Aurica
2016-03-23, 08:42 PM
I recently return to D&D 5E after more than a decade of hiatus and have some questions for the experts here. Apologies in advance, if the question (s) end up or sounding a little trivial.
So I got hold of the PHB and is quite pleased with Chapter 4. Mainly from the perspective of an ex-DM that this could be an incredible tool that can be used to generate story-lines for that specific PC or integrate it with the campaign world to enrich player experience.
I have so far played as a player with two different DMs both using published content from WOTC (POTA, OOTA). For one of the campaigns, I did a brief write up on my character background. Nothing too specific and also not over the top so if the DM wishes to use it their campaign or incorporate it, they can.
But over the play sessions, I notice that our backgrounds don't surface up at all in both campaigns. There weren't any personal quest that our party had to do for each other. The backgrounds itself mostly served as a justification to why you had certain skills. The adventure seems to be more module oriented rather than on the PCs themselves. As a result, the campaign feels less personal, less focused on the players and more focus on the greater picture of the adventure itself. The PC's personal goals/ambitions are less relevant in the grander scheme of things..
Is this a common thing to expect from published modules/pre-written adventures?
So I got hold of the PHB and is quite pleased with Chapter 4. Mainly from the perspective of an ex-DM that this could be an incredible tool that can be used to generate story-lines for that specific PC or integrate it with the campaign world to enrich player experience.
I have so far played as a player with two different DMs both using published content from WOTC (POTA, OOTA). For one of the campaigns, I did a brief write up on my character background. Nothing too specific and also not over the top so if the DM wishes to use it their campaign or incorporate it, they can.
But over the play sessions, I notice that our backgrounds don't surface up at all in both campaigns. There weren't any personal quest that our party had to do for each other. The backgrounds itself mostly served as a justification to why you had certain skills. The adventure seems to be more module oriented rather than on the PCs themselves. As a result, the campaign feels less personal, less focused on the players and more focus on the greater picture of the adventure itself. The PC's personal goals/ambitions are less relevant in the grander scheme of things..
Is this a common thing to expect from published modules/pre-written adventures?