What setting background and history do you hate?
A negative companion thread to the Best backstories.
Shoot, I started typing only to realize it was campaign setting backstories, not character backstories. I had a doozy to share.
Well for campaigns: ancient extinct powerful aliens in space operas. I just don't buy it most of the time. If your technologically god-like race has the ability to travel faster than light and colonize multiple planets I have trouble accepting that any of the traditionally presented catastrophes* could wipe out ALL of them everywhere in the galaxy. Also, it just feels like an unimaginative excuse to set up crawls for "Dungeons and Dragons in space" rather than something more organically science fiction.
* War, disease, technology run amok, nihilism
_______________ killed my ______________________
*-Unless it involves: Thulsa Doom or Count Rugen.
Quote from: Zachary The First;756155_______________ killed my ______________________
*-Unless it involves: Thulsa Doom or Count Rugen.
Thulsa Doom is a busy guy.
Quote from: Shipyard Locked;756147Well for campaigns: ancient extinct powerful aliens in space operas. I just don't buy it most of the time. If your technologically god-like race has the ability to travel faster than light and colonize multiple planets I have trouble accepting that any of the traditionally presented catastrophes* could wipe out ALL of them everywhere in the galaxy. Also, it just feels like an unimaginative excuse to set up crawls for "Dungeons and Dragons in space" rather than something more organically science fiction.
Heh, reminds me of the twist at the end of the old computer game Starflight.
"My race is traditionally bad guys, but I'm the special snowflake example who rejects their tenets and as such I am an outcast from all societies. Woe is me! Ahem...I SAID 'WOE IS ME'*!"
...
*="Pay attention to my character!"
"I'm not a bad guy, I'm a sad guy! Oh, I am so misunderstood... why you thwart my genocides?"
"I'm a Snake Plisskin clone who exists solely to go solo and screw the party."
Quote from: jeff37923;756163"I'm a Snake Plisskin clone who exists solely to go solo and screw the party."
Oh gods yes that's annoying. I always loved the
7th Sea guide's snarky jabs at this type of character.
Rifts.
Anything where socialism works.
"You have amnesia."
Rifts.
Quote from: Shipyard Locked;756147Shoot, I started typing only to realize it was campaign setting backstories, not character backstories. I had a doozy to share.
Share it anyway, you've got me curious and people are using this thread for PC backstories too anyway. ;)
Isn't this just a list of 13th Age characters? :D
Quote from: One Horse Town;756222Isn't this just a list of 13th Age characters? :D
If so, make sure they've picked their name from the approved list.
The amnesia one! Classic.
oh!! Amnesia and there are BBEGs out to get you and you don't know why, and that will become apparent during the game.
You are the last of your race, or so you think.
Anything involving being chosen for something beyond appearing in the adventure laid on by the GM.
Forgotten Realms - It's so utterly boring, aimless, non-distinct, generic, and limiting at the same time.
I dont think the actual backstory is bad. But the setting seems forced and railroady, Dragonlance.
Quote from: Warthur;756221Share it anyway, you've got me curious and people are using this thread for PC backstories too anyway. ;)
Well alright...
Me: So I see you're contemplating a mongrelfolk character. Interesting choice, but hey I'm open to it if the backstory's good. Whatcha got?
Potential New Player: *with flashing lascivious interest in his eyes* Well my mother was gang-raped by a mixed-race crime syndicate of animal people and all the sperm combined to make me!
Me: ... I... wha-... that's not how that works!
No longer Potential New Player: Oh, well one of them was half-demon, so it was the demon sperm that made them all fuse. Also, that's why I'll have a few demon powers if you're ok with it.
Me: I don't think I'll be ok with anything ever again.
Subverting commonly held concepts, whether in setting or as a character.
Quote from: One Horse Town;756222Isn't this just a list of 13th Age characters? :D
Ouch!
Quote from: Opaopajr;756162"I'm not a bad guy, I'm a sad guy! Oh, I am so misunderstood... why you thwart my genocides?"
Heh, I once played a dude whose backstory was "killed his family, wanted to construct a killer robot army". That was, like, it.
He ended up getting his spine punched out while protecting his few friends from some power-armoured maniacs; the GM offered me the opportunity of him surviving somehow, but fuck it, that seemed like a good end, and I couldn't think of anything else to do with the character.
"Uh, the Exalted game is down the hall and to the left."
Quote from: Shipyard Locked;756278Well alright...
Me: So I see you're contemplating a mongrelfolk character. Interesting choice, but hey I'm open to it if the backstory's good. Whatcha got?
Potential New Player: *with flashing lascivious interest in his eyes* Well my mother was gang-raped by a mixed-race crime syndicate of animal people and all the sperm combined to make me!
Me: ... I... wha-... that's not how that works!
No longer Potential New Player: Oh, well one of them was half-demon, so it was the demon sperm that made them all fuse. Also, that's why I'll have a few demon powers if you're ok with it.
Me: I don't think I'll be ok with anything ever again.
Quote from: jeff37923;756163"I'm a Snake Plisskin clone who exists solely to go solo and screw the party."
Yes! I played with a guy who had that character. Every other line he spoke was tinged with a "Don't F--K with me!" vibe.
Neath Sanslight: the only Darkness mage who couldn't cast a darkness spell. (True, we were always joking about that.)
Good player, but an annoying, edgy character. He was the one responsible for my martial arts guy, Peng, being captured by the bad guys and his body possessed by an evil spirit which led to his maiming.
For characters, it is usually not the idea of a background that is problematic, but its execution. I have no problem with a character with amnesia (in twenty years of gaming, I saw this exactly once and it was a decent chearacter), or a character driven by revenge (even though that is a way overused motivation in my book), as long as the player put some effort in playing the part and make the background interesting. There is no character background worse than no character background. Seriously. Even the most trite and overused tropes are far superior to a blank slate.
When it comes to settings, I have a strong dislike for settings that are just weird for the ake of weirdness. The worst I ever had the misfortune to play was Reign.
Quote from: robiswrong;756158Heh, reminds me of the twist at the end of the old computer game Starflight.
I loved that game!
Quote from: fuseboy;757408I loved that game!
Dang, I missed that quote. Loved Starflight, one of my all-time favorite computer games. Starflight 2 was pretty good too. Why can't they make games like that anymore? Those '80s games are superior to most of what came out in the past 10 years.
Quote from: Doughdee222;757413Dang, I missed that quote. Loved Starflight, one of my all-time favorite computer games. Starflight 2 was pretty good too. Why can't they make games like that anymore? Those '80s games are superior to most of what came out in the past 10 years.
I think it's hard to be objective about that sort of stuff. Starflight and Ultima II-V were formative games for me - they're treasured memories, but I experienced them when I had little to compare them against. The graphics suck, of course, but the investment in exploring and mastering a world unfolds inside the brain. Surely there are similar games now that have at least that depth and size, but substantially better graphics as well, no?
Quote from: fuseboy;757421I think it's hard to be objective about that sort of stuff. Starflight and Ultima II-V were formative games for me - they're treasured memories, but I experienced them when I had little to compare them against. The graphics suck, of course, but the investment in exploring and mastering a world unfolds inside the brain. Surely there are similar games now that have at least that depth and size, but substantially better graphics as well, no?
I wish I had had
Ultima IV back when I would have been able to put up with its limitations. Of all the video games I regret not growing up with, that's number 1. Its moral component just sounds so fascinating and atypical for its time (and even now to an extent).
Quote from: Ladybird;757211Heh, I once played a dude whose backstory was "killed his family, wanted to construct a killer robot army". That was, like, it.
What, like on a dare?
Quote from: Beagle;757315For characters, it is usually not the idea of a background that is problematic, but its execution. I have no problem with a character with amnesia (in twenty years of gaming, I saw this exactly once and it was a decent chearacter), or a character driven by revenge (even though that is a way overused motivation in my book), as long as the player put some effort in playing the part and make the background interesting. There is no character background worse than no character background. Seriously. Even the most trite and overused tropes are far superior to a blank slate.
When it comes to settings, I have a strong dislike for settings that are just weird for the ake of weirdness. The worst I ever had the misfortune to play was Reign.
DM: so, AJ, tell us about your character.
AJ: She's a Dwarven thief.
DM: what's her name?
AJ: she's got a long dagger...actually, it's a short sword but she calls it a dagger-
DM: okay, what's she like?
AJ: She likes to build rock falls to kill guys, because dwarves like rock and she likes easy money
DM: what's her alignment?
AJ: neutral, so she can do anything she wants.
DM: but have you named her?
AJ: she wears a cloak like in Assassin's Creed...
God damn, tell me about the CHARACTER
Anything requiring more than four sentences/bullet points to describe.
Quote from: Beagle;757315
There is no character background worse than no character background. Seriously. Even the most trite and overused tropes are far superior to a blank slate.
This, all day.
Quote from: Scott Anderson;757488What, like on a dare?
No, he murdered them because he was homicidal and violent. You'd have to be crazy to murder your family on a dare.
Hey, I never said it was a good backstory.
Quote from: Shipyard Locked;756278Well alright...
Me: So I see you're contemplating a mongrelfolk character. Interesting choice, but hey I'm open to it if the backstory's good. Whatcha got?
Potential New Player: *with flashing lascivious interest in his eyes* Well my mother was gang-raped by a mixed-race crime syndicate of animal people and all the sperm combined to make me!
Me: ... I... wha-... that's not how that works!
No longer Potential New Player: Oh, well one of them was half-demon, so it was the demon sperm that made them all fuse. Also, that's why I'll have a few demon powers if you're ok with it.
Me: I don't think I'll be ok with anything ever again.
That's the kind of player I want at my table.
VS
Quote from: VengerSatanis;757730That's the kind of player I want at my table.
VS
Take that kind of player. The more we concentrate those of you who wallow in the foul, vile and depraved elements of the hobby into a few groups, the easier it is for the rest of us to avoid your games.
Quote from: Armchair Gamer;757800Take that kind of player. The more we concentrate those of you who wallow in the foul, vile and depraved elements of the hobby into a few groups, the easier it is for the rest of us to avoid your games.
Yeah.
VS
Quote from: Beagle;757315[/B] Seriously. Even the most trite and overused tropes are far superior to a blank slate.
GM: What'S the character like
Player: Oh, I will make it up as I go along
Later.....
GM: (thinking) Hold on, isn't this exactly the same character this person played in the lat game, and the one before and the one before that... Oh my. The Chaotic Stupid Misanthrope is here to take us to his Magical Realm.
Players who revert to type, regardless of character or campaign. They NEED pregens and strongly determined back story to avoid the un-fun they might bring.
Quote from: BarefootGaijin;757834GM: What'S the character like
Player: Oh, I will make it up as I go along
Later.....
GM: (thinking) Hold on, isn't this exactly the same character this person played in the lat game, and the one before and the one before that... Oh my. The Chaotic Stupid Misanthrope is here to take us to his Magical Realm.
Players who revert to type, regardless of character or campaign. They NEED pregens and strongly determined back story to avoid the un-fun they might bring.
as a GM I've learned that creating some back story should be part of every character generation session. It could be random rolling, choosing from a list of options, or just making stuff up, but something needs to happen. There should be space on the character sheet for motivation, personality, personal history... something.
VS
Quote from: BarefootGaijin;757834GM: What'S the character like
Player: Oh, I will make it up as I go along
Later.....
GM: (thinking) Hold on, isn't this exactly the same character this person played in the lat game, and the one before and the one before that... Oh my. The Chaotic Stupid Misanthrope is here to take us to his Magical Realm.
Players who revert to type, regardless of character or campaign. They NEED pregens and strongly determined back story to avoid the un-fun they might bring.
Been there, done that. Unfortunately it doesn't always work. I've had players that were so set on playing their type that any character, even pregens morphed into it over time. It was amusing (in a creepy way or creepy in an amusing way) to imagine it taking place in game. Like some kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers/Possession riff.
Quote from: Ladybird;757619No, he murdered them because he was homicidal and violent. You'd have to be crazy to murder your family on a dare.
.
Unless your family turned into a bunch of rampaging lycanthropes.
Quote from: BarefootGaijin;757834GM: What'S the character like
Player: Oh, I will make it up as I go along
Later.....
GM: (thinking) Hold on, isn't this exactly the same character this person played in the lat game, and the one before and the one before that... Oh my. The Chaotic Stupid Misanthrope is here to take us to his Magical Realm.
Players who revert to type, regardless of character or campaign. They NEED pregens and strongly determined back story to avoid the un-fun they might bring.
I'm not sure that pregenerated characters are such a good solution; instead of offering some sort of orientation for a player to create a background that might work better in the context of the group, you just make them do less. Blablabla, loss of agency, fewer responsibilities, no learning by doing...
I think the best way to "solve" this issue is a game with a decent lifepath character creation system or some other random elements thrown in. Making the character background generation some sort of halfway entertaining activity or even a game might be more encouraging and in the end, be more productive: You get players who can write their own non-embarassing or disruptive background stories, and you don't have to waste any time on generating some pregens no one actually wants to play.