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Relationships

Relationships

Characters will form Relationships with many Characters through their adventures. Some will be good, some will be bad, and some will be somewhere in the middle.

Relationships should be categorised as Allies, Rivals, or Enemies.

Allies

Allies are Characters that will help your character whenever possible. They can be utilised to acquire items, supply information, provide services, or even fight alongside the character.

Allies might be people previously helped, rescued, or otherwise indebted to the characters.

Rivals

Rivals are Characters that have similar goals to the Characters but Motivations of their own, and might disagree to the degree that they are neither truly Allies nor Enemies. They might support or oppose the Characters based on the situation, but they're not trying to kill the Character. If help is given, it will be at a price.

Rivals might be other Adventurers seeking the same treasure, decent people with different methods, former Allies, or even former Enemies.

Enemies

Enemies are anyone that strongly opposes the Character. They are likely to try to fight or kill them on sight if possible, though they might be limited by laws or social conventions.

Enemies might be those the characters have fought, stolen from, insulted, or otherwise trespassed.

Forging Relationships

Characters can create Relationships in a number of ways and develop them through repeated interactions.

Creating Relationships

— Character Backgrounds

Relationships can be created as part of a Character's Background. These are NPCs that the Character met before they joined the current story, and might stretch back years, and might even be a major part of the ir Backstory.

Example Relationship Summaries:

  • ally was my mentor. They taught me how to ____ and ____.
  • ally saved my life when ____ but I returned the favour when ____.
  • ally and I have been friends since ____. Our greatest memory is ____.
  • rival was my partner once, but ____ and we haven't been the same since.
  • rival and I grew up together but we never got along. Once I ____ and they never forgave me.
  • rival and I would always compete back in ____. I think they're ____ but ____.
  • enemy was once my friend but they betrayed me when ____.
  • enemy hates me ever since I ____, but they deserved it because ____.
  • enemy tried to kill me once. They managed to ____ but I ____ in return.

— —

Characters can add new Relationships using Fate Dice. When doing so, the Character spends a Fate Die and then they describe the NPC and Relationship to the GM. The GM might have them roll using [k] or another relevant Statistic to determine how much the character "remembers" or how much is "true".

When creating Allies, the Player will usually roll to see how accurate their description is, but when creating Rivals or Enemies, the GM will always add twists of their own.

If a player rolls a Failure (−1), the Character misremembered and the Characters are not as close as they believed they are. The Character still exists, but not as an Ally and the GM might make them a more casual acquaintance or even a Rival or Enemy.

Partial Success (0), the GM will add twists to the story that the Character might not be aware of. Alternatively, the GM might let the NPC help the Character once, but they are not an Ally.

Connected By Fate Examples:

1 − Alice's Dwarf is trying to enter a party but has no invitation. Spending a Fate Die, Alice claims that one of the guests is her Rival. She explains how they are Rivals and adds the Rival Character onto her Relationships. She uses this opportunity to have the Rival approach her, telling the guards to let them in, but at the same time challenging her character.

The Dwarf has managed to enter the Party, but now they must compete in a .

2 − Charlie's Human is trying to get an audience with a Duke but is having no luck. Remembering that they have a Noble Background, Charlie asks if they might be distantly related. Spending a Fate Die and rolling a [k] Skill Check in order to "remember". They roll a Partial Success.

The GM allows them to be distant cousins by marriage. It's not enough to get a new Ally, but it's enough to get an audience.

— Past Quests

Once encountered on a Quest, a character might become an Ally, Rival, or Enemy. This will be explained by the GM and added to the Character Sheet of one of the characters. This will probably be the character that interacted with the character the most.

— Great Success

Sometimes when a character rolls a Great Success (2) on a Skill Check, the reward can be that a character becomes an Ally, Rival, or Enemy. This can be treated as an impromptu Connected By Fate, allowing the character to give more information about the relevant character.

Great Success Examples:

Alice's Dwarf is searching for new armour. Rolling [p]erception, he scores a Great Success (2)! The GM decides that she not only finds a blacksmith, he is a Dwarf from her hometown! Alice is asked for more information about the character and their hometown and she marks down her new Ally.

This blacksmith is now far more likely to help her now and in the future if she needs equipment or repairs.

Developing Relationships

When Characters interact with the NPCs, their Relationships will change.

— Improving

— Worsening

Using Relationships

Allies

Rivals

Enemies

Losing Relationships

Allies

Rivals

Enemies

Next Step

After understanding Relationships, you can move on to the section.

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