So uh, How Do You Guys All Know Each Other?

I recently tried - and - failed to write a complete RPG in 48 hourss part of Itch.io's MEGA RPG JAM. In fairness, I think I bit off a little more than I could chew, and wasn't able to devote as much time as I needed. Nonetheless, I had fun along the way and feel compelled to finish the task, and in doing so came up with a random party relations table that might be useful. 

The game is about humanoid minions trying to get by in a dungeon: carrying out tasks on behalf of their overlords, running rival lairs, feeding the monsters etc. If you want to take a look at the horrible incomplete mess I submitted, its here.

PCs begin as new arrivals in the dungeon, so I thought it would be fun to add a deceptively simple backstory generator to explain how the keepers know each other:

One method is to roll for the individual relationship between keepers, and to build a back story form there. Another method is just to roll once and apply the result to the whole group.

Table 2.5: Random Keeper origins
1d12		You know each other...
1		...from the road! You met like, five minutes ago.
2		...as rivals for the affections of the same person. When you realised they were stringing everyone along, you teamed up and murdered them and have been on the road ever since.
3		...from the same warband that was decimated by humans/dwarves/elves just last week.
4		...from are siblings, and sometimes bicker and/or kick the shit out of each other.. If you are not of the same creature type, one of you is adopted. You might not be aware of that yet.
5		...from a shady grove where you ate some mushrooms and are now on a vision quest. If one of you has spellcasting abilities, you are the leader of a burgeoning cult. Your visions have led you to this dungeon...
6		...as parent and child. The parent is hoping there will be greater opportunities for the child to climb the social ladder in the dungeon.
7		...as pariahs, cast out from your tribe for violating some taboo. Hopefully no-one else will find out about it...
8		...from a previous career as travelling performers. The lead singer/actor/dancer got too egotistical, went solo and broke up the band. You’ve come to the dungeon to chance your arm.
9		...as refugees after humans “cleansed” your ancestral homeland, probably killing everyone you love, That said, you didn’t really care much for your relatives, but it gives you an edgy back story.
10		...from the magician’s vats. Neither of you have any memories of childhood, you just woke up one day in a warm, briney bath. You murdered the magician and escaped.
11		...you were both captured as babies and sent to the human fighting pits. You escaped last week.
12		...you’re both nephews/nieces of a lair chieftain on a lower level, and have been sent by your tribe to kill them..

Example, method one:

Glob, Greb, Gwyn and Gyenki are three gretchlings (all goblins) and a bigling (a fucking massive mutant goblin) respectively. Before the start of the game, they roll six times on the above table, achieving the following results:

Table 2.6: Example Keeper origins (complicated method)
Keepers...		...know each other
Glob and Greb...		...from the road, having met five minutes ago,
Glob and Gwyn...		...were in a band together.
Glob and Gyanki...		..from the same warband that was decimated by humans/dwarves/elves just last week.
Greb and Gwyn...		...were pariahs, cast out from your tribe for violating some taboo.
Greb and Gyanki...		...as nephews of a lair chieftain on a lower level, and have been sent by their tribe to kill them..
Gwyn and Gyanki...		...as pariahs, cast out from your tribe for violating some taboo.

Shit this can get complicated really easily. Probably a good idea to draw a diagram…

So the players of the keepers hash out a back story. First, what jumps out is Greb, Gwyn and Gyanki: clearly, they all belonged to the same tribe (the Crooked Teeth), but all three of them violated a taboo: maybe they urinated on the tribal totem for a dare and were cast out. Gwyn followed her dream of becoming a travelling musician, Gyanki became a marauder and joined a fierce warband (the Krul Sunz), and Greb just kinda wandered around.

In this band of marauders, Gyanki met and befriended Glob. Life was good for a time, but then a company of dwarf goblin slayers decimated the Krull Sunz and the pair were separated. Glob ended up running into Gwyn’s band of musicians, claiming he could play the drums. The lead singer, Murgut Mobain, broke up the band only a few days after hiring Gwyn, and the pair decided to try their luck at a nearby dungeon.

Meanwhile, Gyanki returned to his tribe, running into his cousin Greb on the way. He reasoned that enough time had passed for them to be redeemed. The tribal shaman had not forgotten their slight, however, and informed them if they wanted to restore their honour they needed to murder their uncle, who had stolen some sacred relic and made a lair in the nearby Dungeon of the Murdered Men. 

On their way to the dungeon, they were reunited with Glob and Gwyn, though Greb had never met Glob before. They all shook hands, swearing to stick together in the dungeon, but all with their fingers crossed behind their back, and wishing they hadn’t chosen names that started with the same letter. 

Example, method two:

Glob, Greb, Gwyn and Gyenki are three gretchlings (all goblins) and a bigling (a fucking massive mutant goblin) respectively. Before the start of the game, they roll once on the table, achieving the following result.

Table 2.6: Example Keeper origins (complicated method)
Keepers...		...know each other
Glob, Greb, Gwyn, Gyanki...		...as rivals for the affections of the same person. When you realised they were stringing everyone along, you teamed up and murdered them and have been on the road ever since.

Grashnakh, despite his tusks, was a real sweet-talker. He was a minor orc chieftain of fierce renown, and a demon in the sack. He also had a real way of making his partners feel like they were the only one he truly cared about.

Among his many qualities, scheduling was not one of them, and one night Glob, Greb, Gwyn and Gyanki all turned up at his tent. After some words were exchanged, the future friends exchanged a flurry of blows, before Grashnakh suggested a solution to the problem he thought would be more amenable to them. He was wrong, and the party beat him to death before hitting the road.

Knowing they can’t go back to their old warband before they’ve amassed a bit of rep, the four erstwhile rivals have decided to chance their arm as keepers at the nearby Dungeon of the Murdered Men.

This was made with tribal humanoids in mind, but could be quite easily adapted to other ancestries. The purpose is to establish a brief relationship between all the characters for a bit of colour, not to build a complex back story around which to base a whole campaign (although you could, if that's your thing). The best back stories emerge through actual play, but there is fun to be had in trying to join up the dots and in rationalising the contradictions the table throws up.

Let me know if you have any enjoyment with this. I've had three comments in four years, and two of them are by me. I know you're out there, I have access to viewing figures you know!

Have fun.