Forum > General Discussion
Randomly Rolled Backgrounds
Thom @ ICE:
Random elements can successfully be incorporated by using them to determine the aspects listed under #1, then do the rest manually and subjectively. This can often be quite challenging from a roleplaying perspective, but if the challenge is embraced it can work wonders.
Personally, I prefer to go with background concept first - which defines the basics of race, profession, culture, social background and training packages along with the character's family, friends, and personality. Then begin working with players to fill in the rest of the character sheet details, but all details must match back to the background concept. It is not unusual to know who the character's siblings and parents are before knowing what profession he is.
providence13:
--- Quote from: Maeglin on August 26, 2011, 03:03:35 AM ---As a GM I would allow any method of character generation, and only worry about inter party balance and the prospects of the group being able to stay together. I detest the "lone wolf characters".
--- End quote ---
I agree. One of my players who can only sit in on a game at vary random intervals, often brings a different character. I don't mind this as it's not too hard to bring in another person in the group story arc. Lately the characters he brings have been a bit difficult.
Open Door, Psychotic Temper, Wanted Criminal and The Slain. All the same character... "Dude, do not wreck my campaign!" :-\
GrumpyOldFart:
--- Quote from: Grinnen Baeritt on August 26, 2011, 02:43:32 AM ---It does, though I find that the two (profession and the "who") are both equally as important when determining the "why and how" the character gets to "Where" they start being played as characters.
--- End quote ---
Sure, they're equally important, I just find that you get more believable (and really, more playable) characters if you take them in sequence. It doesn't necessarily cut down on the power gaming, but it does force the power gamer to define that character's obsessiveness that lead to those choices. Basically just as the GM has to have a "story logic" he adheres to, sometimes resulting in new house rules, in the same way the player has to have "character concept logic" that sometimes results in his making choices the pure power gamer would find less than optimal, but the character concept wouldn't make any sense without them.
Which is why I'm cool with randomly generated character background elements, as long as the player can assemble them into something that makes enough sense to him that he can explain it to me.
--- Quote from: providence13 on August 26, 2011, 08:05:11 AM ---I agree. One of my players who can only sit in on a game at vary random intervals, often brings a different character. I don't mind this as it's not too hard to bring in another person in the group story arc. Lately the characters he brings have been a bit difficult.
Open Door, Psychotic Temper, Wanted Criminal and The Slain. All the same character... "Dude, do not wreck my campaign!" :-\
--- End quote ---
Exactly. If you make him actually define the mental and social wreck that produced these choices, and then further made him explain how this wreck came to be adventuring, whether or not he'd be allowed in any town anywhere at all, etc, things become a lot clearer, for both you and him.
A lot of the characters pure power gamers come up with can't logically fit into any adventure scenario that's not a party of one. And most of the time if they have to define a person to go with those numbers, they see that for themselves.
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