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GuestEleven
2018-06-20, 08:21 AM
So I am going to be running a Pathfinder Adventure Path called Strange Aeons. Very Lovecraft heavy themes, it feels rather enjoyable since I am a HUGE H.P. Lovecraft fan, and D&D/PF are my favorite games. What is there to lose, right?

Well I had a creative idea, in this Adventure Path players start in a state of fugue amnesia, thus remembering nothing of their past. The players are meant to recover their memories bit by bit as the story progresses. I was thinking it may be neat if I were the one that created the backstory for all the players, and released it to them in fragments as they play through the campaign.

Would this be overstepping my bounds? I feel that it adds an air of mystery to their characters and would give the players the desire to pursue the character's past as well, really solidifying the sense of searching for oneself. But on the same hand I know that the backstory of player made characters are the initial grabbing point that makes a player become attached to their character. Would this subtract from that? I really like this idea and want to see it work, have any of you other DMs done something similar?

Thanks in advance for help. Also advice on running adventure modules would be greatly welcomed. This is the first time anyone in my group has dealt with them.

GuestEleven
2018-06-20, 08:23 AM
I also just had another thought. What if I built them pre-made characters? Would that be pushing it?

Faily
2018-06-20, 08:35 AM
I did play Strange Aeons as a player and it was great fun.

What we did for our backgrounds, was that we were allowed to write the early life of our characters' background and otherwise create our characters, but the GM would (as per the Adventure Path, I'm pretty sure) unveil more and more of the years lost from our memories. Sometimes it would just be a brief memory, and sometimes it was an entire flashback.

It was fun playing around with the fugue-state.

Of course, there's some blurb in the Player's Guide of "But I don't wanna be in the fugue state"... which I'm honestly baffled that they had the need to include, but I suppose some players just aren't willing to not have complete control over their characters? I don't know.

You know your players better than us, and who knows, they might provide you with lots of excellent ideas based around what they fleshed out as the early lives of their characters. :smallsmile:

GuestEleven
2018-06-20, 08:40 AM
I did play Strange Aeons as a player and it was great fun.

What we did for our backgrounds, was that we were allowed to write the early life of our characters' background and otherwise create our characters, but the GM would (as per the Adventure Path, I'm pretty sure) unveil more and more of the years lost from our memories. Sometimes it would just be a brief memory, and sometimes it was an entire flashback.

It was fun playing around with the fugue-state.

Of course, there's some blurb in the Player's Guide of "But I don't wanna be in the fugue state"... which I'm honestly baffled that they had the need to include, but I suppose some players just aren't willing to not have complete control over their characters? I don't know.

You know your players better than us, and who knows, they might provide you with lots of excellent ideas based around what they fleshed out as the early lives of their characters. :smallsmile:

That sounds fairly reasonable. I may apply it. How many sessions did it take for your group to complete the Adventure Path?

FelineArchmage
2018-06-20, 09:11 AM
I've never played Strange Aeons, but I feel like this is something you should talk to your player's about instead of us. If they all agree to it and think it would be fun - you have your answer.

(I personally would think it would be great fun)

Faily
2018-06-20, 09:45 AM
That sounds fairly reasonable. I may apply it. How many sessions did it take for your group to complete the Adventure Path?

Damn, I really can't remember the exact time, but I think we did it in 12 sessions or so, if going by the pace of the publishing paired with our usual rate of sessions? I will note that the group I play Adventure Paths with tend to be a well-oiled machine when it comes to a lot of things, so we tend to be very effective when we're in session (few rules questions/troubles, combat runs smoothly, usually have a lot of play-time in a given session).

GuestEleven
2018-06-20, 09:50 AM
Damn, I really can't remember the exact time, but I think we did it in 12 sessions or so, if going by the pace of the publishing paired with our usual rate of sessions? I will note that the group I play Adventure Paths with tend to be a well-oiled machine when it comes to a lot of things, so we tend to be very effective when we're in session (few rules questions/troubles, combat runs smoothly, usually have a lot of play-time in a given session).

I gotcha. I hope this campaign is successful. :] If it is I will probably run Curse of the Crimson Throne next.

DeTess
2018-06-20, 09:58 AM
It's been mentioned already, but if your players agree, there's no problem with you writing their backstories. It might be a good idea to ask them if there's anything they specifically do not want in their backstories though.

As a player, I'd be a bit more hesitant if my DM also wanted to build my character, as I'd feel that in that case the character would really start moving from being 'my character' to 'the DM's character that I'm allowed to play', but others might feel different. If you want people's backgrounds to influence their character, just include bonuses (feats, SLA's, whatever) that they get once they learn certain things about their background.

GuestEleven
2018-06-20, 10:27 AM
It's been mentioned already, but if your players agree, there's no problem with you writing their backstories. It might be a good idea to ask them if there's anything they specifically do not want in their backstories though.

As a player, I'd be a bit more hesitant if my DM also wanted to build my character, as I'd feel that in that case the character would really start moving from being 'my character' to 'the DM's character that I'm allowed to play', but others might feel different. If you want people's backgrounds to influence their character, just include bonuses (feats, SLA's, whatever) that they get once they learn certain things about their background.

Good perspective, and I really like that idea.

Sun Elemental
2018-06-20, 10:31 AM
I'm not a fan of DM-made backstories.
First, ask your players.
If you still want to influence their backstories, try a compromise. Have each player write a story, emphasizing the backstory of 3 characters who all share the same race/class but have different personalities. If they can't imagine how 3 (Rare Race / Rare Class) would ever be in the same room, think about a school, guild, prison, apartment or orphanage that caters to a particular racial group or social class.
You pick which person of the 3 actually became the character, and the player doesn't know. They just remember their own memories mixed up with memories of their 2 best friends / enemies / neighbors. And the player still has the freedom of writing 3 backstories they'd be OK with.

Koo Rehtorb
2018-06-20, 12:30 PM
The answer is, it depends on your players.

Personally I'd have them build the character and then you write their backstories based on what they built.

MrSandman
2018-06-20, 03:14 PM
The best way, in my opinion, is to tell your players, "hey, I want to run this cool module, but it requires that I be the one to write your backstories, or even make your characters. Would that interest you?"

Pleh
2018-06-20, 03:24 PM
It's not the kind of game you should run if the players are expecting standard game.

Let them in on the core concept: they will discover character backstory through play in a lovecraftian setting.

If they're into the idea, go all in. If not, then save it for another time.

But if they're into it, you can make pregen characters and they may not even have their character sheets. I've heard of games that sound like wild fun that require you to try to do things to discover what your character is actually good at. Players hold blank sheets where they keep notes about what they seem to be proficient with based on what they've been successful at.

Just remember there's no limit to what you can do if the players are into the game concept, but it all falls apart when they feel cheated, which only happens if they feel you've mislead their expectations.

Segev
2018-06-20, 04:35 PM
Doing it with pregens and having the amnesia with backstories discovered through play sounds like it'd be a great way to run a convention game.

Excession
2018-06-20, 07:34 PM
I would hesitate to play in a game with that set up. For me, backstory exists to define the character I'm playing, and explain their personality. To help me in working out how the character would react to what's going on around them. A lot of more of the character will come out during play, but the backstory gives me a starting point.

None of that works if I don't know what the backstory is. I could end up playing a character that doesn't match the backstory that I'm not allowed to know, and the reveals might be received with a "what" rather than "wow". In some games I have found myself, purely by accident, playing a character I didn't like, or even one that the GM liked more than I did, and I didn't find it fun.

I'm not saying it won't work, but you're asking for more trust from your players than in a normal game. Players have little in game that they have complete control over, and this idea reduces that further.

Nifft
2018-06-20, 09:57 PM
Here's how I would handle mandated backstories (if a game required them):

Pitch: "Hey peeps, here's the deal. This module / campaign / adventure path / RPG requires that certain backstory elements appear, so let's all do character creation together. Don't build a character before showing up."

Session Zero (character building): "Okay, next up is owning a waffle restaurant which burned down under mysterious circumstances. Who wants it? Sold to Geoff, it's all yours. The module doesn't mention if you were there, or if your employees were injured. So, were you there? Did anyone get hurt? If you weren't there, how'd you find out? What was it like to see the burnt-out shell the next day?"

Session Ten: "Oh no! The waffle-born fire vampire has found you, Geoff!"

FabulousFizban
2018-06-28, 05:12 PM
ask your players if it is alright. They will tell you, promise. Also, if you are running a lovecraftian campaign, consider adding the sanity mechanic from call of cthulhu to your pathfinder game. It can make things interesting and helps cut down on murderhoboing.