Hidden backstories, are they a good idea?

[Lord Orgasmo]

So there I was, making bios for a bunch of NPC's in my PM's for a future rp I'm working on, when I had the passing thought: "Wait a second, how would the players know all this?"

So I had the idea that for this up and coming RP that I'd try something a little different, that being, I'd have the players make their character sheets, but have the backstory section cut out in the OOC section, and have them PM me a complete version with their backstory in it. I would also do this for NPC characters, and reveal it once time has passed, they ask the NPC about their life, hear about it from someone else, etc.

To me, it wouldn't make sense for the players to know everyone's life story. I can't walk up to someone and suddenly know everything about their life. I feel like doing something like this would encourage players to interact with each other, as well as the world around them. It might even help to form relationships where you wouldn't originally think to look.

Some problems I do have, however, are that it can eliminate starting relationships, and to some might make just seem lazy, or even alienate some players due to its oddity. These fears might be totally unfounded, but it's still something I'm wary of. Though I suppose there is a solution for the first problem by merely having two (or more) players say something like "Hey I like your character, do you want to have our characters know each other?" And then they can send each other the relevant information to perhaps add some more details into their backstory, or even just to start off knowing someone.

What do you guys think? Does this sound like something interesting and different? Or do you think that it seems pointless, and to just rely on suspension of disbelief? Or perhaps something in-between? Let me know what you think?

[Kuro]

I never write out a NPC's backstory aside from at the most few quick sentences or bullet points. I'm certain there are others who think otherwise, that you should write out a full-fledged biography for your NPCs, but that way you can hide more important details if needed as well keep yourself from putting in too much effort towards a character that is potentially relevant for a few scenes/that arc of the roleplay.

Honestly, it kind of seems like you're worried about your players potentially metagaming, which is a fair point. But part of me doesn't feel like hiding segments of player character sheets is the appropriate action when you as the GM can just talk to or even warn the player about the metagaming issue. After all, you've got GM powers; might as well use them. And who knows, maybe the player has a valid reason for their character to know said NPC (though I imagine they'd probably bring this up to you beforehand).

[ERode]

I’ve done it before and I’m still, in some ways, doing it now.

Either it never pops up in the IC before the RP dies, or people’s predilections for internal monologue ruin the surprise before it’s ICly revealed. It’s a great thing to play with either way though, as the backstory is otherwise a fairly pointless thing to have in a CS, perhaps only useful for ensuring that people read your five pages of lore and setting.

And in the once-in-a-blue-moon scenario where you get a character interaction focused RP that is active and long running, the secret backstories really get to play out in fun ways.

So if you think about it, you honestly have nothing to lose as a GM if you just cut the Backstory portion out of your CS templates completely and then tell the players to toss only the spicy history deets at you.

[BrokenPromise]

Character bio is more for creating hooks and such. As a GM, I'm really just need to know what sort of history your character has. Do they have a criminal backround? Do they own property? How wealthy are they and how did they get that wealth? Background feels like a necessary evil. You could cut it out of your CS, but then how many extra areas are you going to create on your CS to get all the information you need? I also feel like depending on the setting it's a good idea to have some features of a character visible to everyone. I can't speak for everyone, but I like to make unique characters, and I will try to pick backgrounds that set them apart from other characters. So seeing what other people are running with is useful.

But I do withhold things on the CS that I think would be interesting if they came up later, and I never make NPC's sheets too deep.

Something I did experiment with in the past (and with great success) was to have a secret questionnaire sheet for everyone's characters. So while the bulk of the character sheet was visible, the good stuff was hidden. You'd know how a politician came into power, but not about his scandals. And I think that's a good approach to have with NPCs. Giving some information makes the characters easier to remember, especially if you have a lot of them. However, their secrets should be less well known. If you, the GM, spot an opportunity for a connection after looking through secret details, you can work your magic to ensure said characters know about each other. I love getting secret notes from the GM, makes me feel special.

[mickilennial]

I'd have the players make their character sheets, but have the backstory section cut out in the OOC section, and have them PM me a complete version with their backstory in it.

@Lord Orgasmo

A lot of RPs I've been in the genre of whodunit/mystery/horror have done this. Yep.

[Mole]

Yes.

[Dark Cloud]

It depends

[ANYM]

>I prefer characters have their backstories revealed as play goes along, but that requires a lot of planning, which might turn some people off. Trust me, if you pants the majority of your RP you'll probably never have time to work in quieter moments in which said histories can be explored and developed - mainly because you're too busy going from one scene to the next without much forethought. You have to manually make time in the plot for those, but not everyone likes that kind of approach.