I'm curious how you as a DM throw in your players characters backstories in your games! I know that's always fun to work with!
I'm running my first real d&d game that I'm going to DM and I'm throwing in some characters backstories in my planning but I'm curious what you guys do specifically!
It mostly depends on the backstory, how detailed it is, and how interested the player is in having some of it bubble up in the game. Some players I've had have pretty loose backstories that can be filled out during the course of play, while others have everything pretty detailed but it is all wrapped up well enough that there is little reason to mix things in.
What do you have to work with and how can you best fit it into what you have planned?
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I definitely have a mix.. one character in particular is very detailed but it's so good I have to bring into my story!! So far we've discussed a good amount about it so I have some plans but I guess it's hard to pinpoint where to put it in..
I do one of two things. Using one character's backstory as the call to adventure for the party. Example:
Backstory: Necromancy is forbidden in the empire. A cleric encounters skeletons descending from the hills attacking the town. When he reports it to his superiors, they tell him not to tell anyone and there appears to be a coverup.
Call to adventure: The cleric leaves his post and hires a party of sellswords to help him investigate
The necromancer in the hills was once a promising student at the magic academy who was banished for her unsavory interests. She is being aided by people with high connections within the empire. The party is uncovering the conspiracy one layer at a time to figure out how high it goes, while the cleric questions his loyalty to the empire that he thought was good and just.
OR dropping in small details into main plots that pull the party into the backstory. Example:
Backstory: The Ranger's family owned a shop that had to be shut down after the supposed murder of his brother, the main proprietor. The store was found ransacked and the body was never found. The grief over losing his brother led him to a life of seclusion in the wilderness.
Plot Detail to introduce backstory: While trying to help a town drive out a group of bandits who are stealing goods from merchants and selling them elsewhere, the party discovers a shipping ledger in the bandits' lair. The name of the Ranger's family shop is in the ledger, with a very recent delivery date. Now the party is motivated to travel to the Ranger's home city where they will find out why/how the shop is up and running again.
A criminal organization wanted to use the shop as a front for their illicit goods business. When the Ranger's brother refused, they ransacked the shop, kidnapped him, and threatened to kill his family unless he stayed "dead" and convinced his sister to run the shop, allowing the syndicate to use the business for their purposes. He now reluctantly works for the syndicate to keep his family safe.
For example. One player in my group is a Half-Orc, and another an Aasimar. The ‘main’ questline dropped them off over at a large city. The Aasimar PCs sister is the leader of a group of Monster Hunters that are attempting to eradicate the Orc tribe nearby (the one the Half-Orc PC is from, and knows they are mostly peaceful). Using PC backstories I have forced the players to do SOMETHING on the side of the Orcs but not murder a bunch of people do to the Aasimar PCs sister.
Backstories are easier to weave in if they are open ended I've found. I make sure my groups leave openings in their PC backstories. That way they can be mined and exploited. E.g. An urchin background + 1) (ranger PC) My family were ***** hawkers, but were murdered in cold blood by people with tattoos. (Slowly start introducing a cult that use the same tattoos) 2) (Sorcerer PC) When i came into my power as i child, some scared locals accused me of being a witch. When my parents stood up for me they were imprisoned and the only reason i got away was because i burnt a guard; I know he lives and hates me because he is now disfigured. (Word from an old friend that has seen the parents in a mine and/or the disfigured guard finds them and starts slyly following and scuttling plans while waiting for an opportunity alone with their quarry)
I'm curious how you as a DM throw in your players characters backstories in your games! I know that's always fun to work with!
I'm running my first real d&d game that I'm going to DM and I'm throwing in some characters backstories in my planning but I'm curious what you guys do specifically!
It mostly depends on the backstory, how detailed it is, and how interested the player is in having some of it bubble up in the game. Some players I've had have pretty loose backstories that can be filled out during the course of play, while others have everything pretty detailed but it is all wrapped up well enough that there is little reason to mix things in.
What do you have to work with and how can you best fit it into what you have planned?
I definitely have a mix.. one character in particular is very detailed but it's so good I have to bring into my story!! So far we've discussed a good amount about it so I have some plans but I guess it's hard to pinpoint where to put it in..
I do one of two things. Using one character's backstory as the call to adventure for the party. Example:
The necromancer in the hills was once a promising student at the magic academy who was banished for her unsavory interests. She is being aided by people with high connections within the empire. The party is uncovering the conspiracy one layer at a time to figure out how high it goes, while the cleric questions his loyalty to the empire that he thought was good and just.
OR dropping in small details into main plots that pull the party into the backstory. Example:
A criminal organization wanted to use the shop as a front for their illicit goods business. When the Ranger's brother refused, they ransacked the shop, kidnapped him, and threatened to kill his family unless he stayed "dead" and convinced his sister to run the shop, allowing the syndicate to use the business for their purposes. He now reluctantly works for the syndicate to keep his family safe.
"To die would be an awfully big adventure"
For example. One player in my group is a Half-Orc, and another an Aasimar. The ‘main’ questline dropped them off over at a large city. The Aasimar PCs sister is the leader of a group of Monster Hunters that are attempting to eradicate the Orc tribe nearby (the one the Half-Orc PC is from, and knows they are mostly peaceful). Using PC backstories I have forced the players to do SOMETHING on the side of the Orcs but not murder a bunch of people do to the Aasimar PCs sister.
Backstories are easier to weave in if they are open ended I've found. I make sure my groups leave openings in their PC backstories. That way they can be mined and exploited.
E.g. An urchin background +
1) (ranger PC) My family were ***** hawkers, but were murdered in cold blood by people with tattoos. (Slowly start introducing a cult that use the same tattoos)
2) (Sorcerer PC) When i came into my power as i child, some scared locals accused me of being a witch. When my parents stood up for me they were imprisoned and the only reason i got away was because i burnt a guard; I know he lives and hates me because he is now disfigured. (Word from an old friend that has seen the parents in a mine and/or the disfigured guard finds them and starts slyly following and scuttling plans while waiting for an opportunity alone with their quarry)