Do you force you players to use these or do you allow them to simply pick any 2? I can see where some APs they are mostly required. You'd be a pretty sad puppy in Reign of Winter for instance or say, Jade Regent if none of the PCs had any connection at all to the NPCs. OTOH, I find it kind of dumb to bring in new characters to that one and force them to be connected to Amieko, Shalelu, etc.. I can see now how originally, it would have been fine if a few characters simply lacked any past association with them.
Your thoughts?
I've started to require them, but I also allow players to take a Flaw so they can get three Traits.
I'll probably rewrite the Traits for WotR if I ever run it.
I wouldn't require them. If a player is willing to take part in the AP, they're not usually that hard to work into the story. Sometimes a PC that isn't making any attempt to mesh with the zeitgeist of the AP feels to me like wasted potential, but if the player doesn't care, what can you do? On the other hand, I sure wouldn't be sympathetic to the complaint of "None of the pirates in Skull & Shackles have loot that is relevant to my katana-wielding samurai." Boo hoo.
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I wouldnt neccesarily require them, but I highly reccomend the players to consider using them. Any layer of connection to the story and campaign is going to be a benefit in my opionion. I want my players to be invested in the story and adventure type and not consider every campaign generic fantasy PF. My group may be a-typical though we dont have a strong emphasis on optimization and mechanics. The story is the life for us and combat is an added bonus to break up our RP and puzzle sessions.
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I don't require them, but I do strongly recommend them. If a player doesn't want to take a campaign trait, I'll require the player to come up with a general back story explaining the connection to the campaign start.
In my group we take one campaign trait and one other trait of our choice.
In my group we take one campaign trait and one other trait of our choice.
Same.
In my group we take one campaign trait and one other trait of our choice.
Also, yes
I did the same as Haladir for my Kingmaker campaign. Four out of six PCs took a campaign trait. Of the other two, one wrote up a compelling backstory with a lot of ties and a very strong reason to be on the expedition, and I worked with the other to create a custom campaign trait.
People are making backup characters just in case of PC death, and they don't require campaign traits. They do, however, need strong reasons to be in the middle of nowhere.
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I did the same as Haladir for my Kingmaker campaign. Four out of six PCs took a campaign trait. Of the other two, one wrote up a compelling backstory with a lot of ties and a very strong reason to be on the expedition, and I worked with the other to create a custom campaign trait.
I've done similar with my group as well. About half like writing up detailed backstories and I've been known to give them an extra trait on top of the normal 2 for doing that or - like you - modify one of the campaign traits to be a custom trait.
But I still require either a campaign trait or a backstory that'll ensure all the players are onboard with the basic idea of the AP being run.
Personally I don't think the campaign traits are varied enough to force them to pick them up.
For example Rise of Runelords has three traits with slight variables allowed on them. Honestly though everyone given a choice would simply select the one that adds +2 to initiative.
Do you force you players to use these or do you allow them to simply pick any 2? I can see where some APs they are mostly required. You'd be a pretty sad puppy in Reign of Winter for instance or say, Jade Regent if none of the PCs had any connection at all to the NPCs. OTOH, I find it kind of dumb to bring in new characters to that one and force them to be connected to Amieko, Shalelu, etc.. I can see now how originally, it would have been fine if a few characters simply lacked any past association with them.
Your thoughts?
We use the standard two Traits, and a third campaign-specific Trait can be taken as a bonus, so everyone tends to want to take one.
I liked the Council of Thieves traits so much that I (the GM) discarded them and made my own.
i do require them:)
I recommend detaching the crunch from the fluff. Make everyone pick a fluff campaign trait (or work with them to make up their own hooks) and let them pick any traits they want, including the "defluffed" rules parts of the campaign traits.