Welcome to our community newsletter. Imagine those ~ tilde marks represent the hot specials, and we have three of them for you. But first…
How are you, readers? Whatever your answer and regardless of what you’re facing, I hope this newsletter brings you a bit of reset from any troubling news.
Here's what we'll cover today:
Special 1: Luke Saunders of Murkdice joins us a special guest writer. Subscribe to his substack: Murkmail. If you’re looking for gaming insight that doesn’t pull any punches, Luke’s newsletter is perfect and highly recommended.
Special 2: Sean Ringrose and Andrew Stauffer of SRAS Games are also special guests who share insights on how to make good use of character backstories.
We’re going into week 4 of the “make a game with me” series. I feel stuck.
Now, as always, here’s my intro gif:
I’m K.J. - hobbyist writer, creator, long-time GM and player who loves supporting others in the RPG community. I also playtest and proofread scenarios. I enjoy playing bass guitar and eating dark chocolate but not simultaneously.
I started Watch Well Games at the end of 2023 to build a community around the hobby we have in common - RPGs. Join me as I share what I learn along the way.
I Asked Luke, and He Said…
How can GMs incorporate characters’ backstories that players bring to the table? I first asked Luke Saunders of Murkdice to share his perspective.
The Problem
This one’s for the GMs. If you’re a player, this is an empathy exercise - take a walk in your GM’s shoes.
How do you weave player character backstories into pre-written modules? I’ve seen lots of suggestions on how to do this - most miss this key strategy.
Do not let your players write backstory undirected when running a module.
Having to weave in players’ theme-incompatible drivel is painful for GMs. ~that’s right, I said it~ You’re having to add in and flesh out player generated details (e.g. backstory NPCs) to something that is pre-written. The whole point of using a module is so you don’t have to write stuff!
For your own sanity, you need to direct how players make their backstories and the ‘assets’ (locations, NPCs etc.) that they are connected to. Tie the player characters into the core of the module, rather than bolting-on disconnected ideas.
Does this restrict players? Yes.
Is it better? Yes!
Constraints feed creativity.
How to weave backstory in?
Weaving is making a backstory relevant to the situation.
To weave backstory in, we need motivations.What does a player character want? What are their goals and why? This is the critical stuff because it drives a character to engage in the situation a module presents.
Convey the situation the module presents to the players e.g. investigating a series of murders. What are the themes of the module? 1940’s noir, grizzled law enforcement professionals. Now you’ve figured this out, cut to the core of it. Why is their character investigating a series of murders?
An example motivation: they knew one of the victims (a close friend), and now it’s personal, they begged to be moved onto the case. Don’t make up a new victim. Use a victim from the module. The motivation doesn’t need to be long, a paragraph or bullet points.
Player characters can have the same motivations if you want to tie them closer together or give them a pre-built starting point. E.g. each character had a relationship with this victim.
This should be 90% of your player-GM backstory discussion, and should fit with the themes of the module ~no Dan, you can’t play a sleazy salesperson who has no reason to be here in this DETECTIVE game~.
Adding More
You can include a side motivation if you like. You could use broad strokes e.g. needing money because you are broke which would shape how a character behaves generally. Or better, make it relevant to another ongoing situation. They are convinced another detective is corrupt and want to prove it.
~Bonus points if this will conflict with the character’s main motivation.~
What about more details though? There’s two angles here. We could look at the module and gather NPCs, locations, etc. and tie the PCs to them through disconnected experiences. “I know this bar, I hung out here when my husband left me.” These are… fine. But you know what’s better? Details tied to motivations.
The player character knew one of the victims. Did they know the victim’s family? Bingo. The victim’s father is an NPC in the module, they can have a relationship with the character. Maybe the character promised them they would catch the killer.
The place where the victim died? The diner across the street from it is where the character and the victim used to have coffee together. When they search the victim’s house, the character knows it well. And then, when something unexpected is discovered about the victim, that has a lot of weight for this character.
~Now we’re cooking with gas.~
Summary
The recipe:
Convey the module’s themes and the situation it presents to the players.
Work with players to craft characters with short, sharp motivations that tie into the situation and fit the themes.
(Optional) Work with players on a side motivation.
(Optional) Add detail to motivations that further connect to the situation.
Remember, don’t make more content. Use what’s in the module. Save yourself the time and pain!
And that’s it, a neat way to get player backstories woven into a pre-written module. Try it out and let me know how it goes!
Two of My Other Pocket Quest Peers Said…
Sean Ringrose and Andrew Stauffer of SRAS Games also shared their collective insight also on how GMs can work with players to utilize character backstories. Very useful guidance here.
Part of the fun of tabletop role playing games (ttRPGs) for many players is coming up with a fun backstory for their character. What did they do in life before starting the campaign, what events led them to where they start off the game, what has shaped them into the character they are now? Some players will write between a few paragraphs and a few pages worth of story, while others will be sparse on details if any are provided.
The role of the Dungeon Master is to facilitate the story the group is collectively telling, and integrating the player characters’ backstories into the ongoing story helps to engage the players and make their character feel more connected to the things happening in the world of the game. Any details the player adds to their backstory happened before the players collect into a group. It isn’t yet part of the collective story of the group, but once you bring those details into the story and give them a chance to have a real impact, it makes those backstory elements more meaningful.
First off, the player characters need at least a few backstory elements for you to work with. Some players will write a lot of details, some will not write much. Some will have ideas but not write them down themselves. Having a Session Zero before you start your campaign is a great opportunity to get players to work on some backstory elements if they hadn’t already. You can also gauge their level of interest in having their backstory integrated into the ongoing story.
I loved the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount campaign setting, which adds a whole process you can work through to fill in background details for your character to integrate them into the world setting, and it even gives loads of hooks for the DM. You get roll tables for allies and rivals, mysterious events and meaningful moments that become hooks for the DM to bring up later.
Even without a set of roll tables for the setting, you can still ask your players for a few details that can become hooks. Family, rivals, something that interested the character, a meaningful event, a past profession or activity, or anything.
On a segment of a Critical Role show where they talk about playing the campaign, the DM, Matt Mercer, said that he reads through all of the character backstories and keeps notes about each of them. He’ll ask himself questions about the character, and look for opportunities to answer those questions as the campaign unfolds.
Once you have some hooks, you need to make room for those hooks to integrate. If you are the kind of DM who likes to plan all the details ahead of time, or if you are running a pre-made module with all the details mapped out for you, this might seem tricky, but the solution really isn’t hard. Remake a character on the fly. The module might call for a human merchant with a bland personality to be the shopkeeper, but your player has a backstory element about a run-in with a short goblin merchant they owe money to… Toss the bland human merchant and instead have the goblin rival be who they encounter. The party will never know about the bland NPC they didn’t meet, but that one character will have an entirely different experience meeting the goblin from their backstory. Plus, now the party is involved and can get drawn into the action. You can do this with official modules and campaign arcs just as well as homebrew, and especially if you insert one-shot modules into the campaign those NPCs are probably disconnected anyway. Every single interaction with an NPC shouldn’t need to be an opportunity for this, but if there is a backstory element you can bring in, and it would make the story better, bring it in.
Listen to your players. Whether it is in-character conversation or above-the-table discussion, players will talk about their own suspicions and theories of what might be going on. They might pick up on a detail that makes them think of a backstory element, even if you did not plan it that way. As the players speculate, consider if changing what was planned into confirming their speculation, would be more interesting for the story. In a three and a half year, almost weekly meetings, Star Wars Force & Destiny campaign I was a player in, there were several occasions where we as players would speculate, and the Game Master decided to change his plan to fit our speculations because it was cooler or more interesting than what he had expected the plan to be. We all loved seeing the speculation come true, and laughed when he told us that he changed it on the fly because our crazy musings were better.
If you are more loosely planning the story arc, it is even easier to leave room for those details to fit in. Organize the hooks from your players’ backstories into a format you can more easily keep track of, along with your campaign notes.
Tabletop Role Playing Games are ultimately about collaborative storytelling. Some of the story is away from the table, during the character creation process in the form of a backstory. The backstory stays in the background until you bring elements of it into the foreground as part of the story the players encounter together. Memorable moments can be created by including characters, events, or circumstances from one character’s backstory for the whole group to encounter. The most interesting story is the one you tell together as a group.
Here's this week's free maps from Schlau of Light in Darkness Gaming:
Schlau has done it again! If you’re in need of a circular-shaped dungeon map, he’s got you covered. Filled with golden light, a partially crumbled wall, and here is both a gridded and gridless option for you to choose from.
If you have trouble accessing these or missed any free maps:
Use this Dropbox link. (Note: Dropbox does not require an account or sharing your personal data. Simply select the option to go directly to the download.)
If you use any of Schlau’s maps, drop us comment below. How did you use them and what RPG was played?
I was invited to proofread the English version of Karkion #2 - a Dragonbane supplement written by Nicklas Brandin, Tomas Brattström, and Thomas Ulfström.
In this issue, you will find:
Some new Heroic Abilities
Throwing weapons
The new magic school of Illusionism
The adventure location: an inn known as “The Blue Lute"
The Treasure Chest: a large number of items for the various professions
Two new NPCs from the Valley of Mists: The Copper Knight and Orvar Stonefoot
The new monster Basilisk Lizard
The new kin Stonefolk
The adventure "An Ale to Kill For"
I highly recommend this fanzine that’s dedicated entirely to Dragonbane. If you missed out on the first issue, you’re in luck, as it is also available on DTRPG. These supplements are in Swedish and English, so select whichever you prefer. You can also enjoy my interview with the creators by clicking on the last button on the list below:
I make a game in front of you the audience. Wow. This week flew by.
How it feels to be at my desk right now working on the newsletter and reaching the “make a game with me” section:
What else can I say?
Status Update for week 4:
Name for the game: —
Character sheets: —
Character creation: —
Starting point (known as The Main Frame): —
Roll tables (for obstacles, challenges, etc.): —
Other essential game mechanics: —
Artwork: —
I’m sure there’s more, so just for good measure: —
Disappointing? A little. Common? Yes. Is it quitting time? Absolutely not!
Decide on for Week 5:
Usually, there’s a list of questions here. Not this time around. The only question we need to answer for next week seems to be this:
How do I progess on every bulletpoint listed above?
I’d like to know what other creators have done when you’ve found the passing of time get the better of your plans or when you’ve felt mentally depleted of any fresh ideas.
That’s all for this time! Remember:
Support human creators and writers. Buy their games, play their games, leave a kind review, then let others know about the games. As always, thanks for joining me! Newsletters are always free, so spread the good word.
Make a game
Name : Self Aware?
Character stats:
CPU - INT
GPU - STR
Backups - CON
RAM - DEX
REM - Wiz
BUS - Speed
FIRMWARE - HIT POINTS
SOFTWARE - SKILLS
Scaled 1-10
Get 30 to 40 points to spend on them.
Firm ware - charisma