How to Integrate Player Character Backstories into your D&D Campaign

[@woahitscorrina]

I'd love a series on DMing for certain classes. "How to run a warlock patron, how to run a druid circle"

[@Crouch_Potato]

I second this! And while we're at it, I'd love advice for the characters that don't have an outside source of inspiration, like fighters or barbarians. Just ways to help bring them into the narrative beyond just saying "you got paid to do this" or "avenging a family member".

[@primemadis]

yes, i need this

[@Marabcd315]

@@Crouch_Potato I would say for pure martials like fighters, barbs, etc. the best questions to ask would be "how did you learn to fight like this? did anyone teach you? why is it something you chose to learn?" and others like that help to ground your character in the world the same way that something like a patron or clerical order would

[@darcraven01]

so "how to make subclasses more than just a name" group i was running with had a warlock (goo) and i was running a blood hunter. we got to lvl 3 and i took profane soul. we had discussed me making contact with his patron and striking a bargan as to explain how i got my subclass (and also to explain how i "deepened my connection" and took a lvl of warlock). it.. didnt really translate to the situation in the campaign too well (we kinda leveled faster than expected) so we kinda just had my proximity to him cause me to see random weird visions which more or less bound me to the patron. dm wasnt really involved thoygh we did let them know of what was going on so it didnt take them by surprise. it was more of a sideplot we were running

[@Calebgoblin]

Liking this idea! Good call

[@mardshima2070]

My method: 1. Tell your player rough idea/theme of your campaign. 2. Ask them their character backstory. 3. Build the story of your campaign around or even based on their backstories (don't tell them that you actually had no idea what the campaign story going to be about) 😅.

[@storytime7408]

I was the GM, the player was a scocerer. In their backstory, their hand was maimed in a fighting pit arean when he was a essencially a slave. Sorcerer wrote his opponent Zabais as his sworn enemy. Fast forward, paty needs to head back to the town on the outskirts of civilization to get a mcguffin from a pirate. Sorcerer comes face to face with Zabias. Zabias sys "Boss say fight, I fight. Boss says break a hand, I break a hand. If I lose, I could end up in the ground. If I win, I go back to my cell. I may have done that to your hand, but it was never anything personal" Sorcerer decided in that moment not to press a fight, but instead attempt a rescue and kill the pit fighting boss. The true nemisis of his backstory. It was truly a highlight from my second GMing campaign ever (and first with this amazing group of people)

[@fishsticxz]

here before they fix the title. excited to watch this! just started a new campaign with my players, this will no doubt be an informational video

[@PresidentMystry]

Yo same

[@GoldfishEmpire]

Am I same too?

[@FirstnameLastname-bp2pg]

For clarifying future watchers, the original title was How to Integrated Player Character Backstories into your D&D Campaign.

[@revgizmo]

30 minutes and still here in time

[@fuzzborne]

I for one am very excited to find out how to Integrated Player Characters personally.

[@eman_ggs]

One thing that I think is super important is making sure you have enough time between character creation and session 1 to talk to the PCs about their ideas and tweak things to integrate them more into the world. I had 1 month between these prior to my current campaign and was able to tweak a few existing factions and plot ideas to revolve around the PCs backstories.

[@eman_ggs]

Note: you don't necessarily need this much time, this is largely dependent on number of players and how much you like to prepare

[@matthewparker9276]

You also don't necessarily have to have this finalised before session 1. The first few sessions let you get a feel for your character and changes can be made based on this experience.

[@chrisg8989]

If you resolve the character back story early, thats great. Now the the player has options. Either keep going with that character, using the team mentality, or retire that charater and make a new one! Options are great.

[@matthewparker9276]

Something I heard the other day is to ask players for an Ally, Bystander, and Nemesis npc. Ally, the person who always has their back and will help when asked. Bystander, someone who can help when asked, but usually has a price or something they want in return. Nemesis, a character that isnt necessarily antagonistic, but usually introduces difficulties for the pc whenever they show up.

[@fiascothe63rd]

A couple games (Blades in the Dark comes to mind) have something like that built into their character sheets, and I've always found that really useful. It creates more interesting opportunities for NPC interactions when each player brings a couple concepts of people their character already knows to the table.

[@samburchard9921]

In my campaigns I ask for a dependent, an ally and an enemy. Then I put all or most of the enemies together in a rival adventuring party. This really riles up the players and the PC's.

[@grahamobrien6531]

One of my players had a backstory of being a warlock to a great old one who was sent to bring it to the material plane. Spent the whole campaign being not so subtle about not being exactly normal saying things like she was a "regular land human". The artificer was always suspicious but could never confirm. And about to play the final session with the entity just being summoned and the player having to decide if she's on the party side or world ending evil side.

[@wayneslater5531]

Thumbs up for Darkwing! Love the shirt Kelly!

[@Deafwing]

Let’s get dangerous!

[@elizabethlee2136]

Daring Duck of mystery. Champion of right...

[@fightingfalcon777]

One of the best uses I have seen for DM inclusion of backstory NPCs was during one of my D&D groups’ Rime of the Frostmaiden campaigns. As part of my backstory, I had told the DM about three past loves of my Aasimar Paladin: two old girlfriends and one old boyfriend. The boyfriend had left their village to study as a Bard. Around the time we were playing Rime of the Frostmaiden, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft came out which included the College of Spirits Bard. As we were traveling through the Ten Towns, we got to the point in the game where you can meet with the ghost the White Lady. In a brilliant move, my DM surprised me by having my Paladin’s old boyfriend be at the inn near where you meet the White Lady and made it so that as part of his performance, he summoned the White Lady as part of a seance/solo concert. It was a brilliant move

[@WinningSidekick]

Re: 18:10, even if someone's personal plot being resolved leads to them wanting to retire a character, that doesn't have to be a bad thing! If the player no longer feels motivated to play a character whose personal plot is fulfilled, it should be fine to just retire them and make a new one that is motivated to follow along with the main plot. If the worst case scenario is that the PC gets NPCd and the player picks up a new character, that's not really all that bad, is it? Of course it's better if they feel invested enough in the main plot to go on, but rerolling isn't the end of the world.

[@WraithfireVT]

just starting a new campaign - we’re 3 sessions in so this came out at a perfect time!’

[@DoingMyBest_Steph]

"Disney movies lied to you - sorry." My goodness, how I love Monty.

[@bcaiko]

Kelly is the terror that flaps in the night! Also looks good in purple.

[@solar4planeta923]

Running a Drakkenheim campaign now for four players, and they each have backstories I am weaving in. To give myself a little time I put the continuation of two of those backstories inside the city walls... I didn't want everything to come to fruition in the same scene!

[@321guyver]

DM'd a Descent into Avernus game (completed!) and had a noble background Tiefling Paladin. He did not say why or how he was a Tiefling. So I eventually did 3 things with this character: - Made his family (Nobles of Baldur's Gate) a secret clan of Vampire/Demon hunters (aka Belmonts) and his badass mother had been cursed by a demon before she killed it in the past. - He came across a Sun Blade, that noted it looked like it had a blade in it before, where his family ended up having the blade and his grandfather had used it as a holy avenger. Through nat 1 shenanigans and not thinking ahead (it turned off, so he dropped it), the sunblade was stolen by a Vampire for a bit, so he used the blade for a while until he reunited the two halves, which I then homebrewed a UBER sword that was a mix of the Sun Blade and Holy Avenger called the "Sword of Pelor". (they were a party of 3 who had to fight Tiamat) - During the finding of Zariel's sword in Avernus, he was specifically drawn to it, and once he grasped it, very much like it does to Zariel if She takes it back up (which they convinced her to do so), his Tiefling blood was cleansed from his body and he became an Assimar instead. Did some cool shit for the other 2 players characters too, but his was the only one that fell into the Avernus plotline for the most part ( I homebrewed some stuff after it, leading to Tiamat almost being completely summoned)

[@LucasCitulsky]

I really needed to know how to integrated players backstory’s, thanks dudes! Also love the content, keep up the good advice guys

[@meadehumble3875]

In my friend's homebrew campaign I played a rabbitfolk (before Harengons were a thing) who constantly dreamed of the moon. She believed they were prophetic doomsday dreams, and her personal quest was to keep everyone safe from the evil that would come from the moon - going so far as to take the surname "Moonwatcher". I left it up to the GM to determine if she was mad or not! And if she wasn't crazy, it was up to them what form that doom would take. They ran totally wild with it and put the BBEG on the moon, added magical teleportation circles, a moveable assault fortress etc. My character died in the final showdown, but was reincarnated after the battle, and she changed her name to "Moonborn". It was one of the most memorable campaigns I've played in, all because the GM took special care to integrate my character's personal quest and backstory into the adventure. I can only hope to emulate this in my own campaigns!

[@Fractured_Spring]

I love your videos! Thank you for all of your guidance for both Players but GMs too. I love your created content and your passion really shows in what you do! Keep on keeping on Dudes!

[@logophilelyss4390]

Y'all putting out perfect videos as I prepare to ready my second long form campaign! Things that should be basic, but your perspectives and reminders still help me after over 3 years DMing

[@mikecarson7769]

integrating the characters into the campaign = among my favourite parts of your Drakkenheim episodes, greatly satisfying and inspirring

[@capt.scarecrow]

the biggest trick is actually getting the players to give you backstories in the first place

[@sethd.michaels4048]

very fortunate to have 2 DMs who are really good at this. In one of my games, my character has a mentor who has shown up a few times to give us quests/info/loot, and another has a backstory nemesis who has turned into a great long-running bad guy (including leading one of the factions trying to get into the tomb of annihilation). I joined a long-running game with a fathomless warlock and the DM of that game already had a coven of sea hags who became my character’s patron. Very cool when this works!

[@mattdahm4289]

Thanks Dudes! ❤

[@Bigryguy95-epic]

I agree with the complete reversal being great as a player. I had a character who started with a powerful cursed magic item and all he wanted with his story was to rid himself of it. Throughout the story, we began to learn info that made use believe the cursed item was actually important for our goals. But we were only like 80% sure. We got to a point where we met a god who offered to destroy any of our cursed magic items (2 other characters willingly attuned to cursed magic items knowing they were cursed during the campaign). This included my characters item. For over 2 years and more than 70 sessions all my character ever wanted was to rid himself of this item. And he was finally given the opportunity to do so but ultimately denied it because we believed the item was important. Even then, I could have had him destroy it but my character was willing to take on the responsibility. Made for a crazy turn for my character and his trajectory in the campaign. I felt actual stress, turmoil, and regret irl in real time and loved it

[@samburchard9921]

A great video. In my Dungeons of Drakkenheim campaign I managed to tie two of my players to Blackjack Mel with some minor modifications. For one PC he was an uncle and for another player character Mel was his fence for stolen goods. This made some great interactions, especially when they went to a certain location in the city...

[@dadeb9102]

I loved the way Wyll’s backstory was done in BG3, he stays heroic no matter what, but has some tough choices to make

[@darcraven01]

our dm wanted to run wild beyond the witchlight so i tailored my backstory to fit the campaign. my character was a hexblood with the haunted background who was raised by a hag until she ran away at age 9 (which lead into meeting class trainers to explain how i became the class i was). i explained that my character only ever knew the hag as "mother" and left it up to the dm to decide if the hag was one of the three in wbtw or a different, unrelated one. and then i rp'd accordingly. if it was just a random hag, i'd have a vague hate but woulda been weary of confronting them.. but since the dm had it one of the three i made it my character's goal to wipe them all off the face of the planet (even suggesting to burn/blow up their homes). i know this is a case where the setting/story is pretty straight forward as to what you'll encounter making it easy to add those elements into a backstory but the same concept applies to any setting imo. if you're creating a homebrew world for your campaign, give your players backstory of the setting and a general overview of the plot so they have an understanding of how to best work themselves into your world. and if all else fails.... portals (or similar teleportation effects). i know this sounds like a copout answer to "how does your character fit into my world" but hear me out. i created a new character for a run through death house and i know absolutely nothing about curse of strahd or death house and didn't really want to look up stuff for a short 4-6 session "one shot".. so i created a character in strixhaven. my character, through an experiment gone wrong, is bonded to a symbiote who is currently in control of his body (ok, so my character is the symbiote but eh, details). the thing is.. this symbiote is a brand new life form.. been alive maybe a month.. as such, he knows nothing about the world and is curious about *everything* .. including this weird localized mist that just happened to be in the swamp around the witherbloom campus at the time. of COURSE hes going to poke his head in and hmm.. this isn't arcadia anymore, is it..? he was portaled to the setting of the game but it was done in a way that totally fits the backstory and personality of the character. point im making is, even a seemingly copout answer like "oh i was portaled here" can work with a backstory if done right

[@GamerTreeProductions]

Just two days ago my group decided to add a new player to our ongoing game. Like always, the Dungeon Dudes release the perfect video just on time!

[@undeadamerican1107]

One game that did this really well was the Riot League of Legends game Ruined King. Each of the six characters has very different and personal reasons for being on the main quest, and different objectives for the "quest". Some are there to kill the BBEG, others are looking for a Mcguffin, and others are looking to protect someone else. It's woven together really well right from the start and gives them a reason to be together as a party and individual story development.

[@marciobonilla3914]

In my own Drakkenheim campaign, the barbarian’s backstory was basically that his tribe was massacred by a magical lightning storm cast by a powerful wizard. The ranger/rogue’s backstory involved him being a part of an evil cult that hunted for the appeasement of the cult and their god. In his story he mentioned a specific hunt that caused him to fall out of favor with the cult, only with no details. I tied the barbarian’s story to The Pale Man, however, he did not commit the killing. The ranger/rogue’s cult hunting party did, and the PC took the first shot, not expecting to run into and work with the barbarian later on. The leader of the cult cast the magic that the barbarian remembers, but on top of that he cast Modify Memory on both the barbarian and the R/R to divert attention from the secret evil cult. The plan was to execute the R/R, but he escaped. The Pale Man did show up but only at the aftermath and saw two large Goliaths (the barbarian and his brother) and took advantage of the free resources for the development of the Siphon Contamination spell. Both characters in the fight with the Pale Man had the spell dispelled and all the real memories painfully came rushing back. So the Pale Man wasn’t truly the barbarian’s real enemy, however he did transform his brother into a mindless monster through his experiments. It took the party two fights to beat the Pale Man; the first time he beat them and banished them to the Space Between Worlds, not expecting them to come back. Obviously they did, only to find the beginnings of the Pale Man’s hostile takeover of Drakkenheim since he now had control over the Inscrutable Tower. They beat the Pale Man, the brother was thrown by the barbarian from the top of the tower. The two PCs soon made their peace, but it was a dramatic moment. Neither of them saw it coming, and they loved it.

[@ven1568]

Integrating existing npc w/backstory: how a new PC’s backstory turned a mid-tier crook into the big bad of the whole setting.

[@Solike99]

Loved it. Thanks dungeon dudes 🤙🏻

[@ketsuekiuki]

Funny story about 17:50, I had a player who joined my game that was already running and they left AS SOON as their backstory was resolved. The players worked for an internally corrupted guild. The guild gave them 4 missions. All 4 missions had a different (or 2) player backstories in mind. The players just happened to take on the mission that interacted with the newest player's backstory whom was an ooze that had been given sentience, but they had fractured memories of a past life. At the height of this mission, they found an NPC with the other half of their memories. This NPC was important to the town and they decided to work with him. In exchange for a spell that would resolve the mission, they allowed the NPC to eat a piece of the Player in order to gain the other half of the memories. This did nothing to the player, but after the mission was done the player said that they were content with the resolution of their backstory and left the table. 👽

[@jacobnavarro3675]

I'm playing a character that touches on a few of these topics. The campaign is Curse of Strahd and my character is from Barovia. In order to give her roots that would feel established, she took the familial role that is given to Ireena, only she was the actual offspring of the Straznis. Ireena's birth parents remained a mystery and she kept all the other aspects of her backstory. My character was born a tiefling but was taken to the miracle-spinning abbot of Krezk the night she was born. Her parents wanted the abbot to use his magic to change their daughter into a "normal" human but instead, he informed them of the simple ritual to achieve their desire in exchange for all of their family holdings and, as a further show of faith, to change their daughter's name to Penance, instead of naming her Isabel as they had planned. The ritual was simple: have the child hold onto a blessed object and pray to Lathander for forgiveness until the "curse" was purged from her blood, and it worked. However, it took 10 grueling years, from when she was 3 to when she turned 13. The process didn't just exume her infernal heritage, it also cut her humanity away, leaving her an emotionless shell. Notably, her 18 charisma allowed her to fabricate a facade of the personality she thought she should have. So she appeared outgoing and even sassy, but it was all an act. Eventually, the adventure took us to Krezk and Penance had the opportunity for revenge against the abbot, who she blamed for her trauma. Fittingly, she scored the killing blow on the abbot but the victory was not as sweet as she expected. It didn't replace the emptiness within her, rather it emphasized it in her mind. For a long time afterwards, Penance no longer put up her facade. Instead, she let her dissociated emptiness show plainly, speaking without emotion in monotone without her signature sass and Barovian accent. She stayed that way, bumming out the party until she managed to summon a spirit from the shadowfell and bind it with a memory from her childhood, then had a long conversation with the entity. It's actually even more complex than that, involving her warlock patron being the portion of her that was removed as a child and it residing in the blessed sword she held for 10 years, along with the role of Ilmater's unseen hand in the story, the tiefling warlock PC who taught her that she wasn't an abomination, and the party member who was traumatically transformed into a tiefling by Strahd reacting to Penance's actions.

[@genghisgalahad8465]

I am excite!!! 🎉 😊 (super stoked for this existential crisis beginner player's conundrum addressed!)

[@jleewatts4318]

I tried to do some of this in the last campaign. Garrison and his former assignment, Farth. Baldrag and his cousin Dilferr. Kithri and her cousin. I tried to get NPCs that the players had an interest in helping through out tue campaign. I may have gotten a little heavy handed with Dilferr, as she injected herself into the campaign and as a result became the focus of several pivotal story arches. Backstory: Dilferr was the one who was watching Baldrag's adventures and writing news articles submitted to the papers that she then shared with his parents. She had purchased a crystal ball and checked in on him periodically. She would write what she saw and heard, submit it to the paper under a pseudonym. She was thrilled with the idea of experiencing his adventures verses living a life stuck within the hold doing her duty. And when she saw that he was going for an assault into the mournland, she gathered the clans warriors and came running, just to get a taste of adventure. Then she was captured by demons and it all went down hill from there. I tried to give subtle hints that something was going on in the background. But she became a focus of concern for many players. Csrric said something to the effect, "We can't just leave her." That is why I do want all of my player to give me a backstory. Not a lot, but enough so that I can tie events and NPCs into individual story arches. Maybe two or three paragraphs. So I know motivations and goals. I listened to this podcast and keep thinking about the last campaign. It was refreshing and reminded me to not over do it.

[@commonviewer2488]

Blending backstory npcs and plot relevant npcs is great advice

[@michelheinrich9379]

I am running right now my first campaign(8 sessions) and I first collected their backstory and the created an adventure around them. I feel like that makes the Story way more involving and relevant in my opinion.

[@ikaemos]

Just had a marvelous culmination of one of my PC's character arcs following these exact guidelines. Like with Kelly's character, it started with revenge, but then became more complicated; the person he is avenging was revealed to have done some questionable things. It's all coming to a head this Wednesday. Here's hoping it's half as good as the Wilhelm scene from the end of SoD.

[@pmgmsd]

I had to un-minimize this and make a comment... "A PLAG"?!

[@karsonkammerzell6955]

As a DM I've never asked for lengthy or in depth backstories but boy do all my players give me one, lol. Example, I typically ask for what they did prior to adventuring and what motivated them to adventure. I might ask for a quick description of a their hometown (if any); big city or small town, one thing the town is known for, and one mystery or rumor about the town (true or not). And then I'll get things like the dreaded backstory novel about how their hometown sits between three warring countries (this wasn't a homebrew world and they just made up these kingdoms), how they were kidnapped and thrown into a gladiator ring, and a whole player narrated montage of how they killed a hydra with a flaming sword in said arena and became the champion. We had not played yet, lol.

[@jaykamath639]

Great video guys! Loved meeting you irl Monty ❤

[@sephfcuoctasphere1978]

Love you guys!

[@malakus0606]

One way to introduce a character into a campaign and to weave their backstory into the main plot of the campaign but am hesitant to try is to introduce the character as a minor villain in the campaign. The classic “enemies to allies” story arc kinda like how you can save Minthara and have her become a playable character in bg3 even if you are doing a good aligned playthrough . It would be a tricky way to introduce a player character but it could be a unique way if done right.

[@SanJacintoArtGuild]

Excellent coverage of possible options to include player backstories. The Balder"s Gate 3 comparisons ran a bit long, as I have never played the game, nor do I know anything about the characters mentioned. Other than that, a totally awesome video!

[@shudson0422]

Just finished up a two year campaign as the DM. If this isn’t perfect timing for our upcoming session zero I don’t know what is! Thanks Dudes

[@yarra352]

Even if the varanty has run out, some failures just aren't suposed to happen and if you contact the brand and explain what happened they will help you anyway. I experienced that with some crochet needles. Midt project the metal needle simply folded in half broke in two. Not snapped in half, folded. Like a monster from some sci-fi movie had zapped it and turned it to butter in just that one point. I found it odd but I didn't have the receipt and the varanty had run out, so I bought a new one. Then it happened again. This time my curiosity got the better of me so I contacted the brand and explained what had happened, included pictures and asked if they had any idea what was going on. I had a very nice correspondence with them about the whole thing, and they send me two new needles to replace the broken on because that type of breakage should not happen.

[@wesglover5369]

Where did you get the Darkwing Duck shirt? It’s awesome.

[@theorycrafters7281]

This reminds me of a character a player I had who wanted to be sort of like a lich assassin so part of his backstory was he murdered all of his friends so later on down the line I allowed him to have a boon of being able to bring them all back as his personal four horsemen of the Apocalypse

[@ZaaNayazu1981]

Im a first time DM for my family and i decided to use the Hoard of the Dragon Queen pre written campaing. When thinking of how to implement their backstory everything sorta clicked into place. One is a gold dragonborn whose mother died in a freak fire and later on he blacked out to find his sister dead. He also has ties to Thakisis ritual to making Draconians in the dragonlance setting. The other player is a blue dragonborn whose mother abbandoned her when she was little and had to fend for herself. The 3rd player is a Shadar-Kai with very murky background. So the first chapter of HoTDQ there is a blue half dragon champion enemy. Thats the blue dragonborns mother. How about if the gold dragonborns mothers death in the fire wasnt a fire, but instead this blue half dragon champion and the gold dragonborn repressed the memory till this moment? Then the blue dragonborn is also a hexblade warlock, which per flavor text they are rumored to have a connection with the Raven Queen and the third characters tie in make sense since shadar -kai are sometimes servants of the raven queen. Of course there is a lot more to flesh out, but as you guys have pointed out, from the get go i have not been afraid to replace npcs to fit the players needs.

[@chrisragner3882]

Yes, this makes for lively world building. The players have to agree that siblings who have been separated from them change as their lives change from their experiences. One player built a large family who were separated by a raid. Their character was raised to believe in a nordic society. They have now returned to their homeland to find their family. I had their eldest sister be a leader of a band of notorious bandits. Let the fun ensue!!!

[@majinsole8554]

Oh, to be the crafters of tales. ~_~

[@cassie2615]

Haha I asked for some advice about this in your discord like a month ago. Amazing.

[@peculiarcomics2255]

nice videos lately dudes

[@kevinedwards5390]

Kelly Sebastian should pick up contingency and glyph of warding. Also you should start short resting a lot to gain more power in preparation. Sorlock style

[@thedude7319]

03:40 this is the wrong take, if they want to be 'lone wolf' ask about their adventures previous. you get the same result as with other backstories namely getting npcs without being dismissal btw this tip is great when you have encounter alzheimer patients in real life never argue always redirect their energy somewhere different

[@ItsMrFresh]

Odd timing, I just asked this question on another video like 4 days ago 😂, very happy for this coincidence tho!

[@TheLunarPierce]

I really want a party where one person is a human bard, and everyone else is a half race looking for their dad

[@WebbScoutLeader]

Wizard lives in the forest, DM! Forest!!!

[@lukesandadordoceu4835]

SPOILERS FOR BG3 I like to think Karlach's bigger arc (in an actual campaign) would start at the end of the game if you take her to hell, then it's all about finding a way to actually fix her engine permanently

[@michaelrnahas4425]

I'm playing a character pathfinder that his twin brother, who was his first mate, mutinied against him. I just made a somewhat faustian deal with a noble vampire family to eliminate a rival necromancer to get the information about my brother

[@CmdrTom]

Lol.. I am one of the few players at my table with family. And yes, so far Dad, dead 1st bro, dead 2nd bro, dead 1st sister, rolling death saves 3rd bro, rolling death save Fiancée, Missing . 4 other siblings and mom, back home... on an island we're not sure what the status is after the moon blew up. . (Partly my fault, I said I liked Thor.)

[@KnicKnac]

Using BG3 as a skeleton. It shows different writing styles for players. Some want a deeper backstory and some enjoy the lighter side. Perhaps the Karlach player wrote what they wanted and let the DM fill in blanks and the player was like "Heck yeah!" Then satisfied how it ended.

[@garion046]

This is 100% a thing. I surveyed my players and some were a lot more interested in their backstory being prominent or connected to the plot than others. Some people want their story to have an NPC connected to the plot, more than tangentially, so they can feel really motivated to join the main plot and align their view of the character with the DMs story goals. Some people are just bringing a PC to go along for the ride, aren't as invested in the minutia of their character's story, and are happy to develop the PC from just interacting with the other PCs.

[@Qaos]

personally, i think it's fine if player's have backstories that don't include any other players. as long as they're willing to have their character go on the adventure and grow along the way, the getting to know other characters can happen during the campaign

[@Timmy_The_P.O.G]

Eldrich blast, (I'd save a lot of money with hunting, not to mention weight) Prestidigitation Mending

[@isaackarr6576]

Your N.P.C. that makes something Gram Grams good berry jam tarts last for ever & are a good berry but you only get one every time you see her.

[@Zr0din]

@18:20 HARSH!!!

[@shybard]

Let's. Get. Dangerous.

[@Whyatwhy]

From dungeon dad to dungeon dudes...... i love dungeon men

[@chrisg8989]

Dungeon Bros!

[@erikkup3001]

This is all fine and good if your DM cares. My DM runs every campaign as if it was one long AL session. Our backstories are not in the "script" and therefor don't matter.

[@davea6314]

Player: "My character's name is Fluke Skyfalker, his backstory is that he was a farmer in a desert, but he left searching for his mysterious dada." DM: "You've got to be f*cking kidding me!"

[@TheMightyBattleSquid]

To be fair, that's not why Luke left. So it's already deviating from the original. I'd just ask them to change the name to not be a gag and we'd be good to go.

[@chrisg8989]

Sounds like your job is already done for you! Amazing. Now, all you gotta do is come up with DnD versions of each of the required NPCs. Vader is probably a Deathknight. Liea is a princess who's been captured. 1 for 1 Boom easy. Hon and Chewy can be local rogue and his bugbear body guard. This is an amazing back story. Lucky you!

[@genghisgalahad8465]

But first he must train with the mysterious yada! 🌌

[@pairot01]

Hot take: making an already existing character into a DnD PC is boring. Their story has already been told, tell your own.

[@chrisg8989]

@@pairot01 obviously you make it your own like any good spoof.

[@silverscreen842]

Could you guys make a video on possible mistakes to look out for when a DM also plays as a party member? Like, they run the game and have their own PC in the party.

[@DungeonDudes]

We actually have a video on that very topic! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX21faOdbL-Wi9Usi=BlyIla77dwg2xODE

[@silverscreen842]

@@DungeonDudes 😍😍😍

[@silverscreen842]

​@@DungeonDudes Oh well, there goes my Tiefling Dancer Witchlight Hand.

[@Jacob-nh9yv]

Two of my pcs in a campaign I’m running don’t know who their father is and it made a lot of sense for it to be the same deadbeat

[@brianj.841]

In one campaign I created a cool rival/enemy; first session he introduced him for The Big Fight. End of story arc....

[@TheMightyBattleSquid]

And, I say this from experience, if you're going to claim that you're centering/basing the next arc on a PC's backstory... actually do that. ACTUALLY read it. I've been let down in three different campaigns now because a DM claimed I'd get the spotlight in the next arc and then not only did I not, but the DM essentially retconned everything I had written for my backstory... 😔 Demon tiefling who grew into tiefling features when they were a teenager? Nope, DM made them a devil who was born that way. Science experiment plasmoid? Nope, ancient spirit or some such tied to mystical statues in a magic castle. Celestial locked out of their home plane and wants to get back? No, holy avenger that wants bigger weapons. 😅

[@mikebearthegamer1365]

Had a player play a tiefling and told me that their parents were human. So I made it that their dad was actually the devil themself, amd caused every bad thing that happened to their past because simply put, the devil didn't want a son, they wanted a puppet.

[@Aemery17]

Dungeon Dudes are cool

[@theorycrafters7281]

Literally had two players play twins who were the kids of strahd. They didn't know they were twins. One was male and the other female. Lol think it's obvious how that went lol

[@theorycrafters7281]

One even flavored the sun sword as a light saber lol

[@ahsanrahim8108]

How can you get an alright monk/wizards class with mostly monks?

[@Nathan_Talisien]

I'm not real keen on pushing the players to have intertwined backstories... If the WANT to do it, of course that is a fine thing; but tying all the characters together too tightly can hamstring the personal storytelling every bit as much as it helps. Even if they plan everything out extensively together, no two (or more) players are ever going to have the exact same mental images or expectations. I've tried the "entwined party backstory" thing a few times, and in all three instances it cause breakdowns in the game that took a lot of discussion to solve- like, a session worth of hammering out problems, or even more. I'm not saying it HAS to be a bad thing to have a shared backstory; I'm just saying it's no bad thing to exercise a bit of extra caution when tying every character's history, mission, and expectations of the game together in a way that can leave you, as DM, facing a Gordian Knot with a legendary DC to untie.

[@DWShooting]

My biggest problem with baulders gate is that they made the worst follower the most integral to the plot

[@carlosblack8690]

Where can whe get the full Sebastian art that is on the thumbnail?

[@tamarahulzebos3300]

Yeah I am creative enough to implement a backstory in a campaign but when the person literally gives me a backstory "I am the best fighter in my village" (at level 1) and another writes "my character it really interested in Ninja's and he want to become a ninja" and then decides to chose the arcane trickster archetype... yeah after asking them to write me a backstory for their characters, again without succes I'll just focus on working the backstories of my two other players in my campaign.

[@ashleyien1222]

😱 Disney movies lied to us!?!? I haven't been able to put backstories into my game... was doing the starter set and wasn't sure how to do that (and most of my players really had no backstory or personal quests... or none they told me about).

[@Calebgoblin]

6:10 "fridging" in this context is killing the individual in question off-screen for cheap shock value (derived from a Green Lantern comic). It's a waste of potential amd not recommended!

[@leviticusward1]

Kelly... why were they being poisoned by the sewer water?

[@DungeonDudes]

There was an ooze infestation in the sewers if I remember correctly. Some evil sorcerer put them there to slowly ruin the water supply.

[@leviticusward1]

Gotcha but why were the townsfolk drinking the sewer water? lol ooze or not that is some Poisonous water lol

[@lanxreedalenlum3706]

played a campaignwhere my pc goalthe entire time was rtevenge on a pirate captain, when we finaly got to it, the dm had the captain take her ship and run, no fight at all, we foolow to an island and had a really lame boss fight with her, who was just naked and screaming for ome reasopn, (dm thouhg it would be cool is she went edricth and crazy,, but it was out of the blue wiht nowind up) i eventually told the dm that was shit,and i hated it, i didnt go through 6 months of a capmaigns as a pirate captain on the quest for revenge to not even get a ship battle, ever since them with that dm, and trhey know, ive told them i wont make a stroy or perosnal quyesty, because the last time was shite

[@Lookherestupid]

Or the wizard has multiple towers that they live in

[@nielsveen2401]

Finally im the first to watch :p

[@playerzero7890]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I was so close! It still says no views

[@Atlas-pn6jv]

I didn't ask them to make backstories. I told them thr setting and they made backstories that had nothing to do with it.

[@ARatherDapperTapir]

Video title incorrect, rather inconsequential, but still there

[@SoundslikeLogic]

Typo in title. "How to integrated"

[@starcrafter13terran]

Do the maps have cyberpunk or fallout themes?

[@richardmohan6307]

I love you guys but BG3 for me is a terrible example. What is your backstory in BG3? What is your character background? It is a game that delegates the player who traditionally wants to be a main character to a supporting character and really does make Shadowheart the main character of the story...well Shadowheart and Emperor. I could go on for paragraphs how BG1 and 2 made it feel more like you were an integrel part of the story than BG3 did but I shan't. If I sit down at a table though, and am told that I am here to make these NPCs look super cool and that is about it then I might switch tables ;) As a kudos here, the way backstory is done in your youtube Drakkenheim campaign is worlds better than how it was handled in BG3. The NPCs connected to the characters felt very important and a very important part of the story without copletely overshadowing the PCs, themselves.

[@Joker-yw9hl]

Not like me to come early

[@chrisg8989]

That's not what I've heard.

[@mikeyp266]

Backstories for lvl 1 pukes is foolish....level 1-3 IS your backstory

[@snuffysam]

It’s honestly kinda sad how common the mentality of “I’m gonna tell a story I wrote but insert the PCs as the main characters” is. I’ve played tons of campaigns with lots of different DMs, all of them with a lore document that I based my character backstory around with the DM’s help, and I can count the number of campaigns that my backstory NPCs showed up in on one finger. If I include campaigns where the other players’ backstory NPCs showed up but not mine, I’d only add two more 😭

[@MrJackolicious]

Dude, no way, I just reached the part where they talk about a family member owing 5000$, and I literally did that in my campaign with a PC's sister owing 5000 gold to a crime boss Edit: okay, and now they talked about lifting a curse from one's family home and that is literally my next plot point. What is this sorcery??

[@Timmy_The_P.O.G]

Eldrich blast, (I'd save a lot of money with hunting, not to mention weight) Prestidigitation Mending