I have a few players or have ran into a few players before that just refuse to make a backstory for a character even after giving them the context of the world and their limits. I.E. Some how your character ends up joining the royal army of what ever nation they belong to given from the world context.
What are some examples you would do to mess with or punish a player that refuses to take the time to write a backstory, or even just goes with "My character has amnesia" (Player doesn't have flaws or anything)
Generally speaking I wouldn't punish them at all. Some people just aren't good at that sort of thing and I'd rather work with them over the campaign to develop their character. Maybe their life was just in some boring village before they got a wild urge to go adventuring. Maybe they were everyday city kids who heard some cool story from traveling adventurers when they were old enough to sneak into the local taverns. Not everyone needs a writable backstory and even fewer need there to be some seminal moment that drove them to adventure. Some people just sort of get the wanderlust and go off on an adventure.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Amnesia is a perfectly fine flaw, it means you can give them backstory which will be far more inconvenient than anything they'd come up with for themselves. In any case, the main effect of not having a backstory is that the character is incapable of gaining inspiration, which, depending on how much attention you pay to inspiration, can be a substantial penalty.
I wouldn't punish them. You'll have to accept that many players could care less about your world and fitting into its lore. Generally after having played a few characters, they'll fit one into what they've learned about your world during the game.
Choosing to have amnesia gives you great a opportunity to have the player have encounters that starts making him/her question just who they were... I'd personally make them find out they were the polar opposite of what they are now.
Maybe you've used the wrong word, but punishing players is a great way to upset them and make them not want to play.
My "punishment" is that I can't craft the story around their PC as much as the others. The more backstory my players have, the more interaction they have in the world.
Yep, don't punish those who don't, reward those who do.
Player: Is there any way I could use a greataxe with one hand. DM: Hmm, let me look over you character sheet... 1) With backstory that resembles Paul Bunyon. DM: I think we can work something out (Character takes party to recover family heirloom, which has a Greataxe without the TWO HANDED tag, retains HEAVY tag) 2) "Amnesia" DM: Nothing in the rules covers that...
I have a few players or have ran into a few players before that just refuse to make a backstory for a character even after giving them the context of the world and their limits. I.E. Some how your character ends up joining the royal army of what ever nation they belong to given from the world context.
What are some examples you would do to mess with or punish a player that refuses to take the time to write a backstory, or even just goes with "My character has amnesia" (Player doesn't have flaws or anything)
If they chose amnesia, ask them if they have a preference to what they forgot, or if you can make up what you think is fitting.
Having 'amnesia' in game terms is no excuse to not have a backstory, it is only the opening to have the backstory spring up at an unexpected time.
As for your players, maybe they don't know how to build a backstory, or are not interested in playing with any kind of depth in regards to the roleplay aspect of D&D. Check in with them what kind of game they want to play and work from there. If they don't want to explore this venue, punishing them will have no effect, but drive them out. If you insist on this kind of play, but they are not interested, finding another group may be your solution.
If they don't know how to create a backstory, help them. I never thought that a backstory has to be long nor very involved. Ask a few questions about the characters they play. Do they have living relatives? If not, what happened to them? How does the character feel about the way they passed? Why are they using the equipment they are using? How did they acquire it? How did they learn to use it? Who taught them? Why? ... and so on.
Even monosyllabic answers to any of those questions from your players will give you (and them) an insight into who that character is they are playing. The Personality Traits, Ideal, Bond, and Flaw from their background also is a stepping stone for the backstory. Why did you chose the trait? What made the character act that way?
A backstory does not have to be crib to today, it can just be a snippet, a snapshot of the characters life, just enough to give everyone an idea who they are, and what makes them tick.
I have played this game with a lot of different people for several years. Very few ever had a back story. For those that did it was simply a way for them to build on their PCs personality or as an explanation as to why they have the skills of their class.
I have never really seen a need for anything too elaborate or had an issue placing the PCs into a campaign without a detailed backstory.
If you as DM need the PCs to have a detailed backstory and the players won't bother with it, assign them whatever backstory you need to make your game work.
In my experience backstory has nothing to do with how "good" a player is. In fact, I've found often the players with the least elaborate backstories are the most committed role-players. "Punishing" them because they don't want to write more than "my character was a farmer but decided to become an adventurer" is extremely wrong. (To be honest, you should really drop the mindset that you have any right to punish your players. You don't. Period. You're all peers and this is a game.)
I rather have my players prepare little or no backstory. anything more than half a page as outright ignored by me as DM. you don't need the amnesia route. just drop them in the situation and that is all there is to it. their character will show elements of its personality and skills over time. no need to make it more complex then it is.
Pretty sure I used the wrong term. Allot of people are hung up on the word "punishment" and not really even reading the whole thing.😒🙄
Just trying to come up with ideas of what to throw at the players who choose the amnesia route. None of it has lasting effects like "you swore to a dragon and must give him 20k gold." Compare to an idea I made of "past romantic lover they encounter".
What are some examples you would do to mess with or punish a player that refuses to take the time to write a backstory, or even just goes with "My character has amnesia" (Player doesn't have flaws or anything)
First of all, I don't think it's a good idea to punish players. Yes, in my high school days I did it (that was mostly penalizing XP for people who showed up an hour late to the session, and caused trouble for everyone else as we had to deal with their character). It didn't work then, and I doubt it would work with other adult players. People play D&D to have fun, not to suffer and be miserable. I can't make everyone happy all the time, but as a GM, my goal is to try and make everyone as satisfied as possible with the play session, to the extent of my ability (keeping in mind that some people are never happy and you can't do anything about that).
Second of all, I would work with my player on the backstory. If the player said, "I just don't have any ideas," I would suggest a few. If the player said, "My character has amnesia" I might possibly allow it, as long as they could come up with how the amnesia happened. But, not having flaws? I wouldn't allow it. I would say "go into your background and pick one, or roll for it if you don't have a preference." Everyone's got to have a bond, flaw, etc. If they don't like the ones presented by the books, I'm happy for them to invent one, but I do not allow "flawless" characters into a campaign. Flawless = boring.
Also, having amnesia doesn't make you flawless. Let's say your flaw is that you are afraid of enclosed, dark places... you may not remember why you are afraid of them, but you'll still be afraid of them. Or maybe this fear is something new that happened since you got that bump on your head that blacked out your earlier memory. One way or another... every character should have at least one flaw, and preferably more.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
i call bullshit on that. you can RP and develop the PC just fine without having a backstory upon starting a campaign. in fact I dare to go even further and state that people who have less backstory are often better roleplayers. They're not limited by their backstories and can develop/explore their PC's during actual play. Letting the dice rolls be part of developing the personality and memories and knowledge and skills in a more organic way. Just as real life experiences lead you to developing your personality. That is my experience after 20ish years DM'ing at least. They're not mutually exclusive, but people with less backstories often just end up with better characters and RP overall.
That also includes a lack of flaws etc. They figure that out in due time as well. Perhaps, as stated earlier, by mere dice rolls or roleplay situations. My current campaign led them into some underground mining areas. Kruthik and spiders laired there to make life harder for mining organizations. The PC without background had some really bad luck and developed a fear for kruthik's. While another PC took a youngling, after wiping out the rest of the hive, with him. tame the kruthik and raise it...while that scared PC is also still there. leading to sufficient roleplay moments as a result. No backstory etc was needed to get there.
Also you do not have to go the Amnesia route for PC without a backstory. In books and movies you don't know the entire history of characters either. They come into play when certain situations come up. So just let the player play. Throw situations at them like you would for any other. See what sticks and how those play out. Talk with the player in between each session to gradually develop small plot elements. Often the adventuring journey is also one of discovering who the PC is. Often they end up being someone entirely different then who they started as. Amnesia route is ... lame. Better of just not doing anything at all if that is all you can come up with.
I strait up tell players in campaigns I DM that the players who provide backstories for their characters will have story-driven campaign points focused around their characters, and those who don’t won’t. The first backstory I get dictates the first adventure hook.
If the Cleric who wants to rise in the clergy ranks is the first backstory I get, the first adventure is working for the church.
If the Warlock looking to avenge their family’s deaths is the first one I get, the first adventure might be a mission for their patron.
If the first on I get is from the Rogue that is trying to get away from the local Thieves’ Guild... well you get the idea.
Players become a lot more personally motivated to hand in backstories at that point. I don’t “punish” those who don’t, but I do reward the ones who do.
Pretty sure I used the wrong term. Allot of people are hung up on the word "punishment" and not really even reading the whole thing.😒🙄
Just trying to come up with ideas of what to throw at the players who choose the amnesia route. None of it has lasting effects like "you swore to a dragon and must give him 20k gold." Compare to an idea I made of "past romantic lover they encounter".
No you wrote that you want to mess with or punish your players for not making a back story. Not much room for error on that one
I am about to start a campaign with a bunch of new players who don't really know much about Forgotten Realms so I am not expecting rich, detailed backstories. That being said, on session 0 I did say that it's ok if someone wants to go for the amnesia route but then they leave the backstory and consequences to me. I will never let a player decide what their character has forgotten because I want it to be a surprise for them as well.
I'd actually welcome at least one player with that predicament because I have some ideas as to how to hook a character with something interesting but I guess I'll have to see.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I have a few players or have ran into a few players before that just refuse to make a backstory for a character even after giving them the context of the world and their limits.
I.E. Some how your character ends up joining the royal army of what ever nation they belong to given from the world context.
What are some examples you would do to mess with or punish a player that refuses to take the time to write a backstory, or even just goes with "My character has amnesia" (Player doesn't have flaws or anything)
Generally speaking I wouldn't punish them at all. Some people just aren't good at that sort of thing and I'd rather work with them over the campaign to develop their character. Maybe their life was just in some boring village before they got a wild urge to go adventuring. Maybe they were everyday city kids who heard some cool story from traveling adventurers when they were old enough to sneak into the local taverns. Not everyone needs a writable backstory and even fewer need there to be some seminal moment that drove them to adventure. Some people just sort of get the wanderlust and go off on an adventure.
Amnesia is a perfectly fine flaw, it means you can give them backstory which will be far more inconvenient than anything they'd come up with for themselves. In any case, the main effect of not having a backstory is that the character is incapable of gaining inspiration, which, depending on how much attention you pay to inspiration, can be a substantial penalty.
I wouldn't punish them. You'll have to accept that many players could care less about your world and fitting into its lore. Generally after having played a few characters, they'll fit one into what they've learned about your world during the game.
Choosing to have amnesia gives you great a opportunity to have the player have encounters that starts making him/her question just who they were... I'd personally make them find out they were the polar opposite of what they are now.
Maybe you've used the wrong word, but punishing players is a great way to upset them and make them not want to play.
My "punishment" is that I can't craft the story around their PC as much as the others. The more backstory my players have, the more interaction they have in the world.
Yep, don't punish those who don't, reward those who do.
Player: Is there any way I could use a greataxe with one hand.
DM: Hmm, let me look over you character sheet...
1) With backstory that resembles Paul Bunyon.
DM: I think we can work something out (Character takes party to recover family heirloom, which has a Greataxe without the TWO HANDED tag, retains HEAVY tag)
2) "Amnesia"
DM: Nothing in the rules covers that...
Amnesia, or give him wacky stuff for his backstory. Maybe a woman they are forced into an arranged marriage to.
If they chose amnesia, ask them if they have a preference to what they forgot, or if you can make up what you think is fitting.
Having 'amnesia' in game terms is no excuse to not have a backstory, it is only the opening to have the backstory spring up at an unexpected time.
As for your players, maybe they don't know how to build a backstory, or are not interested in playing with any kind of depth in regards to the roleplay aspect of D&D. Check in with them what kind of game they want to play and work from there. If they don't want to explore this venue, punishing them will have no effect, but drive them out. If you insist on this kind of play, but they are not interested, finding another group may be your solution.
If they don't know how to create a backstory, help them. I never thought that a backstory has to be long nor very involved. Ask a few questions about the characters they play. Do they have living relatives? If not, what happened to them? How does the character feel about the way they passed? Why are they using the equipment they are using? How did they acquire it? How did they learn to use it? Who taught them? Why? ... and so on.
Even monosyllabic answers to any of those questions from your players will give you (and them) an insight into who that character is they are playing. The Personality Traits, Ideal, Bond, and Flaw from their background also is a stepping stone for the backstory. Why did you chose the trait? What made the character act that way?
A backstory does not have to be crib to today, it can just be a snippet, a snapshot of the characters life, just enough to give everyone an idea who they are, and what makes them tick.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
I would not do it as it’s kind of small and petty. It is a good way to lose players
I have played this game with a lot of different people for several years. Very few ever had a back story. For those that did it was simply a way for them to build on their PCs personality or as an explanation as to why they have the skills of their class.
I have never really seen a need for anything too elaborate or had an issue placing the PCs into a campaign without a detailed backstory.
If you as DM need the PCs to have a detailed backstory and the players won't bother with it, assign them whatever backstory you need to make your game work.
In my experience backstory has nothing to do with how "good" a player is. In fact, I've found often the players with the least elaborate backstories are the most committed role-players. "Punishing" them because they don't want to write more than "my character was a farmer but decided to become an adventurer" is extremely wrong. (To be honest, you should really drop the mindset that you have any right to punish your players. You don't. Period. You're all peers and this is a game.)
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I rather have my players prepare little or no backstory. anything more than half a page as outright ignored by me as DM.
you don't need the amnesia route. just drop them in the situation and that is all there is to it. their character will show elements of its personality and skills over time. no need to make it more complex then it is.
Pretty sure I used the wrong term. Allot of people are hung up on the word "punishment" and not really even reading the whole thing.😒🙄
Just trying to come up with ideas of what to throw at the players who choose the amnesia route. None of it has lasting effects like "you swore to a dragon and must give him 20k gold." Compare to an idea I made of "past romantic lover they encounter".
What to throw at an amnesia character?
Quest givers!
"Oh Tom, I'm so glad to have found you. I'm calling in that favor, you have to help me"
"I know Bob, we made a pact to never speak of that incident, but it has happened again, we got to finish what we started"
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
First of all, I don't think it's a good idea to punish players. Yes, in my high school days I did it (that was mostly penalizing XP for people who showed up an hour late to the session, and caused trouble for everyone else as we had to deal with their character). It didn't work then, and I doubt it would work with other adult players. People play D&D to have fun, not to suffer and be miserable. I can't make everyone happy all the time, but as a GM, my goal is to try and make everyone as satisfied as possible with the play session, to the extent of my ability (keeping in mind that some people are never happy and you can't do anything about that).
Second of all, I would work with my player on the backstory. If the player said, "I just don't have any ideas," I would suggest a few. If the player said, "My character has amnesia" I might possibly allow it, as long as they could come up with how the amnesia happened. But, not having flaws? I wouldn't allow it. I would say "go into your background and pick one, or roll for it if you don't have a preference." Everyone's got to have a bond, flaw, etc. If they don't like the ones presented by the books, I'm happy for them to invent one, but I do not allow "flawless" characters into a campaign. Flawless = boring.
Also, having amnesia doesn't make you flawless. Let's say your flaw is that you are afraid of enclosed, dark places... you may not remember why you are afraid of them, but you'll still be afraid of them. Or maybe this fear is something new that happened since you got that bump on your head that blacked out your earlier memory. One way or another... every character should have at least one flaw, and preferably more.
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.
I think players who dont like to create backstories and RP stuff are "audience members". Look at this video for more details, starting about 2:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQsJSqn71Fw&list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_&index=12
i call bullshit on that. you can RP and develop the PC just fine without having a backstory upon starting a campaign. in fact I dare to go even further and state that people who have less backstory are often better roleplayers. They're not limited by their backstories and can develop/explore their PC's during actual play. Letting the dice rolls be part of developing the personality and memories and knowledge and skills in a more organic way. Just as real life experiences lead you to developing your personality. That is my experience after 20ish years DM'ing at least. They're not mutually exclusive, but people with less backstories often just end up with better characters and RP overall.
That also includes a lack of flaws etc. They figure that out in due time as well. Perhaps, as stated earlier, by mere dice rolls or roleplay situations. My current campaign led them into some underground mining areas. Kruthik and spiders laired there to make life harder for mining organizations. The PC without background had some really bad luck and developed a fear for kruthik's. While another PC took a youngling, after wiping out the rest of the hive, with him. tame the kruthik and raise it...while that scared PC is also still there. leading to sufficient roleplay moments as a result. No backstory etc was needed to get there.
Also you do not have to go the Amnesia route for PC without a backstory. In books and movies you don't know the entire history of characters either. They come into play when certain situations come up. So just let the player play. Throw situations at them like you would for any other. See what sticks and how those play out. Talk with the player in between each session to gradually develop small plot elements. Often the adventuring journey is also one of discovering who the PC is. Often they end up being someone entirely different then who they started as. Amnesia route is ... lame. Better of just not doing anything at all if that is all you can come up with.
I strait up tell players in campaigns I DM that the players who provide backstories for their characters will have story-driven campaign points focused around their characters, and those who don’t won’t. The first backstory I get dictates the first adventure hook.
If the Cleric who wants to rise in the clergy ranks is the first backstory I get, the first adventure is working for the church.
If the Warlock looking to avenge their family’s deaths is the first one I get, the first adventure might be a mission for their patron.
If the first on I get is from the Rogue that is trying to get away from the local Thieves’ Guild... well you get the idea.
Players become a lot more personally motivated to hand in backstories at that point. I don’t “punish” those who don’t, but I do reward the ones who do.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
No you wrote that you want to mess with or punish your players for not making a back story. Not much room for error on that one
I am about to start a campaign with a bunch of new players who don't really know much about Forgotten Realms so I am not expecting rich, detailed backstories. That being said, on session 0 I did say that it's ok if someone wants to go for the amnesia route but then they leave the backstory and consequences to me. I will never let a player decide what their character has forgotten because I want it to be a surprise for them as well.
I'd actually welcome at least one player with that predicament because I have some ideas as to how to hook a character with something interesting but I guess I'll have to see.