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When to Include Other Characters' Background
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@STD Please please please!
I mean, YES. Love this. That said, it’s definitely something I like to…talk about, OOC, before it’s done. Just because the things in my PC’s background usually have specific thematic elements and just tossing them in without talking means that something might be made ‘canon’ that wasn’t what I’ve been RPing.
That said, it’s definitely hard for me to page to ask about this with others. Which is DUMB but true. I will try to at least ask about shallow things - hey, I notice you’re an X by trade, how would you like something that focuses on that - but the deeper stuff, I worry about stepping on toes.
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I feel like the only time I’ve ever seen anyone hesitate at this offer is if they had, like, issue with the specific GM and didn’t want to play in their plots in general. Overall, I feel like this is SUCH a universally beloved thing people can do.
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I usually trick my brain out of worrying about this by asking about it as a motivator for future play, rather than asking about having a previous point of connection specifically. Not everyone is looking to tie their characters’ past strongly to other PCs (usually me, tbh) but they might still be interested in developing a new connection. Either way I get to RP about the Thing more, which is the result I usually want anyway.
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I am all for tying PCs to other PCs. I’m not the most active of people on most mu* I am on but I’m 100% willing for people to tie into my characters. Be it ‘Hey! I saw this thing in your background it is a thing I have too. Can we know each other?’ or ‘Can I be Xtype of relationship with you?’ The only thing I hesitate, mildly, is spouse but even then I’ll give it the old college try.
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I’d love it if someone read the background of one of my characters.
I love running plots around backgrounds and exploring obstacles players want their chars to face.
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I admit I would be bothered if someone, without asking, wrote a shared detail into their background that was unavoidable. If I say my character went to Duke University, I’ll be annoyed if someone shows up with a background saying they were my character’s roommate at Duke University. Minus a discussion, ties to other characters’ backgrounds should be possible connections (we both went to Duke!) not required connections (we lived together for a year!).
It’s definitely always chill to ask, though, imo!
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Just wanted to specify my other comments were about utilizing written background things in STed plots.
I would never ever tie my pc to another via background w/o asking. I’m open to bg ties personally almost always but find people rarely ask. When I ask about a personal bg tie pc to pc I would say its received positively about 80 percent of the time which is pretty good.
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Yeah, I was also confused by the initial question. I think in general there’s enthusiasm for staff making use of PC backgrounds because we’ve already given those people a level of trust, at least to be in the stories they tell. It would never occur to me to include another PC in my bg without asking them (and if I was reviewing a background that mentioned another PC I’d check that they’d been consulted about it).
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@mietze said in When to Include Other Characters' Background:
Just wanted to specify my other comments were about utilizing written background things in STed plots.
I would never ever tie my pc to another via background w/o asking. I’m open to bg ties personally almost always but find people rarely ask. When I ask about a personal bg tie pc to pc I would say its received positively about 80 percent of the time which is pretty good.Oh, yes, I misunderstood - I didn’t realize the question was just as a GM. Yes, as GM of course.
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I love it when someone has read my PC’s background and picked something out that they would like to highlight somewhere, whether it’s in a simple scene or a big plot. I also love being a hook for other people, especially if they have had trouble getting involved in things before.
I think 9 times out of 10 if people are asked they say yes and are thrilled about it. There are always some people who are very protective of the things they’ve written and their PCs arcs and sure, that’s fine. But I think you’ll find most people would just be thrilled to know you found something interesting in their PC design.
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I love getting a little heads up from the staffer, and if it’s something like a mental institution, having them check in on what type of experience my character had there before including the details in the scene. Because like, if my character was in a hellhole of an institution in their BG, but the place is now suddenly professional and neat as a pin and all that (or vice versa) it’s going to throw me off pretty hard.
Other than the check-in and vibe-check, I’m with everyone else in that I love having my character’s BG tied into anything going on on-screen.
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@STD said in When to Include Other Characters' Background:
When do you think it’s appropriate to add details like this to plots? How do you broach the subject to the other players?
I’ve baked it into Silent Heaven that each player automatically gets at least one plot related to their character’s backstory. So that makes it easier for me to ask. Maybe you could give a little blurb in your policies or chargen about how “STs will periodically check your backstory to see if it’s relevant for plot and reach out to you for permission to include it. You don’t need to say yes.”
As a player, I used to be nervous about reaching out to incorporate details into other character’s backstories, but at this point I’ve done it so often that it’s no longer anxiety-inducing and it’s just another part of chargen. If someone says no, no skin off my back. If someone has a tirade, I’ve learned to stay away from them early on in my time there.
Additionally, I used to have anxiety when reaching out to staff, but I’ve done it so often and seen the whole gamut of responses that sending the first message becomes a normal part of the process.
My advice would be to do it a bunch until it feels normal, maybe even repetitive, but stop if that’s just giving you more anxiety.
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So long as you don’t make me write an essay detailing every breath my character has taken up until this point, I’m all for it.
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Hell, I can remember writing this long and involved novels of character backgrounds because that was just…an expected thing in mushing in the early 2000s. And it always the hardest part to get through. I’m very glad that as the years passed more and more games just stopped caring less about that. To which it became more of a situation where “Just write enough to show that you understand the lore/theme and we’ll call it good.”
Nowadays, I have a policy of “Hey, bullet points is perfectly acceptable, but if you want to write more, go nuts. So long as you put some effort in it and not give me three lines of the most vague background ever, you’re gonna be golden.”
I don't know what I'm doing. Poke at Seven Nations sevennations.aresmush.com port 2021
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@Testament said in When to Include Other Characters' Background:
Hell, I can remember writing this long and involved novels of character backgrounds because that was just…an expecting thing in mushing in the early 2000s.
Writing long, involved novels that would then be rejected without so much as a by your leave… >_>
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@STD I do it whenever I can. I feel like it’s part of the fun: the PCs are part of the world, whether they like it or not.
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Thanks to everyone who responded!
To clarify, I was thinking about this in terms of PRPs, so not Staff and not tying backgrounds together, but those are definitely two aspects that I think are worthy of being discussed so my vagueness ended up working out.
It seems like the consensus is that everyone rather likes it (which isn’t surprising, but I just couldn’t make the mental connection myself), but to ask for details first. Which is perfectly sane and reasonable. So I shouldn’t be such a spazz about it and just reach out.
Though it’s also good to know that my neurotic worry is shared at least a little by others.
@Jumpscare said in When to Include Other Characters' Background:
I’ve baked it into Silent Heaven that each player automatically gets at least one plot related to their character’s backstory. So that makes it easier for me to ask. Maybe you could give a little blurb in your policies or chargen about how “STs will periodically check your backstory to see if it’s relevant for plot and reach out to you for permission to include it. You don’t need to say yes.”
My advice would be to do it a bunch until it feels normal, maybe even repetitive, but stop if that’s just giving you more anxiety.
Both of these points are excellent advice.
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@STD Being cognizant of different peoples’ thresholds for consent, when Blu and I were designing Empty Night, we created the idea of Effery, which represents how interested you are in having your character Effed with:
Effery
Magic can do some crazy things, like make you forget that you have a blasting rod, or that you made a deal with a very dangerous person until they complete it. Effery represents how willing you are to allow GMs to mess with your character’s memories, equipment, or history. It can be set to None, Consent, Staff, or Full.
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None: Your character is your character, and within the bounds of ICA=ICC and combat damage, GMs will not alter it.
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Consent: GMs may offer changes to your character’s memories, equipment, or history in plots in exchange for more spotlight time, but you must approve them.
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Staff: Staff GMs may make changes to your character’s memories, equipment, or history in plots in exchange for more spotlight time.
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Full: Staff or Player GMs may make changes to your character’s memories, equipment, or history in plots in exchange for more spotlight time.
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If an advantage is reduced by Effery, the XP will be returned so that the PC may regain the advantage over time.This is a pretty serious theme in the Dresden Files, so we wanted to recognize it and empower it, while still giving people the agency they want over their characters. Maybe something like that, with people explicitly opting in, might be helpful for those worries?
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Something like this is also a good idea. I’ll make a note that should I ever lose my mind completely and actually make a place, I’ll include some kind of ‘levels of background usage’ consent thing.
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Yeah, gonna +1 here on what folks are saying about incorporating player backstories. Most people I know would love to have their PC history come up, it’s a great bit of collaboration and an excuse to get some great melodrama in.
There are only two big things I’d caution about, which amount to either retconning or resolving the PC backstory, which can seem like good ideas but can wind up upsetting players if they’re not handled carefully. (I’ve seen these more often in TT than online, but I think it still holds.)
Retconning is when you drop a big reveal that the PC only thought they knew what happened in their history and there’s some (usually dark) secret going on there. Ranging from your classic “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father” to full-on, like, “your history was actually a Total Recall implant by the bad guy and your life is a lie.” This can actually be really fun! But it’s a big change to the character going forward, and one that people might not appreciate implementing in RP. It’s not something I’d recommend doing without explicit permission from the player; even if it diminishes the impact of the big reveal, it’s just a huge risk unless you know how they’ll take it.
Resolution, meanwhile, can seem like it’s an unambiguously good thing but can actually wind up making a character unusable. The A-Team was sentenced by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit, so if someone offered them a pardon for a job they’d presumably be over the moon… and then if they got it they wouldn’t be the A-Team anymore, they’d just be Some Guys. If my character wants something they don’t have as a fundamental part of their character concept, getting it can be a great plot point that changes the character in an entertaining way that’s great to work through, but if it feels like it happens too fast or too easy it just winds up a letdown at best and makes the PC unplayable at worst. (“Oh, the banishment that forced my PC to leave their old lives behind and fall in with the game’s setting has been rescinded, and they’re free to leave the game and return to their comfortable happy life? I guess they… do… that, then.”)
