Bonds & Experience

Let's get some bonding time

Ages ago, particularly in internet time, I put out this video:

Backstories? How about Forwardstories?

I was not, and remain not, very much of a backstory guy. It doesn't interest me. I don't take much joy in it. I recognize, of course, that plenty of folks do appreciate it (more power to them!) and I also understand how having some sort of history can help ground a character in the game world. To that end, having connections with other characters (players or non) at the start of the campaign can be a good thing, though your mileage may vary greatly if your game has a high lethality rate.

Who do you know?

1d6	Who	How
1	A local peasant.	Family.
2	A local craft-person.	Childhood friends.
3	A local spiritual authority.	You saved them from misadventure and they owe you a service.
4	A local political authority.	You won a wager and they owe you a favor.
5	A scoundrel.	They saved you from misadventure and now you owe them a service.
6	A wizard or sage.	They won a wager and you owe them a favor.

If family, how are you related?
If friends, how do you know them?
If misadventure, what was it and how was it overcome?
If a wager, what was it and how was it won or lost?

Experiences that last a lifetime

What if you rolled on a table to determine the primary way your character earned experience points? It might create some interesting combinations with classes or it might produce chaos. Try it and see!

1d6	Primary Source^* of Experience
1	Treasure troves retrieved.
2	Foes defeated.
3	Hexes explored (via landmarks spotted).
4	Dungeons delved (step foot on their bottom levels and return to tell the tale!)
5	Quests completed.
6	Titles acquired (not level titles but in-world honorifics.)
*	Other modes of experience will also net rewards but at half the rate of their primary method.