write-in their story, into my campaign, a character that already exists and already did a bunch of stuff in my world. I find it invasive, presumptuous and a bit of a spoiler because most of this type of writing of backgrounds comes with a kind of subliminal suggestion that says "here is what I want to happen in the course of my character's story". It falls into the same category of players telling me what kind of magic items they want to find in the course of their adventure.
In short, I don't want to write into the campaign pre-determined things that will happen to ensure that your background plays a role in the resolution or story of the campaign.
A character background to me is going to be a personality, a series of beliefs and a philosophy, perhaps a past profession and upbringing. Things that don't suggest or demand story hooks, information that YOU as a player need to run and understand your character. In short, backgrounds aren't for me the DM, backgrounds are for you the player, so what do you need to write down to make sure you can imagine your character, how they behave, what they believe etc..
Its a subtle difference, but it makes for a very different type of start of a campaign.
What your character does, what villains they are involved in, what relationships they have, what events change them, drive them... all those things we are going to discover during the course of your adventure. By the time you hit 5th level, you will have a 20 page background full of all kinds of crazy experiences. You will have rivals, you will have quests you have personalized, you will be trying fix mistakes you made.. all the stuff people usually pencil into their background, you will create live in the course of the game...which, personally, I think is the point of the game. To create your background through gameplay.
In fact I would even argue that the responsibility of a player entering my campaign is to create a character that is appropriate for the campaign world, to the setting and to the prescribed prologue events. Like, if this is a campaign based in the Norselands where Vikings rule... I expect that you will make a character that belongs there. Don't make Warg the Tiefling transdimensional psionic that crossed the astral sea to find his sister captured by time-traveling aliens from 10 million years in the future. Make a bloody Viking or a Shield Maiden or something.. Like, make your character work in my game, don't make my world work for your character.
So short answer... I don't.. I don't write character's backstory into my campaign. The backstory is for you not me, but also, whatever you do write, make sure it fits my setting and campaign.
In preparation for my next video, what do you as a dungeon master do to integrate the backgrounds of your players into your overall campaign?
What elements do you use and in what way do you link them to the main story?
If you use it as a side quest (pun very intended), then tell me about it.
Give examples and if you did this and it made for a great moment, then tell your story in the comments below.
Mechanical backgrounds (eg. Criminal, Folk Hero, etc.)? I don't tend to use the rp mechanic involved in them (eg. Criminal Contact, Rustic Hospitality) unless it's something the player actively takes interest in using. I do however take the idea of the background as a whole into account (a Criminal, in my modern-day campaign, had advantage on checks to hotwire a car to highjack it because "she's probably done that before".)
As for characters' written backstories? Stuff the players totally made up? I go all in on those. My campaigns don't have a plot until my players give me their backstories for me to intertwine behind the scenes into a big web of drama. In my last campaign, the BBEG was the Devil sidekick to the Sorcerer's father, who also happened to be the Warlock's patron, who was manipulating both of them throughout the last few levels of the campaign. The other Sorcerer's mother and the Wizard's grandfather were revealed to each be the source of those two characters' identical visions, caused by a corrupting influence in the Feywild brought on by that Devil's evil army tromping through and destroying things over there.
In my current campaign, the backstories are less intertwined because this one is more open world, but they all still affect the overarching plot: The Paladin accidentally started the zombie apocalypse and this knowledge will come back to bite him in the ass later, the Bard's parents are being taken hostage by an evil corporation trying to take over the world using the resources provided by their oil company. The Sorcerer's abandoned sister was found by a roving gang of survivors who escaped the north and will now provide the party with information from closer to the source as the party treks forwards, etc. etc.
:)
Simple side quests? Not so much, but story arcs that span multiple sessions and gives each character a chance to shine and feel involved in the world and making a difference? Yes... every time. I do want broadstrokes of family background from each player's character. Mix them into the world to be seen and interacted with at various times and then add in the plot drama to possibly save someone they care about or use them to deliver news affecting the kindom. Just got to mix that part up every time so the player's don't just expect bad things to happen to everyone in their backstories. Lots of fun... and the players get more inventive over time and look forward to seeing their thoughts and ideas come to life and evolve to create the story we weave together.
Caveat, I'm kind of an old-school DM, so my philosophy on this is going to be quite different from more modern takes... but
To me the concept of a background, in which a player writes a bunch of stuff a character already did, who they are in the context of world using language that suggests a lot of experience and events that transpired before the game started and links to important NPC's or history with villains or whatever... I don't usually allow and for this very reason that, this sets me up for having to write-in their story, into my campaign, a character that already exists and already did a bunch of stuff in my world. I find it invasive, presumptuous and a bit of a spoiler because most of this type of writing of backgrounds comes with a kind of subliminal suggestion that says "here is what I want to happen in the course of my character's story". It falls into the same category of players telling me what kind of magic items they want to find in the course of their adventure.
In short, I don't want to write into the campaign pre-determined things that will happen to ensure that your background plays a role in the resolution or story of the campaign.
A character background to me is going to be a personality, a series of beliefs and a philosophy, perhaps a past profession and upbringing. Things that don't suggest or demand story hooks, information that YOU as a player need to run and understand your character. In short, backgrounds aren't for me the DM, backgrounds are for you the player, so what do you need to write down to make sure you can imagine your character, how they behave, what they believe etc..
Its a subtle difference, but it makes for a very different type of start of a campaign.
What your character does, what villains they are involved in, what relationships they have, what events change them, drive them... all those things we are going to discover during the course of your adventure. By the time you hit 5th level, you will have a 20 page background full of all kinds of crazy experiences. You will have rivals, you will have quests you have personalized, you will be trying fix mistakes you made.. all the stuff people usually pencil into their background, you will create live in the course of the game...which, personally, I think is the point of the game. To create your background through gameplay.
In fact I would even argue that the responsibility of a player entering my campaign is to create a character that is appropriate for the campaign world, to the setting and to the prescribed prologue events. Like, if this is a campaign based in the Norselands where Vikings rule... I expect that you will make a character that belongs there. Don't make Warg the Tiefling transdimensional psionic that crossed the astral sea to find his sister captured by time-traveling aliens from 10 million years in the future. Make a bloody Viking or a Shield Maiden or something.. Like, make your character work in my game, don't make my world work for your character.
So short answer... I don't.. I don't write character's backstory into my campaign. The backstory is for you not me, but also, whatever you do write, make sure it fits my setting and campaign.