So I'm running my first DnD story, currently, we're 3 sessions in and I'm absolutely loving it. My players seem to be enjoying themselves too and I ask for feedback in between each session.
So far I've managed to dodge some of the pitfalls of being a first time DM, mainly the one of being overprepared or terribly underprepared. However, I've done the thing most people say you shouldn't and I went straight into creating my own setting. I've kept it relatively small: a faraway continent with just one Big City in the middle of a jungle, a port city and two smaller cities to explain trade and such.
My players have some diverse backgrounds, which is where I have the most trouble. I've got three rough outlines for stories/adventures unrelated to player backstories and was considering which to use or build upon the players as they all(where applicable) have some expectation that they get some background driven character development.
The backgrounds I can work with, all players took a weeks-long boat journey and have now arrived on the continent of my creation:
One of the players has a backstory for which we sort of collaborated; he gave me a rough outline for an order of four elements monks and I took the idea and expanded upon it, also keeping a number of things secret to use in stories.
One is an artificer on the run from some client. He made an object for him but upon discovering the evil intentions he took it away and was forced to use fake names to make a getaway. The city they are in now is the regional capital and thrives on the creation of constructs so this is an amazing place for his character to be.
An elf reincarnated in the body of a thiefling, looking for a way to revert back to his elf form for him and his sister.
A mother and her child (2 players) looking for a new home (More or less a blank slate for me to work with, but why would they leave the city again? Child is impulsive so might be an avenue, the mother is very protective and would die for the kid)
A changeling with some background but no clear objective (Another more or less blank slate)
Currently, I'm leaning towards building upon the monk story because I have a pretty solid adventure in mind for it, they'd have to venture into the jungle to find a secluded monastery. The elf story is easily incorporated into the monk's as the jungle can easily conceal a host of long-forgotten temples with ancient magics or relics to fix his condition but I'm scared that the rest of the party might be contrarian and not assist them.
Am I trying too much to please all players at once? Personally I feel that focussing on one or two character arcs at a time might be best but I don't want to make the other players feel ignored.
My suggestion is that you have some grand overarching plot that the characters experience early. That will keep a tone and direction to the campaign. Then you can either have a single alternative plot to pick up the slack or fill in the time which would be based upon something the characters did in game world. (disrupt the slave trade, free constructs, have a tracked/wanted magic item) A different take, would be to have some of the "grander" character hooks be a "pool" of alternate plots. The "lesser" character hooks would be "side quests" which might take up a session or two. That way you proportionally award the players for their "buy in" to the world. Everyone gets XP, coin, and treasure, but those players who put in backstory effort and gave you easy hooks to use, get those hooks used. Those who didn't give you specifics, don't get specifics, but will get something on your loose, liberal, translation of their goals and how they may be achieved.
Everyone should be pleased by the end, and who knows, you might get players "writing" the framework of your adventures for you within the campaign once they see the results of investing into it.
2: The Artificer's client was very connected. Maybe part of a religious order or guild. He NEEDS that item, and his organisation has a long reach. The artificer is going to find people looking for him. Who is this Client REALLY, and who is this shadowy organisation he works for. Looks like you're going to have to overthrown the whole thing to find peace. 3: The sister actually made a deal with an infernal being, paid for with her brothers life, making him die and become a tiefling. Pity he doesn't know and clearly still loves her... 4: They're probably running because of dad. Is he a noble who doesn't want his little infidelities popping up? Is the child actually the bastard heir? Is he willing to kill to keep his secrets secret?
My suggestion is that you have some grand overarching plot that the characters experience early. That will keep a tone and direction to the campaign. Then you can either have a single alternative plot to pick up the slack or fill in the time which would be based upon something the characters did in game world.
I set up something like this in the first session - the boat they arrived on got sunk by a Kraken as another passenger was carrying an artifact it wanted. They escaped from it, unknowingly helping the passenger with the artifact. The Kraken is revered as a deity by a cult and is actually directly opposed to the leader of the city which is also a construct. I had kind of glossed over that, but maybe I can have them jumped by some cultist in the big city. I've tried to make them wary of trusting the city (as a faction) which worked, so maybe this could lead to some interesting uneasy alliance. Wanted to keep them on their toes as its actually a very friendly city but they didn't need to know that from early on, rather have them slowly realize that their prejudices aren't all that correct :)
2: The Artificer's client was very connected. Maybe part of a religious order or guild. He NEEDS that item, and his organisation has a long reach. The artificer is going to find people looking for him. Who is this Client REALLY, and who is this shadowy organisation he works for. Looks like you're going to have to overthrown the whole thing to find peace. 3: The sister actually made a deal with an infernal being, paid for with her brothers life, making him die and become a tiefling. Pity he doesn't know and clearly still loves her... 4: They're probably running because of dad. Is he a noble who doesn't want his little infidelities popping up? Is the child actually the bastard heir? Is he willing to kill to keep his secrets secret?
I had dismissed the artificer story as I didn't think it was very interesting as it was another standard "bad guy needs item so follows to the ends of the earth" but maybe I can take another look at it, the artificer is currently trying to join a guild so maybe that draws attention to him.
The sister made a pact thing sounds very interesting, I had already decided about it being a devil that gave him the thiefling body but the sister makes for an interesting plot twist!
And you actually nailed the fourth one, but they were already exiled from their town so they consider it the end of that. I think I'll make something entirely new for them.
Already some things to work with but I'm still open for other suggestions :)
The biggest note I have with character back stories is that while they should come up often, they should be resolved almost never. Backstories should be used to introduce complications, always more and more complications, because if you ever let them just be satisfied, you're left with a PC who no longer has a motivation other than "you're in the party and things are fine now." That's enough for a lot of players and a lot of games that aren't particularly RP heavy, especially if you're running published adventure paths, but I'm assuming from the premise of this post that this a sandboxy homebrew campaign where you're intending these backstories to be a significant driver of the narrative. If "I want to bring my wife back from the dead" is a character's backstory, then there's no real reason for them to keep adventuring once that wife is Resurrectioned, it's an expiration date on their story. Sometimes players want that, to free them up to try a new class. But more often, it's just a result of not fully thinking things through.
Running from a client? Great way to add in mechanically unique assassins hunting the character/party (think anime, make them fun), but killing or satisfying the client should never really be on the table directly until you have an idea of how that leads to an even bigger problem. Maybe there's highs and lows in the relationship, sometimes fate conspires to make them work alongside this client, more often work against him and his lackeys, maybe they encounter other people that he's hurt or helped to flesh out the setting... but if that client "is" what the artificer is about, then that client needs to always be kept cooking as a going concern. Mom and kid looking for a new home? Sorry, you're going to need to introduce some sort of disease or nemesis or world state that makes settling down longer than temporarily impossible for those two (see the Mandalorian, or any number of other stories about drifters on the road). Elf wants his body back? Too bad, because that body belongs to some other interplanar nemesis now.
If something develops in the story that you feel can be the new thing that the character is "about," sure go ahead and shed or wrap up their former entanglements, but just try to always keep the rule of thumb in mind that a backstory is not an unfinished chapter waiting for its resolution, it's events and personalities and relationships that should be a lense through which future events are shaped, which can never be left behind entirely.
But tip number two is, character backstories make your job as DM when worldbuilding your own setting much simpler. It may seem like overkill, but pin every single adventure on at least one of the players in some way, there's no such thing as "random bandits," only the crew that killed mom & kid's cousin. It isn't just goblins infesting the town, it's an offshoot of the same clan that the artificer evaded to steal so-and-so treasure from a forgotten tomb. Be heavy handed, pile on the connections, and invite the players to flesh out those details of who these NPCs and organizations are within the framework of the world you've built. If one character is an elf, let them help tell you what elven culture is like (at least in the part of the island that they're from). In this way, backstory isn't just something that the players brag about in session one, it's something that continues to evolve and improve and remain in the forefront of each player's mind as they try to come up with new interesting details that they can bring to the table next session.
To answer your last question, don't try to incorporate them all at once. It won't work, and you'll end up doing a weaker job on each individual one. You could tell them out of character something like, I'm going to get to all of you sooner or later, just some of you fit into the overall plot earlier than others do, so be patent.
Also, I think you don't have to necessarily treat them all equally. I understand the desire to, but that doesn't mean you have to. If one of them gave you a meaty backstory with a lot of plot hooks, and another said, basically, here I am, then its OK to focus on the person who gave you more. That's their reward for coming up with a detailed backstory. And some players don't really care about or like backstories, they're more interested in going forward. In a lot of ways, that's easier to work with. You can have them befriend an NPC who's important to the story, and give them something that way.
And the mother and child could leave the city because they've heard of something that's threatening their new home and they want to keep it safe so they can stop running. And maybe that something involves the artifact the artificer is hiding or the thing the tiefling/elf is looking for. If you can start weaving the backstories together, it will make things easier for you in the long run. And don't worry about it being contrived, there are no coincidences in the lives of heroes.
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So I'm running my first DnD story, currently, we're 3 sessions in and I'm absolutely loving it. My players seem to be enjoying themselves too and I ask for feedback in between each session.
So far I've managed to dodge some of the pitfalls of being a first time DM, mainly the one of being overprepared or terribly underprepared. However, I've done the thing most people say you shouldn't and I went straight into creating my own setting. I've kept it relatively small: a faraway continent with just one Big City in the middle of a jungle, a port city and two smaller cities to explain trade and such.
My players have some diverse backgrounds, which is where I have the most trouble. I've got three rough outlines for stories/adventures unrelated to player backstories and was considering which to use or build upon the players as they all(where applicable) have some expectation that they get some background driven character development.
The backgrounds I can work with, all players took a weeks-long boat journey and have now arrived on the continent of my creation:
Currently, I'm leaning towards building upon the monk story because I have a pretty solid adventure in mind for it, they'd have to venture into the jungle to find a secluded monastery. The elf story is easily incorporated into the monk's as the jungle can easily conceal a host of long-forgotten temples with ancient magics or relics to fix his condition but I'm scared that the rest of the party might be contrarian and not assist them.
Am I trying too much to please all players at once? Personally I feel that focussing on one or two character arcs at a time might be best but I don't want to make the other players feel ignored.
My suggestion is that you have some grand overarching plot that the characters experience early. That will keep a tone and direction to the campaign. Then you can either have a single alternative plot to pick up the slack or fill in the time which would be based upon something the characters did in game world. (disrupt the slave trade, free constructs, have a tracked/wanted magic item) A different take, would be to have some of the "grander" character hooks be a "pool" of alternate plots. The "lesser" character hooks would be "side quests" which might take up a session or two. That way you proportionally award the players for their "buy in" to the world. Everyone gets XP, coin, and treasure, but those players who put in backstory effort and gave you easy hooks to use, get those hooks used. Those who didn't give you specifics, don't get specifics, but will get something on your loose, liberal, translation of their goals and how they may be achieved.
Everyone should be pleased by the end, and who knows, you might get players "writing" the framework of your adventures for you within the campaign once they see the results of investing into it.
2: The Artificer's client was very connected. Maybe part of a religious order or guild. He NEEDS that item, and his organisation has a long reach. The artificer is going to find people looking for him. Who is this Client REALLY, and who is this shadowy organisation he works for. Looks like you're going to have to overthrown the whole thing to find peace.
3: The sister actually made a deal with an infernal being, paid for with her brothers life, making him die and become a tiefling. Pity he doesn't know and clearly still loves her...
4: They're probably running because of dad. Is he a noble who doesn't want his little infidelities popping up? Is the child actually the bastard heir? Is he willing to kill to keep his secrets secret?
I set up something like this in the first session - the boat they arrived on got sunk by a Kraken as another passenger was carrying an artifact it wanted. They escaped from it, unknowingly helping the passenger with the artifact. The Kraken is revered as a deity by a cult and is actually directly opposed to the leader of the city which is also a construct. I had kind of glossed over that, but maybe I can have them jumped by some cultist in the big city. I've tried to make them wary of trusting the city (as a faction) which worked, so maybe this could lead to some interesting uneasy alliance. Wanted to keep them on their toes as its actually a very friendly city but they didn't need to know that from early on, rather have them slowly realize that their prejudices aren't all that correct :)
I had dismissed the artificer story as I didn't think it was very interesting as it was another standard "bad guy needs item so follows to the ends of the earth" but maybe I can take another look at it, the artificer is currently trying to join a guild so maybe that draws attention to him.
The sister made a pact thing sounds very interesting, I had already decided about it being a devil that gave him the thiefling body but the sister makes for an interesting plot twist!
And you actually nailed the fourth one, but they were already exiled from their town so they consider it the end of that. I think I'll make something entirely new for them.
Already some things to work with but I'm still open for other suggestions :)
The biggest note I have with character back stories is that while they should come up often, they should be resolved almost never. Backstories should be used to introduce complications, always more and more complications, because if you ever let them just be satisfied, you're left with a PC who no longer has a motivation other than "you're in the party and things are fine now." That's enough for a lot of players and a lot of games that aren't particularly RP heavy, especially if you're running published adventure paths, but I'm assuming from the premise of this post that this a sandboxy homebrew campaign where you're intending these backstories to be a significant driver of the narrative. If "I want to bring my wife back from the dead" is a character's backstory, then there's no real reason for them to keep adventuring once that wife is Resurrectioned, it's an expiration date on their story. Sometimes players want that, to free them up to try a new class. But more often, it's just a result of not fully thinking things through.
Running from a client? Great way to add in mechanically unique assassins hunting the character/party (think anime, make them fun), but killing or satisfying the client should never really be on the table directly until you have an idea of how that leads to an even bigger problem. Maybe there's highs and lows in the relationship, sometimes fate conspires to make them work alongside this client, more often work against him and his lackeys, maybe they encounter other people that he's hurt or helped to flesh out the setting... but if that client "is" what the artificer is about, then that client needs to always be kept cooking as a going concern. Mom and kid looking for a new home? Sorry, you're going to need to introduce some sort of disease or nemesis or world state that makes settling down longer than temporarily impossible for those two (see the Mandalorian, or any number of other stories about drifters on the road). Elf wants his body back? Too bad, because that body belongs to some other interplanar nemesis now.
If something develops in the story that you feel can be the new thing that the character is "about," sure go ahead and shed or wrap up their former entanglements, but just try to always keep the rule of thumb in mind that a backstory is not an unfinished chapter waiting for its resolution, it's events and personalities and relationships that should be a lense through which future events are shaped, which can never be left behind entirely.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
But tip number two is, character backstories make your job as DM when worldbuilding your own setting much simpler. It may seem like overkill, but pin every single adventure on at least one of the players in some way, there's no such thing as "random bandits," only the crew that killed mom & kid's cousin. It isn't just goblins infesting the town, it's an offshoot of the same clan that the artificer evaded to steal so-and-so treasure from a forgotten tomb. Be heavy handed, pile on the connections, and invite the players to flesh out those details of who these NPCs and organizations are within the framework of the world you've built. If one character is an elf, let them help tell you what elven culture is like (at least in the part of the island that they're from). In this way, backstory isn't just something that the players brag about in session one, it's something that continues to evolve and improve and remain in the forefront of each player's mind as they try to come up with new interesting details that they can bring to the table next session.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
To answer your last question, don't try to incorporate them all at once. It won't work, and you'll end up doing a weaker job on each individual one. You could tell them out of character something like, I'm going to get to all of you sooner or later, just some of you fit into the overall plot earlier than others do, so be patent.
Also, I think you don't have to necessarily treat them all equally. I understand the desire to, but that doesn't mean you have to. If one of them gave you a meaty backstory with a lot of plot hooks, and another said, basically, here I am, then its OK to focus on the person who gave you more. That's their reward for coming up with a detailed backstory. And some players don't really care about or like backstories, they're more interested in going forward. In a lot of ways, that's easier to work with. You can have them befriend an NPC who's important to the story, and give them something that way.
And the mother and child could leave the city because they've heard of something that's threatening their new home and they want to keep it safe so they can stop running. And maybe that something involves the artifact the artificer is hiding or the thing the tiefling/elf is looking for. If you can start weaving the backstories together, it will make things easier for you in the long run. And don't worry about it being contrived, there are no coincidences in the lives of heroes.