Pyramid #3/104: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

The "Heroic Background Generator" isn't bad, again a DF-specific version of another supplement (Central Casting) that I use often, but more and more, I find background is something that we tend to overblow, at least in supplements. If a background leads to interesting play, great; otherwise, it's mental masturbation on a character sheet.

I wouldn't disagree with that, at all, but I'd tend to a middle ground approach. If you want to give a character or setting lots of detailed background, great, if that's what floats your boat - but don't complain if it then just dies on the page. If you don't murder your darlings, be prepared for them to die of starvation, and don't keep trying to save them at the cost of the game.

At a very rough guess, having created a lot of background for many of my characters, about a third of it subsequently has significance in play. The other two-thirds... Well, meh. It gave me some transient satisfaction while I was writing it.