LogFAQs > #905238701

shadowsword87 posted...

You are really defining a lot about the PC before even asking the player

How so?

I can see it in the sense of implying they're descended from an ancient race or essentially casting them in the role of "Chosen One", but I think the latter is narratively inevitable (and preferable as well) if you're doing any sort of story with a solo hero anyway. And as for the former, I don't think any DM should feel constrained to add elements of backstory to a character without explicit player approval.

Like, I wouldn't say "Oh by the way, your character was kidnapped and held hostage for three weeks as a child", because that's forcing characterization onto their specific PC, but I'd have no qualms with having them discover (whether true or false) evidence that implies that one of their ancestors was part of a demon cult, and that some aspect of their evil shenanigans is going to come back to haunt the PC (whether that be a curse, or an unfulfilled blood pact that applies across generations, or even some sort of "you're the only one who can reverse the evil thing they did and save the world" scenario).

About the only thing I can think of being "defined" for the player is that their characters clearly live in a setting that has some mysterious Progenitor race who have left behind ruins, and that the flavor of the game would have sci-fi-ish elements due to magi-tek, but those aren't things I would assume most DMs would ever discuss in advance with their players anyway (outside of vague discussions about genre), or otherwise feel the need to seek approval for.

I suppose I'm also assuming the character would find these things and actually keep/use them, but honestly, that's pretty inherent in the PC mindset regardless. If you're not making a character who is willing to go on adventures and recklessly use magic items found in tombs, are you really playing D&D at all?



shadowsword87 posted...

and the characteristics that you're giving them straight up negates certain archetypes.

Which characteristics do you feel I'm giving them, and which archetypes do you see them negating?

Again, from my perspective, I'm not really forcing any characteristics on a PC at all, apart from possible "Chosen One" or "descendant of someone or something important", and those are so nebulously vague I can see them applying to almost any other archetype anyway. Especially since players can always have their characters embrace their destiny with both hands, outright refuse to accept it., or just sort of cautiously try to feel out precisely what it means to them and how they need to deal with it.

(And even then, their connection to the technology could literally be as loose as "my great-grandfather accidentally stumbled across this ring in a ruin when he was a young adventurer, and now that it's passed to me I just coincidentally happened to be wearing it in precisely the right place at the right time for luck to allow me to benefit from it in a way no one else ever has - at least not that is historically known." You don't need to rely on Fate, Destiny, or "the Will of the Force" to justify it when "It could have been anyone, it just happened to be you" is a viable alternative.)

Everything else is mostly just a case of feeling out which way the story goes and adapting to it afterward. If the PC just sells their magic ring and floating heal ball to the first merchant they find and use the coin to open an inn, then fuck it, the game just devolves into inn management simulator.


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