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the humanity
2011-10-07, 12:34 AM
Well, I am playing in an upcoming Marvel Superheroes one off (possible campaign). I had a character I had made with a massive backstory from when I had been making some comics with a friend for fun (I simplified somewhat to make my contacts less incredible (as that is a resource in the game, and having a job with SHIELD, having had work with a superhero team, and just being all over would have put me heads and tails past everyone else). my GM, seeing my character done first, used mine as the benchmark for everyone else, and not only is he looking forward to my character, so is everyone else.

my GM just told me he was going to eliminate everyone's backstories, everyone is just starting out as a hero. the entirety of what makes this character interesting is gone for me. As cool as a guy who grows massive deathmaking roses grow out of his arms is, a guy who would do that to himself just so he could become a superhero seems strange and kinda dumb. I talked to him about it, and he said he wants everyone to just play a fresh new superhero so we can play the game and not be major involved in our backstories.

Should I try to see if I can make a new character so I can keep my overly plot involved guy pure, or should I just play my same guy for simplicity's sake and my teams interest?

Krazzman
2011-10-07, 01:05 AM
As it seems that THIS goes against your fun, I would say roll up a new one.

Hope that helps.

Mastikator
2011-10-07, 01:15 AM
Yeah roll up a new one, one that can be fun without much of a backstory, and keep the one with the backstory in store for later use.

Xiander
2011-10-07, 04:15 AM
I'd roll up a new character, but i have a tendency to roll up multitudes of characters just for fun...

valadil
2011-10-07, 04:57 AM
Change characters or no

No. Change GMs instead.

Xiander
2011-10-07, 06:18 AM
No. Change GMs instead.

This sort of advice is almost never useful.

For one thing, there is no indication this GM is bad, he just wants to play a different game than what the original character was made for. Unless he throws out a veto when you decide to change your character I see no reason you can't play a fun and memorable game under the new circumstances. But I maintain that you should make a character that fits the game.

Chances are both you GM and your fellow players will understand if you take the time to explain it to them

valadil
2011-10-07, 07:21 AM
This sort of advice is almost never useful.

For one thing, there is no indication this GM is bad

I disagree (but I'm biased or else I wouldn't have posted the original comment).

First off, it's a bait and switch. You don't offer the players one thing and then change your mind once they're invested in it.

Second, I flat out don't trust any GM who doesn't want back story. If a GM tells me not to write any back story, that's like saying I can't contribute anything to the game's background. I don't see a point in playing a game that isn't collaborative. Granted, there are circumstances where a background doesn't always make sense. I've had GMs tell me not to bother with NPC connections because the group would travel and never see home again. That makes sense and I'm glad they don't want me wasting my time.

Tiki Snakes
2011-10-07, 07:47 AM
Yeah, probably best to roll up a new character. You can always keep the other around just in case, though.

Xiander
2011-10-07, 09:22 AM
I disagree (but I'm biased or else I wouldn't have posted the original comment).

First off, it's a bait and switch. You don't offer the players one thing and then change your mind once they're invested in it.

Second, I flat out don't trust any GM who doesn't want back story. If a GM tells me not to write any back story, that's like saying I can't contribute anything to the game's background. I don't see a point in playing a game that isn't collaborative. Granted, there are circumstances where a background doesn't always make sense. I've had GMs tell me not to bother with NPC connections because the group would travel and never see home again. That makes sense and I'm glad they don't want me wasting my time.

I agree that requesting that players refrain from making a background for their characters seems suspect. However, I don't see that fact alone as a reason to bail from a game. Especially since we only have the most basic facts of the situation.

I too dislike the bait and switch, but again I feel i know to little to make judgements of a person I don't know, and who is probably a friend of the original poster.

I admit that saying there was no indication of bad gm-itis was perhaps an overstatement. What I meant is that I think it is not clear that this GM is in fact bad. (Schrödingers gm: you do not know whether he is good or bad until you play with him)

GungHo
2011-10-07, 09:56 AM
What's not clear is why the GM decided to eliminate the backstories.

Maybe the others weren't coming up with anything worth a darn or with anything that was unifiable.
Maybe the others were intimidated by a large benchmark.
Maybe the backstory was too massive and too OP for the level of game the GM wanted to play and he wanted to avoid a confrontation.
Maybe he just had a different idea of how he wanted to tie everything together.
Maybe he has enough on his plate trying to figure out Marvel Superheros that he wants to focus on the mechanics of the game rather than trying to fit fluff in.

Everyone's kind of jumping to a conclusion here saying the guy is a bad GM... that may not be the case.

Xiander
2011-10-07, 10:28 AM
What's not clear is why the GM decided to eliminate the backstories.

Maybe the others weren't coming up with anything worth a darn or with anything that was unifiable.
Maybe the others were intimidated by a large benchmark.
Maybe the backstory was too massive and too OP for the level of game the GM wanted to play and he wanted to avoid a confrontation.
Maybe he just had a different idea of how he wanted to tie everything together.
Maybe he has enough on his plate trying to figure out Marvel Superheros that he wants to focus on the mechanics of the game rather than trying to fit fluff in.

Everyone's kind of jumping to a conclusion here saying the guy is a bad GM... that may not be the case.

Which was my point, thank you. :smallsmile:

hangedman1984
2011-10-07, 01:34 PM
I wouldn't go as far as say replace your GM, but it is kinda uncool for him to set forth one premise, then change it entirely after you are excited about it.

Anarchy_Kanya
2011-10-07, 01:48 PM
Did the DM override your backstory with a simpler one, or did he just say that backstory won't matter that much? If the later then just tweak your backstory so it won't give you any (RP) benefits.

Arbane
2011-10-07, 01:53 PM
Make a new character, give them the origin of the Red Donut: "He just appeared outta nowhere. Had his luggage with him and everything."

the humanity
2011-10-07, 06:57 PM
well basically, I gave the GM my whole character plan, and because of the intricacy of the character and the lack of reliable backstory for any of the other characters (or knowledge thereof, one player is playing X-2 only because she wanted a female Wolverine), he said he wanted everyone to make their characters fresh new characters, so there would be no confusion when my character somehow had detailed knowledge of the workings of SHIELD holding cells.

And I'm not getting a new GM. his campaigns are always good and his daughter happens to be my wife.

I simplified my character's background myself to allow for more evenness, but the GM wanted the whole slate changed.

I'm thinking of seeing if my character can be my original character's son, trying to find out about his dead father. That's always interesting.

the humanity
2011-10-08, 03:05 PM
Thanks everyone, my GM realized how much it meant and is going to negotiate it out with me. I'm going to be the same guy, might take a little more manipulation to get there but we'll work it out.

big teej
2011-10-12, 08:04 AM
new one, ina heartbeat,

not to long ago, I had a similar experience. buddy offered to DM and my reaction was AWESOME let me pull up my -fully created sheet with an idea I was really excited about, and a workable backstory mere 5 minutes away)

"erm... actually we're going to start on this island in the middle of no-where, and everyone was kidnapped and raised here"

me: oh... well, then, I'll just play a kenku....

Name_Here
2011-10-12, 08:20 AM
Thanks everyone, my GM realized how much it meant and is going to negotiate it out with me. I'm going to be the same guy, might take a little more manipulation to get there but we'll work it out.

That's awesome to hear. It's always best when the GM and the player can work it out.

Especially if one of them is the father in law I would imagine.