Polaris Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 Hiya, When people request 'write ups' on the characters, what do GMs want to know about a player's character? I do not know if that question is very clear... basically, what (other than the character sheet) is helpful to know about a PC to help you develop storylines for that character?" I would think: Background, how they got their powers (in case they may have gotten the powers in a way that may spawn a debt to a corporation or a government agency), their allies, their enemies, their personal info (gender, race, age, etc). Can anyone think of anything else? Polaris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike W Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 Re: Character write ups help I basically make players fill out a questionaire before they ever build the character. It includes personal history(including how all contacts, allies, DNPCs, and enemies fit in), personality, and life outside of their heroic identity(if they have one). This usually requires them to give me 2-3 pages of background info and gets them thinking about the character in a way that doesn't involve the character sheet. We then translate the write up into numbers(a character sheet) and adjust the abilities as needed based on the number of points we have to work with. This has worked good for me in the past because they get more well-developed characters and a "wish list" of things to spend exerience on, and I have a good idea of how to pull the group together and what adventures I can center around different characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philnicau Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 Re: Character write ups help We have a different rule in our group, basically the more info you give the GM on your character the more you own about it, so if you create a detailed origin/background/personality for it then he can,t tamper much with it( without consulting you first) but if you leave any details vague or undefined then he has free rein to include things as he sees fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 Re: Character write ups help We have a different rule in our group' date=' basically the more info you give the GM on your character the more you own about it, so if you create a detailed origin/background/personality for it then he can,t tamper much with it( without consulting you first) but if you leave any details vague or undefined then he has free rein to include things as he sees fit.[/quote'] This is very close to what I do. I don't require any of my players to provide such background information, at least beyond how they got their powers and why they fight crime. As long as those are defined, they are playable. I do like to involve my players character's directly into the plot of the campaigns though. That means taking advantage of their backgrounds and histories, personal lives and such. If they haven't told me something that I need to know, I'll make it up for them. I have two rules regarding this: 1) the player is never obligated to accept any particular bit of history I create and 2) the player must accept something I come up with, or create something himself, needed, without exception. Technically there's a third rule, but it covers everything, not just backgrounds: Everything is mutable. The goal of my games is to have fun, and to entertain ourselves. If something about the game becomes "unfun" we change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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