Is it the whole the virus thing, or maybe because of a crappy 2020 on a whole, does anyone else, when working on a campaign get carried away with certain aspects. My personal problem lies in writing a full page, if not more than, backstory for NPCs. Information that unless my players really dug into it they would never know.
Where they were born, what they done with their lives, trades they learned, where they worked, childhood friends and how then enjoy their off time just to name a few. Think I need help.
This happens to me all the time. What you should try do is not write backstory for them at all, unless they absolutely need it. Even then, try to limit it to paragraph or less. They don't need to have complicated backstories. That's for BBEGs, recurring villains, and the players themselves.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
You could try using the index card approach. Give each NPC a single index card to write their info about them, that will limit the space that you have to work with so you only write what is necessary and hopefully stop you from spending so much time on a single idea. good luck! 😁
Don't get me wrong it's not every NPC. It's more like my players are visiting this character in search of work, or they are a contact, I'm like where dd this person come from. Gets to the point that I'm like, I like this person how and where else can i use them.
What I do is only think of their goals. That is all the players need to know. For example, the Blacksmith wants to go home early to look after his sick child, and would thus be reluctant to take on any new commissions. But if the party healer offered help, he would be over joyed and would make them a great Silvered weapon. I find that this works, as everyone has a goal they are trying to achieve, even if it as simple as not wanting to do anything. When a player *ahem*bards*ahem* starts talking to anyone, I think "what do they want?" then base my reaction of that. It even works well when they talk to Bob the Unimportant. I decided that Bob wants to leave city and set up a new life somewhere else, and that is why he is packing up his things. Hopes this helps.
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Is it the whole the virus thing, or maybe because of a crappy 2020 on a whole, does anyone else, when working on a campaign get carried away with certain aspects. My personal problem lies in writing a full page, if not more than, backstory for NPCs. Information that unless my players really dug into it they would never know.
Where they were born, what they done with their lives, trades they learned, where they worked, childhood friends and how then enjoy their off time just to name a few. Think I need help.
This happens to me all the time. What you should try do is not write backstory for them at all, unless they absolutely need it. Even then, try to limit it to paragraph or less. They don't need to have complicated backstories. That's for BBEGs, recurring villains, and the players themselves.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I have a whole World Anvil site for my campaign that is the poster child for "getting carried away."
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
You could try using the index card approach. Give each NPC a single index card to write their info about them, that will limit the space that you have to work with so you only write what is necessary and hopefully stop you from spending so much time on a single idea. good luck! 😁
Turn it all into a book and get paid.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Hard to do when much of it is copyright (c) and trademark (TM) WOTC....
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
It doesn’t have to be. Make those points a bit more generic and focus more on the original work.
World of Darkness was ©️™️ White Wolf, but that didn’t stop the Underworld franchise from making people rich. (And if anyone isn’t sure, those mofos most definitely turned their WoD campaign into a movie. I mean, tots obv.)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Don't get me wrong it's not every NPC. It's more like my players are visiting this character in search of work, or they are a contact, I'm like where dd this person come from. Gets to the point that I'm like, I like this person how and where else can i use them.
What I do is only think of their goals. That is all the players need to know. For example, the Blacksmith wants to go home early to look after his sick child, and would thus be reluctant to take on any new commissions. But if the party healer offered help, he would be over joyed and would make them a great Silvered weapon. I find that this works, as everyone has a goal they are trying to achieve, even if it as simple as not wanting to do anything. When a player *ahem*bards*ahem* starts talking to anyone, I think "what do they want?" then base my reaction of that. It even works well when they talk to Bob the Unimportant. I decided that Bob wants to leave city and set up a new life somewhere else, and that is why he is packing up his things. Hopes this helps.