Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dragondm6 04-18-06, 06:33 PM	On my most recent campaign that I started, I gave each PC a piece of paper containing information about the world that only their character knows. This way it helps with role playing and realistic interactions between characters. For example... if they are deciding to travel by sea or by foot, one might object that the sea is full of Ghost Ships which have recently caused a lot of chaos to the trade ships. Without that little tid bit of information, their decision to travel by sea or by foot would have been arbitrary. It also helps with quests that they want to pursue on their own, since one character may know of a huge treasure- he might tell the rest of the party of its where-abouts and the legends that go along with it. I also included in that paper 1 sentence describing a vague detail of their characters past. As a DM the PC's character is the last thing I should touch, but it also helps with character development and gives them a potential reason as to why they chose the path of being an adventurer. I did announce that they could allow it to affect their character as much or as little as they would like. This way they can develop the story or create their own. What do you guys think? Would you do it to, or do your characters research into the world on their own?
Dragondm6 04-18-06, 06:35 PM	In case you were wondering, the results have been perfect. The results have been astounding... they loved the info that I gave them about the world, they seem to talk about places as if they've been there before, and the sentence about their past worked out extremely well. One PC took his history to heart and tracked down his past to find that his father had left him an inheritence (with a magical item) that he needed to overcome the leader of an assassins guild that had been hunting him down.
JaiaDrottsingr 04-18-06, 07:16 PM	Sounds like something my second to oldest brother would do. Always works wonders doesn't it?
elliottan 04-19-06, 10:10 AM	that sounds like a wonderful idea. I agree about not wanting to touch the PC's if possible, because you do want them to be personal for the players, you don't want to give them a character to play that they have little interest in, but for newbie's or the uncreative types, giving them a little background would be very helpful and if done right, could be the hook factor.
dan1234 04-19-06, 07:13 PM	I like the info ideal, but I would not give them background info. It's up to them to create there background, well I think so at less... So the past is up to them (but the DM should know and agree about it), but they should create it.
JaiaDrottsingr 04-19-06, 07:33 PM	Unless one of them has amnesia, which would make an excellent start of a novel. "Where am I? Who am I?"