I have a question for all the veteran DMs out there: do you include player story arcs in your campaign, and, if you do, how do you weave them into the overall narrative of your game story? As a secondary question, if you have a larger campaign narrative, how do you lay it out so that the players find and fight the big bad/save the world, while still allowing them to have agency and an open world?

I have a pretty nifty narrative and I want my players to find it, but as of now they're sort of just wandering around doing whatevs. So I'd love to hear strategies and tips/tricks that other DMs have used to get their players on the main narrative path without railroading them!

IMO and not experience DM, basically you can't, if you want them to find something and it has to happen then you are railroading them to some extent, if you are never going to force some issue you have to accept that they are not going to find some adventure you had planned. I would be weary of having narratives planed, it is up to the players (including you) to make the story, you can't have the story worked out, that isn't a game, if you mean you want the players to find some narrative that has already taken place and that might or might not act as a hook then its your worlds lore and the players aren't ever going to be that interested unless it helps them in their own goals. 

Quote from PWMF >>

IMO and not experience DM, basically you can't, if you want them to find something and it has to happen then you are railroading them to some extent, if you are never going to force some issue you have to accept that they are not going to find some adventure you had planned. I would be weary of having narratives planed, it is up to the players (including you) to make the story, you can't have the story worked out, that isn't a game, if you mean you want the players to find some narrative that has already taken place and that might or might not act as a hook then its your worlds lore and the players aren't ever going to be that interested unless it helps them in their own goals. 

 So then, in your campaigns, do you have a main theme or an event planned for the players to solve? Is there any climactic moment or world-ending danger they have to defeat? Or is it just a series of vignettes they handle as they progress through levels? 

ATM we are approching the end of a very long adventure where there defiantly is a main arc that the players have gone along with, they have picked what to do at certain points and they were free to ignore some options, overall this is what I would consider railroady and I told the players this up front, they had options and they could pick stuff, but the BBEG was going to do their thing if the heroes don't stop them. 

As we are approaching the end I have proposed a different sand box game, world I have built, they get to pretty much go where they choose. There will be a background, stuff will happen that they may or may not influence but that will be very slow, I am seeding the world with a bunch of different hooks, things they could choose to follow up or ignore. But I don't know where my players will go, there are literally multiple continents to choose from, so we could play multiple parties for ages and never see some of the adventures I have started (started as I have the beginning, but no idea how they will end as that requires the players to find them and play them), because the players might really like or dislike one country and therefore never see some of the hooks that only make sense there. So I accept we might not see some stuff I would get a kick out of setting up but that is my fault for going big on this one, I could have just made one location and few hooks and we would see a greater proportion, but maybe still not that one adventure I want to run.

First, while I want them to fight the BBEG, I would never guarantee they’ll win, or there’s no stakes. I’ve always had a big over-arching thing planned, and my players have always engaged with it. But I always keep the possibility open that they won’t. That’s cool, the bad guys will go on and do their thing, and now the characters are living in that world.

Once they’re engaged, if you want them to move things along, give them a deadline, or ticking clock. The cultists will complete the ritual at the next full moon. That kind of thing. (Though first you need to set up why the PCs should care about what the cultists are doing.) Then stick to it. If the full moon comes, and they haven’t figured out where the ritual is happening, it succeeds. Now what?

For something campaign length, you’ll want multiple clocks ticking at the same time. Usually a series of them form the main story arc — after this full moon ritual, the cult moves on x then y, then z. (And the cult should have back up plan in case any part of their plan fails), and if the PCs manage to stop one part, it should matter when they go to deal with the next part. Like that first ritual was to summon a demon. The cult can move on without it, but it’s harder for them. If the PCs stop them from full mooning, there’s no demon to deal with, if the PCs fail, now they have a demon on top of the cult.

While that’s going on, you incorporate character-specific plots. They have clocks of their own, but the stakes are personal, not world ending: If the party gets there in time, the character is re-untied with their long lost sister. If they don’t, the sister dies. Either way gives a resolution to the character arc, even if it’s not a happy one.

Usually, I try to make it possible that they’ll all happen. So if part y of the cult ritual is happening in the city, I’ll have one or two of the character arcs in that same city, so the party will have time to at least try and get to everything. Sometimes though, it’s interesting to make them choose: You can save the cleric’s father or his mentor, but not both. Or at least, I don’t think they can. But then players come up with clever plans sometimes.

I will drop plot hooks for the individual PCs background if they provided enough of a background to work with. If I have an audience member as a player, I'll wait until their character grows a bit during gameplay and then drop a hook or two for them. The players have to take the hook for it to turn into a plot line. If they don't take the hook, or want to come back to it later, that's what happens.  If you attempt to be subtle about a plot hook, your players will most likely miss it. You almost have to beat them in the head with it.

In the larger narrative, the BBE has a goal and a personality. In the execution of the plan for whatever MacGuffin Dominiation the BBE has, there will be consequences in the world, and cries for relief. Some things the party can handle directly, some that they can't. Some things the party will encounter has nothing at all to do with the main quest line. If the world ending comet is hurtling toward the flat, crystal enshouded disk that they live on, they can choose to do something to attempt to stave off impending doom or get drunk and watch the world burn.

All Railroads are linear, but not all linear plot lines are railroads. Having agency as a player, also as a DM, means that you have the ability to choose and your choice matters. If your players choose to get involved, they should be able to see a result in the world. If they choose to set idly by they should be able to see the result of that (in)action as well. 

I give players back what they give me to work with, character-arc wise. When one of my players said his courtesan-turned-assassin-turned monk was dead set on removing corrupt rulers from power, the baron of the local area that they hadn't met yet became a cruel, warlike ruler that rumor had it murdered his predecessor. When another player said his lizardfolk cleric's tribe was destroyed by an evil necromancer, I left a trail of ghosts for him to follow and get the necromancer's last known location from. When one player's wild magic sorcerer chef gave me nothing, I did nothing and sat back to observe, until a joke about a baking contest became a full-fledged adventure. 

Not every character wants backstory drama, or wants to think of something. Some characters just get their enjoyment from playing the adventure rather than tying in their own things, so I prefer to sit back and see who is who first 

To question #1: 10000000% yes. Player backstory is the players own personal spark of creativity that they can bring to life in D&D. Much of the onus falls on the DM to create legend, weave lore, and maintain a living breathing world. However, personal player arcs are what get your players invested in the game, and thus make for higher stakes and better roleplay. Personal goals that fold into the main campaign are what contribute to the game's emotional element - the best part of the game! How do you do it? Well, I have found that there are opportunities for every backstory to arise. I let my players roam a complete open-world, and I always keep in mind what their backstory NPC's might be doing in the world at any given point in time. If the players don't seem to be "going in the appropriate direction" then you can always leave hints. Maybe an old nemesis from your rogue's backstory is in the city, while the rogue (and party) are out in the wilds. It could be that the nemesis has caught wind of the party's travels and sent an assassin after them. When the PC's face the assassin, maybe he reveals to them that the nemesis is hiding out in the city and has hired him to kill the rogue (during an interrogation or something). Now, your PC knows there is a backstory element at play, even without you having to drop the backstory right in front of them like a railroad. 

To question #2: Agency is everything. Letting your players weave their own tales and legends is what makes up the game, so don't ever sacrifice it. However, if you have a larger campaign narrative at play, you can always make the party the next victims of the BBEG's plans. Don't forget, in an immersive world, the PC's are not gods or invisible. They exist just like the common folk do and have habits and reputations. The BBEG can always target them (for whatever creative reason you come up with), OR can target a place that is dear to them - like their home city, their guild hall, their favorite tavern, etc. Finding a way to link the campaign to an emotional point is the best way to get players engaged, in my opinion.

Good luck!!

Thank you everyone.

I am usually of the mind that I want my players to have investment in the narrative, and in their characters. That's why I always try to map some kind of loose story arc for each PC, loose b/c they could die and then I did all that work for nothing (has happened b4.) In the past, I had a huge story arc narrative but then I learned the hard way what a waste of time that was b/c the players NEVER did what I expected them to. So now I have just bullets of what dangers Major, Minor and Personal are lurking in the world and what those BBE's goals and aspirations are, then I sort of let them go about it.

For example, right now I have the following Major threat which the PCs haven't discovered:

• An ancient mage that made a pact with entities of the Far Realm, is scouring the world for artifacts to bring them back - he sponsors adventuring parties to search for these things on his behalf.
• These artifacts include keys to a once active and very powerful forge responsible for the creation of Warforged in my setting. The keys can be used to power the arcane gate this mage is trying to reopen.

Minor threats include:

• A Gnoll Vampire is spreading a plague turning people into mindless savages bent on wanton destruction.
• The father of one of the NPCs the party is allied with, is trying to overthrow the monarchy (Oath of Conquest.)
• A Warforged order is seeking to resurrect their old god, which they believe is the forge responsible for their creation - they're also looking for the keys.

Personal Threats for those PCs that have given me enough to work with include:

• A coven of hags has taken a sample of the Gnoll plague and is spreading it in the Feywild to sow chaos while they plan to resurrect a Vampire Lord imprisoned there.
• The uncle of one of the PCs has an artifact needed to bring about this vampire's resurrection.
• The animal companion of one of the PCs is going to be kidnapped and sold to a gladiatorial ring as a monster to fight because the PC tried to steal from a Drow High-Priestess; she's having them followed currently.

I try to tie in the PCs personal storylines to the main narrative in some way, so that all threads lead back to the main road. Not sure if this is the way to go but I'm hopeful it'll work out and we'll have a great climactic end!

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and suggestions.

I keep a loose reign on PC storylines. Give them a chance to progress their character, but don't force it. That's just another kind of railroading. It's their story to tell, not yours. If they have a long-lost sibling, they are not going to find that sibling unless they go looking for it. If they literally run into them in the course of the game, they still won't recognize it's them unless the player goes out of their way to learn more about that NPC, hopefully before they murder them.

As for having a planned narrative but allowing the party free reign, one way to have some of both is to have most conflicts point back towards the major plotline in one way or another. If you have a major threat and three minor threats, I'd tie two of those minor threats directly to the major one. Maybe the gnoll vampire was created by that ancient mage. Maybe the PCs father was once hired by the ancient mage, and he returned from that quest with an unquenchable lust for power. As the party deals with the minor threats and their own storylines, they collect clues and references to something darker on the horizon. As it becomes more and more clear that those things are connected, they will naturally start to seek it out.

I run homebrew games and I weave my players backstory into the narrative heavily. I start with a simplified idea for an overall narrative, something like a cult is trying to release a greater evil unto the world. 

Then I make the players background intersect with the story. Dad died when he was young you say. Well they were a member of the cult and knew too much. 

Basically, I make sure that while the story is serving the overall narrative, the players backgrounds are the foundations of that narrative. Doing this I have seen players get really invested into the story because they crafted the foundations of it.

Quote from Vincenzotheuntappable >>

I run homebrew games and I weave my players backstory into the narrative heavily. I start with a simplified idea for an overall narrative, something like a cult is trying to release a greater evil unto the world. 

Then I make the players background intersect with the story. Dad died when he was young you say. Well they were a member of the cult and knew too much. 

Basically, I make sure that while the story is serving the overall narrative, the players backgrounds are the foundations of that narrative. Doing this I have seen players get really invested into the story because they crafted the foundations of it.

 Like this. I'm trying to loosely connect the PCs backstories to the main narrative in small ways, hoping they follow those threads. Right now, I'm working on trying to flesh out a thread I created (quite by accident) where one of my PCs insulted an Ancient Golden Dragon who was masquerading as an old aristocrat woman traveling alone on a road. She (the PC) fired a crossbow bolt at the old woman, who then transformed into her true form, grabbed her in her claws and tasked her with hunting down evil and destroying it. On the fly that was a hugely vague idea and now my PC is super pissed, feeling like she's been enslaved, and wants to kill the dragon.

So now I'm trying to weave that narrative into the main story arc, hoping that the PC sees that the dragon is actually good, and that her hunting down and destroying evil is not a life-long unending quest, just a single arc. The others are easier, I've already connected their storylines to the main arc in loose ways. We'll see how it goes!