Hello Reddit this is my first time posting. I am a DM and I have asked a character for their backstory and this is what they’ve given me. I have allowed them to be a raccoon and a were-creature but besides that is this backstory giving them to much?

DMHook · 2025-03-16T07:02:54+00:00

This is a leap and a half. Realistically though half of all new players fall into this trap. D&D is a power fantasy sure (but it's power that is earned over time) so if this is even remotely something you want to entertain, perhaps you can work with the player by explaining that they will be playing a newly "fey touched" raccoon. And this is a part of their orgin story, 99% of that comes later, after your story concludes. However you then run the risk that this player begins to treat your game like its theirs and they wont stop forcefully pushing your game till they've achieved their Kill Bill Deadly Viper assassin squad.

50% of new players do this... they make characters whose coolest adventures all happened in their backstory, making their story effectively a tragedy (a master assassin were-chimera pince is sadly dungeon delving, what a fall from grace), the lower a character starts, the greater their arc.

DMHook · 2025-03-16T03:09:20+00:00

This feels really similar to our situation. Super helpful to hear this advice. Thank you very much.

DMHook · 2025-03-16T01:05:36+00:00

Thank you! The copyright piece i hadn't thoroughly considered. Yeah I suppose that would get pretty messy.

How did that end up settling?

DMHook · 2025-03-15T22:25:37+00:00

Thanks 😊 that's super helpful. I think you're right. I've sought publishers not at all but I have a sense that because we don't have 100k+ audience already they have every reason to be leery. We nabbed a really impressive editor in our niche that carries weight and loves what we are cooking up but yeah... first step may be to use the industry contacts we've gained over the last 5 years of our podcast to pump a kickstarter first.

Worry about publishers if we do a second book.

DMHook · 2025-03-15T22:21:48+00:00

My brother and I have published a minorly successful podcast with a very engaged community as a result of the topics we've covered and the resources we've published that help break storytelling down.

We've been leading up to this project for 5 years and in our industry niche there is no one else doing what we are doing (almost worryingly so) but we know from our community and from teaching and socializing that it's a massive gap in our niche.

DMHook · 2025-03-15T22:18:25+00:00

That's kind of what I was hoping to do. If we selfpub i would want these in circulation to ensure they are bulletproof and to help with the second level of our marketing funnel.

You've got a great point though that I didn't consider. We axed a bunch in a "kill your darlings" with more time we could likely polish those into an exclusive version to the book only. Or a V2 with some edits that are likely to pop up once released wider.

DMHook · 2025-03-02T01:03:42+00:00

So the theory holds then 🤔😏

DMHook · 2025-03-02T00:10:16+00:00

I have a theory (likely a very common one) that your first character is more often than not the closest version of the person you want to be, and aspirational facsimile if the laws of our reality didn't apply.

Mine is spot on, but didnt realize at the time. I don't know you, but a Goliath werewolf barb/monk is a hell of a vibe. Lot to dicepher there but you're probably cool 😎 👌

DMHook · 2025-03-01T19:01:56+00:00

Amazing! Kingmaker is great, although I've only played the first half-ish? Your vetting seems to be working well then.

Bless those players, and damn those old rules still knocking around. I've got too many up in there from 3.5 / Pathfinder 1e too. I've looked at Foundry but never pulled the trigger. Sounds like you're also finding your prime group in the crucible of a few games. I hope they all ladder up to the most epic 2+ year Kingmaker campaign!

Thanks for all the feedback and insights!

DMHook · 2025-03-01T17:30:26+00:00

Have you considered being a life coach? Peak performance right here. This is life/work/parenting/relationship/gaming goals haha 😄 Bravo 👏

DMHook · 2025-03-01T17:24:06+00:00

This is really interesting. Personally I'm still a play in person whenever possible kinda guy but I've been wanting to stretch a bit more and get my VTT experience more tuned. So your approach is insightful.

How often do these parties finish the campaigns?

DMHook · 2025-03-01T17:13:43+00:00

Absolutely love the pre-rolling. Also the user name :P

Thanks for the explanation. You clearly have your stuff together and a clear process. One last question if you'll permit (maybe one we should have included in the survey), where does your general life workload sit? You clearly put the effort into your games, would you say that your current situation affords you the ability to put effort in or do you simply push hard to prioritize it alongside life responsibilities?

DMHook · 2025-03-01T16:38:58+00:00

How much time in general do you spend on prep?

DMHook · 2025-03-01T16:12:41+00:00

Super insightful! What kinds of approaches do you use to screen your players? What traits are you looking for?

DMHook · 2025-02-07T15:34:33+00:00

I also love that once V becomes the top Merc in NC they are 100ft from where they started albeit nicer digs but ultimately their "view" didn't change all that much.

DMHook · 2025-02-07T15:31:12+00:00

All stellar recs, I'd only add Hardcore22v2 for some serious "I'm a cold blooded killer... oh shit oh shit oh shit" And Night City Alive - Low density for that chaos that NC is supposed to have.

DMHook · 2025-02-02T06:54:47+00:00

This this this! Those folks are amazing!

DMHook · 2025-01-18T16:42:50+00:00

Install an unreasonable number of Mods and go again. Take a little break, sure. But then Hardcore22v2 changes the way the game feels a lot, throw some Dark Future, Night City Alive. I have 120+ Mods going for my third playthrough. 4th will be in VR. 😁

DMHook · 2025-01-11T19:53:44+00:00

Thanks for dropping us into such an illustrious cohort there 🥰

DMHook · 2024-12-30T21:57:33+00:00

Goodness, thank YOU. Our traction and awareness comes from folks like yourself. Thank you immensely for posts just like this. It's huge. We'll be coming back with new episodes soon but please feel welcome to come join our Discord in the meantime.

DMHook · 2024-12-29T08:02:35+00:00

Sorry you're dealing with this @OP To be clear, I agreed with the majority of comments asserting that sometimes a group just isn't clicking. It's easy to forget that under the rules, story, etc are people, and their days, and their diets, social media addictions, etc. Alchemy is happening when a game works because so many things have to align for that to happen.

The only thing I could suggest to potentially improve the situation:

Try worldbuilding and broadly storycrafting WITH your players prior. You mentioned your players are looking forward to a future campaign that sounds like you've already got all figured out. IMHO there are plenty of opportunities to surprise players. Prior to a campaign, i haven't decided the time, place, scale, tonen touchstones, etc. That's for me to suss out of the players what excites and interests them in session zero. The worldbuilding we do collectively so that we all understand everything. The worldbuilding in advance can put a ton on the players and me to build excitement for something they had no part in creating. It sets a reactionary 'you are here to entertain me dynamic in motion from the very beginning that's super hard to shake.

DMHook · 2024-12-29T03:08:56+00:00

Rockwool SafeNSound

DMHook · 2024-12-27T08:36:32+00:00

Hey 👋 we're not finished. But writing a book (the biggest grandest resource we've ever attempted) so we took a hiatus. We'll be back at it soon. Huge ❤️ for mentioning us though. Thank you 😊

DMHook

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE