I'm a fairly new dm and one of my players made their backstory amnesia. What are some ways I can implement into the game? I've given him flashbacks, but I need some more ideas. Any help on this would be appreciated!!
Does the character have amnesia because the player doesn't want to be the one to develop a backstory, or do they know what their character's backstory is, but wants to play the character as if they were unaware?
If the former, then you pretty much have carte blanche to introduce whatever plot points you want; from jealous lovers, to maybe a sibling looking for the character for whatever reason, to random encounters where the party walks into a town and there just happens to be a statue of the character for whatever reason and everyone seems happy to see them.
If the later, then you just need to work with the player to see what they want out of this and help deliver some sort of narrative arc that fulfils what they are looking for.
All he gave me is that he's a triton and there was a genocide on his homeland and he is the sole survivor, but his character doesn't remember any of it.
Insert elder evil from the Far Realm, brainwashed him into doing it's bidding for whatever reason, and he would up having a hand in the genocide of his people. My players tend to really like bleak or depressing back stories.
If your players enjoy more lighthearted stuff, make it like The Hobbit's Battle of Five Armies. A whole epic encounter that is about to get started when the PC gets hit on the head and was unconscious for the whole thing. Then woke up with amnesia afterwards. You could flesh out a bunch of different factions and stuff and have their motivations laid out in story context or flashbacks, until you unveil the great and crazy battle that took place while the PC was knocked out.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
All he gave me is that he's a triton and there was a genocide on his homeland and he is the sole survivor, but his character doesn't remember any of it.
Well, do you ant to use any of that in your story? If not, then it really doesn't matter, since he doesn't remember it. If so, what parts of that back story serve your game's needs that you need help developing?
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I've been sprinkling in other people's backstories so I wanna add stuff for him too so it's fair for everyone. I just want some ideas that I can do other than flashbacks cause I've done a few of those already.
Well, does it serve your story if a hunter from the force that killed the character's people is hunting them? Would it make things interesting if a member their family or close friend seeks them out because they also survived the massacre and are looking for any fellow survivors for one reason or another? Does our story work out if the campaign's big bad enemy is the one who ordered the slaughter of the character's people for some, possibly fate-based, reason in order to avoid some divination that foretold their fall at the hands of some fish-elf?
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
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I'm a fairly new dm and one of my players made their backstory amnesia. What are some ways I can implement into the game? I've given him flashbacks, but I need some more ideas. Any help on this would be appreciated!!
Does the character have amnesia because the player doesn't want to be the one to develop a backstory, or do they know what their character's backstory is, but wants to play the character as if they were unaware?
If the former, then you pretty much have carte blanche to introduce whatever plot points you want; from jealous lovers, to maybe a sibling looking for the character for whatever reason, to random encounters where the party walks into a town and there just happens to be a statue of the character for whatever reason and everyone seems happy to see them.
If the later, then you just need to work with the player to see what they want out of this and help deliver some sort of narrative arc that fulfils what they are looking for.
All he gave me is that he's a triton and there was a genocide on his homeland and he is the sole survivor, but his character doesn't remember any of it.
Insert elder evil from the Far Realm, brainwashed him into doing it's bidding for whatever reason, and he would up having a hand in the genocide of his people. My players tend to really like bleak or depressing back stories.
If your players enjoy more lighthearted stuff, make it like The Hobbit's Battle of Five Armies. A whole epic encounter that is about to get started when the PC gets hit on the head and was unconscious for the whole thing. Then woke up with amnesia afterwards. You could flesh out a bunch of different factions and stuff and have their motivations laid out in story context or flashbacks, until you unveil the great and crazy battle that took place while the PC was knocked out.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Well, do you ant to use any of that in your story? If not, then it really doesn't matter, since he doesn't remember it. If so, what parts of that back story serve your game's needs that you need help developing?
I've been sprinkling in other people's backstories so I wanna add stuff for him too so it's fair for everyone. I just want some ideas that I can do other than flashbacks cause I've done a few of those already.
Well, does it serve your story if a hunter from the force that killed the character's people is hunting them? Would it make things interesting if a member their family or close friend seeks them out because they also survived the massacre and are looking for any fellow survivors for one reason or another? Does our story work out if the campaign's big bad enemy is the one who ordered the slaughter of the character's people for some, possibly fate-based, reason in order to avoid some divination that foretold their fall at the hands of some fish-elf?