AKA: "Oh, yeah - I am related to the local Duke after all"
I'm starting up a new campaign, under a new setting, and thus I am dealing with a whole new set of new characters.
Some - but not all - of my Players like detailing backstories. Some really aren't into it. Yet, a detailed backstory is a very useful tool for the DM ( you receive a letter from your sister ... ) , and it can definitely be advantageous for the Character, if they can leverage their backgrounds in certain situations ( wait, my father has a business partner in this city, maybe we could contact him for ... ).
I've heard several you DMs out here advise - and I think it's good advice - to not require that Players lock down their backstories too rigidly, as it gives them some flexibility to weave their backstories into the evolving campaign world.
So - I was thinking it's possible to kill both birds with one stone ( Players who don't want to take the time to lock down complex backstories, and wanting to leave room for backstory flexibility to fit into the world ), without stretching probability and believably all to hell, using a storytelling mechanic.
Every new character start with 10 backstory points.
Every time the Player wants to establish a fact about their backstory, the DM can assign a DC.
Personally, I would assign a DC of zero and just give it to them as a freebie, if the fact was trivial, plausible, and conveyed no narrative or game advantage: sure, since we already know you came from a middle class background, your father being a bookmaker makes sense, and that conveys no advantage in this situations, so that's an automatic fact.
If they want to establish a highly improbable and/or narratively advantageous fact I might assign a pretty high DC: OK ... you want to be the long lost love-child of the local Duke , that he's been searching for, for decades, just as he's pronouncing sentence on your party? .... that's a DC 30 ...
A proposed fact might also have a plus or minus to the DC based on how well it fits into other previously established facts about the Character: OK, your father was a middle class bookmaker, and you want him to have taught you the proper etiquette for conducting yourself in a jousting tournament ... ummmm....
Players can expend backstory points to lower a DC, at a 1:1 rate. Want to lower that DC 30 to DC 20, you'd better burn all your backstory points at once.
Players make a straight up D20 roll with no modification, to meet-or-beat the DC. If they succeed, the proposed idea is now a fact about the character's background, and is written down on their character sheet - OK, really high roll! I guess your middle class bookmaker father loved reading of the tales and exploits of the men and women of chivalry , and even read such tales to you as a child, so ... yes ... you do know something of the proper etiquette of jousting tournaments.
I'm not sure whether I'd allow Critical Successes/Failures here, or not. I can see a critical failure setting up a diametrically opposed and disadvantageous fact, if I did however: Natural 1? Oh no ... you are actually the long lost love-child of the local Duke's nemesis, and you bear a striking resemble to your much hated father ... the Duke stops in the middle of his speech, staring at you. "Wait a moment ... " he says ...
The overall idea here is to allow Players to establish facts about their backstories, on the fly, without making things too conveniently improbable, but still give the Player the ability to bend probability for the things that really do matter to them.
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AKA: "Oh, yeah - I am related to the local Duke after all"
I'm starting up a new campaign, under a new setting, and thus I am dealing with a whole new set of new characters.
Some - but not all - of my Players like detailing backstories. Some really aren't into it. Yet, a detailed backstory is a very useful tool for the DM ( you receive a letter from your sister ... ) , and it can definitely be advantageous for the Character, if they can leverage their backgrounds in certain situations ( wait, my father has a business partner in this city, maybe we could contact him for ... ).
I've heard several you DMs out here advise - and I think it's good advice - to not require that Players lock down their backstories too rigidly, as it gives them some flexibility to weave their backstories into the evolving campaign world.
So - I was thinking it's possible to kill both birds with one stone ( Players who don't want to take the time to lock down complex backstories, and wanting to leave room for backstory flexibility to fit into the world ), without stretching probability and believably all to hell, using a storytelling mechanic.
The overall idea here is to allow Players to establish facts about their backstories, on the fly, without making things too conveniently improbable, but still give the Player the ability to bend probability for the things that really do matter to them.
So - workable? Too complex?
Got ideas for refinements?
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.