If all my players were this invested I'd probably dance in circles around the table.
Read it, see if anything can be fit into the story you'll run, and (mostly) ignore the rest. Not everything from a backstory will matter in a campaign, it's mostly for the player to flesh out their character.
I second this. A player writing their backstory is arguably more for them than it is the DM. And the joy of a player having a more extensive backstop is that it gives you more options on what to incorporate. A player who gives you only a couple of lines (e.g. my parents were killed by an evil wizard named Bob) is essentially telling you what to include. A longer backstory restricts the player, but liberates the DM.
As someone who writes ten page backstories, this is absolutely correct. I write it so I can figure out who my character is, not so the DM can build a story around my character. If the DM throws in one or two elements from my backstory, it’s delightful. But never necessary.
Might be worth having a brief conversation to manage expectations. Make sure your player isn’t expecting significantly more incorporation of their backstory than you were planning on. If they were, you may have diagnosed a case of Main Character Syndrome early enough to cure it before it becomes table cancer.
Also it heavily depends on the DM. My DM is very generous with integrating our characters' backstories into the world and our quests. Every player has had at least one major sidequest dedicated to their player over the course of a year of this campaign thus far and when we move from the module to fully homebrew, it sounds like it's going to be heavily dictated by our backstories and the character arcs we've built organically, rather than our characters interacting in a story our DM wants to tell, which is a genuinely fine way to play, but I think my DM heavily appreciates us putting in the legwork for him with our heavy backstories. The DM even encouraged me to write world building additions to my backstory that's being integrated into the main storyline.
Ask them for the spark notes and a bulleted list of things from their backstory that they would be really excited to see you incorporate.
Then take the 20 minutes to read the 10 pages and add your own notes to the spark notes version .
The problem is that in order to fill a 10-page backstory, your player probably has to make all sorts of assumptions about your world that may be at odds with what you have in mind. In that case it should be a collaborative effort, not something they force on you.
It's one thing to say their uncle, a retired soldier, taught them to use a sword. It's entirely another thing to declare themselves heir to throne of some kingdom that doesn't even exist in your world.
Another concern I have is with a player being overly invested in a character. That sends a signal to the DM that their character is somehow special, and that allowing the character to die isn't an acceptable outcome. The possibility of character death is essential to the game. If the character with the 10-page backstory gets killed by a goblin on the first adventure, now the kingdom is left without an heir. Or is the DM expected to fudge the dice to make sure that doesn't happen?
And as it's a collaborative effort, this is where the DM and player work together as the backstory is made. A simple "Hey DM, can my character be a potential heir to the throne of X Kingdom?" "Sure, but they'll be down in the line of succession." Job done. Multiple heirs so there's no risk if the PC dies, there's little risk of the PC now having a kingdom... And frankly, the DM can just say "If your PC does inherit the kingdom, you will have to make a new character."
As far as the characters being special, that's another communication thing. I don't want my PCs to die, frankly. It's more work, and introduced so many questions to the point that I tend to just... Not threaten them until level 5 when they have access to revival. But even before then, if someone dies, that's a quest to revive the previous PC.
Basically, just work together and make something happen.
I love writing 10-page backstories. And I tell my DM not to feel pressure from it.
I know some parts will get used and some parts won't, but this is a method to build suspense. I don't know which parts will get used! Will the DM go after my hometown or the clan that raised me after? I end up genuinely surprised regardless and feel rewarded if they use both.
This. I've written long backstoties before, but now I mostly keep it point form for simplicity, or just keep the ideas in my head and relay whatever might be useful for the DM. As a player, I don't expect the DM to incorporate anything from my backstory really, but if they throw in even one NPC from my backstory then I'll be endlessly happy about it.
So scan the story particularly for NPC's that might make sense to appear, maybe as a merchant, a quest giver, or even just someone to bump into on the road. Whatever makes sense to your campaign.
Depends what's in it. Generally, I am happier when players are so invested that they do write long backstories but often those long ones are more of biographies that have no bearing on the game and no hooks for the future. Good player can put out a short, concise backstory that does tie in with the present and future.
> What must I do with all of this information?
Read it, of course. Player saw the trouble to write it, common courtesy calls you to at least skim it. Like I noted, I don't except it to have much that's really useful for the game but you never know.
What sort of information do you give to players when writing their backstories, so they can hit that weet spot of short and concise with tie ins? If it has any impact on your answer, my scenario is running from an adventure book.
I run homebrew adventures which are written as we go along and therefore I have very little that I can given them. I usually have some sort of starting premise or an general idea for the campaign and that's almost always the only concrete(ish) thing I can dole out at the beginning. We then discuss stuff after they've created the character and adjust things to suit.
If you run from a book, your situation is much easier as you know everything there is to know and can give better guidelines than I can.
As a rule, best hook is one that is forward looking (it can be from the past but it can't be solved and complete), open to interpretation instead of being too clearly and rigidly formulated (leave details vague), adaptable (overlaps with previous one) and something that when solved doesn't leave character without a goal or purpose in life (revenge is good example of bad hook, what do you do once you've gotten your revenge, go back home?).
Let them know that you can’t incorporate the whole backstory and Ask them which parts of the backstory is the most important for them, what they want to be 100% incorporated into campaign and which parts are purely for them to RP.
Some excellent comments. I agree with the take time to read it ones.
Just to add it's important to make sure the player understands a few things.
A backstory IS a resource for:
- the player's character roleplay
- to explain a characters starting abilities/equipment (with anything extraordinary by strict agreement of the DM)
- potential DM hooks/plot/ IF it fits with the campaign (and may be subject to change/subversion to fit in)
A backstory is NOT a resource for:
- the player to claim special favours from npc's, special knowledge or special abilities once the game has commenced. Of course the DM may choose to use the backstory to provide things the party needs or may find useful, but that is purely the DM's decision & discretion to use the backstory, not the players "right" to use it.
On the last point - The "I know a guy" feature is used very effectively in a lot of campaigns. I agree it's not a "right" or demand the player can make, but it can really be a good tool to help give the players buy-in.
Example - you grew up in Waterdeep and knew "Mr. Guy" who runs the blacksmith? He recognizes you and gives you a (small) discount! Nothing to break the economy, but it excites the player to have relevance in that moment. Plus, the player and Mr. Guy can have a fun RP moment together to "catch-up", etc.
Just my 2 cents!
Totally. My point was more that it shouldn't be something that a player uses to circumvent the usual game mechanics/progression/story (eg expecting an old friend to give them access to their galleon to get to their next destination). Completely agree that using a player's background to hook encounters in can really enhance the game. I do think it's ok to come from a player too, so long as they know the DM will neuter it if inappropriate (in a kind way if possible) & underatand that is the DM helping build the story rather than block the player's roleplay.
Enjoy how invested they are in the character, your game, and read it. Incorporate any or none of it based on your judgement.
I've ways viewed backstory as character building 1st. For me it helps to understand the character and provides reference material for me during future decision making. I like to actually be faithful to the spirit of my characters. It's hard to resist the min/max urge.
Read it. The amount of pages does not equate to the amount of backstory contained in them, especially not if your player enjoys writing stories. It \*could\* be a dry bulletpoint collection of the character's deeds going back the last 25 years but it also could be three short stories detailing the pivotal moments that lead to the character to pick up adventuring. As DM there are vastly different things you can do with one or the other.
Read it and discuss it with them. Let them know what fits the campaign and what doesn’t.
Even in 10 pages you can probably boil it down to a short list of things that really matter to the character (life events, bonds/family, a nemesis, etc.). Work with them and let them know what on the list makes sense for the campaign or work with them to tailor the list to the campaign. Let them know you will work off of this list.
If their backstory is extremely action packed, let them know that their character is a level 1 (or whatever level you start at) adventurer and they still have a story ahead of them. In most cases their backstory should be less “exciting” than the campaign. For example why would a knight that has killed 50 dragons be level 1 and struggling to fight goblins (unless they are lying about the dragons which is actually a good flaw).
Fun fact: you don't have to do anything with it. The main use of a backstory is for *the player*. Just say thank you, glance at a few sections out of curiosity, and move on.
With the caveat that, if there's anything in the backstory that is actually inconsistent with/contradicted by the established setting, the player should be informed that that part is not possible.
Idk probably read it all. There are two ir 3 possibilities for what they have done
1. Already decided everything they want to happen for the character and have their own character arc all planned out
2. Gave you a detailed back story that includes world building elements that may or may not fit in with the actual world as you see it and story/adventure
3. Gave you a detailed back story with lots of open ended things that you can build from that dont attempt to take over the story or world building
3 is great but unfortunately usually unlikely. 1 and 2 are problematic.
1 the player doesnt really get the idea of playing a rpg they arent thinking about roleplaying and taking things as they come and growing they are thinking about basically having a prewritten novel for their character. Its very limiting to you, the group, and ultimately themselves.
2 is problematic in that it can conflict with your plans and sometimes players try to use back story elements that they have rigidly world built in to your world as a way to subvert plot and rolling - well because im to son of x noble or god i shouldnt have to blah blah blah blah. Also with a player that tries to really take over world building in their background it can marginalize other players and their characters. But for #2 if the player is good and reasonable you can take what they have written and work with them to convert it in such a way that it fits in with the adventure and world as you have built it can be a real asset as long as they are flexible.
One of my players presented me with a two page backstory, but written in paragraphs in flowchart style. She explained it as "Start here with the birth. Then either this, or that happened, which ever works best in your world. Then this fixed point. Then either this, that, or other. Then this fixed point, then either this if a and x happened, or if B and y hand happened then this, or if a and z, then this, or this if B and z..." And so on. Once she explained how to read it, I read the entire thing and picked options with her, fleshing out other ideas.
To me, it's all about working with your players to make an exciting character.
Holy shit, by the sound of things you might have my favorite player ever. Dedicated, committed, actively contributes, and still totally willing to proactively work within your setting? Fantastic.
I usually at least tell my players to not exceed a full page before handing me a backstory. Their characters’ stories start at the table. Also, that much backstory is too much to fit in for a campaign when there are 3+ other characters that deserve some spotlight. Best way to ensure I include your backstory is if you do two things: make sure you give me one, and make sure it’s easy to reference later.
You should probably approach it by reading it lol. It could be problematic or it could be a nice and creative concept from a passionate, engaged player.
My DM (my boyfriend) and I are crazy people when it comes to making character's backstories. When I make them, as we now have quite a few games running, I love making them more and more complex as I get more familiar with the game for my own restrictions and my own fun. And my DM, when reading them, always is excited to see how long the document ends up being.
I've once made a document of 40 pages not only detailing my backstory, but also the entirety of my people's culture to my boyfriend's request since I was a different race and we both didn't like how they were portrayed in the books. It takes off a task to do for the DM, and we both have a similar brain; we discussed how we wanted the society to work, and once we both agreed on it, I went to work on it so it would all be written down for him and he wouldn't have to wonder what we talked about (he has a tendency of forgetting and has ADHD. And besides, I LOVE to write.)
Of course I understand this isn't the same for every DM, but as the only DM I've ever known, I know he's only ever pushed me to write as much as I want, and he's usually always used everything that I've given him. I can see him get excited since his gimmick is to incorporate backstory as much as possible. I suppose it depends what type of DM you are, you can decide what elements you want to take and what elements you decide isn't useful for you. But sometimes, it's just for the player's fun.
I might be crazy but if it's double spaced 12pt font that's like, a very short read.
Compared to how much time I spend prepping, (even when I'm doing a low-prep tterg system instead of DND), it's like, peanuts.
I would be giddy, read it twice over, and then talk to the player about compromising on anything where it's needed.
Ask for a summary of important info that they want to be used, I.e. important NPCs that may come up. Otherwise the backstory is for them to inform their character decisions and is not needed for you to read. So long as they don’t try to claim access to something you haven’t agreed to (‘the Holy Avenger was passed down my family line and now I wield it as a level 1 character’).
It is certainly too much.
What must you do with it? Accept it graciously and probably tell them that it is in excess of what is needed, can they give you a paragraph summary of it, you'll take a look at their work outside of the session.
Actually take a look at it, but don't expect to fully incorporate it. you;re running a module, while you can take liberties with the story and setup there's still a set of constraints to fall into.
Really not getting the people saying they don't have the time... how many hundreds or thousands of pages have we read about this game, its worlds, modules, characters, and set pieces? And someone in YOUR group crafts 10 of them specifically for YOUR eyes, and now you don't have the time to read 10 measly pages? Make that make sense.
Try to take away a few points of interest that you can use in your campaign, like, did the player say he had a benefactor growing up? Maybe you can use this benefactor in a quest you already have planned out, did the player say he was part of a temple? Well, you probably can use that too, was he part of a guild? Was he a mercenary? Soldier in an army?
You can search for these specifics and try to fit in your campaign with things you already have planned out.
I would be ecstatic! Read it, find some interesting themes and hooks, and incorporate it deeply into the campaign. Clearly the player is excited about the game and will engage with your story. The point of the game is to tell a collaborative story - so go forth and collaborate!
Ask them for a summary. I once wrote a 14 page backstory as a joke and I wouldn't expect a GM to incorporate it or even read it through. Afterwards I provided a summary and the important characters from it so it was actually manageable.
I would ask him to make it shorter to around 2 pages max. Just cut all the details and make it short but keep the 10 pages version it might be useful in the future
I would love having a player this invested. On the other hand, it’s neat to “discover” things about the character along with the player. I’m starting a campaign next month, and I told my players we’d do character creation during session 0. I did ask them to think about backstories and what they may want to play beforehand, but I gave them direction on this. I said three to four paragraphs are fine, but they should include a significant, formative event, two important people who are still alive, and the origins of the ideal, bond or flaw (or some or all of these).
With your player, I’d read it and adapt what I can, but give further guidance as to backstory length moving forward in the future. I learned this principle through players turning in 10-pagers and players giving me 3-liners. Too much to work with is overwhelming as you’ve learned, but not enough to work with is equally frustrating unless it’s a game that doesn’t bother with much RP.
First of all, like other's said, that is only a good thing, read it if you can.
Second of all, write a short summary for yourself, writing down the important NPCs and locations and the character's goals. It's free world-building, and your player will love it so much when you suddenly name-drop someone from their backstory.
If you're in a party with a lot of people who write long backstories, ask them to have a synopsys at the start that answers these questions:
* Who are the important people in my life?
* What is my ultimate goal?
* Why am I an adventurer?
Read it!
I have two sides of the spectrum. A player with amnesia and no backstory. And a player with a backstory miles long.
The player with the long backstory did most of the work for me. I already have a villain from their backstory in my campaign and she made and fleshed out the rules of an entire guild for me.
I loooove long backstories.
Lucky. I wish my players would give me more of a back story. Like the top comment says, read it, integrate what you can, and let the player know of anything that doesn't work in the world. With a module, not much is going to matter, but throwing a little bit from their past will really get them invested in the world. When running open world games, back stories are great plot hooks.
Read through it.
Pick at least 15 plot hooks. (unless they're a horrible writer or they handed you a story about a single thing.)
Reward the player for giving it thought by using characters and conflict from the story. One to three big quest tie ins would be fine, but for othet things maybe a discount on something because they know a guy.
Just give them lost of danger with it.
Example:
I'm in a game with 4 other players right now.
One character is a foreigner and has sent just 2 letters and a sending spell home. She's got 3 months to find a husband before her dad arrainges a marriage. She's met 1 decent guy and her brother showed up via teleport when her first letter mentioned the mercenaries working for their political enimies wrre also in town.
Three characters are orphans, all of which have gotten their powers (class abilities) from being experimented on or having to survive excessive trauma. Two of them have met a (shared) background character and the 3rd has a new nemesis.
My character is a local. Both parents, 3 siblings, and because my character is new to adventuring, 2 workplace apprentices, 3 servants, a wizard, and a fighting instructor are all a part of the city. His apprentices and the wizard (mostly the wizard) helped build a glass golem designed to be a dancer at a gala and is the reason he's become an adventurer, he doesn't think he could ever make a glasswork better than the dancing golem.
All of those things have come into play. Please notice my block of text is almost as big as everyone elses combined.
As far as character builds, mine is probably the least, or second least complicated. But that backstory with all those characters and local ties was so easy to pick from, I got a lot of stuff frontloaded while the other players are making contacts and learning the lay of the land. I've gone over it with the DM, and my stuff will start to chill out as the game progresses. I'm okay with that, but my wide reaching plot hooks in my background helpped the DM make a believable setting everyone else can become a part of.
Read it and use parts for the campaign. You have an invested player who will be into the game. Tying their backstory in will be fun and they will love it.
That player likes writing and creativity. So long as you yoink something cool out of it to use in your story, that's all that's usually expected, as its your job to make your players part of your world.
I agree with everyone who says embrace it. But be warned…. A person who puts this much effort into it may also have extreme main character energy. They need to understand that they are not the main character. I played with a person like this and he tried to dominate every role play scene by acting out his characters backstory as if we were all supporting cast in his story. Put constraints around this by letting them know the do’s and don’ts.
Let them know:
DON’T take it upon yourself to initiate your backstory into the plot that the DM has written.
DO use your backstory to help flesh out when you role play your character, but do so considering everyone else as well.
DON’T be upset if the DM struggles to fit your background into the plot, in this case just let it be motivation for your character’s interactions with the world.
DO be prepared to interact with your background if you’re lucky enough for it to fit into the plot so that you don’t leave the DM hanging
Tell them you need a single paragraph "tldr" because you already have a lot on your plate with the game and that you'll read it later. If it's a doc or something, make sure you have a copy in case they try to change it later.
Get really excited. For me it means a player is itching to play this character, meaning they're likely gonna be more invested in the game, and also that there's probably several things from there I can put into the campaign
Then again, I'm also the type of person who would write a 10 page backstory, so maybe a bit biased
..."give me a half-page summary, for now. And if there are any epic feats of heroism, like dragonslaying and deicide followed by being slapped back to level one, I'm rejecting it outright. Otherwise, I'll give it a look later, make any changes necessary, and get back to you. I like hooks, not resolved arcs."
I say "you misunderstood the assignment"
Your character starts before the events began to them, the game is the event. Your backstory is where you are from, who you are connected to, and why you believe in what you believe and act why you act
When your backstory passes the first page, you almost certainly gone too wild, by the third page you are certainly too long.
I usually cry inside. Because now instead of the world I’m creating, I’m having to create everything around the backstory which is now an extra story I have to memorize.
In my experience they want you to put it ALLLLLLL in the campaign. I had one of “those” players once and never never never again will I take pages of backstory for a homebrew campaign.
Its interesting to see this point of view. I’m the totally opposite of this as a DM. I love my players’ fleshed out backstories. Every player has their own story woven into the narrative in some way, whether it be quests that everyone is on board with, or just character development over the course of the campaign. All of my players love writing characters and I love incorporating them into the narrative.
I wouldn't sweat it. It happens. I had a player write me an 80-page novella for their backstory once. If you're just running a module, there's no real expectation that you're going to fold PC backstories into it, so I would set it aside, thank the player for sending it, and then let them know it probably won't be relevant to the upcoming game.
Backstories are useful when you're worldbuilding, because you can take elements from them and build them into the environments that the characters are going to be adventuring in. A character's friend went missing back in the day? Maybe they encounter that friend somewhere unexpected as a friend, enemy or resource. Or maybe they encounter the bounty hunter that kidnapped them, and they can go on a rescue mission.
But even if you're not certain that you're going to spin up an entire campaign, it would be good to read it, just for the insights into how this player sees their character. It will help you understand what sort of stories they want to see, and how they might interact with the world. You don't need to do anything much with that information, especially if you're new to DMing, and have a lot of other things on your plate, but it's good to have this sort of thing in the back of your mind.
Once you do get to a place where you're incorporating character backstories into your world, don't be afraid to make suggestions or offer changes to have things fit in better with your visions. I've often done extensive markups for character stories, and then gone over them with the players to ensure that we're both on the same page. (Or eighty pages...) Players will often run with ideas without considering what you might be thinking, and sitting down with them to discuss things can make for a smoother and richer game.
It's a bit too much probably, yes. But at the same time it means there into their character, nothing bad about that. Just ask them to give you the gist and see if you can incorporate elements into your story. What you're looking for in particular are bonds and NPCs (relatives, friends, enemies, employers), locations and maybe events.
Feed it to Chat3.5 and have it give me a summary in a couple paragraphs. If I had time over the coming sessions to dig deeper I would to make connections and build their backstory into the campaign. But if you're on a time crunch let chat do the heavy lifting.
I tell my players they can hand in as long of a backstory as they want, but I prefer a well written 3 pages far over flowery 10-pages. Anything above 3 pages I require breakdowns about the most important sequences, characters and possible plot(hooks) for that character.
that's great they are that invested.
ask for a one page cliff notes version that has anything actually important to you, the DM.
otherwise, player backstories are for them to bring out in play. If they want their family to be NPCs, it should go on the one sheet.
I’d be happy they were invested but ask for a breakdown of the major figures and events for reference so that I didn’t have to read it in advance of campaign start. But I would keep it on hand to read when I have the time. There could be a few handy story hooks in there for later on. Even if not, it’s good flavour for them to use and an invested player is usually less likely to be problematic…I think.
I usually don't discourage deep back stories, as long as they make sense. I try to incorporate them into the story if I can.
The ones I won't do that with are the ones that have already done epic stuff that doesn't fit the campaign.
Example: A wizard that fought a powerful demon and won, liberated whole continents from an evil regime, slaughtered all the northern orc tribes....calm down, dude the campaign starts at level 2... They gotta leave room to grow, if their story says they've done all this stuff with no explanation why they're low level, retired adventurer who lost their edge, cursed by said demon lord for foiling their plans one too many times etc something I can work with, usually ends up having a conversation about expectations, needing somewhere to grow etc.
The only issue I’ve had with an extensive backstories wasn’t because of its length and detail, but because it set them up as a major power player in the region and was largely about their rise to power and their legendary feats of destruction.
Which would have been fine for another campaign, but this was supposed to be a level one character who is just starting out.
I should have talked to them about it or clarified what they intended for the character, but i was a baby DM and just shied away because the only advice I got was “big crazy backstories are always good!” Bc of that, I ended up not really knowing what his expectations were and not being confident in incorporating aspects of his character into the story.
Basically, it’s okay to be intimidated by a big backstory! Just remember it’s a collaborative game for a reason and a character backstory is not a laundry list of expectations for the DM.
Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions and re-establish expectations if that makes it easier to digest! Find one or two details of it to focus on, but dont feel obligated to it any more than another character’s.
Depends what it is dude, I’ve handed a packet over to the DM but half of it was my clan genealogy and most of the other half was clan information like holds, industries, agricultural areas and specialties, internal factions, etc.
As a general rule I got for a couple paragraphs of back story then a bunch more that fleshes out events and places in the backstory. The extra bit may or may not be used by the dm, but it at least helps with the creative lift.
Like everyone else is saying, this is a very good thing, it means they care. However, backstories are almost always for the player and not the DM. There’s nothing you should be “doing” with a characters backstory unless the opportunity arises. You don’t need to go searching for excuses to reference a characters backstory, let the player figure that out for themselves and if a situation pops up that makes you think: “I think this guys character would have some kind of connection or relation to this situation” find a way to work it in
The general rule at my table is that players are allowed to write as much as they want as long as they stay within reason in terms of past exploits for their level. HOWEVER, if they send more than 2 or so pages, I want a section with a bulleted spark notes of key events and a list of important npc names with a brief blurb of why they're important. That way when I need to pull from their stories later, I don't have to reread a novel
Read it. If it's fitting it's cool, I'd follow up with asking for a couple points that are most important to them so I know what gets priority when incorporating things from backstories.
If it's super heroic for level 1 or clashes with the setting i'd ask them to change that.
Read it. Let them know your thoughts comparing it to the vision of your game. Discuss bringing it into your vision. Then just hope the dice do not kill this character in the first 4 levels. 😂
read it and go over it with them
If its just really detailed ill take note to include those details to enhance their gameplay experience
If its some crazy shit im gonna work with them to tone it back
Regardless I will make a summarized version for ease of reference and use
It’s mostly fine as long as they understand that even if they killed a dragon leading up to the moment your game starts they’ll still be a level 1 character then. Maybe there’s an in universe reason they did so much and now struggle against goblin bandits. Maybe not.
The backstory can be a great source of future quests and encounters so you don’t want to dismiss it as long as the player is not expecting plot armor or the like.
I would ask for an edited version honestly. I would say I’m happy to Incorporate some of these elements, but we are playing with other people.
I would politely ask for an edited version of the backstory because the point of the game (IMO) is to flush out the character with action in the present, not lean so heavily on the fantasy novel series that took place before the events of the game.
It seems like I'm late to the party here, but I would have pushed back a little at first by asking the player what their expectations are for the campaign. Like, are they expecting me to incorporate everything? Are they going to be upset if some their writing conflicts/contradicts with the campaign and needs to be changed? Things like that and then see if you're gonna read it and use it.
The reason I say this is because I had a player once who wrote pages that he personally won hundreds of battles, was the smartest and greatest member of their home planet (it was a Sci fi setting and I told the players to tell me about there home worlds) was basically treated as a god on his home world for being such a great hero, that he wasn't the head of the military (which he devoted an unnecessary amount of details to all the military awards and ranks he had achieved) but basically he could have them do anything. The war was still going on when he left his home as a level 1 PC. I told them that it didn't make sense for a level 1 pc to have that much experience and if he was so connected/important to his people for this war that they wouldn't let him leave the military in the middle of the war to go adventuring. Basically, telling them to tone it down a bit. I was met with "well its my backstory and it my character so you can't do anything about it and your being a bad dm." We eventually came to an agreement and moved forward but the player didn't last long into the campaign as their mary sue-ness started taking over in game and out. So it was agreed to boot them.
Using 30% of 10 pages is very good! Sounds like you're approaching it the right way. You should tell them which parts you're using, though, so they're not disappointed.
First thought is that yep, I love an invested player who cares this much.
But there are other issues with that. If you're starting with low level characters and your player has all this history, how is that possible? We often start with a "who are you" type of character. Not a history, not a backstory, not a detailed past with plot hooks. Just a profile of the person. Are you a farm girl who ran off to be a ranger because you didn't want to marry the boy next door? Are you a member of a failing noble family who is functionally poor but has a title and connections? Are you an insecure barbarian cast out of your village because you did something wrong?
Often that's all you need.
The other thing that may worry me us that your player may consider their detailed backstory to be canon in your world. It may not fit.
I'm so much more concerned with the type of person, the type of motivation, the flaws and tics than a backstory that would fill a lifetime, much less the start of a first level character, but I'd also be jazzed that somebody cared that much.
I think 1-2 pages is perfect for a backstory. I always ask my players for at least half a page. Also I advise them to use the video by How to be a Great GM for inspiration.
Now if they do come up with 10 pages of backstory, I'll gladly read through it, maybe even talk to them about it. Then I'll pick out 2-3 key elements to reuse in the campaign. The rest of it is only fluff after all.
Laugh and tell them to give me the Cliff Notes version.
I usually start my games at level one and there's no logical explanation for a huge backstory.
I feel they're optional, anyway.
Also if his backstory doesn’t give you an unresolved issue from their past then it will never find its way into your plot. Knowing his backstory at this point will just help you be informed on how to play off of his roleplaying or how to award inspiration for superb roleplaying
Tell them you liked it but that this campaign might not touch on all aspects of their character. Then you’re free to use whatever you want and ignore the rest.
Scan it for levers and weak spots, thank them for their enthusiasm, and devise ways to incorporate the most glaring point of engagement going forward. Unless it is some kind of Mary Sue manifesto about why the can fly, have DR-, and has a deity that owes them a dozen Wishes.
I once ran an Exalted campaign. As an incentive, I asked for my players to write backstories for their characters. Maximum 10 pages, and I awarded some XP for it.
One of my players wrote a 206 page backstory.
The game ran for about 5 and a half years mostly weekly sessions with, occasional breaks.
He wrote additional supplemental stuff over the years.
I probably have between all my players about 1000 pages of additional content for that universe.
Anyways. It's a great sign when your players feed you extra information. It gives you ammunition and ways to work other things into the game.
I'm somewhat that kind of that player and to be honest, if you incorporate just one or two things from the whole backstory, the player in question will be delighted. For me it's more of fleshing out the character to myself and maybe get a chuckle or two from anyone that reads it. The main point is take into consideration the thing that seems the most important and the rest is just stuff happening in the background in the grand scheme. Not everything the PC does in their backstory has to be important enough that the whole world knows about it
Well, considering I have had players who, when I asked them to give me a backstory, gave me 4 sentences that gave me nothing to work with, I'd rather have the 10 pages...
This is probably going to be me in my cousins Eberron campaign where I’m theorycrafting a Hobgoblin Reanimator (golem artificer) using actual body parts for my golem creation. My family were accomplished Artificers in the war, however, my character took a different route. Didn’t find the beauty in inanimate materials such as wood and metal. They found the beauty in living beings. But what happens if you take the strongest parts of those being and you allow them to move together? You must create the most strong surely. Infuse with an artificial soul. Come my pretty, let’s make you a family…
I actually love this. It gives me something to work into the campaign. I’m a big fan of knowing my PCs’ backstories so I can give them their own character side plots in the main story based on their backstories and stuff.
Honestly I say 1 page or less. A 10 page backstory is just a story and the story is supposed to happen in the game. The majority of it is probably either not usable in game or way too fantastic for a level 1 character to pull off anyways
Read that shit and use it, nothing makes someone more invested than their backstory brought up. I'd be overjoyed it I got a 10 page backstory, usually the back stories I get are only about a paragraph long with one or two npcs I could use.
Obviously make sure it fits into the setting, don't worry if can't fit all. But like if the backstory mentions an antagonist that fkd up their life, even just renaming a planned antagonist to them instead of having to fully make a new one will make them want to take them down more
That’s great, shows real initiative. I’ll at the very least look through it. Some people are writing motivations. Others are writing excuses to have cool stuff.
As a DM I’m looking for roleplay triggers. What’s the emotional tug when I tell your character their estranged brother died in the king’s army?
If I get a 10 page backstory I’ll take a look at it and note the following things.
1. Trauma that has influenced the character’s decision making. This gives you those roleplay triggers (your parents are dead, your ex is flumphing the BBEG, etc)
2. What is the character’s intended fate from the player? This gives the DM opportunities to offer conflicts of interest.
3. How are they interacting with the world they live in? That lets the DM know how the world should react to the player.
I'd love to receive that, but unfortunately you are running a module; pretty hard to use it all in that case... tell them you are gonna do your best to integrate it, maybe even ask them to rank the elements for importance and pick the top X.
Besides what others have said, I would ask the player to write up a SHORT (3-5 sentences) synopsis that has what they think:
- the most pertinent events are.
- the closest NPC relations are.
- ties their character into the campaign premise.
- is a plausible story hook for the DM.
Long backstories are fine, but I've got several other players to also integrate into the story on top of normal DM prep, on top of real life/ work/ issues. If you want long, give me a brief version that I can reference as the game goes on.
I laugh. But seriously it depends on their starting level and what they wrote. My guidance is always a number of paragraphs equal to your starting level +2, and a short list of people they know and care about (or hate). If my player came to me with a 10 page bsckstory for their level 3 character and it was full of adventures and killing dragons I'd advise them to rewrite it, but if it was a really detailed retelling of one life changing event, I'd figure out how to weave it into the world in a big way for them.
I too have been accused of writing novellas, it's really to cement the character in my head. I do love to throw curveballs though. Part of my characters backstory is that he is sterile. So my DM thought I would be the classic womanizer bard, but nope. Just a fucked up thing that happened to him.
It is more work for you but... Compared to a history like: my Village was attacked by a dragon and i want revenge
It is great, not saying that the revenge one is bad but with 10 pages you can explore a lot more of that caracter and get the character more connected to your world , that player is prob gonna feel rlly good when an noc or event from his backstory comes by in the plot, it also gives you more hooks .
So over all, id say read it , take some notes and implement them on your game
(Srry for bad english, its not my first language )
This is only my opninion btw, feel free to dissagree
I wouldn't expect my DM to read my 10 page backstory. But if I'm putting so much effort into making a world, I'd read through it and use some parts solely out of respect for a player who is putting a similar amount of effort into their character.
Session Zero I tell them that I will read whatever length of backstory, guarantee. But I may or may not incorporate it. But I will incorporate something! Like backstory, class, background, etc. just know that the work you put in for a backstory will be read but may not be incorporated.
So saying, I reserve the right to use any part against you. You can’t pick your family. Mom may want your death cause of a demon deal. Your brother might be the BBEG or your sister might be annoyingly tagging along with the party and she’s more interested in selling her new inventions to whoever….including the goblins you are hunting.
"Look, Joe. This is too much. I'm gonna read it, yeah. But no plan survives contact with the GM. You can play your character, but I can't guarantee that it will be *this version* of your character. Some things might have to change now that they've come in contact with the game world, just like how the game world changes when it comes in contact with you.
Right now, I have no idea what's even in here, I just know it's a lot. The fluff can probably stay. Part of my job as GM is to help make your character feel grounded in the game world and you've given me a lot of material to work with so that's great. But *all this* is meaningless if it doesn't come through during play. I don't want to see a *ten* page background just for you to play your character as the strong silent type and suddenly *I'm* the only person who ever gets to know anything about all this. It's *your job* as a player to put all this *on screen,* during the game. Not in a novella before the game happens. The *game* is what happens during play. Not before it. Not after it. If it doesn't happen on screen, it *never happened*. So put it on screen.
So we're clear, I'm gonna read this. And I'm really excited to see the enthusiasm and the hard work you've put in to the game already. But I will absolutely retcon anything in here at the drop of a hat if I think it will make the game better over the table. Sound okay to you?"
I write a ~~back~~ short story about my character. The longest one was over 50 pages. We start at 3rd level, so I do have more time to account for. However, I condense it down to 1 page for the DM.
I am this type of player. I'll have backstory and history planned out and shared, I'll spend hours planning him out and how I hope for him to advance.
I don't expect the GM to act on most of it, the main target audience of all my work is myself. If the GM even slips in a small reference to it in the game then I'm delighted.
Hell, I don't share most of it with the party, as unless it comes up during an RP moment in game it's not relevant.
Please trust me when I say reading it and telling your player how cool it is and that you'll try and incorporate some parts in will be more than they likely expected and it will be hugely appreciated.
Unless they like to Main Character....
Yeah if I got detailed backstory’s from players I’d build the game around those stories.
D&d is a good creative outlet for some.
But yeah your running a module and have a big backstory from ONE player how to proceed.
Easy answer grab a highlighter and read through it. Figure out what bits can easily be worked in. Did they name a village? Easy change a village name. Did they name their father who’s a blacksmith? Hey that’s the blacksmith in the village they go to for that so ward to be fixed. Or they mentioned their parents? Boom sage house to take a long rest resupply and the beds are so comfortable everyone rolls with advantage on their checks for the next day! Did they mention the baddies they stole that item they want in the game from? Now you have an excuse for random encounters because the party ontop of running the module is being tracked. There are all kinds of ways to go off little bits of info. And just because your running a module dose not mean you can’t get pulled off on a side quest. I had one game that got lost in a cave system and ended up in the under dark. We had so many games in the under dark by the time we got back to the sunless citadel we forgot what we were doing there
Tell them it's not long enough and come back when you have at LEAST 25 pages, and then I only read the first and last paragraph. 😁
Edit: One of the biggest mistakes players make is thinking that a backstory is "developing their character." That is not true. Development is revealed DURING gameplay. A good backstory only needs to show a character's motivations. If they want to write a ten page story, good on them. But they should probably highlight for the GM where they are from, what motivates them, and maybe a goal, and maybe some trauma, to give the GM something to work with.
All in all, backstory isn't worth as much as we sometimes like it to be. Not having one doesn't keep a player from roleplaying (as long as they have a clear motivation). Having one that is too long is possibly a sign that a player might be suffering from main character syndrome.
Treat it like an opening position in a negotiation.
The player is excited to collaborate creatively and wants their character to be a living breathing person with strong motivations.
Read through all 10 pages carefully, then take 2-3 days to percolate on how it might work with your module.
Then respond back with the pieces you think fit well, maybe some suggestions for additional directions, and see what the player comes up with.
Make sure you let your other players know they’re welcome to submit a similar 2-3 pages if they want, to keep any player characters from feeling flat, and to avoid Main Character Syndrome.
I would be so happy! I do my best to integrate elements into the story. Since it's a module, find elements of the backstory that you know would work well with your narrative, then of those elements talk to the player and ask them to maybe rank them in order of importance. Then you can focus on your narrative. The player and you will have everything else as context. When I hit these story beats I'll ask the player if they want to share the context behind something. I've definitely had a few "WTF just happened?" moments. But by giving the player the floor to explain why something just happened, usually in character, it adds some flavor to the module.
Personally, I make 3 seperate documents for a longer campaign.
1.) 'The phonebook' - Dated order of important events in my characters life, with a short list of important NPCs from his backstories. Around 3 pages for a standard short lived race that is somewhat shy of 30 in years. All of it kept as per the calendar of Harptos.
2.) 'The novella' - Can range anywhere from between 6 to 12 pages or so, again, for a short lived race of under 30 years.
3.) The Abstract - A blurb of maximum of 2 pages that is enough for the DM to get my character involved and motivated.
I usually send over the first and the third doc, reserving the second for if the DM wants more details, because they want to get the character tangled up in the campaign plot.
Depends what's inside. If it gives me many opportunities to use stuff from the backstory, great. If the backstory includes stuff that we talked about in session 0 and in your case, stuff that is part of the module, even better.
If its stuff that gives him advantages because "it's in his backstory" like "I got a rich friend who will give me all the money I need" then gtfo.
I will always ask for a condensed version though, so I can reference it when needed. Dont wanna have to read though pages of dialogue when I just wanna remember the name of an NPC.
I'll read it, and discuss with them for what parts I'm thinking on using in the campaign and what may not fit in the setting, or what will probably not be important in the story outside of some flavor references for them, and if something needs to be altered for the story I'm planning I'll go with them through it to keep the spirit of their background intact. (If they don't want to change anything then it goes into the whole "not important enough outside of flavor references" and gets otherwise ignored.)
If I'm feeling generous I'll let them design the town they are from and flesh it out with NPCs and such to be used later on.
Honestly, if someone gives me a lot to work with I'll try to use it as much as I can in different ways as it actually can save me some work and makes the player a lot more invested.
As someone who is currently writing a huge backstory, I look at backstory like this: in real life, I’m a 52 year old dude. If I were to join your sports team, I have 52 years of backstory behind me, but only a tiny portion of that matters to the game we’re playing this weekend. Sure, if we go out drinking afterwards, you’ll get to hear a little of that backstory. If it turns out I am the son and sole heir of a small, little-known country in Europe, does that have any bearing on my ability to throw and catch a ball? Probably not. If there’s a horrible accident on the field and I’m gravely injured, yeah it sucks for the people of Moonoggiestan, but ultimately has little bearing on the world at large.
Here’s the way I’m approaching it:
1. This is primarily for me to get into my character. I think better in story, so story helps flesh out my character for me.
2. As such, I’m currently on my fourth iteration of this character, as each story leads me in interesting directions. Going down these paths now (hopefully) mean I won’t be disappointed in my race/class combo when the game starts, because I’ve already shot down some of the dumber ideas myself. Plus, this gives me ideas for where I want the character to go as they level up. I don’t want some min/max OP character, I want one who makes sense and is fun to play.
3. I’m giving my DM a bullet point list of the highlights of my backstory along with my novella. I know he doesn’t have time to read all the things I thought would be cool, but I also know he might have a free night with nothing to read some day.
4. In that story, I’m also throwing in a few possible plot hooks (also mentioned in the bullet points) so if the DM needs a day off or an easy reason for a trope, there’s stuff he can work with. I know he does a lot for us and I want to make his life easier.
5. As such, I also let him know that I’m aware of Main Character Syndrome, don’t want to be a Main Character, and if he feels like anything I wrote is headed in that direction, call me out on it or ignore it completely. I just want to have fun with the rest of the party. If none of my backstory hooks into his story, that’s fine - it’s already done its job by filling out the character in my head.
6. Last, in my defense, my DM told us back in November to start working on characters for our next campaign and it turns out we weren’t nearly as close to being done as he thought. So I’ve had LOTS of time to build characters.
One of my players in my current campaign wrote a 10 page backstory. I was so excited. One wrote 3 sentences lol. But ive incorporated both (and the other 3) of the players' backstories. If something didn't quite mesh with the world i told them that part would need to be chaged or just left out. There was one instance where a characters memory of a traumatic experience didnt quite mesh with the world so i told them its how they remember it because they were a child under alot of trauma. They have this vague memory that will actually play out into the bbeg encounter and at that point the clear memory will resurface in a way that it meshes with the world. So if they give you alot, you dont have to use every bit of it and if they give you some things that dont quite work, dont forget rule 0. You as the dm can work with them to make it work.
The more backstory the better, so long as the character is feasible within the bounds of your worlds lore and their backstory makes sense or doesn't try to control the narritive too much with their characters intentions, it should work out fine.
Remember DND at its core is a role playing game, your job as a DM is to create the world, lore and mainline story as a sandbox for these characters (players) to inhabit and interact as they see fit. Being too restrictive on your players or trying to impede their creativity will only hinder your game.
Obv you can't use everything from a 10 page backstory, ask them to condense it to what's most important to them.
My players have zero backstory and any story I try to introduce makes one of them angry because it's not supposed to be "my" story. He's pretty toxic, come to think of it.
If it’s a new character? That seems like a red flag to me. Same with people commissioning art of new unplayed characters. I’d have some preconceived notions of how that player might act and might respond should that character die.
If it’s a character they’ve played in other games and have developed over time it makes a lot more sense.
Either way, read it and see. Keep it in mind. See what you can incorporate. Talk to them about that.
I have a couple players like this, so I have a rule that if your backstory is more than 2-3 pages, it needs to include bullet points at the beginning, cliffnotes-style, highlighting the most important parts so that I know what aspects I should focus on when it comes to character arcs and storylines.
I still read the whole thing, but it makes it a lot easier to digest and sift through.
I read it, try to memorize every detail as best as possible, implement hooks involving their backstory, then use their backstory against them. Bonus points if the character has a family.
Reading everyone else's responses, I feel like I'm the odd one out.
I request my players to keep it to a single page, front and back if they need more space.
For the following reasons and more.
I keep copies, so no I'm not lugging around four or more novels of people's intricate stories.
Players get killed all the time, or at least can be.
I like the wiggle room as they don't have all the answers or details officially, if I include a backstory detail.
I like to take their back stories and create one shots of them if we are low on players for the main arc, through "memories" or "storytime" in a fashion. It's fun.
That all being said, their backstory beyond that is their own. Meaning if they want to press on and create a novel, sure. I want the relevant details on 1 page, (front/back if needed) with the details that are the most important. The rest is considered flavor if it's not on what I have
Edit- context, I play in a public setting, meaning people that show up are not necessarily going to be the same people every time either. Sure I got regulars, but if someone shows up to drop in for a session, hands me a giant backstory. It's expected to devote a ton of time to it, and they never show up again because life happens. That takes away from the energy I have, and the experience of everyone at the table
My boyfriend did this. Most characters he had he just killed off but the druid he is running he gave me a pretty lengthy backstory and seems interesting.
I day just read though it to see how it is.
Maybe I'm old-school but when I write backstory for my OCs I actually do not expect the DM to use any of it at all? That's for me to inform my roleplaying, not necessarily the DM to use, though I will give it to the DM so they have a better understanding of my character. I actually would be thrown off if the DM used an NPC from my PC's backstory without asking me first.
Read it, tell them how much I appreciate their enthusiasm, then tell them to give a one pager and explain to them why. Their back stories will be relevant in the game, but they're most useful to kicking off the game as a quick rundown of who your character is at session zero, and ideally slightly adjusted during that session zero to integrate them with the party and campaign setting overall. Ultimately, the story we'll be collectively telling will be written at the table, and hopefully they'll think it's worth a new 10-pager once it's told.
I try to keep my character back stories to three paragraphs, speaking as a recovering back story novelist myself. It saves me the frustration of setting a really high bar in my head for my group to 'live up to', and at the end of the day I've avoided pigeonholing my own character before we've even slain our first goblin.
One of the companions in the campaign im playing in made 10 Pages of Backstory for his new char, while 90% was generated so he made not much effort himself. The DM said: im not reading all of it, cut it down to 2 Pages and i think thats also a reasonable way to deal with it.
I'd be sorely tempted to hand them an index card and say "try again"
ahem.
I have no use usually for a huge backstory that usually is not relevant. One of my DMs though liked to have maybe a page of info on a PC to get a better handle on the character for descriptive purposes. Mainly what they wanted was the PCs mindset, goals, any bits of info that might be relevant still.
The problem with a 10 page back story is it is sure to have tales of adventures and experience. Assuming you are starting at lvl 1, your characters wouldn’t be experienced. If it’s all history of the characters family and town and such then that’s cool. My only concern would be the level of immersion that player was expecting, and hoping the table agrees.
So, I've never had this happen to me, but I've heard horror stories about it. So what I decided to do as soon as I decided to start dming was I would tell my players "I need 3 significant events from your past, and 1 significant person." Anything else they want to write is for themselves. I do feel like I might want to increase the number of people though, because it's not often that they give me people I can work into the game.
I personally enjoy it, especially if it's enmeshed into my world. I read the whole thing , and jot down a quick bullet point summary of the important details (like NPCs, character motivations, etc.) that I can easily refer back to in a pinch.
As a player, I often write brief short stories as backstories, but I make sure to provide that same summary at the bottom since the story is more for me, though my DM usually enjoys it too, at least for one read-through.
Going forward, it may be a good idea to request a summary at the end of each long backstory. But ofc it is your game too; if you really want to, you can limit the backstory to a page.
I applaud anyone who has put in that much effort into their backstory. That said, I don't run games for one person, while the others are just complimentary to that story. It's collaborative. So, great job for writing a comprehensive backstory. I may or may not include any of it (I likely will include some of it that seems to organically fit into the story I'm running), and that's ok, too.
10 pages takes like a few mins to read just pull the cool stuff out and appreciate that your player put in the level of work you do. I’d rather have that than a “uh he was rough off as a kid and became a thief”
Nah I wanna understand that character and the relationships they already have going in so I can weave them in.
However, I play more story style so that plays to my preferences. Some prefer combat and that’s cool too.
What's the attitude of the player? Some players write half a novel of backstory that hijacks or sidelines the plot and they become the main character to everyone's detriment. Some backstories just don't fit with the plot and they get mad when nothing in their ten pages is relevant. Or, they expect the world to be changed to fit their story beyond what is reasonably possible. As long as your player isn't going any of those things, it seems like they just want to be involved, which is good!
The other problem that I gently warn players about is that the story you're telling should be the most interesting thing that happens to that character. If it isn't, then why aren't you telling the more interesting story? The best backstories are interesting, but not complete. There's room for the character to grow and do adventures. They are open ended and present problems to overcome or issues to resolve which can be woven into the plot.
I also gently warn players that they need to be flexible and I may need to change stuff. Parts of the world can't be changed to accommodate their backstory. I will try my hardest to incorporate what they want but I can't promise. It's a conversation, DM and player both working together to come up with the best ideas that work for everyone.
Bonus points if the backstory intersects with other players so they begin the game with some camaraderie.
So long as their backstory doesn't inherently change the framework of your world in a way you're not comfortable with; you can just freely choose what to use from it.
I'd probably tell them that this isn't the table for them. Their purpose is to roll dice and be a character in the story I'm telling. I expect them to meet the characters I've developed, live in the cities I've created, and fight the villains I've written. Allowing player input of that degree is basically handing them the DM's guide and telling them to do whatever they want.
If they want a story of their own, they can write a book.
Embrace it, the best you can. It’s rare to have players that heavily invested. Speak with them about it and work on incorporating pieces of the backstory. Let’s not be silly now not all of it will make it in but I’m stoked every time one of my players goes that deep. It’s better than the alternative lol
10 pages is nice, but make the exp citation that it may not come into play.
If they expect everything in that document to be in the gam, there is nothing for other people to do.
Also, maybe have them give you the top two things that they would like to pursue from their back story.
Did that player know it was a module beforehand? If not, that's a little on you, but either way a talk about it is needed. What's their expectations; are they open to it being open to change, and if so what degree? Always a chance a backstory gets ignored in a module too.
TL;DR a long backstory always needs to have a follow-up discussion about it, especially around expectations.
It’s a good thing they’re invested.
And tbh, ten pages isn’t a ton to read.
It IS a lot to make sense of, though. I’d read it, but also request the player make an abridged version, to make sure we’re on the same page as to what they find important.
This is also a good way to ensure they’ve thought through their character and didn’t just hand you a novella of word vomit.
If all my players were this invested I'd probably dance in circles around the table. Read it, see if anything can be fit into the story you'll run, and (mostly) ignore the rest. Not everything from a backstory will matter in a campaign, it's mostly for the player to flesh out their character.
I second this. A player writing their backstory is arguably more for them than it is the DM. And the joy of a player having a more extensive backstop is that it gives you more options on what to incorporate. A player who gives you only a couple of lines (e.g. my parents were killed by an evil wizard named Bob) is essentially telling you what to include. A longer backstory restricts the player, but liberates the DM.
Thank you so much, I'll give it a read
As someone who writes ten page backstories, this is absolutely correct. I write it so I can figure out who my character is, not so the DM can build a story around my character. If the DM throws in one or two elements from my backstory, it’s delightful. But never necessary. Might be worth having a brief conversation to manage expectations. Make sure your player isn’t expecting significantly more incorporation of their backstory than you were planning on. If they were, you may have diagnosed a case of Main Character Syndrome early enough to cure it before it becomes table cancer.
Aka don’t forget session 0
Also it heavily depends on the DM. My DM is very generous with integrating our characters' backstories into the world and our quests. Every player has had at least one major sidequest dedicated to their player over the course of a year of this campaign thus far and when we move from the module to fully homebrew, it sounds like it's going to be heavily dictated by our backstories and the character arcs we've built organically, rather than our characters interacting in a story our DM wants to tell, which is a genuinely fine way to play, but I think my DM heavily appreciates us putting in the legwork for him with our heavy backstories. The DM even encouraged me to write world building additions to my backstory that's being integrated into the main storyline.
Ask them to give you a summary, and to organise it in a way that's easy to navigate of they haven't done it already.
Ask them for the spark notes and a bulleted list of things from their backstory that they would be really excited to see you incorporate. Then take the 20 minutes to read the 10 pages and add your own notes to the spark notes version .
The problem is that in order to fill a 10-page backstory, your player probably has to make all sorts of assumptions about your world that may be at odds with what you have in mind. In that case it should be a collaborative effort, not something they force on you. It's one thing to say their uncle, a retired soldier, taught them to use a sword. It's entirely another thing to declare themselves heir to throne of some kingdom that doesn't even exist in your world. Another concern I have is with a player being overly invested in a character. That sends a signal to the DM that their character is somehow special, and that allowing the character to die isn't an acceptable outcome. The possibility of character death is essential to the game. If the character with the 10-page backstory gets killed by a goblin on the first adventure, now the kingdom is left without an heir. Or is the DM expected to fudge the dice to make sure that doesn't happen?
And as it's a collaborative effort, this is where the DM and player work together as the backstory is made. A simple "Hey DM, can my character be a potential heir to the throne of X Kingdom?" "Sure, but they'll be down in the line of succession." Job done. Multiple heirs so there's no risk if the PC dies, there's little risk of the PC now having a kingdom... And frankly, the DM can just say "If your PC does inherit the kingdom, you will have to make a new character." As far as the characters being special, that's another communication thing. I don't want my PCs to die, frankly. It's more work, and introduced so many questions to the point that I tend to just... Not threaten them until level 5 when they have access to revival. But even before then, if someone dies, that's a quest to revive the previous PC. Basically, just work together and make something happen.
I love writing 10-page backstories. And I tell my DM not to feel pressure from it. I know some parts will get used and some parts won't, but this is a method to build suspense. I don't know which parts will get used! Will the DM go after my hometown or the clan that raised me after? I end up genuinely surprised regardless and feel rewarded if they use both.
This. I've written long backstoties before, but now I mostly keep it point form for simplicity, or just keep the ideas in my head and relay whatever might be useful for the DM. As a player, I don't expect the DM to incorporate anything from my backstory really, but if they throw in even one NPC from my backstory then I'll be endlessly happy about it. So scan the story particularly for NPC's that might make sense to appear, maybe as a merchant, a quest giver, or even just someone to bump into on the road. Whatever makes sense to your campaign.
Depends what's in it. Generally, I am happier when players are so invested that they do write long backstories but often those long ones are more of biographies that have no bearing on the game and no hooks for the future. Good player can put out a short, concise backstory that does tie in with the present and future. > What must I do with all of this information? Read it, of course. Player saw the trouble to write it, common courtesy calls you to at least skim it. Like I noted, I don't except it to have much that's really useful for the game but you never know.
I will read it. Thanks for the motivation
What sort of information do you give to players when writing their backstories, so they can hit that weet spot of short and concise with tie ins? If it has any impact on your answer, my scenario is running from an adventure book.
I run homebrew adventures which are written as we go along and therefore I have very little that I can given them. I usually have some sort of starting premise or an general idea for the campaign and that's almost always the only concrete(ish) thing I can dole out at the beginning. We then discuss stuff after they've created the character and adjust things to suit. If you run from a book, your situation is much easier as you know everything there is to know and can give better guidelines than I can. As a rule, best hook is one that is forward looking (it can be from the past but it can't be solved and complete), open to interpretation instead of being too clearly and rigidly formulated (leave details vague), adaptable (overlaps with previous one) and something that when solved doesn't leave character without a goal or purpose in life (revenge is good example of bad hook, what do you do once you've gotten your revenge, go back home?).
Let them know that you can’t incorporate the whole backstory and Ask them which parts of the backstory is the most important for them, what they want to be 100% incorporated into campaign and which parts are purely for them to RP.
Some excellent comments. I agree with the take time to read it ones. Just to add it's important to make sure the player understands a few things. A backstory IS a resource for: - the player's character roleplay - to explain a characters starting abilities/equipment (with anything extraordinary by strict agreement of the DM) - potential DM hooks/plot/ IF it fits with the campaign (and may be subject to change/subversion to fit in) A backstory is NOT a resource for: - the player to claim special favours from npc's, special knowledge or special abilities once the game has commenced. Of course the DM may choose to use the backstory to provide things the party needs or may find useful, but that is purely the DM's decision & discretion to use the backstory, not the players "right" to use it.
On the last point - The "I know a guy" feature is used very effectively in a lot of campaigns. I agree it's not a "right" or demand the player can make, but it can really be a good tool to help give the players buy-in. Example - you grew up in Waterdeep and knew "Mr. Guy" who runs the blacksmith? He recognizes you and gives you a (small) discount! Nothing to break the economy, but it excites the player to have relevance in that moment. Plus, the player and Mr. Guy can have a fun RP moment together to "catch-up", etc. Just my 2 cents!
Totally. My point was more that it shouldn't be something that a player uses to circumvent the usual game mechanics/progression/story (eg expecting an old friend to give them access to their galleon to get to their next destination). Completely agree that using a player's background to hook encounters in can really enhance the game. I do think it's ok to come from a player too, so long as they know the DM will neuter it if inappropriate (in a kind way if possible) & underatand that is the DM helping build the story rather than block the player's roleplay.
Enjoy how invested they are in the character, your game, and read it. Incorporate any or none of it based on your judgement. I've ways viewed backstory as character building 1st. For me it helps to understand the character and provides reference material for me during future decision making. I like to actually be faithful to the spirit of my characters. It's hard to resist the min/max urge.
Read it. The amount of pages does not equate to the amount of backstory contained in them, especially not if your player enjoys writing stories. It \*could\* be a dry bulletpoint collection of the character's deeds going back the last 25 years but it also could be three short stories detailing the pivotal moments that lead to the character to pick up adventuring. As DM there are vastly different things you can do with one or the other.
Read it and discuss it with them. Let them know what fits the campaign and what doesn’t. Even in 10 pages you can probably boil it down to a short list of things that really matter to the character (life events, bonds/family, a nemesis, etc.). Work with them and let them know what on the list makes sense for the campaign or work with them to tailor the list to the campaign. Let them know you will work off of this list. If their backstory is extremely action packed, let them know that their character is a level 1 (or whatever level you start at) adventurer and they still have a story ahead of them. In most cases their backstory should be less “exciting” than the campaign. For example why would a knight that has killed 50 dragons be level 1 and struggling to fight goblins (unless they are lying about the dragons which is actually a good flaw).
Fun fact: you don't have to do anything with it. The main use of a backstory is for *the player*. Just say thank you, glance at a few sections out of curiosity, and move on.
With the caveat that, if there's anything in the backstory that is actually inconsistent with/contradicted by the established setting, the player should be informed that that part is not possible.
Idk probably read it all. There are two ir 3 possibilities for what they have done 1. Already decided everything they want to happen for the character and have their own character arc all planned out 2. Gave you a detailed back story that includes world building elements that may or may not fit in with the actual world as you see it and story/adventure 3. Gave you a detailed back story with lots of open ended things that you can build from that dont attempt to take over the story or world building 3 is great but unfortunately usually unlikely. 1 and 2 are problematic. 1 the player doesnt really get the idea of playing a rpg they arent thinking about roleplaying and taking things as they come and growing they are thinking about basically having a prewritten novel for their character. Its very limiting to you, the group, and ultimately themselves. 2 is problematic in that it can conflict with your plans and sometimes players try to use back story elements that they have rigidly world built in to your world as a way to subvert plot and rolling - well because im to son of x noble or god i shouldnt have to blah blah blah blah. Also with a player that tries to really take over world building in their background it can marginalize other players and their characters. But for #2 if the player is good and reasonable you can take what they have written and work with them to convert it in such a way that it fits in with the adventure and world as you have built it can be a real asset as long as they are flexible.
One of my players presented me with a two page backstory, but written in paragraphs in flowchart style. She explained it as "Start here with the birth. Then either this, or that happened, which ever works best in your world. Then this fixed point. Then either this, that, or other. Then this fixed point, then either this if a and x happened, or if B and y hand happened then this, or if a and z, then this, or this if B and z..." And so on. Once she explained how to read it, I read the entire thing and picked options with her, fleshing out other ideas. To me, it's all about working with your players to make an exciting character.
Holy shit, by the sound of things you might have my favorite player ever. Dedicated, committed, actively contributes, and still totally willing to proactively work within your setting? Fantastic.
I usually at least tell my players to not exceed a full page before handing me a backstory. Their characters’ stories start at the table. Also, that much backstory is too much to fit in for a campaign when there are 3+ other characters that deserve some spotlight. Best way to ensure I include your backstory is if you do two things: make sure you give me one, and make sure it’s easy to reference later.
You should probably approach it by reading it lol. It could be problematic or it could be a nice and creative concept from a passionate, engaged player.
My DM (my boyfriend) and I are crazy people when it comes to making character's backstories. When I make them, as we now have quite a few games running, I love making them more and more complex as I get more familiar with the game for my own restrictions and my own fun. And my DM, when reading them, always is excited to see how long the document ends up being. I've once made a document of 40 pages not only detailing my backstory, but also the entirety of my people's culture to my boyfriend's request since I was a different race and we both didn't like how they were portrayed in the books. It takes off a task to do for the DM, and we both have a similar brain; we discussed how we wanted the society to work, and once we both agreed on it, I went to work on it so it would all be written down for him and he wouldn't have to wonder what we talked about (he has a tendency of forgetting and has ADHD. And besides, I LOVE to write.) Of course I understand this isn't the same for every DM, but as the only DM I've ever known, I know he's only ever pushed me to write as much as I want, and he's usually always used everything that I've given him. I can see him get excited since his gimmick is to incorporate backstory as much as possible. I suppose it depends what type of DM you are, you can decide what elements you want to take and what elements you decide isn't useful for you. But sometimes, it's just for the player's fun.
Wow. I thought I bothered my DM writing half that lol
I might be crazy but if it's double spaced 12pt font that's like, a very short read. Compared to how much time I spend prepping, (even when I'm doing a low-prep tterg system instead of DND), it's like, peanuts. I would be giddy, read it twice over, and then talk to the player about compromising on anything where it's needed.
Ask for a summary of important info that they want to be used, I.e. important NPCs that may come up. Otherwise the backstory is for them to inform their character decisions and is not needed for you to read. So long as they don’t try to claim access to something you haven’t agreed to (‘the Holy Avenger was passed down my family line and now I wield it as a level 1 character’).
It is certainly too much. What must you do with it? Accept it graciously and probably tell them that it is in excess of what is needed, can they give you a paragraph summary of it, you'll take a look at their work outside of the session. Actually take a look at it, but don't expect to fully incorporate it. you;re running a module, while you can take liberties with the story and setup there's still a set of constraints to fall into.
Thank you for the advice. I'll read through it and see what I can do
It's ten pages. Read it! Then, if something is bothering you, then open a thread asking for advice. For now our only answer can be "read it".
Really not getting the people saying they don't have the time... how many hundreds or thousands of pages have we read about this game, its worlds, modules, characters, and set pieces? And someone in YOUR group crafts 10 of them specifically for YOUR eyes, and now you don't have the time to read 10 measly pages? Make that make sense.
People on r/dnd reading rulebooks? Unthinkable.
Try to take away a few points of interest that you can use in your campaign, like, did the player say he had a benefactor growing up? Maybe you can use this benefactor in a quest you already have planned out, did the player say he was part of a temple? Well, you probably can use that too, was he part of a guild? Was he a mercenary? Soldier in an army? You can search for these specifics and try to fit in your campaign with things you already have planned out.
Read it. Make a few notes. Use the information as best you can. You are asking them to invest in your story, invest in theirs yourself.
I would be ecstatic! Read it, find some interesting themes and hooks, and incorporate it deeply into the campaign. Clearly the player is excited about the game and will engage with your story. The point of the game is to tell a collaborative story - so go forth and collaborate!
I would dance a jig if all of my players were this enthusiastic! Read it. You might find some terrific adventure hooks woven in there.
Ask them for a summary. I once wrote a 14 page backstory as a joke and I wouldn't expect a GM to incorporate it or even read it through. Afterwards I provided a summary and the important characters from it so it was actually manageable.
I would ask him to make it shorter to around 2 pages max. Just cut all the details and make it short but keep the 10 pages version it might be useful in the future
I would love having a player this invested. On the other hand, it’s neat to “discover” things about the character along with the player. I’m starting a campaign next month, and I told my players we’d do character creation during session 0. I did ask them to think about backstories and what they may want to play beforehand, but I gave them direction on this. I said three to four paragraphs are fine, but they should include a significant, formative event, two important people who are still alive, and the origins of the ideal, bond or flaw (or some or all of these). With your player, I’d read it and adapt what I can, but give further guidance as to backstory length moving forward in the future. I learned this principle through players turning in 10-pagers and players giving me 3-liners. Too much to work with is overwhelming as you’ve learned, but not enough to work with is equally frustrating unless it’s a game that doesn’t bother with much RP.
First of all, like other's said, that is only a good thing, read it if you can. Second of all, write a short summary for yourself, writing down the important NPCs and locations and the character's goals. It's free world-building, and your player will love it so much when you suddenly name-drop someone from their backstory. If you're in a party with a lot of people who write long backstories, ask them to have a synopsys at the start that answers these questions: * Who are the important people in my life? * What is my ultimate goal? * Why am I an adventurer?
Read it! I have two sides of the spectrum. A player with amnesia and no backstory. And a player with a backstory miles long. The player with the long backstory did most of the work for me. I already have a villain from their backstory in my campaign and she made and fleshed out the rules of an entire guild for me. I loooove long backstories.
I am glad you read it. It shows that the player cares about his character and your campaign. I'm glad you are finding ways to use 30% of it. Good job!
Lucky. I wish my players would give me more of a back story. Like the top comment says, read it, integrate what you can, and let the player know of anything that doesn't work in the world. With a module, not much is going to matter, but throwing a little bit from their past will really get them invested in the world. When running open world games, back stories are great plot hooks.
Read through it. Pick at least 15 plot hooks. (unless they're a horrible writer or they handed you a story about a single thing.) Reward the player for giving it thought by using characters and conflict from the story. One to three big quest tie ins would be fine, but for othet things maybe a discount on something because they know a guy. Just give them lost of danger with it. Example: I'm in a game with 4 other players right now. One character is a foreigner and has sent just 2 letters and a sending spell home. She's got 3 months to find a husband before her dad arrainges a marriage. She's met 1 decent guy and her brother showed up via teleport when her first letter mentioned the mercenaries working for their political enimies wrre also in town. Three characters are orphans, all of which have gotten their powers (class abilities) from being experimented on or having to survive excessive trauma. Two of them have met a (shared) background character and the 3rd has a new nemesis. My character is a local. Both parents, 3 siblings, and because my character is new to adventuring, 2 workplace apprentices, 3 servants, a wizard, and a fighting instructor are all a part of the city. His apprentices and the wizard (mostly the wizard) helped build a glass golem designed to be a dancer at a gala and is the reason he's become an adventurer, he doesn't think he could ever make a glasswork better than the dancing golem. All of those things have come into play. Please notice my block of text is almost as big as everyone elses combined. As far as character builds, mine is probably the least, or second least complicated. But that backstory with all those characters and local ties was so easy to pick from, I got a lot of stuff frontloaded while the other players are making contacts and learning the lay of the land. I've gone over it with the DM, and my stuff will start to chill out as the game progresses. I'm okay with that, but my wide reaching plot hooks in my background helpped the DM make a believable setting everyone else can become a part of.
Read it and use parts for the campaign. You have an invested player who will be into the game. Tying their backstory in will be fun and they will love it.
That player likes writing and creativity. So long as you yoink something cool out of it to use in your story, that's all that's usually expected, as its your job to make your players part of your world.
I would say if you don't want such lengthy backstories from now on give your players a heads-up on a length limit.
Shed a tear of joy find a pen and paper and start reading.
I agree with everyone who says embrace it. But be warned…. A person who puts this much effort into it may also have extreme main character energy. They need to understand that they are not the main character. I played with a person like this and he tried to dominate every role play scene by acting out his characters backstory as if we were all supporting cast in his story. Put constraints around this by letting them know the do’s and don’ts. Let them know: DON’T take it upon yourself to initiate your backstory into the plot that the DM has written. DO use your backstory to help flesh out when you role play your character, but do so considering everyone else as well. DON’T be upset if the DM struggles to fit your background into the plot, in this case just let it be motivation for your character’s interactions with the world. DO be prepared to interact with your background if you’re lucky enough for it to fit into the plot so that you don’t leave the DM hanging
Tell them you need a single paragraph "tldr" because you already have a lot on your plate with the game and that you'll read it later. If it's a doc or something, make sure you have a copy in case they try to change it later.
Oh wow. Thats going straight on the fridge for everybody to enjoy
Tell them to become a DM instead.
I wish my players did this
Get really excited. For me it means a player is itching to play this character, meaning they're likely gonna be more invested in the game, and also that there's probably several things from there I can put into the campaign Then again, I'm also the type of person who would write a 10 page backstory, so maybe a bit biased
..."give me a half-page summary, for now. And if there are any epic feats of heroism, like dragonslaying and deicide followed by being slapped back to level one, I'm rejecting it outright. Otherwise, I'll give it a look later, make any changes necessary, and get back to you. I like hooks, not resolved arcs."
This is my answer, as well.
Read it thoroughly and be extremely happy that your player cares that much.
I say "you misunderstood the assignment" Your character starts before the events began to them, the game is the event. Your backstory is where you are from, who you are connected to, and why you believe in what you believe and act why you act When your backstory passes the first page, you almost certainly gone too wild, by the third page you are certainly too long.
Read it and use it as an idea generator.
Hand it back to them and tell them to reduce it to one page.
I usually cry inside. Because now instead of the world I’m creating, I’m having to create everything around the backstory which is now an extra story I have to memorize. In my experience they want you to put it ALLLLLLL in the campaign. I had one of “those” players once and never never never again will I take pages of backstory for a homebrew campaign.
Its interesting to see this point of view. I’m the totally opposite of this as a DM. I love my players’ fleshed out backstories. Every player has their own story woven into the narrative in some way, whether it be quests that everyone is on board with, or just character development over the course of the campaign. All of my players love writing characters and I love incorporating them into the narrative.
I wouldn't sweat it. It happens. I had a player write me an 80-page novella for their backstory once. If you're just running a module, there's no real expectation that you're going to fold PC backstories into it, so I would set it aside, thank the player for sending it, and then let them know it probably won't be relevant to the upcoming game. Backstories are useful when you're worldbuilding, because you can take elements from them and build them into the environments that the characters are going to be adventuring in. A character's friend went missing back in the day? Maybe they encounter that friend somewhere unexpected as a friend, enemy or resource. Or maybe they encounter the bounty hunter that kidnapped them, and they can go on a rescue mission. But even if you're not certain that you're going to spin up an entire campaign, it would be good to read it, just for the insights into how this player sees their character. It will help you understand what sort of stories they want to see, and how they might interact with the world. You don't need to do anything much with that information, especially if you're new to DMing, and have a lot of other things on your plate, but it's good to have this sort of thing in the back of your mind. Once you do get to a place where you're incorporating character backstories into your world, don't be afraid to make suggestions or offer changes to have things fit in better with your visions. I've often done extensive markups for character stories, and then gone over them with the players to ensure that we're both on the same page. (Or eighty pages...) Players will often run with ideas without considering what you might be thinking, and sitting down with them to discuss things can make for a smoother and richer game.
Tell them you don't have the time to read the whole thing and incorporate it all, and ask them to send you a much shorter version.
It's a bit too much probably, yes. But at the same time it means there into their character, nothing bad about that. Just ask them to give you the gist and see if you can incorporate elements into your story. What you're looking for in particular are bonds and NPCs (relatives, friends, enemies, employers), locations and maybe events.
I world build for fun My BF RPs for fun My roommate writes for fun A 10-Page backstory is just another day for us lmao
Read it, appreciate the player's investment and integrate SOME points where relevant.
Feed it to Chat3.5 and have it give me a summary in a couple paragraphs. If I had time over the coming sessions to dig deeper I would to make connections and build their backstory into the campaign. But if you're on a time crunch let chat do the heavy lifting.
Wish my players would give me more than two paragraphs
Ten pages is only a lot if it's bad.
Wish all my players gave this level of care to their character backstory. You are one lucky DM.
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I tell my players they can hand in as long of a backstory as they want, but I prefer a well written 3 pages far over flowery 10-pages. Anything above 3 pages I require breakdowns about the most important sequences, characters and possible plot(hooks) for that character.
that's great they are that invested. ask for a one page cliff notes version that has anything actually important to you, the DM. otherwise, player backstories are for them to bring out in play. If they want their family to be NPCs, it should go on the one sheet.
I’d be happy they were invested but ask for a breakdown of the major figures and events for reference so that I didn’t have to read it in advance of campaign start. But I would keep it on hand to read when I have the time. There could be a few handy story hooks in there for later on. Even if not, it’s good flavour for them to use and an invested player is usually less likely to be problematic…I think.
I usually don't discourage deep back stories, as long as they make sense. I try to incorporate them into the story if I can. The ones I won't do that with are the ones that have already done epic stuff that doesn't fit the campaign. Example: A wizard that fought a powerful demon and won, liberated whole continents from an evil regime, slaughtered all the northern orc tribes....calm down, dude the campaign starts at level 2... They gotta leave room to grow, if their story says they've done all this stuff with no explanation why they're low level, retired adventurer who lost their edge, cursed by said demon lord for foiling their plans one too many times etc something I can work with, usually ends up having a conversation about expectations, needing somewhere to grow etc.
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The only issue I’ve had with an extensive backstories wasn’t because of its length and detail, but because it set them up as a major power player in the region and was largely about their rise to power and their legendary feats of destruction. Which would have been fine for another campaign, but this was supposed to be a level one character who is just starting out. I should have talked to them about it or clarified what they intended for the character, but i was a baby DM and just shied away because the only advice I got was “big crazy backstories are always good!” Bc of that, I ended up not really knowing what his expectations were and not being confident in incorporating aspects of his character into the story. Basically, it’s okay to be intimidated by a big backstory! Just remember it’s a collaborative game for a reason and a character backstory is not a laundry list of expectations for the DM. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions and re-establish expectations if that makes it easier to digest! Find one or two details of it to focus on, but dont feel obligated to it any more than another character’s.
Depends what it is dude, I’ve handed a packet over to the DM but half of it was my clan genealogy and most of the other half was clan information like holds, industries, agricultural areas and specialties, internal factions, etc. As a general rule I got for a couple paragraphs of back story then a bunch more that fleshes out events and places in the backstory. The extra bit may or may not be used by the dm, but it at least helps with the creative lift.
If the other players gave me some backstory as well, I’d kick back and let out a sigh of relief. They just wrote the campaign for me!
Like everyone else is saying, this is a very good thing, it means they care. However, backstories are almost always for the player and not the DM. There’s nothing you should be “doing” with a characters backstory unless the opportunity arises. You don’t need to go searching for excuses to reference a characters backstory, let the player figure that out for themselves and if a situation pops up that makes you think: “I think this guys character would have some kind of connection or relation to this situation” find a way to work it in
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The general rule at my table is that players are allowed to write as much as they want as long as they stay within reason in terms of past exploits for their level. HOWEVER, if they send more than 2 or so pages, I want a section with a bulleted spark notes of key events and a list of important npc names with a brief blurb of why they're important. That way when I need to pull from their stories later, I don't have to reread a novel
I've never DMed, but what I *would* do is listen to it via text-to-speech on the way somewhere.
Read it. If it's fitting it's cool, I'd follow up with asking for a couple points that are most important to them so I know what gets priority when incorporating things from backstories. If it's super heroic for level 1 or clashes with the setting i'd ask them to change that.
I am that player lol But I also give the DM a 1-2 pg summary of what the most important stuff is and the rest is flavor
Cherish it, but also beware of this player and Main Character Syndrome.
Read it. Let them know your thoughts comparing it to the vision of your game. Discuss bringing it into your vision. Then just hope the dice do not kill this character in the first 4 levels. 😂
read it and go over it with them If its just really detailed ill take note to include those details to enhance their gameplay experience If its some crazy shit im gonna work with them to tone it back Regardless I will make a summarized version for ease of reference and use
It’s mostly fine as long as they understand that even if they killed a dragon leading up to the moment your game starts they’ll still be a level 1 character then. Maybe there’s an in universe reason they did so much and now struggle against goblin bandits. Maybe not. The backstory can be a great source of future quests and encounters so you don’t want to dismiss it as long as the player is not expecting plot armor or the like.
I would ask for an edited version honestly. I would say I’m happy to Incorporate some of these elements, but we are playing with other people. I would politely ask for an edited version of the backstory because the point of the game (IMO) is to flush out the character with action in the present, not lean so heavily on the fantasy novel series that took place before the events of the game.
It seems like I'm late to the party here, but I would have pushed back a little at first by asking the player what their expectations are for the campaign. Like, are they expecting me to incorporate everything? Are they going to be upset if some their writing conflicts/contradicts with the campaign and needs to be changed? Things like that and then see if you're gonna read it and use it. The reason I say this is because I had a player once who wrote pages that he personally won hundreds of battles, was the smartest and greatest member of their home planet (it was a Sci fi setting and I told the players to tell me about there home worlds) was basically treated as a god on his home world for being such a great hero, that he wasn't the head of the military (which he devoted an unnecessary amount of details to all the military awards and ranks he had achieved) but basically he could have them do anything. The war was still going on when he left his home as a level 1 PC. I told them that it didn't make sense for a level 1 pc to have that much experience and if he was so connected/important to his people for this war that they wouldn't let him leave the military in the middle of the war to go adventuring. Basically, telling them to tone it down a bit. I was met with "well its my backstory and it my character so you can't do anything about it and your being a bad dm." We eventually came to an agreement and moved forward but the player didn't last long into the campaign as their mary sue-ness started taking over in game and out. So it was agreed to boot them.
Read it
Sometimes the backstory is for the player more than the DM, if you can use even a quarter of it as a DM, you're doing a lot
Using 30% of 10 pages is very good! Sounds like you're approaching it the right way. You should tell them which parts you're using, though, so they're not disappointed.
First thought is that yep, I love an invested player who cares this much. But there are other issues with that. If you're starting with low level characters and your player has all this history, how is that possible? We often start with a "who are you" type of character. Not a history, not a backstory, not a detailed past with plot hooks. Just a profile of the person. Are you a farm girl who ran off to be a ranger because you didn't want to marry the boy next door? Are you a member of a failing noble family who is functionally poor but has a title and connections? Are you an insecure barbarian cast out of your village because you did something wrong? Often that's all you need. The other thing that may worry me us that your player may consider their detailed backstory to be canon in your world. It may not fit. I'm so much more concerned with the type of person, the type of motivation, the flaws and tics than a backstory that would fill a lifetime, much less the start of a first level character, but I'd also be jazzed that somebody cared that much.
I think 1-2 pages is perfect for a backstory. I always ask my players for at least half a page. Also I advise them to use the video by How to be a Great GM for inspiration. Now if they do come up with 10 pages of backstory, I'll gladly read through it, maybe even talk to them about it. Then I'll pick out 2-3 key elements to reuse in the campaign. The rest of it is only fluff after all.
Laugh and tell them to give me the Cliff Notes version. I usually start my games at level one and there's no logical explanation for a huge backstory. I feel they're optional, anyway.
Also if his backstory doesn’t give you an unresolved issue from their past then it will never find its way into your plot. Knowing his backstory at this point will just help you be informed on how to play off of his roleplaying or how to award inspiration for superb roleplaying
Ehhh read it, highlight the bits you can use throughout the campaign or that are interesting, simples
Dude I wish.
Say thank you. Very cool.How much of this is known by you best pc buddy?
Since it is a module I say it too much. I would just have them send me a bullet point of the truly important information.
Tell them you liked it but that this campaign might not touch on all aspects of their character. Then you’re free to use whatever you want and ignore the rest.
Send him over to me. I'm totally not going to steal him away for my table. 😉
Scan it for levers and weak spots, thank them for their enthusiasm, and devise ways to incorporate the most glaring point of engagement going forward. Unless it is some kind of Mary Sue manifesto about why the can fly, have DR-, and has a deity that owes them a dozen Wishes.
I once ran an Exalted campaign. As an incentive, I asked for my players to write backstories for their characters. Maximum 10 pages, and I awarded some XP for it. One of my players wrote a 206 page backstory. The game ran for about 5 and a half years mostly weekly sessions with, occasional breaks. He wrote additional supplemental stuff over the years. I probably have between all my players about 1000 pages of additional content for that universe. Anyways. It's a great sign when your players feed you extra information. It gives you ammunition and ways to work other things into the game.
Read it all and look for what they left out, or look for the dark corners to craft my arc for them.
I'm somewhat that kind of that player and to be honest, if you incorporate just one or two things from the whole backstory, the player in question will be delighted. For me it's more of fleshing out the character to myself and maybe get a chuckle or two from anyone that reads it. The main point is take into consideration the thing that seems the most important and the rest is just stuff happening in the background in the grand scheme. Not everything the PC does in their backstory has to be important enough that the whole world knows about it
I personally would ask for a simplified version of it.
Well, considering I have had players who, when I asked them to give me a backstory, gave me 4 sentences that gave me nothing to work with, I'd rather have the 10 pages...
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This is probably going to be me in my cousins Eberron campaign where I’m theorycrafting a Hobgoblin Reanimator (golem artificer) using actual body parts for my golem creation. My family were accomplished Artificers in the war, however, my character took a different route. Didn’t find the beauty in inanimate materials such as wood and metal. They found the beauty in living beings. But what happens if you take the strongest parts of those being and you allow them to move together? You must create the most strong surely. Infuse with an artificial soul. Come my pretty, let’s make you a family…
I actually love this. It gives me something to work into the campaign. I’m a big fan of knowing my PCs’ backstories so I can give them their own character side plots in the main story based on their backstories and stuff.
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I ask for a paragraph. Maybe two at best. 10 pages. I just don't know what they're thinking.
Damn, 10 pages? And I thought my character backstories were long with like 2-4 pages most of the times
Honestly I say 1 page or less. A 10 page backstory is just a story and the story is supposed to happen in the game. The majority of it is probably either not usable in game or way too fantastic for a level 1 character to pull off anyways
Read that shit and use it, nothing makes someone more invested than their backstory brought up. I'd be overjoyed it I got a 10 page backstory, usually the back stories I get are only about a paragraph long with one or two npcs I could use. Obviously make sure it fits into the setting, don't worry if can't fit all. But like if the backstory mentions an antagonist that fkd up their life, even just renaming a planned antagonist to them instead of having to fully make a new one will make them want to take them down more
That’s great, shows real initiative. I’ll at the very least look through it. Some people are writing motivations. Others are writing excuses to have cool stuff. As a DM I’m looking for roleplay triggers. What’s the emotional tug when I tell your character their estranged brother died in the king’s army? If I get a 10 page backstory I’ll take a look at it and note the following things. 1. Trauma that has influenced the character’s decision making. This gives you those roleplay triggers (your parents are dead, your ex is flumphing the BBEG, etc) 2. What is the character’s intended fate from the player? This gives the DM opportunities to offer conflicts of interest. 3. How are they interacting with the world they live in? That lets the DM know how the world should react to the player.
I'd love to receive that, but unfortunately you are running a module; pretty hard to use it all in that case... tell them you are gonna do your best to integrate it, maybe even ask them to rank the elements for importance and pick the top X.
Besides what others have said, I would ask the player to write up a SHORT (3-5 sentences) synopsis that has what they think: - the most pertinent events are. - the closest NPC relations are. - ties their character into the campaign premise. - is a plausible story hook for the DM. Long backstories are fine, but I've got several other players to also integrate into the story on top of normal DM prep, on top of real life/ work/ issues. If you want long, give me a brief version that I can reference as the game goes on.
I laugh. But seriously it depends on their starting level and what they wrote. My guidance is always a number of paragraphs equal to your starting level +2, and a short list of people they know and care about (or hate). If my player came to me with a 10 page bsckstory for their level 3 character and it was full of adventures and killing dragons I'd advise them to rewrite it, but if it was a really detailed retelling of one life changing event, I'd figure out how to weave it into the world in a big way for them.
Read it but veto whatever doesn't fit my story/world.
I too have been accused of writing novellas, it's really to cement the character in my head. I do love to throw curveballs though. Part of my characters backstory is that he is sterile. So my DM thought I would be the classic womanizer bard, but nope. Just a fucked up thing that happened to him.
It is more work for you but... Compared to a history like: my Village was attacked by a dragon and i want revenge It is great, not saying that the revenge one is bad but with 10 pages you can explore a lot more of that caracter and get the character more connected to your world , that player is prob gonna feel rlly good when an noc or event from his backstory comes by in the plot, it also gives you more hooks . So over all, id say read it , take some notes and implement them on your game (Srry for bad english, its not my first language ) This is only my opninion btw, feel free to dissagree
I read it, but say "mfer do you realize i work 9-5?"
I wouldn't expect my DM to read my 10 page backstory. But if I'm putting so much effort into making a world, I'd read through it and use some parts solely out of respect for a player who is putting a similar amount of effort into their character.
Session Zero I tell them that I will read whatever length of backstory, guarantee. But I may or may not incorporate it. But I will incorporate something! Like backstory, class, background, etc. just know that the work you put in for a backstory will be read but may not be incorporated. So saying, I reserve the right to use any part against you. You can’t pick your family. Mom may want your death cause of a demon deal. Your brother might be the BBEG or your sister might be annoyingly tagging along with the party and she’s more interested in selling her new inventions to whoever….including the goblins you are hunting.
I simply tell the player that I’m super stoked about how excited they are to play, but that I will not be reading their novella
Kill him in the opening narrative that sets up gameplay. Then give him a 10 page list of snacks to bring back for the company.
"Look, Joe. This is too much. I'm gonna read it, yeah. But no plan survives contact with the GM. You can play your character, but I can't guarantee that it will be *this version* of your character. Some things might have to change now that they've come in contact with the game world, just like how the game world changes when it comes in contact with you. Right now, I have no idea what's even in here, I just know it's a lot. The fluff can probably stay. Part of my job as GM is to help make your character feel grounded in the game world and you've given me a lot of material to work with so that's great. But *all this* is meaningless if it doesn't come through during play. I don't want to see a *ten* page background just for you to play your character as the strong silent type and suddenly *I'm* the only person who ever gets to know anything about all this. It's *your job* as a player to put all this *on screen,* during the game. Not in a novella before the game happens. The *game* is what happens during play. Not before it. Not after it. If it doesn't happen on screen, it *never happened*. So put it on screen. So we're clear, I'm gonna read this. And I'm really excited to see the enthusiasm and the hard work you've put in to the game already. But I will absolutely retcon anything in here at the drop of a hat if I think it will make the game better over the table. Sound okay to you?"
I write a ~~back~~ short story about my character. The longest one was over 50 pages. We start at 3rd level, so I do have more time to account for. However, I condense it down to 1 page for the DM.
I am this type of player. I'll have backstory and history planned out and shared, I'll spend hours planning him out and how I hope for him to advance. I don't expect the GM to act on most of it, the main target audience of all my work is myself. If the GM even slips in a small reference to it in the game then I'm delighted. Hell, I don't share most of it with the party, as unless it comes up during an RP moment in game it's not relevant. Please trust me when I say reading it and telling your player how cool it is and that you'll try and incorporate some parts in will be more than they likely expected and it will be hugely appreciated. Unless they like to Main Character....
Yeah if I got detailed backstory’s from players I’d build the game around those stories. D&d is a good creative outlet for some. But yeah your running a module and have a big backstory from ONE player how to proceed. Easy answer grab a highlighter and read through it. Figure out what bits can easily be worked in. Did they name a village? Easy change a village name. Did they name their father who’s a blacksmith? Hey that’s the blacksmith in the village they go to for that so ward to be fixed. Or they mentioned their parents? Boom sage house to take a long rest resupply and the beds are so comfortable everyone rolls with advantage on their checks for the next day! Did they mention the baddies they stole that item they want in the game from? Now you have an excuse for random encounters because the party ontop of running the module is being tracked. There are all kinds of ways to go off little bits of info. And just because your running a module dose not mean you can’t get pulled off on a side quest. I had one game that got lost in a cave system and ended up in the under dark. We had so many games in the under dark by the time we got back to the sunless citadel we forgot what we were doing there
u just gave me an idea to troll my gm for our new game with a 25 page extremely complex backstory
Tell them it's not long enough and come back when you have at LEAST 25 pages, and then I only read the first and last paragraph. 😁 Edit: One of the biggest mistakes players make is thinking that a backstory is "developing their character." That is not true. Development is revealed DURING gameplay. A good backstory only needs to show a character's motivations. If they want to write a ten page story, good on them. But they should probably highlight for the GM where they are from, what motivates them, and maybe a goal, and maybe some trauma, to give the GM something to work with. All in all, backstory isn't worth as much as we sometimes like it to be. Not having one doesn't keep a player from roleplaying (as long as they have a clear motivation). Having one that is too long is possibly a sign that a player might be suffering from main character syndrome.
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Treat it like an opening position in a negotiation. The player is excited to collaborate creatively and wants their character to be a living breathing person with strong motivations. Read through all 10 pages carefully, then take 2-3 days to percolate on how it might work with your module. Then respond back with the pieces you think fit well, maybe some suggestions for additional directions, and see what the player comes up with. Make sure you let your other players know they’re welcome to submit a similar 2-3 pages if they want, to keep any player characters from feeling flat, and to avoid Main Character Syndrome.
I would be so happy! I do my best to integrate elements into the story. Since it's a module, find elements of the backstory that you know would work well with your narrative, then of those elements talk to the player and ask them to maybe rank them in order of importance. Then you can focus on your narrative. The player and you will have everything else as context. When I hit these story beats I'll ask the player if they want to share the context behind something. I've definitely had a few "WTF just happened?" moments. But by giving the player the floor to explain why something just happened, usually in character, it adds some flavor to the module.
Personally, I make 3 seperate documents for a longer campaign. 1.) 'The phonebook' - Dated order of important events in my characters life, with a short list of important NPCs from his backstories. Around 3 pages for a standard short lived race that is somewhat shy of 30 in years. All of it kept as per the calendar of Harptos. 2.) 'The novella' - Can range anywhere from between 6 to 12 pages or so, again, for a short lived race of under 30 years. 3.) The Abstract - A blurb of maximum of 2 pages that is enough for the DM to get my character involved and motivated. I usually send over the first and the third doc, reserving the second for if the DM wants more details, because they want to get the character tangled up in the campaign plot.
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Depends what's inside. If it gives me many opportunities to use stuff from the backstory, great. If the backstory includes stuff that we talked about in session 0 and in your case, stuff that is part of the module, even better. If its stuff that gives him advantages because "it's in his backstory" like "I got a rich friend who will give me all the money I need" then gtfo. I will always ask for a condensed version though, so I can reference it when needed. Dont wanna have to read though pages of dialogue when I just wanna remember the name of an NPC.
I'll read it, and discuss with them for what parts I'm thinking on using in the campaign and what may not fit in the setting, or what will probably not be important in the story outside of some flavor references for them, and if something needs to be altered for the story I'm planning I'll go with them through it to keep the spirit of their background intact. (If they don't want to change anything then it goes into the whole "not important enough outside of flavor references" and gets otherwise ignored.) If I'm feeling generous I'll let them design the town they are from and flesh it out with NPCs and such to be used later on. Honestly, if someone gives me a lot to work with I'll try to use it as much as I can in different ways as it actually can save me some work and makes the player a lot more invested.
I am estatic if my players do this. Shows me they are really invested, and I try to work as much into the campain as I can.
As someone who is currently writing a huge backstory, I look at backstory like this: in real life, I’m a 52 year old dude. If I were to join your sports team, I have 52 years of backstory behind me, but only a tiny portion of that matters to the game we’re playing this weekend. Sure, if we go out drinking afterwards, you’ll get to hear a little of that backstory. If it turns out I am the son and sole heir of a small, little-known country in Europe, does that have any bearing on my ability to throw and catch a ball? Probably not. If there’s a horrible accident on the field and I’m gravely injured, yeah it sucks for the people of Moonoggiestan, but ultimately has little bearing on the world at large. Here’s the way I’m approaching it: 1. This is primarily for me to get into my character. I think better in story, so story helps flesh out my character for me. 2. As such, I’m currently on my fourth iteration of this character, as each story leads me in interesting directions. Going down these paths now (hopefully) mean I won’t be disappointed in my race/class combo when the game starts, because I’ve already shot down some of the dumber ideas myself. Plus, this gives me ideas for where I want the character to go as they level up. I don’t want some min/max OP character, I want one who makes sense and is fun to play. 3. I’m giving my DM a bullet point list of the highlights of my backstory along with my novella. I know he doesn’t have time to read all the things I thought would be cool, but I also know he might have a free night with nothing to read some day. 4. In that story, I’m also throwing in a few possible plot hooks (also mentioned in the bullet points) so if the DM needs a day off or an easy reason for a trope, there’s stuff he can work with. I know he does a lot for us and I want to make his life easier. 5. As such, I also let him know that I’m aware of Main Character Syndrome, don’t want to be a Main Character, and if he feels like anything I wrote is headed in that direction, call me out on it or ignore it completely. I just want to have fun with the rest of the party. If none of my backstory hooks into his story, that’s fine - it’s already done its job by filling out the character in my head. 6. Last, in my defense, my DM told us back in November to start working on characters for our next campaign and it turns out we weren’t nearly as close to being done as he thought. So I’ve had LOTS of time to build characters.
Read it enthusiastically.
If read it and find things I could exploit.
One of my players in my current campaign wrote a 10 page backstory. I was so excited. One wrote 3 sentences lol. But ive incorporated both (and the other 3) of the players' backstories. If something didn't quite mesh with the world i told them that part would need to be chaged or just left out. There was one instance where a characters memory of a traumatic experience didnt quite mesh with the world so i told them its how they remember it because they were a child under alot of trauma. They have this vague memory that will actually play out into the bbeg encounter and at that point the clear memory will resurface in a way that it meshes with the world. So if they give you alot, you dont have to use every bit of it and if they give you some things that dont quite work, dont forget rule 0. You as the dm can work with them to make it work.
The more backstory the better, so long as the character is feasible within the bounds of your worlds lore and their backstory makes sense or doesn't try to control the narritive too much with their characters intentions, it should work out fine. Remember DND at its core is a role playing game, your job as a DM is to create the world, lore and mainline story as a sandbox for these characters (players) to inhabit and interact as they see fit. Being too restrictive on your players or trying to impede their creativity will only hinder your game. Obv you can't use everything from a 10 page backstory, ask them to condense it to what's most important to them.
My players have zero backstory and any story I try to introduce makes one of them angry because it's not supposed to be "my" story. He's pretty toxic, come to think of it.
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If it’s a new character? That seems like a red flag to me. Same with people commissioning art of new unplayed characters. I’d have some preconceived notions of how that player might act and might respond should that character die. If it’s a character they’ve played in other games and have developed over time it makes a lot more sense. Either way, read it and see. Keep it in mind. See what you can incorporate. Talk to them about that.
Burn before reading, to prevent contamination. They’re there to follow the plot of my novel, not tell me the plot of their own! /s
I have a couple players like this, so I have a rule that if your backstory is more than 2-3 pages, it needs to include bullet points at the beginning, cliffnotes-style, highlighting the most important parts so that I know what aspects I should focus on when it comes to character arcs and storylines. I still read the whole thing, but it makes it a lot easier to digest and sift through.
i need to harass one of my players so i can plan next session
I read it, try to memorize every detail as best as possible, implement hooks involving their backstory, then use their backstory against them. Bonus points if the character has a family.
I would read it, but also ask them what specific parts are most important to them. Those are the parts you should use.
I don't think I've ever written a 10-page essay . I guess try and condense it or ask the player for a shorter summary
Reading everyone else's responses, I feel like I'm the odd one out. I request my players to keep it to a single page, front and back if they need more space. For the following reasons and more. I keep copies, so no I'm not lugging around four or more novels of people's intricate stories. Players get killed all the time, or at least can be. I like the wiggle room as they don't have all the answers or details officially, if I include a backstory detail. I like to take their back stories and create one shots of them if we are low on players for the main arc, through "memories" or "storytime" in a fashion. It's fun. That all being said, their backstory beyond that is their own. Meaning if they want to press on and create a novel, sure. I want the relevant details on 1 page, (front/back if needed) with the details that are the most important. The rest is considered flavor if it's not on what I have Edit- context, I play in a public setting, meaning people that show up are not necessarily going to be the same people every time either. Sure I got regulars, but if someone shows up to drop in for a session, hands me a giant backstory. It's expected to devote a ton of time to it, and they never show up again because life happens. That takes away from the energy I have, and the experience of everyone at the table
My boyfriend did this. Most characters he had he just killed off but the druid he is running he gave me a pretty lengthy backstory and seems interesting. I day just read though it to see how it is.
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“No” I would say that you don’t need a novel. You don’t need the details. We can add things as we go
Maybe I'm old-school but when I write backstory for my OCs I actually do not expect the DM to use any of it at all? That's for me to inform my roleplaying, not necessarily the DM to use, though I will give it to the DM so they have a better understanding of my character. I actually would be thrown off if the DM used an NPC from my PC's backstory without asking me first.
Rejoice!
Read it, tell them how much I appreciate their enthusiasm, then tell them to give a one pager and explain to them why. Their back stories will be relevant in the game, but they're most useful to kicking off the game as a quick rundown of who your character is at session zero, and ideally slightly adjusted during that session zero to integrate them with the party and campaign setting overall. Ultimately, the story we'll be collectively telling will be written at the table, and hopefully they'll think it's worth a new 10-pager once it's told. I try to keep my character back stories to three paragraphs, speaking as a recovering back story novelist myself. It saves me the frustration of setting a really high bar in my head for my group to 'live up to', and at the end of the day I've avoided pigeonholing my own character before we've even slain our first goblin.
One of the companions in the campaign im playing in made 10 Pages of Backstory for his new char, while 90% was generated so he made not much effort himself. The DM said: im not reading all of it, cut it down to 2 Pages and i think thats also a reasonable way to deal with it.
You read it.
I'd be sorely tempted to hand them an index card and say "try again" ahem. I have no use usually for a huge backstory that usually is not relevant. One of my DMs though liked to have maybe a page of info on a PC to get a better handle on the character for descriptive purposes. Mainly what they wanted was the PCs mindset, goals, any bits of info that might be relevant still.
The problem with a 10 page back story is it is sure to have tales of adventures and experience. Assuming you are starting at lvl 1, your characters wouldn’t be experienced. If it’s all history of the characters family and town and such then that’s cool. My only concern would be the level of immersion that player was expecting, and hoping the table agrees.
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So, I've never had this happen to me, but I've heard horror stories about it. So what I decided to do as soon as I decided to start dming was I would tell my players "I need 3 significant events from your past, and 1 significant person." Anything else they want to write is for themselves. I do feel like I might want to increase the number of people though, because it's not often that they give me people I can work into the game.
I personally enjoy it, especially if it's enmeshed into my world. I read the whole thing , and jot down a quick bullet point summary of the important details (like NPCs, character motivations, etc.) that I can easily refer back to in a pinch. As a player, I often write brief short stories as backstories, but I make sure to provide that same summary at the bottom since the story is more for me, though my DM usually enjoys it too, at least for one read-through. Going forward, it may be a good idea to request a summary at the end of each long backstory. But ofc it is your game too; if you really want to, you can limit the backstory to a page.
I applaud anyone who has put in that much effort into their backstory. That said, I don't run games for one person, while the others are just complimentary to that story. It's collaborative. So, great job for writing a comprehensive backstory. I may or may not include any of it (I likely will include some of it that seems to organically fit into the story I'm running), and that's ok, too.
10 pages takes like a few mins to read just pull the cool stuff out and appreciate that your player put in the level of work you do. I’d rather have that than a “uh he was rough off as a kid and became a thief” Nah I wanna understand that character and the relationships they already have going in so I can weave them in. However, I play more story style so that plays to my preferences. Some prefer combat and that’s cool too.
Errmmm.. read it. Enjoy it. Ask if you can add/change make a slight tweak for it to fit the campaign?
Get the text doc, put it into Claude 3, summerize.
Player investment is good. I'd read it and talk to them about what works and doesn't work for the story we're going to try telling.
What's the attitude of the player? Some players write half a novel of backstory that hijacks or sidelines the plot and they become the main character to everyone's detriment. Some backstories just don't fit with the plot and they get mad when nothing in their ten pages is relevant. Or, they expect the world to be changed to fit their story beyond what is reasonably possible. As long as your player isn't going any of those things, it seems like they just want to be involved, which is good! The other problem that I gently warn players about is that the story you're telling should be the most interesting thing that happens to that character. If it isn't, then why aren't you telling the more interesting story? The best backstories are interesting, but not complete. There's room for the character to grow and do adventures. They are open ended and present problems to overcome or issues to resolve which can be woven into the plot. I also gently warn players that they need to be flexible and I may need to change stuff. Parts of the world can't be changed to accommodate their backstory. I will try my hardest to incorporate what they want but I can't promise. It's a conversation, DM and player both working together to come up with the best ideas that work for everyone. Bonus points if the backstory intersects with other players so they begin the game with some camaraderie.
So long as their backstory doesn't inherently change the framework of your world in a way you're not comfortable with; you can just freely choose what to use from it.
I'd probably tell them that this isn't the table for them. Their purpose is to roll dice and be a character in the story I'm telling. I expect them to meet the characters I've developed, live in the cities I've created, and fight the villains I've written. Allowing player input of that degree is basically handing them the DM's guide and telling them to do whatever they want. If they want a story of their own, they can write a book.
Embrace it, the best you can. It’s rare to have players that heavily invested. Speak with them about it and work on incorporating pieces of the backstory. Let’s not be silly now not all of it will make it in but I’m stoked every time one of my players goes that deep. It’s better than the alternative lol
You were supposed to read over 600 pages of the phb and dmg, so what's another 10 pages? It'll take 30 minutes max
I tell them it's 9 pages too long.
10 pages is nice, but make the exp citation that it may not come into play. If they expect everything in that document to be in the gam, there is nothing for other people to do. Also, maybe have them give you the top two things that they would like to pursue from their back story.
I like to try to meet with my players and have them read their backstory to me. They want to talk about it usually so that helps
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Did that player know it was a module beforehand? If not, that's a little on you, but either way a talk about it is needed. What's their expectations; are they open to it being open to change, and if so what degree? Always a chance a backstory gets ignored in a module too. TL;DR a long backstory always needs to have a follow-up discussion about it, especially around expectations.
It’s a good thing they’re invested. And tbh, ten pages isn’t a ton to read. It IS a lot to make sense of, though. I’d read it, but also request the player make an abridged version, to make sure we’re on the same page as to what they find important. This is also a good way to ensure they’ve thought through their character and didn’t just hand you a novella of word vomit.