GM Tips: Engaging Your Players' Backstories
One of the most important things you can do as a GM is to engage with and incorporate your players' character backstories into your campaign. Taking the time to learn about where the characters came from, their motivations, relationships, and secrets can really help bring them to life at the table. It also gives the players a sense that their creative contributions matter in helping shape the shared story you'll all tell together. Here are some tips for putting player backstories front and center in your game. Ask questions. When making characters, have your players fill out a detailed backstory form or questionnaire. Ask about their character's family, where they're from, any defining experiences or traumas in their past. Find out if they have any ongoing goals, vendettas, or mysterious connections that could come into play. Let them know you'll be looking for ways to weave these elements into the adventure somehow. Drop hints and clues. Scan the players' backs...
