this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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Rumors about the character not yourself my man
And the players are the ones making them for themselves so they can just make the bad and false ones be insignificant if it bothers them so much.
You need to ask permission before asking a player to create their own backstory?
No, you need to get opt in from your players before making a storyline centred around misleading rumours
Buddy missed the "roleplaying" part of rpgs
What you have is trauma you need to work through. Not a sensitivity to make everyone else's problem.
I think I'm missing something from your perspective here? The idea in this image only works with the players consent at the first step of the process? If the player wants to nix it, they have the chance to do so before it's ever used in game.
I saw this meme, and thought it sounded great, so if I were going to bring it to my table, it would have been pretty much exactly in the form I read here.
How would you suggest that a GM approaches it to get player consent that is different to how it's laid out here?
You're getting dragged, but I think I get your point: that it might seed suspicion and distrust among not only the characters but the players?
I think it should be Rule 0 that the DM and players all respect each other's boundaries, so consent is always part of the equation IMHO. Likewise, if everyone at the table insists on playing a certain way that I'm uncomfortable with, then it's time for me to find a new table.
I still don't understand why creating rumours about your character would be triggering for anyone.
How would a made up stories like "Borun caught a cheater at dice and string him up upside down hanging from the flag pole" or "Borun's horse went lame, but instead of putting him down, he paid a farmer to take care of him for life" bring up trauma? Especially since you're writing these yourself...
Or is the existence of rumours triggering somehow? In which case, maybe P&P RPGs aren't an appropriate activity since a lot of adventures rely on piecing together rumours to identify what's really going on.
The thing is, that it was, from my understanding, never about the actual players, but the fictional characters. Aka my high elf loves gambling a bit too much etc.
Oh agreed: I just thought the meta-nature of the players themselves being unsure of the veracity of character information might make things weird for folks uncomfortable with gossip. In any case I think it sounds like a fun idea!
Wow, fuck all the other replies to this.
People harmed by gossip in real life don't want it in their escapism. How unreasonable, apparently.
I mean the player is being asked to do it. The DM isn't doing it for the player. The player can say whatever they want as "true" or "false," and if they only want true rumors, just tell the DM?
I'm probably missing something, but I'm confused as to how asking a player for some additional information in their character building that gets shared with the group to facilitate the game can be triggering in a way that goes beyond the game. I really do hate the "if you don't like it, don't play" response, but there are some things where the trigger is inherent to the activity.
Ngl that last sentence seems like a pretty weird thing to mention…
your username suits you nicely
Actually going to agree with this one. To adress the other commenters pushing against this post. Yes, roleplay can trigger a trauma response especially if it is done without consent. And creating a backstory is far different than creating pieces of a backstory, having it passed around to the other players and having the potential of conflict because of rumors. A lot of people will find that fun (I'm thinking of using this in my next campaign), if you have had a terrible experience with this it won't be.
On the other side of the coin, roleplay can be a wonderful way of facing traumas, but it has to be done right and with consent. Having clear communication between DM and players should be default and if allowing one player to not participate in that or have an altered participation (maybe leave out the one false), then so be it.
I also think it's sort of fucked up to dogpile this post.