Ok so my party has an odd dynamic. I don’t actually recommend people try this because it is a difficult balancing act. It works for us because we wanted to try having a party with both “evil” and “good” characters though. The relationship is basically “co-workers” and/or “professionals.” That’s it. We all have our own, very solid reasons to ally ourselves with each other and also keep towards the same goal, but yeah, that’s most of it. We do hang out, we do talk and debate. We protect each other and we admire each other, but we also pick at each other. This isn’t found family. This is co-workers who are good at what they do, trust each other, and have a respectful admiration of each other’s skillset. And it’s honestly worked and the balance, while difficult, is actually pretty fun to try and keep, especially with the hiccups certain backstories will bring up (like mine in her pursuit of her childhood friend, who is on the antagonist’s side we find out). Seriously though, I don’t recommend this for everyone. We are very careful about, discuss it between sessions, and made our characters at the very beginning with this dynamic in mind with the idea that we intended to keep the relationships between them as positive. Like I said, it’s a group that realizes they click on a professional teamwork level but don’t have emotional stakes towards each other beyond “I just enjoy working with this person/these people.” I don’t know if the status quo of this will remain. Relationships evolve after all, but it’s been fun. I know at least two of us are moving towards adjusting some of the dynamics towards friends and/or friendly rivals, but it’s still an in-progress campaign. So far, we have kept this status quo for the last three in-game months, I just find entertaining. Again, though, don’t recommend because it requires a huge commitment to keeping that balance.
My wife and I played married Kobolds in a one shot. They were crotchety and had very "boomer" mindsets towards each other which made for lots of funny interactions. Love tag teamed back stories
I had a variation of the guardian/ward dynamic. My ranger and our partys rogue, we spent the first sessions in basically a underdark city and its fighting pits and the rogue ha grown up there and have neve rknown the surface world and she is well..a bit unhinged. When we finally got up and got our sort of team patron she instructed my character who is the one who is the most "normal" out of the group or atleast mos tintegrated with society to make the rogue acclimated to the surface, making him her sort of keeper to make sure she doesnt run into to much trouble or commit to many crimes and mediate between her and the normal people if a interraction goes south. Its a dynamic we have kept up for the year we have played and he ha sbecome the one she debates mostly with if she wonders something about society or questions something about what is normal or not.
My favorite point you make with this is how these history things make for deeper group storytelling. A place is only as good as the people in it, and that includes D&D! So when characters have a rich history with each other, it sets up unforgettable social interactions. I say that mostly in theory haha, because that aspect has not been my strong suit running my games. Great video!
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Ok so my party has an odd dynamic. I don’t actually recommend people try this because it is a difficult balancing act. It works for us because we wanted to try having a party with both “evil” and “good” characters though. The relationship is basically “co-workers” and/or “professionals.” That’s it. We all have our own, very solid reasons to ally ourselves with each other and also keep towards the same goal, but yeah, that’s most of it. We do hang out, we do talk and debate. We protect each other and we admire each other, but we also pick at each other. This isn’t found family. This is co-workers who are good at what they do, trust each other, and have a respectful admiration of each other’s skillset. And it’s honestly worked and the balance, while difficult, is actually pretty fun to try and keep, especially with the hiccups certain backstories will bring up (like mine in her pursuit of her childhood friend, who is on the antagonist’s side we find out). Seriously though, I don’t recommend this for everyone. We are very careful about, discuss it between sessions, and made our characters at the very beginning with this dynamic in mind with the idea that we intended to keep the relationships between them as positive. Like I said, it’s a group that realizes they click on a professional teamwork level but don’t have emotional stakes towards each other beyond “I just enjoy working with this person/these people.” I don’t know if the status quo of this will remain. Relationships evolve after all, but it’s been fun. I know at least two of us are moving towards adjusting some of the dynamics towards friends and/or friendly rivals, but it’s still an in-progress campaign. So far, we have kept this status quo for the last three in-game months, I just find entertaining. Again, though, don’t recommend because it requires a huge commitment to keeping that balance.
Love this concept. As the DM, makes it easier on me so i dont have to figure out why they are travelling together.
My wife and I played married Kobolds in a one shot. They were crotchety and had very "boomer" mindsets towards each other which made for lots of funny interactions. Love tag teamed back stories
I had a variation of the guardian/ward dynamic. My ranger and our partys rogue, we spent the first sessions in basically a underdark city and its fighting pits and the rogue ha grown up there and have neve rknown the surface world and she is well..a bit unhinged. When we finally got up and got our sort of team patron she instructed my character who is the one who is the most "normal" out of the group or atleast mos tintegrated with society to make the rogue acclimated to the surface, making him her sort of keeper to make sure she doesnt run into to much trouble or commit to many crimes and mediate between her and the normal people if a interraction goes south. Its a dynamic we have kept up for the year we have played and he ha sbecome the one she debates mostly with if she wonders something about society or questions something about what is normal or not.
Always wanted to do a master and apprentice. Old friends or family works well in my experience.
My favorite point you make with this is how these history things make for deeper group storytelling. A place is only as good as the people in it, and that includes D&D! So when characters have a rich history with each other, it sets up unforgettable social interactions. I say that mostly in theory haha, because that aspect has not been my strong suit running my games. Great video!
YOU ARE AWESOME! ❤❤❤