This is a question with no right or wrong answer so I just want some advice and opinions. Basically, I’m starting a campaign soon and want the focus to be on rolplaying and story(lore), so I encouraged players to come up with detailed background stories.
Most of the players put in minimal effort but Player X wrote A LOT and the quality is good - I can easily make an arc about him but not the others.
Other players are saying X is being selfish and wants all the attention, which is true in a sense - he wrote a lot because he was hoping I could weave them into the campaign and make it personalized.
Advice on how I should proceed and make everyone more or less happy?
For the current campaign, the likely best course is to compromise - ask the other players to give a little more, and ask the player that wrote a lot to trim it down, so that you can have the campaign put as equal a focus on the characters as you are capable of.
In the future, one way to avoid this situation is to not have players come up with their background stories individually - get the whole group together for a "session 0" in which the characters and their backstories can be created together, and you're more easily gathering information to weave into the campaign to personalize it.
My opinion is that player X should be somehow rewarded for the effort.
So, maybe find a way both to use player X's story and include the other players' characters. Getting them involved might spark their imagination to improve their backstories.
I can't imagine telling someone OR being told to have less backstory after the words "detailed backstory" were said. If the other player think he's being selfish, mitigate that and make sure they know that he's doing what what told him (what you told all of them) to do. Do not nerf this guy's efforts to bring you campaign fodder, reguardless of how the others feel.
I have a player that has done the same, giving me an extensive dossier on their character, his past, his family, and all the life drama. Her character is about to be a focal point of the next little arch of our campaign. The other players (who are a bit less experianced with TTRPG) have tossed ideas around, but haven't come up with much other than short terms goals. I'm using the detailed character as an example of what happens when you bring me material to play with rather than just expect to kick doors and loot rooms. It's been getting the others into the mood and I've been peppered with questions about how they can make cool backgrounds without making things too crazy.
So don't admonish anyone. If your player brought you what you asked for, run it with no qualms. It'll more than likely inspire the others to really delve into their own backgrounds and bring you something for the next arch. Let them know in the meantime that they don't need to turn in am essay for their character tomorrow. Not everyone is a writer, and they may get ideas over time. Let them know you can help them on it, whether it's providing them with lore and history of the world so they know their place in the campaign, or helping with the personal intricacies to make them compelling as individual characters. I think they'll come around, just don't punish anyone unless they get truely indignant.
It's great that they put in so much effort, but sometimes less is more. By being too specific, it doesn't leave a lot of room for the DM to play with the backstory, fill gaps that can surprise the player, and generate content for an arc. I think it would be a good idea to have them scale it back a bit. That might help encourage other players to do the same.
I can't imagine telling someone OR being told to have less backstory after the words "detailed backstory" were said. If the other player think he's being selfish, mitigate that and make sure they know that he's doing what what told him (what you told all of them) to do. Do not nerf this guy's efforts to bring you campaign fodder, reguardless of how the others feel.
I have a player that has done the same, giving me an extensive dossier on their character, his past, his family, and all the life drama. Her character is about to be a focal point of the next little arch of our campaign. The other players (who are a bit less experianced with TTRPG) have tossed ideas around, but haven't come up with much other than short terms goals. I'm using the detailed character as an example of what happens when you bring me material to play with rather than just expect to kick doors and loot rooms. It's been getting the others into the mood and I've been peppered with questions about how they can make cool backgrounds without making things too crazy.
So don't admonish anyone. If your player brought you what you asked for, run it with no qualms. It'll more than likely inspire the others to really delve into their own backgrounds and bring you something for the next arch. Let them know in the meantime that they don't need to turn in am essay for their character tomorrow. Not everyone is a writer, and they may get ideas over time. Let them know you can help them on it, whether it's providing them with lore and history of the world so they know their place in the campaign, or helping with the personal intricacies to make them compelling as individual characters. I think they'll come around, just don't punish anyone unless they get truely indignant.
I have to agree. When I first started playing all I cared about was the next fight but now 2 years later. I saw all my friends with these great backstories and more involved in the game than myself or my character. Now I find myself caring more about the roleplaying don't get me wrong I still love the fights. However, now I find myself caring about my characters putting myself in their emotions for the first time I came up with a great backstory (Probably not great but compared to my others it is) and in that game I am having the most fun I ever had! My character (who joined late) has a big part to play in the story arc. Don't ask someone to give up this experience (playing in a fun game and being very involved) because the others didn't provide what you asked for. I'm not saying punish them, however, make them have a smaller arc possibly. Believe me, I have learned my lesson and will never come up with a half-hearted backstory again. they will get it eventually understand and try to put more effort in :)
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Breeze, the Air Genasi Rogue in G.M.O.A.T.S sunless citadel Guldrum, the Dwarf Barbarian in Ye ol' Yarn Spun Legend Baku, the Tortle Bloodhunter in Coliseum of Conquest
When I play, I love writing long, detailed backstories. It helps me find my character's voice and personality, and it's just plain fun. I never actually cared that much if the DM worked elements from that backstory in, but it was always fun when they did. Once I added in an old friend who was a silver dragon because I wanted an excuse for my character to speak Draconic, and she showed up as a very helpful NPC ally.
I would work in the player's backstory in a way that is fun for everyone involved. If you show up with a ton of backstory and motivations, I want the story to fit that. If you show up with a class, race, and alignment, I assume you're just kind of along for the ride, and that's also fine. If you're just here for an adventure, what does it matter if that adventure happens to be something very personal for one of the characters involved?
I can't imagine telling someone OR being told to have less backstory after the words "detailed backstory" were said.
I couldn't imagine it either... and then I had one player hand me 30,000 words detailing their character's life up to the point the adventure began, and they fully expected me to read and incorporate every last word of it into the campaign, while the entire rest of the party's detailed backstories didn't total up to half that word count.
I can't imagine telling someone OR being told to have less backstory after the words "detailed backstory" were said.
I couldn't imagine it either... and then I had one player hand me 30,000 words detailing their character's life up to the point the adventure began, and they fully expected me to read and incorporate every last word of it into the campaign, while the entire rest of the party's detailed backstories didn't total up to half that word count.
I mean, I wouldn't tell him no, but I'd definitely ask for the cliff notes version. Maybe a glossary if he had time.
I can't imagine telling someone OR being told to have less backstory after the words "detailed backstory" were said.
I couldn't imagine it either... and then I had one player hand me 30,000 words detailing their character's life up to the point the adventure began, and they fully expected me to read and incorporate every last word of it into the campaign, while the entire rest of the party's detailed backstories didn't total up to half that word count.
Thirty thousand words? If you'll pardon my French, sacre bleu!
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
You can also design situations in the adventure that play to the different character strengths, and allow your other players to shine. Even if the story isn't intertwined with their backstory, the game is still THEIR story. Your rogue needs to have traps to find and locked doors to pick. Give your wizards a mob of low-hp creatures to decimate with an area effect spell, and a burly gladiator for your fighter to go toe-to-toe with. The character with the intertwining storyline will have lots of other times to shine, so try to design encounters that favor the other characters' strengths.
I would use his stuff + intertwining the other PCs into it for the first arc. Verbose PC's mother is taken hostage. She helped PC2 with her family and gave bread to PC3 when he was hungry.
Just make stuff up so the others feel included and wrap the first arc with a team defining moment. I'm more of an emergent player, so I like my background sparse and open, with the ability to improve. Suggest this to your other players giving them more freedom during the game than the verbose PC. For example, they walk into the town mother was last seen and need to ask some sensitive questions of the locals, other PCs have you been heee? Who do you know in the town that could help. Try and use their backgrounds and give them inspiration when you do this to encourage them to start to think this way.
I've found it important to explain my expectations to my players in advance. Sometimes, I've had to give differing expectations. Hand of Bobb, you get a 3x5 card for a backstory. Huck, take two pages. Bobb can spend hundreds of words over dozens of pages to tell a backstory, so give me a synopsis. Huck is new, so write more to get the habit and learn about your character.
I can easily write a campaign around one of Bobb's characters. So, I limit him to high points. For Huck, since he's new (to gaming), I need more to see where he wants to go with his character and what he wants them to do.
I have both types of players. Some love the story and want to back story themselves to death. Fine, I can weave that in and love to do so. The others, not so much. That's where I come in and whip something up for those other players. I talk to them and tell them something like I "think" this would be a fun direction for you, and if they agree run with it. I get some feedback, make some tweaks, and now everyone has some cool backstory. No one feels 100% left out.
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This is a question with no right or wrong answer so I just want some advice and opinions. Basically, I’m starting a campaign soon and want the focus to be on rolplaying and story(lore), so I encouraged players to come up with detailed background stories.
Most of the players put in minimal effort but Player X wrote A LOT and the quality is good - I can easily make an arc about him but not the others.
Other players are saying X is being selfish and wants all the attention, which is true in a sense - he wrote a lot because he was hoping I could weave them into the campaign and make it personalized.
Advice on how I should proceed and make everyone more or less happy?
For the current campaign, the likely best course is to compromise - ask the other players to give a little more, and ask the player that wrote a lot to trim it down, so that you can have the campaign put as equal a focus on the characters as you are capable of.
In the future, one way to avoid this situation is to not have players come up with their background stories individually - get the whole group together for a "session 0" in which the characters and their backstories can be created together, and you're more easily gathering information to weave into the campaign to personalize it.
My opinion is that player X should be somehow rewarded for the effort.
So, maybe find a way both to use player X's story and include the other players' characters. Getting them involved might spark their imagination to improve their backstories.
I can't imagine telling someone OR being told to have less backstory after the words "detailed backstory" were said. If the other player think he's being selfish, mitigate that and make sure they know that he's doing what what told him (what you told all of them) to do. Do not nerf this guy's efforts to bring you campaign fodder, reguardless of how the others feel.
I have a player that has done the same, giving me an extensive dossier on their character, his past, his family, and all the life drama. Her character is about to be a focal point of the next little arch of our campaign. The other players (who are a bit less experianced with TTRPG) have tossed ideas around, but haven't come up with much other than short terms goals. I'm using the detailed character as an example of what happens when you bring me material to play with rather than just expect to kick doors and loot rooms. It's been getting the others into the mood and I've been peppered with questions about how they can make cool backgrounds without making things too crazy.
So don't admonish anyone. If your player brought you what you asked for, run it with no qualms. It'll more than likely inspire the others to really delve into their own backgrounds and bring you something for the next arch. Let them know in the meantime that they don't need to turn in am essay for their character tomorrow. Not everyone is a writer, and they may get ideas over time. Let them know you can help them on it, whether it's providing them with lore and history of the world so they know their place in the campaign, or helping with the personal intricacies to make them compelling as individual characters. I think they'll come around, just don't punish anyone unless they get truely indignant.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
That sounds like some issues in the group beyond just one person writing a good background. Definitely need to sit down and ask about expectations.
It's great that they put in so much effort, but sometimes less is more. By being too specific, it doesn't leave a lot of room for the DM to play with the backstory, fill gaps that can surprise the player, and generate content for an arc. I think it would be a good idea to have them scale it back a bit. That might help encourage other players to do the same.
Breeze, the Air Genasi Rogue in G.M.O.A.T.S sunless citadel
Guldrum, the Dwarf Barbarian in Ye ol' Yarn Spun Legend
Baku, the Tortle Bloodhunter in Coliseum of Conquest
When I play, I love writing long, detailed backstories. It helps me find my character's voice and personality, and it's just plain fun. I never actually cared that much if the DM worked elements from that backstory in, but it was always fun when they did. Once I added in an old friend who was a silver dragon because I wanted an excuse for my character to speak Draconic, and she showed up as a very helpful NPC ally.
I would work in the player's backstory in a way that is fun for everyone involved. If you show up with a ton of backstory and motivations, I want the story to fit that. If you show up with a class, race, and alignment, I assume you're just kind of along for the ride, and that's also fine. If you're just here for an adventure, what does it matter if that adventure happens to be something very personal for one of the characters involved?
I couldn't imagine it either... and then I had one player hand me 30,000 words detailing their character's life up to the point the adventure began, and they fully expected me to read and incorporate every last word of it into the campaign, while the entire rest of the party's detailed backstories didn't total up to half that word count.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
You can also design situations in the adventure that play to the different character strengths, and allow your other players to shine. Even if the story isn't intertwined with their backstory, the game is still THEIR story. Your rogue needs to have traps to find and locked doors to pick. Give your wizards a mob of low-hp creatures to decimate with an area effect spell, and a burly gladiator for your fighter to go toe-to-toe with. The character with the intertwining storyline will have lots of other times to shine, so try to design encounters that favor the other characters' strengths.
I would use his stuff + intertwining the other PCs into it for the first arc. Verbose PC's mother is taken hostage. She helped PC2 with her family and gave bread to PC3 when he was hungry.
Just make stuff up so the others feel included and wrap the first arc with a team defining moment. I'm more of an emergent player, so I like my background sparse and open, with the ability to improve. Suggest this to your other players giving them more freedom during the game than the verbose PC. For example, they walk into the town mother was last seen and need to ask some sensitive questions of the locals, other PCs have you been heee? Who do you know in the town that could help. Try and use their backgrounds and give them inspiration when you do this to encourage them to start to think this way.
I've found it important to explain my expectations to my players in advance. Sometimes, I've had to give differing expectations. Hand of Bobb, you get a 3x5 card for a backstory. Huck, take two pages. Bobb can spend hundreds of words over dozens of pages to tell a backstory, so give me a synopsis. Huck is new, so write more to get the habit and learn about your character.
I can easily write a campaign around one of Bobb's characters. So, I limit him to high points. For Huck, since he's new (to gaming), I need more to see where he wants to go with his character and what he wants them to do.
Communication is the key.
Sent from my tablet--apologies for errers.
I have both types of players. Some love the story and want to back story themselves to death. Fine, I can weave that in and love to do so. The others, not so much. That's where I come in and whip something up for those other players. I talk to them and tell them something like I "think" this would be a fun direction for you, and if they agree run with it. I get some feedback, make some tweaks, and now everyone has some cool backstory. No one feels 100% left out.