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  1. - Top - End - #121
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    I usually require some kind of backstory for characters as a GM, but it can be anything from a couple of sentences ("Regdar grew up as a terraforming engineer on a backwater colony world. Now he wanders the cosmos, selling his services as a technician to anyone who needs his skillset.") to a couple of paragraphs maximum. I like when a player's backstory grows organically over the game.

  2. - Top - End - #122
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    Red Fel's Avatar

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Fri View Post
    Why are we even still discussing this. Here. Red Fel have answered this question, for ever, thank you Red Fel. No need to talk about New Wave or Old School or difference between CRPG and TTRPG or what specific system have specific backstory need. I guess for a supposedly evil guy you're okay, Red Fel. I'm even not sure if you're still evil anymore. I suggest burning one or two orphanage.
    It's true, I tend to answer questions with a certain sense of finality. And not just because my Legions of Terror mercilessly slaughter anyone who second-guesses or challenges me. They're such pleasers like that. It's adorable.

    And burning orphanages, Fri? Really? How gauche.

    It's Thursday. Monday night was days ago. Check your calendar next time. It's right there on the Meetup. "Monday Night Orphan Roast." Honestly.
    My headache medicine has a little "Ex" inscribed on the pill. It's not a brand name; it's an indicator that it works inside an Anti-Magic Field.

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  3. - Top - End - #123
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Thrudd View Post
    Background stories are not a source of free advantages, and that includes social contacts, rich families, and noble titles.
    Under these wonderfully fair rules, how does one play a low-level nobleman, someone with an ancestral weapon, etc?

    Quote Originally Posted by RazorChain View Post
    One of the PC in my game is from a rich merchant family and his father is always nagging him to stop slumming with those fools and take up his duties as a fistborn in a wealthy merchant house, demanding that he gets married etc, it's a great source of rolepaying. His father sure ain't doling out money to his frivolous son.
    I find a rock to be an adequate prop for role-playing: is the character's first thought to sit on it and rest? Climb it for the view? use it for shade? Poke it with a stick? Collect a sample? Check around the other side? Imagine sculpting a statute? Modify it for their purposes (whatever those happen to be)? Attempt to disbelieve? Etc etc.

    So, even though this probably should be obvious, please step me through this: how do you define role-playing such that this particular setup provides better RP opportunity?

    Quote Originally Posted by Max_Killjoy View Post
    While I'm a big fan of well-developed, in-depth character, story, and setting in my RPGs, but I find myself very frustrated with a lot of the attempts by games to bake that sort of thing right into the system, with funny dice, or "you succeed but" and "you fail but", or "narrative control handoffs" or whatever.
    You don't like the implementations you have observed - fair enough. Do you believe that all attempts by systems to bake flavor into the rules / mechanics are inherently doomed to failure, or do you believe that some mechanics can positively impact mood?

    Quote Originally Posted by Knaight View Post
    Let's not pretend that personal attacks are a one way street here - there's plenty of attacks from the OSR crowd to everyone else, usually insisting on some combination of everyone else being stupid, lacking in attention span, being incapable of roleplaying, being unduly affected by video games and having no literary background, and having no imagination.
    That's not an attack, that's just stating the facts. It's only an attack if you have to roll to hit.

    Yeah, unless someone with way too much time on their hands produces statistics to the contrary, I'm gonna assume human nature doesn't change significantly with age, particularly when measuring a specific sample set with similar interests.

  4. - Top - End - #124
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    SamuraiGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post

    Quote Originally Posted by RazorChain View Post

    One of the PC in my game is from a rich merchant family and his father is always nagging him to stop slumming with those fools and take up his duties as a fistborn in a wealthy merchant house, demanding that he gets married etc, it's a great source of rolepaying. His father sure ain't doling out money to his frivolous son.


    I find a rock to be an adequate prop for role-playing: is the character's first thought to sit on it and rest? Climb it for the view? use it for shade? Poke it with a stick? Collect a sample? Check around the other side? Imagine sculpting a statute? Modify it for their purposes (whatever those happen to be)? Attempt to disbelieve? Etc etc.

    So, even though this probably should be obvious, please step me through this: how do you define role-playing such that this particular setup provides better RP opportunity?


    Well everybody can roleplay how they like but my group might find a scenario where they poke a rock with a stick rather dull. The player whose character is a merchant son might find it more to his satisfaction to explore his role in a conflict with his father.

    In the context of the subject which is backgrounds, then that rock had to be pretty important to a PC´s life that he/she would want to return to it to poke it with a stick.

    So as to answer the question about how this particular setup provides a better RP opportunity is quite simple: It is more interesting to the player. Else I'd have to place a darn interesting rock in the PC's path.

  5. - Top - End - #125
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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post

    You don't like the implementations you have observed - fair enough. Do you believe that all attempts by systems to bake flavor into the rules / mechanics are inherently doomed to failure, or do you believe that some mechanics can positively impact mood?

    I wasn't talking about baking flavor or mood into the rules -- there's some validity to that and I've seen it work.

    My comment was directed at systems that try to bake character decisions and "narrative flow" into the mechanics, with things like strange dice, and having a silver lining for every failure and a catch for every success.
    Last edited by Max_Killjoy; 2016-07-07 at 05:41 PM.
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  6. - Top - End - #126
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    BarbarianGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    Under these wonderfully fair rules, how does one play a low-level nobleman, someone with an ancestral weapon, etc?
    It depends on the system. In a system where those things are purchasable with character build points or whatever, you can have whatever it is the rules give you. In D&D, you don't. You can say that one of your weapons is ancestral or that you are a minor noble, but there is no mechanical representation of those things. For whatever reason, your minor noble family is broke or you have no access to their wealth (beyond what the rules say you start with). Your ancestral weapon is just a mundane weapon that has sentimental value to you. Anything you give away to one character, you need to allow an equivalent for all the others. There needs to be a ceiling on the resources players get at the start in accordance with the tone and type of challenge you intend them to face. Setting a precedent that allows background fiction to give mechanical benefits outside of the rules could be a mistake for certain groups, there could be resistance to denying them the same benefits in future games that you would like to be lower powered. And certain types of players will constantly push the limits of generosity when there is no rule-based limit on what their background can give them. Just things to consider.

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    Under these wonderfully fair rules, how does one play a low-level nobleman, someone with an ancestral weapon, etc?
    What would cause someone to not be able to do those things? And even if it didn't work in the system at low-level, is that an issue? Not all backstories have to work at level one.
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  8. - Top - End - #128
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    OldWizardGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Max_Killjoy View Post
    I wasn't talking about baking flavor or mood into the rules -- there's some validity to that and I've seen it work.

    My comment was directed at systems that try to bake character decisions and "narrative flow" into the mechanics, with things like strange dice, and having a silver lining for every failure and a catch for every success.
    DCC uses the strangest dice of any system that I know of, and it's pretty retro.

    D&D is the original "funny dice" game.

    What, exactly, is wrong with degrees of success? It's hardly a new concept, and not really tied to "narrative" games.

  9. - Top - End - #129
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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by kyoryu View Post
    DCC uses the strangest dice of any system that I know of, and it's pretty retro.

    D&D is the original "funny dice" game.

    What, exactly, is wrong with degrees of success? It's hardly a new concept, and not really tied to "narrative" games.

    This isn't degrees, it's "you fail, but..." and "you succeed, but..." -- so that there's very often a complication or mitigation attached to the success or failure.

    There are a bunch of different "good" and "bad" dice, in degrees, that you have to build up a pool of based on all sorts of factors, and then roll, and then remember what symbols counter what other symbols in what order, and then once you get through all that you still have to figure out what the dice "mean", and each "turn" represents a very long time, and the GM and players kinda have to cooperate to describe what the dice mean and how that minute or so of encounter that each set of rolls represents actually "narrates".
    Last edited by Max_Killjoy; 2016-07-07 at 08:47 PM.
    It is one thing to suspend your disbelief. It is another thing entirely to hang it by the neck until dead.

    Verisimilitude -- n, the appearance or semblance of truth, likelihood, or probability.

    The concern is not realism in speculative fiction, but rather the sense that a setting or story could be real, fostered by internal consistency and coherence.

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  10. - Top - End - #130
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    OldWizardGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Max_Killjoy View Post
    This isn't degrees, it's "you fail, but..." and "you succeed, but..." -- so that there's very often a complication or mitigation attached to the success or failure.

    There are a bunch of different "good" and "bad" dice, in degrees, that you have to build up a pool of based on all sorts of factors, and then roll, and then remember what symbols counter what other symbols in what order, and then once you get through all that you still have to figure out what the dice "mean", and each "turn" represents a very long time, and the GM and players kinda have to cooperate to describe what the dice mean and how that minute or so of encounter that each set of rolls represents actually "narrates".
    I assume you're talking about FFG Star Wars?

  11. - Top - End - #131
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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by kyoryu View Post
    I assume you're talking about FFG Star Wars?
    That would be the poster child for this sort of thing at present, yes.
    It is one thing to suspend your disbelief. It is another thing entirely to hang it by the neck until dead.

    Verisimilitude -- n, the appearance or semblance of truth, likelihood, or probability.

    The concern is not realism in speculative fiction, but rather the sense that a setting or story could be real, fostered by internal consistency and coherence.

    The Worldbuilding Forum -- where realities are born.

  12. - Top - End - #132
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    They are fun little things that allow you to add a bit to the world. Some are big, some are small, some are important, and some are not. And for me when a GM includes them and you both form a sort of partnership in building a story its one of the best experiences and one the few ,concrete, advantages Table Top RPG's have over other forms.

    EDIT: By concrete I mean stuff that is provable and not to a taste kind of thing Generally TTRPG's tend to be better on the story and narrative front while CRPGs are better on the Mechanics front.
    Last edited by Kite474; 2016-07-07 at 10:15 PM.

  13. - Top - End - #133
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    NinjaGirl

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by IntelectPaladin View Post
    You know what?
    All I had to do to be upset at this is just read the thread title,
    and the creator's first post.
    I'm actually surprised at how angry I am at this.
    Why have backstory? Because I've had the same char and ONLY char for over a full year!
    I don't "whoops, that dagger happened, here comes barbarian no. 413.15."!
    It's as if he said "why are wierdo's going around being human?"
    DnD isn't just about the dice, it's about what the dice gives us, the players, who happen to be people.
    We use our mind's eye to play a game that logically speaking is mere paper and plastic.

    Without imagination, or flexing what creativity or emotion we have for enjoyment of the game,
    The game has no point.
    What about all of those moments where you nat-twenty your attempt to lift a building?
    Or when the D.M. uses their creativity to make your nat-one the funniest story of the year?
    The funny stories on here inspired me to go into DnD in the first place.
    Backstory is part of the game, as much so as the dice. We have it because it's part of how we play,
    It's how we make our characters more interesting to have,
    to make more connections and events avalible in the game,
    and lastly, because it's what we enjoy.

    I apologize the the length of this rambling,
    so thank you for putting up with me.
    I know what I'm like. But I'm still me. And I'd rather be me than anyone else.
    And thank you for reading this, and I hope you have a better day!


    Yes this!!! I'm 100% with you on this!

  14. - Top - End - #134
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    NinjaGirl

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by RazorChain View Post
    I must admit that I love amnesia characters *wicked grin*
    God damn amnesia characters, hard to write well into a story without sounding cliche.
    And then the orc showed up....
    My character - "who are you?" .... "i dont know..."
    "where did you come from?" .... "i dont know..."
    "how old are you?" ... "i dont know..."
    "family? friends? faith? anything?" ... "i dont know...."
    "want to join us for no reason whatsoever to go while we go find a wizard to see a man about a dog?"
    "........ sure."

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    SamuraiGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by minderp View Post
    God damn amnesia characters, hard to write well into a story without sounding cliche.
    And then the orc showed up....
    My character - "who are you?" .... "i dont know..."
    "where did you come from?" .... "i dont know..."
    "how old are you?" ... "i dont know..."
    "family? friends? faith? anything?" ... "i dont know...."
    "want to join us for no reason whatsoever to go while we go find a wizard to see a man about a dog?"
    "........ sure."
    Well I love them as a GM, pulled an Angel Heart on one of my PC's once

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    DruidGirl

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    I've often tried writing up a background for my characters never seen any of them come into use mind you!

    The Cleric of Helm raised by his divorced mother in the family faith who chose to seek out his father and ended up a rival with his half brother over his girlfriend, only for his father to arrange with his supposed superior to have him reassigned which is how he ended up joining the party for their first trip up North.

    Shortest write up I ever did was describe a Paladin by naming her Bridget D'Summerville a blatant Buffy the Vampire Slayer rip off!

    Over a decade ago I tried to run a game as part of a 24 hour event alongside a five side football tournament which was supposed to be a regular adventure but turned into a bar room brawl after the players started reading each others character sheets and using that as an excuse to start fighting!

    It takes all sorts but it really isn't that important if your gm is running a canned adventure!

    Depending on the gm it might actually be a deterrent if they decide to cherry pick your background for their own use!
    Last edited by Hopeless; 2016-07-08 at 07:53 AM.

  17. - Top - End - #137
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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Backstory (having a picture of the character) is fine, a back story (writing, and expecting other players and the gm to read, some short novella) is often pointless, bordering on rude. If someone handed me four pages of story about their characters life, I'd hand it back to them. I don't have that kinda time.

    My view on RPGs is that only things that happen in game are real. Everything else exists in a quantum state where it could change at a moments notice. Which isn't to say there's not going to be discussion between GM and player about the characters origins/relationships/etc. I don't want to have to hunt through a short story to find out the character has a sister, I'd prefer that to come up in play.

    In conclusion, I really like this article and if you don't you're a wallaby http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/29/my...gs-big-echoes/

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by minderp View Post
    God damn amnesia characters, hard to write well into a story without sounding cliche.
    And then the orc showed up....
    My character - "who are you?" .... "i dont know..."
    "where did you come from?" .... "i dont know..."
    "how old are you?" ... "i dont know..."
    "family? friends? faith? anything?" ... "i dont know...."
    "want to join us for no reason whatsoever to go while we go find a wizard to see a man about a dog?"
    "........ sure."
    I like it, but I think because of the quote below... I'd run a selective amnesia character. As in they don't remember a lot, but they remember that they don't like being involved in plots that I don't want them to be in or to be things I wouldn't like.

    Quote Originally Posted by RazorChain View Post
    Well I love them as a GM, pulled an Angel Heart on one of my PC's once
    There is no emotion more useless in life than hate.

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    d20 Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    I've contemplated a pseudo-amnesia character being one who was returned to life but doesn't know who brought him back or why; might be interesting if said character was revived decades or even centuries after death, I suppose.
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    Planetar

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Why backstory? Because it's one of the best tools for determining how my character's actions would come down, and how they would differ from my own.

    Hmm, I'll use a few of my recent PF character ideas. In a recent aborted game, I was playing a Dhampir named Thaddeus. Now, one of the interesting things about dhampir is that they almost demand backstory. Other half-breeds can be run-of-the-mill, but if you're a dhampir, how you came to be is usually a big question. Is your mother still alive? Do you know who your father is? Do you hate vampires, or want to become more like them? Hell, a mundane backstory is even weird if you're a dhampir.

    Anyway, our group was in a position to learn of a plot by the local church to assassinate the king. Out of character, plot bells were going off in my head. In character, Thaddeus wasn't local, but he's the son of a lord in a nearby vampire-ruled kingdom. He came to this land to learn how to better fit in, in addition to the standard 'find fame/fortune' reasons someone goes adventuring. He figures that, if he saves the king, he gets leverage, right? Improve relations between the local kingdom and his homeland, gain political clout, and make daddy 'proud'. At least enough to elevate him to full vampire. Amongst the rest of the group, if I were to have to convince them, knowledge of their backstory would have helped. One guy was playing basically a samurai; if he was reluctant, I would say something along the lines of 'but doesn't your honor demand you save this rightful king?'

    Personally, I like Thaddeus the foreign noble eager to prove his worth, rather than Thaddeus the warlord that hits things and wants to make money without offending his player.

    Let's use another character of mine, cold open this time. Wreave is in a border-town with his party. While perusing the marketplace, they overhear a blind woman getting 'harassed' (more like she was being politely detained) by soldiers. Now, a rational question might be to ask what was going on. Wreave walks up, hand on the hilt of one of his many weapons, and none-too-kindly asks the soldiers to step off. "Give me an excuse."

    The reason Wreave was cruising for a fight with professional soldiers was not because I wanted a fight, but because Wreave was, in his backstory, wronged by the country the soldiers in question worked for. Their actions against his family, in his mind, justified his his stance of 'looking for excuses to spill their blood'. I'm not saying developing a characters backstory during play is a bad idea, far from it. But, I'm going to need something to work from.
    Last edited by Ninjaxenomorph; 2016-07-08 at 08:43 AM.

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Max_Killjoy View Post
    This isn't degrees, it's "you fail, but..." and "you succeed, but..." -- so that there's very often a complication or mitigation attached to the success or failure.
    What are your thoughts on Apocalypse World (and AW-based games)? The player declares an action, the GM decides if the action is possible for the character and helps the player figure out which move to use. The player rolls 2d6 and add the appropriate stat. A 6 or lower is a failure and means the GM is going to make bad consequences. A 7-9 is a partial success - the player succeeds, but either has to pay a cost, make a decision, or the GM adds some sort of complication to that or a future scenario. A 10+ is a total success with no drawbacks.

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    RangerGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    I still don't know how to write a backstory, or a personality, or a character sheet that deals with roleplay. Especially when I've thrown away every inch of "what would my character do" in favor of "what should be done as not to disrupt other people's gameplay".

  23. - Top - End - #143
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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by dps View Post
    Here's all the backstory you need for a standard PC:

    "I was poor and didn't want to stay that way, and the easiest way to wealth was to take if by force. I went into monster dens to kill them and take their stuff because that's more acceptable to society than killing and robbing from non-monstrous races."
    Actually, if you start at first level, can't you go with "I am poor and don't want to stay that way...etc"? How I get into adventuring is session 1.

  24. - Top - End - #144
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    NecromancerGuy

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by 2D8HP View Post
    Do you notice how very few words described what they did in the past? It's all about who they are not were!
    As a DM I am much more impressed with a description than a history!
    To those who demand a history as an audition?
    As I said before there are at least 2 philosophies on what the question "Who are you?" entails. Both are viable and valid. Having a personal preference as a DM and requesting your Players answer the question as you mean it is perfectly acceptable and normal. Just as you being more impressed with the description(to use your language) is acceptable, so to another DM's being more impressed with the history(again, to use your language) is acceptable.

    I have suggested that you personally filter for like minded groups when looking for a group since your preference is so strong. Asking the DM "Who are you?" should give you a good idea (except possibly if they are Babylon 5 fans ).
    Last edited by OldTrees1; 2016-07-08 at 10:30 AM.

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by 2D8HP View Post
    There you go! Two characters well established!
    If you don't know who they are from that I pity you. Do you notice how very few words described what they did in the past? It's all about who they are not were!
    As a DM I am much more impressed with a description than a history!
    To those who demand a history as an audition?
    See this? This is confrontational, and it's unnecessary.

    Your opening post had two questions: What is backstory, and why is it necessary? It had an undertone of "I don't think backstory is necessary," but it at least pretended to be interested in a response.

    But a post like this? You betray yourself, sir. This kind of post - and it's not the first of its kind by you, in this thread or others - makes it clear that your position is "I don't think backstory is necessary, and further if you disagree you are wrong." You are insulting the people who disagree with you, and it's uncalled for.

    I get it. You don't like backstory. You care more about how a character is played then the player's ability to write a background. I understand that, and to a certain extent I agree. But your attitude towards those who disagree is callous and dismissive, and you can do better than that.

    If you want to post an "I don't think backstory is necessary" rant, go ahead and do that. But don't couch it in the form of a disingenuous question and then fire back at those who respond in good faith. That's just not cricket.
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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Red Fel View Post
    That's just not cricket.
    @Red Fel,
    Your right. I'm sorry. I feel bad.
    Edit:
    I was trying to (and eventually failed) to get a "seat" at a PbP game. I was deeply frustrated. I am not a good enough writer.
    Probably for the best that I was rejected.
    Thanks for your wisdom and honesty.
    Please feel free to PM about any posts of mine that seem more cruel than funny, so that I may delete or edit them. My hope is to make people laugh not to grind their teeth
    -EDIT-
    @Red Fel, RED FEL RED FEL RED FEL
    I've actually re-reconsidered my deleted post.
    I don't remember writing that it's bad to write a back story. What I object to is the requirement to write ever longer ones to get to play at all (yes I realize "their game, their rules".
    Since you are a very effective post writter (I'm being sincere) please enlighten me further.
    -Thanks
    Last edited by 2D8HP; 2016-07-10 at 07:11 PM.

  27. - Top - End - #147
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    Max_Killjoy's Avatar

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Thinker View Post
    What are your thoughts on Apocalypse World (and AW-based games)? The player declares an action, the GM decides if the action is possible for the character and helps the player figure out which move to use. The player rolls 2d6 and add the appropriate stat. A 6 or lower is a failure and means the GM is going to make bad consequences. A 7-9 is a partial success - the player succeeds, but either has to pay a cost, make a decision, or the GM adds some sort of complication to that or a future scenario. A 10+ is a total success with no drawbacks.
    That sounds somewhat better than "yes, but..." and "no, but..." on almost every roll.

    AW is not a system I've had a chance to pull apart in detail.
    It is one thing to suspend your disbelief. It is another thing entirely to hang it by the neck until dead.

    Verisimilitude -- n, the appearance or semblance of truth, likelihood, or probability.

    The concern is not realism in speculative fiction, but rather the sense that a setting or story could be real, fostered by internal consistency and coherence.

    The Worldbuilding Forum -- where realities are born.

  28. - Top - End - #148
    Troll in the Playground
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    Protecting my Horde (yes, I mean that kind)

    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    If I get a multipage backstory from a player it goes through the proverbial shredder as I promptly ignore it, and I tell the player if they want to give me something, I have to be able to read and understand the whole thing in less than two minutes.

  29. - Top - End - #149
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    QuickLyRaiNbow's Avatar

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by goto124 View Post
    I still don't know how to write a backstory, or a personality, or a character sheet that deals with roleplay. Especially when I've thrown away every inch of "what would my character do" in favor of "what should be done as not to disrupt other people's gameplay".
    This is a really good point that nails why I've moved away from asking people for backstories individually.
    Last edited by QuickLyRaiNbow; 2016-07-08 at 01:29 PM.
    In-character problems require in-character solutions. Out-of-character problems require out-of-character solutions.

  30. - Top - End - #150
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    Segev's Avatar

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    Default Re: PC "Back story", why is that a thing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Red Fel View Post
    It's true, I tend to answer questions with a certain sense of finality. And not just because my Legions of Terror mercilessly slaughter anyone who second-guesses or challenges me. They're such pleasers like that. It's adorable.

    And burning orphanages, Fri? Really? How gauche.

    It's Thursday. Monday night was days ago. Check your calendar next time. It's right there on the Meetup. "Monday Night Orphan Roast." Honestly.
    Do you have your legions do cheer-offs against Lord Hater's watchdogs? Because I can totally see you trying to hire Peepers away from him.

    Personally, I prefer legions of mindless undead, but there ARE advantages to loyal minions with capacity for initiative.


    Also, are you in need of a...disposal service...for the bones from those Monday night roasts?

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