02-01-2022, 06:25 PM
Trick is, most players aren't going to ask. Especially later editions of D&D are terribly complex, and even though the marketing is geared towards that, assume that most players won't have the core books, and they are going to be busy understanding their characters for most of the time. So, you got to bring the story to them if you want them to interact with it. - My rule of thumb here is: Every relevant background gets its own scene; and if something doesn't get its own scene, then it doesn't exist in my campaign. Basically "show, don't tell".
This is why I usually do a few introductory adventures that focus on the characters, not on the bigger plot: Even if it's boring, let the PC play out that tavern scene, or that sub-plot about the stolen horse that everyone knows has zero to do with the main adventure. That way, especially for noobs, you create contexts. Now, PBPs have to be considerably more streamlined, but you can still do a three-step introduction:
1. Group meets.
2. Group deals with a problem that is tied to the group meeting. (Innkeeper is racist, doesn't want the non-humans to stay at his place. Magic-user has spellbook stolen. Whatever gets the players to recognize each other's characters.)
3. Group encounters main plot event #1.
This is why I usually do a few introductory adventures that focus on the characters, not on the bigger plot: Even if it's boring, let the PC play out that tavern scene, or that sub-plot about the stolen horse that everyone knows has zero to do with the main adventure. That way, especially for noobs, you create contexts. Now, PBPs have to be considerably more streamlined, but you can still do a three-step introduction:
1. Group meets.
2. Group deals with a problem that is tied to the group meeting. (Innkeeper is racist, doesn't want the non-humans to stay at his place. Magic-user has spellbook stolen. Whatever gets the players to recognize each other's characters.)
3. Group encounters main plot event #1.